Word & Character Counter
Type or paste your text to count words, characters and sentences, see the reading time and readability, and check it fits X, SMS or a meta description.
Your text stays in this browser. Nothing is uploaded, and shared links never include it.
Chinese and Japanese are counted per character, so set the reading speed in characters a minute for those.
How easy is it to read?
Readability scores for English text, from sentence length and word length.
The grade scores are US school years: grade 8 suits most 13- to 14-year-olds. Syllables are found by a rule of thumb, so scores can differ slightly from other tools.
Keyword density
Your most used words and phrases. Density = times used × words in the phrase ÷ total words.
Characters per platform
How your text fits common limits. X and text messages use their own counting rules, shown below.
“Typical” means a guide, not a hard limit: Google trims titles and descriptions by pixel width, roughly at these lengths. Limits change from time to time, so check the platform before relying on one.
How your text is counted
Characters, then words and sentences, then time and readability.
- 1
Count the characters
247 characters− 48 spaces= 199 without
- 2
Find the words
Split at spaces= 48 wordsin 3 sentences
- 3
Time to read
48 ÷ 238 a min= 12 secaloud: 19 sec
- 4
How easy to read
Sentence: 16 wordsWord: 1.25 syllablesFlesch 84.8 · Easy
Read more: the formulas, a worked example, other languages, SMS and X counting
The counter reads your text in your browser each time it changes. It first splits it into the characters you see, then finds words and sentences, then works out times, readability and limits from those counts.
The formula
characters = letters, digits, spaces, punctuation and emoji as you see them (👍🏽 = 1)
characters without spaces = characters − spaces and line breaks
words = runs of letters or digits between spaces and punctuation (don't, e-mail, 1,000 and a web address are one word); each Chinese or Japanese character = 1 word
reading time = words ÷ reading speed (238 a minute) · speaking time = words ÷ 150
Flesch reading ease = 206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words)
Flesch–Kincaid grade = 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59
keyword density = times used × words in the phrase ÷ total words × 100
Worked example
The sample text has 247 characters; 48 of them are spaces or line breaks, so there are 247 − 48 = 199 characters without spaces. It has 48 words in 3 sentences and 2 paragraphs. Reading time is 48 ÷ 238 = 0.202 minutes, about 12 seconds; speaking time is 48 ÷ 150 = 0.32 minutes, about 19 seconds.
The syllable rule finds 60 syllables, so there are 60 ÷ 48 = 1.25 syllables a word and 48 ÷ 3 = 16 words a sentence. Flesch reading ease = 206.835 − 1.015 × 16 − 84.6 × 1.25 = 206.835 − 16.24 − 105.75 = 84.8, which is “Easy”. Flesch–Kincaid grade = 0.39 × 16 + 11.8 × 1.25 − 15.59 = 6.24 + 14.75 − 15.59 = 5.4.
Skipping common words, “follow” and “long” are used twice each: 2 ÷ 48 × 100 = 4.17% density. As an X post the text uses 247 of 280, leaving 33. As a text message it only uses the basic GSM alphabet, so its 247 characters need 2 messages (153 characters each).
Other readability scores (Advanced)
Gunning fog = 0.4 × (words ÷ sentences + 100 × words of 3+ syllables ÷ words)
Coleman–Liau = 0.0588 × letters per 100 words − 0.296 × sentences per 100 words − 15.8
Automated readability index = 4.71 × letters ÷ words + 0.5 × words ÷ sentences − 21.43
SMOG = 1.043 × √(words of 3+ syllables × 30 ÷ sentences) + 3.1291
| Flesch score | How hard | School level (US) |
|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | Very easy | 5th grade (age 10–11) |
| 80–90 | Easy | 6th grade (age 11–12) |
| 70–80 | Fairly easy | 7th grade (age 12–13) |
| 60–70 | Plain English | 8th–9th grade (age 13–15) |
| 50–60 | Fairly hard | 10th–12th grade (age 15–18) |
| 30–50 | Hard | College |
| 0–30 | Very hard | University graduate |
What counts as a sentence, paragraph and line
- Sentences end at . ! ? (and 。！？ । ؟) followed by a space, or at a line break. Common short forms such as Dr., Mr., e.g. and U.S. don't end a sentence, and nor does a full stop in 3.14 or a web address.
