Don's Tools · Text & Writing · Word & Character Counter

Word & character counter

Count words, characters, sentences and more as you type, right in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.

Top words
Good to know: Reading time assumes about 200 words per minute and speaking time about 130 words per minute.
Word and Character Counter is a free tool that counts your text entirely in your browser, with nothing uploaded. As you type or paste, it shows the number of words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and lines, along with estimated reading time at about 200 words per minute and speaking time at about 130 words per minute, plus your most frequently used words. You can copy the text, download a plain-text report of the statistics, or clear and start again.

Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.

How to use Word & character counter

  1. Add your text

    Type or paste your text into the input box. Everything is handled by your own browser, so nothing is sent to a server.

  2. Read the result

    The output updates as you type, so there is nothing to submit and nothing to wait for.

  3. Copy or save it

    Copy text, Don puts the result on your clipboard and Download report saves it as a file.

What this tool does

Live word and character count

Words and characters are counted as you type, with and without spaces, so both of the limits people are given are covered.

Sentences, paragraphs and lines

Sentences, paragraphs and lines are counted too, which is what matters when a brief is written in those terms.

Reading and speaking time

Reading time and speaking time are estimated from the word count, for posts and for anything you have to read aloud.

Most-used words

The most-used words are listed with their counts, which is a quick way to catch a word you have leaned on too hard.

No upload, no sign-up

The text stays in your browser, so unpublished writing is never uploaded, and Copy text or Download report takes it away.

Frequently asked questions

Is my text uploaded anywhere?

No. The counter works entirely in your browser as you type, and your text is never sent to a server.

How are words counted?

Words are counted as groups of non-space characters, the same way most editors do, so hyphenated words and numbers count as one word each.

How is reading and speaking time worked out?

Reading time assumes an average silent reading speed of about 200 words per minute, and speaking time assumes about 130 words per minute, which is a comfortable presentation pace. They are estimates and vary by person and material.

What counts as a sentence or paragraph?

A sentence is text ending in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. A paragraph is a block of text separated by a blank line.

Does it work for other languages?

Yes for character and line counts. Word, sentence and the most-used-words list work best for languages that separate words with spaces.

Is there a length limit?

No fixed limit. Very large amounts of text are handled in your browser, so extremely long documents may slow down on an older device.

Last updated: