Word Counter & Reading Time Calculator

This free online word counter gives you an instant word count, character count, sentence count, and estimated reading time for any block of text. Paste in a blog post, essay, cover letter, or social caption, and every number updates as you type. Reading time is calculated from your text's word count and a reading speed you control (in words per minute, or WPM), so you can see how long the piece will actually take someone to read. Everything runs locally in your browser. No text is ever uploaded, stored, or sent to a server.

Text

Reading speed: 200 WPM

Words

Characters

Sentences

0 min read

Reading time

How to use

Paste or type your text into the box.
Drag the reading speed slider to match your audience (200 WPM is a typical adult pace).
Read off the word count, character count, sentence count, and reading time as they update instantly.
Trim or expand your text and watch the numbers change in real time until it's the length you want.

Example usage

Try pasting in something like: Reading is a wonderful way to learn new things. It opens the mind to new ideas and adventures. Take a few minutes each day to read something you love.

At the default speed of 200 words per minute, that comes out to 29 words, 150 characters, 3 sentences and roughly a 1 minute read.

FAQ

We take your word count and divide it by whatever reading speed you've set, then round up to the nearest minute. If your text includes images, we tack on an extra 12 seconds for each one.

The tool splits your text wherever it finds a period, question mark or exclamation point, and any empty leftover fragments just get ignored.

It doesn't. Every calculation happens right in your browser, so nothing you paste in ever gets sent to a server.

Definitely. Drag the slider anywhere between 100 and 500 words per minute to match your own pace. We default to 200 WPM, which is about average for adult readers.

Most adults read everyday text at 200–250 words per minute. Try a slower speed like 150 WPM for technical or dense writing, and a faster one like 300+ WPM if your audience tends to skim.

No. Paste anything from a short caption to a full manuscript; the counts update instantly no matter how long the text is.

Yes. Many SEO guidelines suggest 1,000–2,000 words for in-depth blog posts. Paste your draft in here before publishing to see exactly where it lands.