Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type. Free, no sign-up — your text autosaves on your device and never leaves the browser.
How to count words
- 01
Paste or type your text
The counts update on every keystroke — there is no Count button and nothing to submit.
- 02
Read the stat rail
Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, pages, reading time and speaking time are all live alongside the editor.
- 03
Close the tab whenever
Your draft autosaves about a second after you stop typing, and the last 25 versions stay on your device so you can roll back.
Why word count matters
A word count is only useful if you know what it is counting. Every figure in the rail comes from a stated rule rather than a rounded guess, so here are the rules.
A word is a Unicode word, not a gap between spaces
Splitting on whitespace is the usual shortcut and it is wrong in ways you only notice later. A 500-character Chinese paragraph has no spaces at all, so it counts as one word. Emoji built from joined sequences get shredded into pieces. This counter uses the browser's Unicode segmenter instead, then stitches hyphenated runs back together — "state-of-the-art" is one word, matching Word and Google Docs, not four.
Characters are counted by character, not by code unit
JavaScript strings are UTF-16, so the naive length of an emoji or a rare CJK glyph is 2 rather than 1. Counting by code point fixes that. You get the number a human would get by pointing at the screen, which is also the number a platform's character limit is actually measured against.
"Dr. Smith" is not two sentences
A period followed by a space and a capital letter looks exactly like a sentence boundary, which is why most counters break on abbreviations and initials. Common abbreviations and single initials are masked before the text is split, so "Dr. Smith" and "J. R. R. Tolkien" stay intact. Decimals like 3.14 were never at risk, since a boundary requires the whitespace.
Reading and speaking times cite a source
Reading time assumes 238 words per minute — the measured silent-reading average from Brysbaert (2019), not a round number picked because it looks plausible. Speaking time assumes 130, a typical presentation pace, which puts a five-minute talk at roughly 650 words. Pages use the 250-words-per-page manuscript convention, so 1,000 words is about 4 pages double-spaced.
The limits worth watching
X/Twitter cuts at 280 characters and SMS at 160. A search result truncates a title near 60 characters and a meta description near 155. LinkedIn posts stop at 3,000, Instagram captions at 2,200. Watch the Characters row against whichever one governs what you are writing — catching it while drafting is editing, catching it afterwards is rewriting.
Nothing here needs an account
Autosave, version history and saved documents are the features other counters put behind a sign-in. They run on your own device here, through IndexedDB rather than localStorage — snapshots outgrow the 5 MB ceiling, and localStorage writes are synchronous and would stutter the editor as you type. The privacy claim is structural, not a promise: there is no server to send a draft to.
Frequently asked questions
Does my text get uploaded anywhere?
No. Counting happens instantly in your browser, and drafts are saved to IndexedDB on your device only — nothing is ever sent to a server.
Will I lose my work if I close the tab?
No. Your draft autosaves about a second after you stop typing, and LocalBench keeps up to 25 timestamped versions so you can roll back. Reopen the page and your last draft is restored automatically.
How is the word count calculated?
Using the browser’s Unicode text segmenter, so hyphenated words like "state-of-the-art" count as one word, contractions like "don’t" stay intact, and CJK text isn’t split into individual characters.
How are reading and speaking time estimated?
Reading time assumes 238 words per minute, the measured silent-reading average from Brysbaert (2019). Speaking time assumes 130 words per minute, a typical presentation pace.
How is the page count calculated?
Assuming double-spaced 12-point text at 250 words per page — the standard manuscript and academic-formatting convention.
Does sentence counting handle abbreviations?
Yes. Common abbreviations ("Dr.", "etc.", "Jan.") and initials ("J. R. R. Tolkien") are recognized so they don’t get miscounted as sentence breaks.
Is this free? Do I need an account?
Yes, and no. There’s no sign-up — the version history and privacy that other counters put behind a login are just how this tool works by default.
How many pages is 1,000 words?
About 4 pages double-spaced, or 2 pages single-spaced, at 12-point type. The Pages row updates live for whatever you have written, using the 250-words-per-page manuscript convention. As a quick reference: 500 words is 2 pages, 1,500 words is 6, and 2,000 words is 8.
Does it count numbers and symbols as words?
A standalone number like "2026" counts as one word, the same way Microsoft Word and Google Docs treat it. Bare punctuation and symbols are not counted as words, but they are included in the character count.
Does it work offline and in other languages?
Yes to both. Once the page has loaded, counting needs no network at all — you can work on a plane. Language support comes from the browser’s own Unicode segmenter, so Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai and European languages all segment correctly rather than being split on spaces.
What are the character limits I should know about?
X/Twitter posts cap at 280 characters, SMS at 160, a Google meta description is best kept near 155, an SEO title near 60, LinkedIn posts at 3,000 and Instagram captions at 2,200. Watch the Characters row against whichever one applies.