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Word Counter: Count Words & Characters

Paste or type your text to count words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and reading and speaking time as you type. Bars show how it fits an X post (280 characters), a LinkedIn post (3,000), an Instagram caption (2,200), a meta description (about 155) and one SMS (160). The example below has 72 words and 396 characters.

Updated Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is uploadedHow this tool works

Stays in your browser

Replace the example with your own text: paste or type. Counts update as you type.

72 words · 396 characters

Your text is counted on this device and never uploaded. Drafts are saved only if you turn it on, and Clear deletes them.

Counts

Words
72
Characters
396
Characters without spaces
323
Sentences
6
Paragraphs
3
Lines
5
Average word length
4.3 letters
Reading time
18 sec
Speaking time
29 sec

Platform limits

Limits as of 2026. The full table, and how each one is counted, is further down the page.

  • X (Twitter) post396 / 280

    Over by 116

  • LinkedIn post396 / 3,000

    2,604 left

  • Instagram caption396 / 2,200

    1,804 left

  • Meta description396 / 155

    Over by 241, may be cut off

  • SEO title tag396 / 60

    Over by 336, may be cut off

  • SMS text message396 / 160

    Sends as 3 messages

    GSM-7 · 3 messages of up to 153

  • YouTube video title396 / 100

    Over by 296

  • Short essay, 250 words72 / 250 words

    178 to go

  • Essay, 500 words72 / 500 words

    428 to go

  • Common App personal essay72 / 650 words

    578 left

Top keywords

The words you use most, without common words like “the” and “and”. Worked out on this device only.

  1. text2× · 2.8%
  2. post2× · 2.8%
  3. characters2× · 2.8%

Character and word limits by platform (as of 2026)

Platforms change their limits from time to time; these are the figures the counter above checks against.
WhereLimitHow it is counted
X (Twitter) postup to 280 charactersEach link counts as 23; emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters count as 2. X Premium accounts can post longer.
LinkedIn postup to 3,000 charactersSpaces and line breaks count. Only the first few lines show before “see more”.
Instagram captionup to 2,200 charactersSpaces, line breaks, emoji and hashtags all count.
Meta descriptionabout 155 charactersNo fixed limit: Google shortens snippets by pixel width, usually after about 155–160 characters.
SEO title tagabout 60 charactersTitles longer than about 60 characters are often cut off in search results.
SMS text messageup to 160 characters160 GSM-7 characters, or 70 if any character is outside GSM-7 (emoji, Hebrew, Arabic, curly quotes). Longer texts are split into segments of 153 or 67.
YouTube video titleup to 100 charactersSpaces count. Shorter titles are less likely to be cut off in search and on phones.
Short essay, 250 words250 wordsA common length for short-answer and scholarship essays.
Essay, 500 words500 wordsA common length for school essays and supplemental college essays.
Common App personal essayup to 650 wordsThe personal essay allows 250–650 words.

How long it takes to read or say a text

At an average silent reading speed of 238 words per minute and a typical speaking pace of 150 words per minute.
WordsReading timeSpeaking time
10025 sec40 sec
2501 min 3 sec1 min 40 sec
5002 min 6 sec3 min 20 sec
7503 min 9 sec5 min
1,0004 min 12 sec6 min 40 sec
1,5006 min 18 sec10 min
2,0008 min 24 sec13 min 20 sec
2,50010 min 30 sec16 min 40 sec
5,00021 min 1 sec33 min 20 sec

How to count the words and characters in a text

  1. Add your text. Paste or type it into the box, replacing the example. Clear empties the box in one step.
  2. Read the counts. Words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, lines, average word length, and reading and speaking time update as you type.
  3. Check the platform limits. Each bar compares your text with one limit, such as an X post, a meta description or an SMS, and says how much room is left or how far over you are.
  4. Trim and recheck. Shorten the text until the bars you need are within their limits. For SMS, replacing emoji and curly quotes can bring the limit back from 70 to 160 characters per message.

Frequently asked questions

How many words is a 5-minute speech?
About 750 words at a typical speaking pace of 150 words per minute. A slower, deliberate delivery (around 130 words per minute) fits about 650 words, a brisk one (around 160) about 800.
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, for almost every limit: X, LinkedIn, Instagram, SMS, meta descriptions and title tags all count spaces and line breaks. This counter shows characters both with and without spaces, since some school and publishing guidelines use the count without spaces.
How many characters are in a tweet?
An X (Twitter) post holds up to 280 characters on a standard account; X Premium subscribers can post longer texts. Every link counts as 23 characters however long it is, and emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters count as 2 each.
How are SMS characters counted?
A single text message holds 160 characters from the GSM-7 alphabet (Latin letters, digits and common punctuation); a few symbols such as €, [ ] and { } take two. If any character is outside GSM-7, such as an emoji, Hebrew or Arabic letters or curly quotes, the whole message is sent as UCS-2 and holds 70 characters. Longer texts are split into parts of 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (UCS-2) characters.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4 minutes at the average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute, and about 6 minutes 40 seconds read aloud at 150 words per minute.
Does it work with Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or emoji?
Yes. Characters are counted as you see them, so an emoji with a skin tone or a letter with an accent counts once. Right-to-left text such as Hebrew and Arabic is counted word by word like English, and Chinese, Japanese and Thai, which are written without spaces, are split into words by your browser’s built-in language rules.
Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
No. The counting runs in your browser and the text is never uploaded. If you turn on “Save a draft in this browser”, the text is kept only in this browser’s local storage until you press Clear or turn the option off.

How it works

Characters are counted as user-perceived characters (grapheme clusters) with your browser’s Intl.Segmenter, so combined emoji and accented letters count once. A word is any space-separated run of text containing a letter or digit, as in word processors, so “well-known” and “don’t” are one word each; languages written without spaces are split into words by the browser’s dictionary rules. A paragraph is a line with text on it; blank lines are not counted. Reading time assumes 238 words per minute (the average adult silent reading rate for non-fiction in a 2019 meta-analysis) and speaking time 150 words per minute (a typical presentation pace); both are estimates, and real speeds vary widely. X length follows X’s published weighted-counting rules (links 23, emoji and CJK characters 2); SMS length follows the GSM 03.38 alphabet, including its two-slot extension characters.

Sources

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