Free Online Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time instantly — free online word counter with top word frequency analysis. 100% client-side.
100% Client-Side · Your data never leaves your browserHow to Use Word Counter
Paste or type any text into the input area. Statistics update live as you type — no need to click a button.
The dashboard shows:
- Words — total word count
- Characters — total character count including spaces and punctuation
- Chars (no spaces) — character count excluding all whitespace
- Sentences — count of sentence-ending punctuation marks
- Paragraphs — blocks of text separated by blank lines
- Reading time — estimated at 200 words per minute
The Top Words section lists the 10 most frequent meaningful words, excluding common stop words like "the" and "a".
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the word count calculated?
Words are counted by splitting the text on whitespace (spaces, tabs, newlines) and filtering out empty segments. Hyphenated words like "well-known" count as one word. Numbers and punctuation attached to words are included in that word token.
What is the reading time based on?
Reading time is estimated at 200 words per minute — a common average for adult reading of general prose. Technical content with code or complex terminology is typically read more slowly, so treat the estimate as a minimum.
How are sentences counted?
Sentences are counted by the number of sentence-ending punctuation marks: periods (.), exclamation marks (!), and question marks (?). Ellipses (...) count as one mark.
How are top words determined?
The tool counts the frequency of each unique word (case-insensitive) and filters out common English stop words (the, a, is, of, etc.) that carry little meaning. The top 10 remaining words are shown.
Does the tool save my text anywhere?
No. All counting happens locally in your browser as you type. Text up to 2,000 characters is stored in the URL hash for sharing, but nothing is ever sent to a server.