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JustTools

Word Counter

Paste or type your text to see live word and character counts, reading and speaking time, keyword density, readability scores and social-media limits — instantly and privately.

Runs in your browser Free · no sign-up

At a glance

  • Counts words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs, lines and unique words as you type.
  • Hyphenated words and contractions such as “well-known” and “don’t” count as one word, the same as Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
  • Unicode-aware: Hindi and other Indic scripts, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and emoji are counted correctly.
  • Reading time assumes 238 words per minute and speaking time 150 words per minute.
  • Shows keyword density for single words and 2–3 word phrases, with optional stop-word filtering.
  • Calculates Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level for English text.
  • Checks text against limits for X posts (280), SEO titles (60), meta descriptions (160), Instagram captions (2,200) and more.
  • Text is analysed in your browser and never uploaded. An optional draft autosave uses this browser’s local storage only.

Step by step

How to count words in your text

  1. 1

    Add your text

    Type in the box, paste text from any document, or click Open file to load a .txt or .md file.

  2. 2

    Read the live counts

    Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and speaking time update instantly at the top.

  3. 3

    Dig deeper

    Check Details for averages and page estimates, then use the tabs for keyword density, character limits and readability.

  4. 4

    Set a goal or export

    Enter a word goal to track progress, change the case if needed, then copy or download the finished text.

Features

Everything you need, nothing you don’t

Live counts

Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and lines update with every keystroke — even for book-length text.

Reading and speaking time

See how long your text takes to read silently and to deliver as a speech or video script.

Keyword density

Find your most-used words and 2–3 word phrases, with common words filtered out, to spot repetition and check SEO focus.

Readability scores

Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level tell you how easy your English text is to read, and for whom.

Platform limits

Progress bars for X posts, SEO titles, meta descriptions, SMS, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn show what fits and what is over.

Word goal

Set a target such as 1,500 words for an essay or article and watch the progress bar fill as you write.

Case converter and file tools

Switch to UPPERCASE, lowercase, Title Case or Sentence case, open a .txt or .md file, copy, or download your text — with one-step undo.

Private autosave

Your draft is kept in this browser so a refresh never loses work. Turn it off with one switch; nothing is sent anywhere either way.

How words and characters are counted

A word is any run of characters between spaces that contains at least one letter or number. That means “well-known”, “don’t”, “COVID-19” and “2026” each count as one word, while a stray dash or ampersand does not — the same rules Microsoft Word and Google Docs use, so your count matches what an editor or teacher will see.

Languages written without spaces between words — Chinese, Japanese and Thai — are split into words with the Unicode word-segmentation rules built into your browser. Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and other Indic scripts, which do use spaces, are counted like English.

Characters are counted the way you see them: an emoji with a skin tone, a flag, or a Devanagari conjunct is one character, even though it is stored as several code points. The Details panel also shows the size in bytes (UTF-8), which matters for databases and some SMS gateways.

Paragraphs are counted as non-empty lines, as in Microsoft Word. Sentences end at a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or the Devanagari danda (।).

How many pages is 1,000 words?

With a 12-point font such as Times New Roman or Arial and 1-inch margins, a single-spaced page holds about 500 words and a double-spaced page about 250. Headings, short paragraphs and larger fonts reduce that.

WordsSingle-spaced pagesDouble-spaced pagesReading time
2500.51about 1 minute
50012about 2 minutes
1,00024about 4 minutes
1,50036about 6 minutes
2,00048about 8 minutes
5,0001020about 21 minutes

How reading time and speaking time are calculated

Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for adults reading non-fiction English found in a 2019 review of 190 studies (Brysbaert). Speaking time uses 150 words per minute, a comfortable pace for presentations, podcasts and video voice-overs.

Technical material is read more slowly and fiction faster, so treat both figures as estimates. For a timed speech, rehearse aloud once and adjust.

Character limits cheat sheet

WhereLimitNotes
X (Twitter) post280 charactersStandard accounts; every link counts as 23
SEO title tag~60 charactersGoogle truncates by pixel width, roughly 50–60 characters
Meta description~160 charactersLonger text is usually cut off in results
SMS message160 charactersDrops to 70 when the text contains emoji or non-Latin letters
YouTube title100 charactersAbout 70 are visible in search results
Instagram caption2,200 charactersOnly the first lines show before “more”
LinkedIn post3,000 charactersOnly the first few lines show before “see more”

Understanding readability scores

The Flesch Reading Ease score rates text from about 0 to 100 using average sentence length and average syllables per word: the higher the score, the easier the text. The Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level turns the same inputs into a US school grade.

ScoreDifficultyTypical reader
90–100Very easy5th grade (age 10–11)
70–89Easy to fairly easy6th–7th grade
60–69Plain English8th–9th grade (age 13–15)
50–59Fairly difficult10th–12th grade
30–49DifficultCollege level
0–29Very difficultCollege graduate

Keyword density and SEO

Keyword density is how often a word or phrase appears as a share of all words. Search engines do not reward a particular percentage, and repeating a phrase unnaturally can hurt. Use the table to spot accidental repetition and to confirm your main topic is clearly present — then write for readers first.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is this word counter free and private?

Yes. It is free with no sign-up and no length limit, and your text is analysed entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or paste is uploaded or stored on a server.

Does it count hyphenated words and contractions as one word?

Yes. “Well-known”, “mother-in-law” and “don’t” each count as one word, matching Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Are spaces counted as characters?

The main Characters figure includes spaces and line breaks. Characters (no spaces) in the Details panel excludes all whitespace.

How is reading time calculated?

Reading time is the word count divided by 238 words per minute, the average adult silent reading speed. Speaking time uses 150 words per minute.

How many words are on one page?

About 500 words single-spaced or 250 double-spaced, with a 12-point font and 1-inch margins. The Details panel shows both page estimates for your text.

Does it work with Hindi and other languages?

Yes. Counting is Unicode-aware, so Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and other Indic scripts, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and emoji are handled correctly. Readability scores are English-only because the Flesch formulas are.

What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?

For most websites and general readers, 60–70 (plain English) is a good target. Scores above 80 read very easily; below 50 suits specialist or academic audiences.

What is the ideal keyword density for SEO?

There is no ideal percentage. Mention your main topic naturally where it helps the reader, and use the density table to catch repetition rather than to hit a number.

Is my text saved?

Only if Save draft in this browser is on (the default). The draft stays in this browser’s local storage on your device and is never sent anywhere. Turn the switch off to delete it.

How many characters are allowed in a tweet or a meta description?

An X (Twitter) post allows 280 characters for standard accounts, and a meta description is best kept to about 160. The Character limits tab checks both, plus SEO titles, SMS, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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