Word & Character Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs with real-time reading time estimates. Shows speaking time and text stats.
Runs in your browser. No data leaves your device.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Word Counter work?
The tool scans your text character by character, splitting on whitespace boundaries to count words and using regex patterns to detect sentence-ending punctuation for sentence counts. Reading time is derived by dividing the word count by an average reading speed (200-250 WPM). All statistics update in real time using debounced input handling so there is no lag while typing.
How are words counted?
Words are counted by splitting text on whitespace boundaries. Hyphenated words like "well-known" count as one word, matching the convention used by most word processors.
Does it count characters with or without spaces?
Both. The tool shows total characters including spaces and a separate count excluding spaces, so you can use whichever your platform or assignment requires.
How is reading time estimated?
Reading time is calculated at approximately 200-250 words per minute, which is the average adult reading speed. Speaking time uses a slower rate of about 130 words per minute.