0
Words
0
Characters
with spaces
0
Characters
no spaces
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Lines
0
Avg Word Len
0
Unique Words
Your Text
Results update as you type
Common word count targets
Quick reference for writers and content creators
| Content Type | Typical Range | ~Reading Time |
|---|---|---|
| Tweet / X post | up to 280 characters | < 1 min |
| Instagram caption | 138–150 words | < 1 min |
| Blog post (short) | 300–600 words | 1–3 min |
| Blog post (standard) | 1,000–1,500 words | 4–6 min |
| Long-form article / SEO | 1,500–2,500 words | 6–10 min |
| Short story | 1,000–10,000 words | 4–42 min |
| College essay | 500–650 words | ~3 min |
| Novel | 70,000–100,000 words | 5–7 hours |
What gets counted
📝 Words
Any sequence of characters separated by spaces or punctuation. Hyphenated compounds (e.g. well-known) count as one word.
🔤 Characters
Two counts: total characters including spaces, and characters excluding all whitespace. Useful for platforms with character limits.
📖 Reading time
Based on the average adult silent reading speed of 238 wpm (scientific studies). Speech time uses 130 wpm (natural speaking pace).
🔢 Unique words
Number of distinct words (case-insensitive). Compare this to total words to get a sense of vocabulary richness in the text.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the word counter count words?+
Words are identified by splitting on whitespace and filtering empty tokens. Hyphenated words (like "well-known") count as one word. Numbers, abbreviations, and contractions each count as one word.
Does character count include spaces?+
Both counts are shown simultaneously: "Characters (with spaces)" is the total character count including all whitespace, and "Characters (no spaces)" excludes all spaces, tabs, and newlines.
How is reading time calculated?+
Reading time is estimated at 238 words per minute — the average silent reading speed for adults according to a 2019 meta-analysis. Speech time uses 130 wpm (a comfortable speaking pace). Slow reading uses 150 wpm.
Is there a word or character limit?+
No limit. The tool processes everything client-side in your browser, so it handles short tweets or full book manuscripts equally well. No data is sent to any server.
How are sentences counted?+
Sentences are counted by splitting on sentence-ending punctuation: periods, exclamation marks, and question marks, while accounting for common abbreviations and decimal numbers to avoid false splits.
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