Word Counter & Text Statistics
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs as you type, with reading and speaking time, a Flesch readability score, keyword frequency, and common phrases. Set a character goal for tweets, meta descriptions, or essays and watch the live counter. Everything runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Free, no signup.
How to Use This Tool
- Type or paste your text — start typing or paste any text, or load a short, medium, or long sample to see the tool in action.
- Watch the live statistics — words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, and speaking time update on every keystroke.
- Check readability and keywords — see your Flesch Reading Ease score, the words you use most, and your most common two-word phrases.
- Set a goal and export — enter a character goal or limit to track progress, then copy the text or export a CSV of the statistics.
About Word Counting & Readability
Every piece of writing lives inside a limit. Search engines reward pages that cover a topic thoroughly, so blog posts and landing pages often perform best in a predictable word range. Social platforms cap posts by exact character count, cutting off anything that runs long. Schools and journals set strict word minimums and maximums that affect your grade or acceptance. A live word counter removes the guesswork from all three. Instead of writing blind and trimming later, you watch words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs update as you type. That instant feedback keeps you inside the target from the first draft, saving revision time and preventing rejected or truncated work.
Reading time and speaking time answer two different questions. Silent reading is fast, so this tool estimates it at 200 words per minute, a common average for adults reading online. Use that figure to label an article (for example, '7 min read') and set reader expectations. Speaking is much slower, so presentations, videos, and podcasts are estimated at 130 words per minute, close to a clear conversational pace. If you are writing a script for a three-minute video, you need roughly 390 words, not 600. Confusing the two rates is a frequent mistake that leaves speakers rushing or running short. Knowing both numbers lets you size content to the exact slot it must fill.
Word frequency shows which terms you actually lean on, and it often surprises writers. This tool lists your top ten words and the most common two-word phrases, so you can see at a glance whether your main topic is present or buried. Keyword density is the share of total words that a given term represents. A target keyword sitting around one to two percent usually reads naturally, while a higher figure risks looking like keyword stuffing that search engines penalize. Frequency data also exposes crutch words and filler you repeat without noticing. Reviewing this list before publishing helps you tighten prose, reinforce your subject, and keep the writing varied and readable.
The Flesch Reading Ease score turns sentence length and syllable count into a single number from 0 to 100, where higher means easier. A score of 90 to 100 reads at a fifth-grade level and suits very broad audiences. The 60 to 70 band is plain English aimed at a general reader, and it is a safe target for most web content and marketing. Scores of 30 to 50 signal dense, college-level writing, while anything below 30 is very difficult and best reserved for academic or technical readers. Watching this number as you edit tells you when to shorten sentences and swap long words for simpler ones, matching your text to its readers.
All of these numbers point in one direction: writing that fits its purpose, its platform, and its audience. Counting and scoring your text is the easy part, though. The harder work is producing a steady stream of content that hits the right length, reads clearly, and actually ranks and converts month after month. That is where our content-marketing team comes in. We plan, write, and optimize blog posts, landing pages, and social copy built around real keyword research and readability targets like the ones this tool measures. Use the counter for every draft you write, and when you are ready to scale, reach out to turn these metrics into a content strategy that grows traffic.
Pair this with our Readability Checker for deeper grade-level analysis, the Keyword Density Checker for SEO, and the Twitter Character Counter for social posts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I count words or characters for SEO?
For on-page SEO, words matter most. Google reads and ranks based on the depth and relevance of your content, and thorough pages often land in the 1,000 to 2,000 word range for competitive topics, though quality beats any fixed number. Characters matter in specific SEO elements with hard display limits: title tags are usually cut around 50 to 60 characters, and meta descriptions around 150 to 160 characters. So think in words for the body copy and in characters for titles, descriptions, and URLs. This tool tracks both at once, so you can hit body-length goals while keeping snippet elements inside their pixel-limited display space.
What is a good reading time for different content types?
It depends on the format and intent. Social captions and product descriptions should be under a minute. A standard blog post of 1,000 to 1,500 words runs about 5 to 8 minutes at 200 words per minute, which suits most how-to and informational content. In-depth guides and pillar pages can run 12 minutes or more when the topic justifies it. Email newsletters work best under 3 minutes so readers finish them. Landing pages are shorter still, since you want action, not a long read. Use the reading-time estimate to match your piece to the attention your audience is likely to give it.
How many words per minute do people speak?
Most people speak between 120 and 150 words per minute in clear, conversational delivery, and this tool uses 130 as a practical default for scripts. Audiobook narration is often paced around 150 to 160 words per minute. Podcasters and casual speakers may reach 160 or higher. Formal presentations tend to be slower, near 100 to 130, because pauses and emphasis add time. For a script, multiply your speaking rate by the target minutes: at 130 words per minute, a 5-minute talk needs about 650 words. Always read a draft aloud and time it, since your natural pace is the number that really matters.
What are the character limits for social media posts?
Limits vary widely, so counting characters before you post prevents cut-off text. As common reference points: X (Twitter) allows 280 characters on a standard post; Instagram captions allow up to 2,200 characters but only show about 125 before a 'more' link; Facebook posts allow very long text but engagement drops after about 80 characters; LinkedIn posts allow 3,000 characters and truncate the preview near 210; a YouTube title is capped at 100 characters; and a meta description shows around 150 to 160. Platforms change these numbers over time, so treat them as guidance and use the live character count to stay safely inside the current limit.
What is keyword density and what is a good percentage?
Keyword density is the number of times a keyword appears divided by the total word count, expressed as a percentage. If your target term appears 10 times in a 1,000-word article, its density is 1 percent. There is no official ideal, but roughly 1 to 2 percent for a primary keyword tends to read naturally and signals relevance without overdoing it. Higher densities can look like keyword stuffing, an outdated tactic that modern search engines may penalize. Focus on covering the topic with natural language and related terms rather than hitting an exact figure. This tool's frequency and phrase lists help you confirm your keyword is present without being repeated to excess.
What do the Flesch Reading Ease score ranges mean?
The score runs from 0 to 100, and higher is easier to read. The usual bands are: 90 to 100 very easy, around a fifth-grade level; 80 to 90 easy; 70 to 80 fairly easy; 60 to 70 plain English for a general audience; 50 to 60 fairly difficult; 30 to 50 difficult, roughly college level; and 0 to 30 very difficult, suited to graduates and specialists. For most web content, marketing, and email, aim for 60 or above so a wide audience reads comfortably. The formula rewards shorter sentences and shorter words, so trimming both is the fastest way to raise a low score.
What word counts are typical for academic writing?
Academic lengths are set by your instructor or journal, and you should always follow their exact brief. As rough norms: a high-school essay often runs 300 to 1,000 words; a standard college essay 1,500 to 3,000; a literature review 3,000 to 6,000; a dissertation chapter 8,000 to 12,000; and a full master's or doctoral thesis anywhere from 15,000 to 80,000 or more depending on field and level. Journal articles commonly fall between 4,000 and 8,000 words. Abstracts are usually capped near 150 to 300 words. Because many programs count words strictly and may exclude references or appendices, use a live counter to confirm you meet the requirement without padding.
How many words are on a page?
It depends on font, size, spacing, and margins, so any conversion is an estimate. A common rule is that one page holds about 500 words single-spaced or about 250 words double-spaced, using a standard 12-point font like Times New Roman or Arial with one-inch margins. So 1,000 words is roughly 2 pages single-spaced or 4 pages double-spaced, and a 2,000-word paper fills about 4 to 8 pages depending on spacing. Handwritten pages hold far fewer words, often 100 to 200. When a requirement is given in pages, confirm the expected spacing and font first, then use the word count as the more reliable target.