Paste or type your text to instantly count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs. You’ll also see estimated reading and speaking time and the keywords you use most – useful for essays, blog posts, social media and SEO.
Common length limits
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters (standard accounts) |
| Meta description (Google) | About 150–160 characters before truncation |
| Title tag | About 50–60 characters |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters |
| Common App personal essay | 650 words |
How the counts work
- Words are groups of letters or numbers separated by spaces or punctuation. Hyphenated words and contractions count as one.
- Characters include spaces and punctuation; the “no spaces” count removes all whitespace.
- Reading time uses 238 words per minute (average adult silent reading speed); speaking time uses 150 words per minute.
- Top keywords ignore common words such as “the”, “and” and “is”.
How many pages is it?
Roughly 500 words per single-spaced page or 250 words per double-spaced page (12 pt font, normal margins).
Privacy
Your text never leaves your browser – counting happens on your device and nothing is stored or sent to our server.
How long should your writing be?
| Type of writing | Typical length |
|---|---|
| Tweet / X post | Up to 280 characters |
| Email to a busy reader | 50–125 words |
| Cover letter | 250–400 words |
| School essay | 500–1,500 words |
| Blog post | 800–2,000 words, depending on the topic |
| College application essay | Often 250–650 words |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 words |
| Novel | 70,000–100,000 words |
Words to pages and minutes
| Words | Single-spaced pages | Double-spaced pages | Reading time | Speaking time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | ½ | 1 | ~1 min | ~1.7 min |
| 500 | 1 | 2 | ~2 min | ~3.3 min |
| 1,000 | 2 | 4 | ~4 min | ~6.7 min |
| 2,000 | 4 | 8 | ~8.4 min | ~13.3 min |
| 5,000 | 10 | 20 | ~21 min | ~33 min |
Writing tips for clarity
- Keep sentences short. Aim for an average of 15–20 words; break up anything over 30.
- One idea per paragraph. Online, 2–4 sentences per paragraph reads best.
- Cut filler words such as “very”, “really”, “just” and “in order to”.
- Check keyword repetition. The top-keywords list shows words you may be overusing.
- Read it aloud. The speaking-time estimate helps when preparing a talk or video script.
Speeches and presentations
Most people speak at 130–160 words per minute. A 5-minute speech is about 650–750 words; a 10-minute talk about 1,300–1,500 words. Leave room for pauses and audience reaction.
Real-life scenarios
- Students: Ananya’s assignment must be 1,500 words ± 10%. She pastes her draft, sees 1,382 words, and knows she needs at least 30 more words to reach the 1,350 lower limit comfortably – and room to add a stronger conclusion.
- Bloggers and marketers: Before publishing, Mark checks that his meta description is under 155 characters and that his target keyword appears naturally rather than ten times. The top-keywords list makes over-optimisation easy to spot.
- Job seekers: A recruiter’s form allows 2,000 characters for a cover letter. The character count (with spaces) tells Priya exactly how much she needs to trim.
- Speakers: Daniel has a 3-minute slot at a wedding. At about 150 words per minute, his toast should be 400–450 words – the speaking-time estimate confirms it before he rehearses.
Characters, words and SEO
Search engines don’t reward length for its own sake, but pages that fully answer a question tend to be longer than thin pages. Use the counter to check that each section adds information: if a paragraph can be removed without losing meaning, cut it. Keep title tags around 50–60 characters and meta descriptions around 150–160 so they display fully in search results.
Related calculators
- Percentage calculator – work out marks, changes and discounts
- Days between dates – count days to a deadline
- Add days to a date – find a due date
FAQs
Do numbers count as words?
Yes. “2026” or “25%” each count as one word, just as most word processors count them.
Why does my word processor show a slightly different count?
Tools treat hyphens, slashes and symbols differently. Differences of a few words on long documents are normal.
Does the word counter work for Hindi and other languages?
Yes. It counts words in any language that separates words with spaces, including Hindi, Spanish and French.
How long is a 1,000-word essay to read aloud?
About 6–7 minutes at a normal speaking pace.