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SPCXTools

Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, with reading and speaking time.

Runs locally — files never leave your device

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How to use Word Counter

  1. 1Type or paste your text into the box. You can also drag a block of text from another window.
  2. 2The counters at the top update instantly with words, characters, sentences and paragraphs.
  3. 3Check the line below the text box for characters without spaces, line count, and estimated reading and speaking time.
  4. 4Use Copy to copy your text back out, or Clear to start again.

A fast, private word and character counter

This word counter gives you live statistics for any text: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, lines, and estimated reading and speaking time. Every number updates on each keystroke, so you can watch the count change while you edit instead of re-checking at the end.

Because the tool runs entirely in your browser, nothing you paste is uploaded or stored. You can safely check the length of an unpublished article, a cover letter, a legal clause or a private message.

What you can count

  • Words – useful for essays, articles, blog posts and translation quotes.
  • Characters – the total number of characters, including spaces and line breaks.
  • Characters without spaces – often used for translation pricing and some form fields.
  • Sentences and paragraphs – a quick way to spot overly long paragraphs or sentences.
  • Lines – handy for poems, lyrics, code snippets and lists.
  • Reading and speaking time – plan how long a blog post takes to read or how long a speech will run.

When a word count matters

School and university assignments. Essays and personal statements often have strict limits, such as 650 words for a college application essay. Paste your draft to see exactly where you stand before you submit.

SEO and content writing. Many publishers brief writers with a target length. Checking the count as you write helps you hit the brief without padding. The reading-time estimate is also what many blogs display at the top of an article.

Social media and ads. Platforms limit post and ad lengths by characters. Use the character count to trim a headline or caption before you paste it into the platform.

Translation and copywriting quotes. Translators and copywriters frequently price per word or per character. A quick, consistent count makes it easier to estimate a job.

Speeches and presentations. At around 150 words per minute, a five-minute talk is roughly 750 words. The speaking-time estimate tells you whether to cut or expand your script.

Tips for accurate counts

  • Paste plain text when possible. Formatting such as bullet symbols or table borders copied from a web page may add extra characters.
  • Remember that a blank line separates paragraphs. Text broken by single line breaks is counted as one paragraph with several lines.
  • If you need to compare two versions of your text, use the Diff Checker. To clean up lists, try Remove Duplicate Lines, and to change capitalisation use the Case Converter.

Frequently asked questions

How does the word counter decide what a word is?
A word is any run of letters or numbers, so "state-of-the-art" and "don't" each count as one word, while punctuation and symbols on their own are ignored. For Chinese, Japanese and Korean, which do not separate words with spaces, each character is counted as one word — the same convention most editors use for CJK text.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. All counting happens in your browser with JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device, which makes the tool safe for drafts, contracts, or anything confidential.
What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?
"Characters" counts every symbol you typed, including spaces and line breaks. "Characters without spaces" removes all whitespace first. Many social networks and SMS limits use the first number, while some translation and publishing rates use the second.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time assumes an average silent reading speed of about 238 words per minute, and speaking time assumes about 150 words per minute, which is a comfortable pace for a presentation or voice-over. Real speeds vary with the reader and how technical the text is.
Is there a length limit?
There is no fixed limit. Very long documents (hundreds of thousands of words) are still counted locally; the only constraint is your device's memory.
Why might my count differ slightly from Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Editors treat edge cases differently — for example, URLs, numbers with decimal points, or words joined by slashes. Differences are usually within one or two percent and are caused by these rules, not by missing text.

Related tools

Case ConverterChange text to any letter case — from Title Case to snake_case — and see every format at once.Remove Duplicate LinesDelete repeated lines from lists and text, with options to ignore case, trim spaces and sort.Diff CheckerPaste two versions of a text and instantly see what was added, removed or changed.Lorem Ipsum GeneratorCreate as much Lorem Ipsum dummy text as you need — paragraphs, sentences or an exact word count.