Word Counter

Example Calculation

Paste the sentence "Tidy Math makes everyday calculations simple." and you will see 6 words and 45 characters (42 without spaces).

Some limits people check: an X post is 280 characters, a search result description is about 155 characters, a typical college essay is 500 to 650 words, and at about 238 words per minute, a 1,000-word article takes roughly 4 minutes to read.

How It Works

Whether you are writing an essay, a blog post, a social media caption or a cover letter, you often need to meet a specific length. This word counter analyzes your text in real time and reports the number of words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs, along with estimated reading and speaking times.

Words are counted as continuous groups of letters or numbers, so hyphenated terms and contractions are treated as single words. Sentences are detected by terminal punctuation such as periods, question marks and exclamation points, and paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Reading time assumes an average adult speed of about 238 words per minute, and speaking time assumes about 150 words per minute — useful for timing a speech, a podcast script or a presentation.

The top keywords table lists the most frequent meaningful words in your text after removing common filler words, along with how often each appears and its percentage of the total. This helps you spot overused words in your writing and, for web content, check that your main topic terms appear naturally without being stuffed.

Common length targets include roughly 280 characters for a classic short-post limit, about 155 characters for a search-engine meta description, 50–60 characters for a page title, 500 words for a standard college essay page count, and 1,000–2,000 words for in-depth blog articles. Your text is processed locally in your browser; it is never uploaded or stored, so you can safely check drafts and private notes.

Formula Explained

Reading time = words ÷ 238 words per minute (rounded up). Speaking time = words ÷ 150.

Keyword density = occurrences of a word ÷ total words × 100.

Assumptions and limits

• Your text is processed in your browser and is never uploaded or stored.
• Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average adult silent reading rate for non-fiction found in a 2019 review of 190 studies. Your own speed will differ.
• Speaking time uses 150 words per minute, a common rule of thumb for a speech. Fast and slow speakers differ.
• The keyword list ignores very short and very common words, and it is a rough guide, not an SEO score.