Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, with reading time.
How to use the Word counter
- Paste or type your text.
- Read the counts as they update.
- Trim to the length you need.
Useful limits
Meta descriptions around 155 characters, title tags around 60, X posts 280, and most launch-site taglines 60. For articles, cover the topic fully rather than aiming for a word count.
What each number means
Words counts runs of letters and numbers, so "don't" and "self-serve" each count as one. Characters includes spaces; the figure below it leaves them out, which some forms use. A sentence ends at a full stop, question or exclamation mark followed by a capital letter or number. Paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line. Reading time assumes 238 words a minute, and spoken time 150. The three bars compare your character count with an X post (280), a meta description (160) and a LinkedIn post (3,000), turning red when you go over. Most used words lists words of four letters or more.
When counts look off
Text pasted from a PDF often has a line break in every line, so paragraphs read as one each. Remove the hard breaks first. Abbreviations like "e.g. The" can split a sentence early. Other tools count hyphenated words, URLs and numbers differently, so expect small gaps between word counters. For platforms with strict limits, trust the platform's own counter on the final version.