Free Word Counter - Count Words, Characters, Sentences & Reading Time

Words are counted by splitting text at spaces and punctuation. Each group of letters/numbers separated by whitespace counts as one word. Hyphenated words (like "twenty-one") count as one word. Contractions (don't, can't) also count as one word. Numbers count as words. This matches the counting method used by Microsoft Word and most word processors. Very different from character-based counting used in languages like Chinese and Japanese.

Characters with spaces counts every letter, number, punctuation mark, and space. Characters without spaces excludes spaces. For example, "Hello World" has 11 characters with spaces (including the space between words) but 10 without spaces. Twitter limits use characters with spaces. Some publishing requirements specify characters without spaces. Both counts are useful for different purposes.

Reading time is based on average reading speeds: 200-250 words per minute for average readers, 300-400 for fast readers, 100-150 for slow/careful reading. Our default is 238 words/minute (the scientific average). However, actual reading time varies by text complexity, reader skill, and content type. Technical documents take longer than novels. Use it as an estimate, not an exact measurement. You can adjust the reading speed in settings for more accurate results for your audience.

Keyword density shows how often specific words appear in your text as a percentage. For example, if "SEO" appears 5 times in a 100-word article, its density is 5%. For SEO, you want target keywords to appear naturally (1-3% density) without stuffing. Too low and search engines won't recognize your topic. Too high (>5%) looks spammy and hurts rankings. Our tool highlights the most frequent words so you can ensure good keyword distribution.

Yes! The tool works with any language using any writing system: Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, etc. It correctly counts words in alphabetic languages and characters in logographic languages like Chinese. It handles right-to-left text (Arabic, Hebrew), accented characters (é, ñ, ü), and even emoji. However, word count definitions vary by language - Chinese counts characters, not words.

No! All text analysis happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your content never leaves your device or gets sent to any server. We don't see, store, or have access to any text you analyze. This makes it completely safe for analyzing confidential documents, unpublished creative writing, sensitive business content, academic papers before submission, or any private text you want to keep secure. Works offline once loaded.