Free Online Word Counter and Character Counter

What Is a Word Counter?

A word counter is an online tool that counts the words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in any text you type or paste. Writers use it to hit a target length, students use it to stay within an assignment limit, and marketers use it to fit text into fields with strict limits. Lumara's free online word counter also shows reading time, speaking time and your most-used words, so you can see how your writing reads, not just how long it is.

How to Use Our Free Word Counter

1. Type in the box, or press Paste to insert text from your clipboard. You can also paste with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).
2. Read the cards under the box. They update instantly with every keystroke.
3. Scroll to the keyword section to see which words you use most often and what share of your text each one makes up.
4. Use Copy statistics or Download results to save the numbers, or Clear to start again.

Writing for search? Draft your page title and description here first, then build your tags with the Meta Tag Generator. If your text needs a different capitalization, try the Text Case Converter.

Word Count vs. Character Count

Word count measures length in words. Character count measures length in individual letters, numbers, spaces and symbols. They answer different questions.

When word count matters

Essays, articles, blog posts, reports, speeches and submissions usually set a minimum or maximum number of words. Freelance writers and translators are often paid per word.

When character count matters

Some places limit characters instead. These are common guidelines, and platforms can change them:

• Posts on X (formerly Twitter): 280 characters for standard accounts.
• SMS: 160 characters in a standard single message, and fewer if the text includes emoji or non-Latin letters.
• Meta descriptions: roughly 150 to 160 characters usually fit in search results, but the cut-off varies.
• Page titles: about 60 characters usually display without being cut off.

The card labelled Characters includes spaces. Characters, no spaces leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks, which is useful when a limit ignores whitespace.

How Does Our Word Counter Work?

The counting runs in your browser using clear rules, so you can predict the result:

• Words: a word is a run of characters separated by spaces or line breaks that contains at least one letter or number. A lone dash or symbol is not counted. "Well-known" counts as one word, and "it's" counts as one.
• Chinese, Japanese and Thai: these languages do not put spaces between words, so the tool uses your browser's built-in word segmentation where it is available. Counts for these languages are approximate, and the character count is often more useful.
• Characters: each visible character counts once, including emoji.
• Sentences: a new sentence starts after a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or similar mark that is followed by a space or the end of the text. Abbreviations such as "Mr." or "e.g." can be counted as sentence breaks, and decimal numbers such as 3.5 are not.
• Paragraphs and lines: every non-empty line counts as a paragraph, as in most word processors. Lines counts all lines, including blank ones.
• Unique words: different words after ignoring capital letters and punctuation at the edges, so "The" and "the" are one word.
• Average word length: the average number of letters and digits per word.

Other programs may show slightly different numbers because each one defines a word a little differently. If you must match a specific system, check the result there as well.

How Is Reading Time Calculated?

Reading time is your word count divided by 200 words per minute, a typical pace for silent reading of general text. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for a speech or presentation. Real speed varies with the reader, the subject and how complex the writing is, so treat both as estimates. Technical material, for example, usually takes longer to read.

Who Can Benefit From a Word Counter?

• Students checking essays, abstracts and discussion posts against a limit.
• Writers and bloggers aiming for a target length or tracking daily progress.
• SEO and content teams checking titles, descriptions and article length, and spotting overused words with the keyword list.
• Social media managers fitting captions and posts into character limits.
• Translators and freelancers estimating work that is priced per word.
• Speakers timing a talk from a script.

If you need dummy text to test a layout, the Lorem Ipsum Generator pairs well with this tool, and the guide How to Use a Word Counter has more tips on choosing the right length.

Why Use Lumara Word Counter?

• Instant: numbers update as you type, even in long documents.
• Private by design: counting happens in your browser. The tool does not send your text to our servers or save it.
• Free, with no signup or login.
• More than a count: reading time, speaking time, unique words, average word length, and keyword density.
• Works on phones, tablets and computers, with buttons that are easy to tap and use from a keyboard.
• Multilingual: it handles accented letters, Arabic, Cyrillic and other scripts.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I count words online?

Open this page, type or paste your text into the box, and read the Words card. It updates instantly. There is nothing to install and no button to press.

Is Lumara Word Counter free?

Yes. It is free to use as often as you like, with no account, signup or login.

How does a word counter calculate words?

It splits your text wherever there are spaces or line breaks and counts each piece that contains a letter or number. For languages written without spaces, such as Chinese, Japanese and Thai, it uses your browser's word-detection feature when available. See "How Does Our Word Counter Work?" above for the full rules.

What is the difference between word count and character count?

Word count is the number of words. Character count is the number of individual characters, such as letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation. A 100-word text usually has roughly 500 to 700 characters, depending on the language and the length of the words.

Does word count include spaces?

No. Spaces separate words and are never counted as words. They are included in the Characters card, and left out of Characters, no spaces.

How is reading time calculated?

Reading time is your word count divided by 200 words per minute. Speaking time divides it by 130 words per minute. Both are estimates, since people read and speak at different speeds.

Can I count words in a PDF?

This tool does not open PDF files, but you can open the PDF, select and copy the text, and paste it here. Scanned PDFs that are only pictures of pages need text recognition (OCR) first, because there is no text to copy.

Is my text saved or uploaded?

The word counter processes your text in your browser. It does not send your text to our servers and does not save it, so it disappears when you close or refresh the page. This page also loads a cookie banner and an advertisement from third-party services. The tool does not pass your text to them, but as with any website, avoid pasting passwords or highly confidential material. See our Privacy Policy.

Can I use this word counter on mobile?

Yes. It works in the browser on phones and tablets, with the same features as on a computer. Use the Paste button, or press and hold in the box to paste.

What is a good word count for an essay?

It depends on the assignment, so follow your instructions first. As rough guidance, short responses are often 250 to 500 words, and many school and college essays fall between 500 and 2,500 words. Quality and meeting the brief matter more than hitting a number.