- Paragraphs are lines with text in them, as in Word and Google Docs. In Advanced you can count only blocks separated by a blank line instead.
- Lines are every line in the box, empty ones included.
Other languages and emoji
- Characters are counted the way you see them, so a thumbs-up with a skin tone, a flag or a Hindi letter with its vowel sign counts once. Older browsers may count some of these as two.
- Chinese and Japanese don't put spaces between words, so each character counts as one word, as Microsoft Word does. Korean, Arabic, Hindi, Russian and most other languages use spaces and are counted normally.
- Thai, Lao, Khmer and Burmese are split into words with your browser's built-in word finder.
- Readability scores and syllables only work for English, so they are hidden for other languages.
How X and text messages count
- X (Twitter): 280 is the limit for standard accounts. A link always counts as 23, whatever its length. Emoji and characters such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean count as 2 each; most others count 1.
- SMS: a message using only the basic GSM alphabet holds 160 characters; ^ [ ] ~ | \ and € take 2 spaces each. One character outside it (an emoji, a curly quote, ₹, or Arabic, Hindi or Chinese letters) switches the whole message to Unicode, which holds 70. Longer messages are sent in parts of 153 (GSM) or 67 (Unicode) characters.
Common limits
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 |
| Text message (SMS) | 160 (70 in Unicode) |
| Google meta description (typical) | 155 |
| Google page title (typical) | 60 |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 |
| LinkedIn headline | 220 |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 |
| Facebook post | 63,206 |
| Threads post | 500 |
| Bluesky post | 300 |
| YouTube title | 100 |
| YouTube description | 5,000 |
| TikTok caption | 4,000 |
| Pinterest pin description | 500 |
| Reddit post title | 300 |
Speeds are rules of thumb: 238 words a minute is the average silent reading speed for English non-fiction found by a large 2019 review of studies, and 150 a minute is a comfortable speaking pace. Pages assume 12-point Times New Roman with 1-inch margins. Your text is counted on your device and never sent anywhere; the draft is stored only in this browser and you can switch it off.
Common questions
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4 minutes. At the average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute, 1,000 ÷ 238 = 4.2 minutes, or 4 min 12 sec. Reading aloud at 150 words a minute takes 1,000 ÷ 150 = 6 min 40 sec. You can change both speeds in Advanced mode to match your own pace.
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
About 750 words. A comfortable speaking pace is around 150 words a minute, so 5 × 150 = 750. A 10-minute talk is about 1,500 words. If you speak slowly or pause for slides, plan for fewer words; Advanced mode lets you set your own speaking speed.
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, in most character limits. X, text messages, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google all count spaces and line breaks. That is why this counter shows both numbers: characters with spaces for limits, and characters without spaces, which some schools and translators use for pricing and word targets.
How many characters can a text message have?
One SMS holds 160 characters when it only uses the basic GSM alphabet. A single emoji, curly quote or letter from Arabic, Hindi or Chinese switches the whole message to Unicode, which holds 70. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 (or 67 in Unicode) characters each.
What is a good Flesch reading ease score?
For most readers, aim for 60 or higher. A score of 60–70 is plain English that 13- to 15-year-olds can follow easily, 70–80 is fairly easy, and 90–100 is very easy. Scores under 50 are hard going. Shorter sentences and shorter words raise the score.
Is my text saved or uploaded?
No, your text never leaves your device. All counting happens in your browser. A draft is kept in this browser so it is still there if you reload, and you can switch that off. The Share button only puts your settings in the link, never your text.
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Made by Zulu Calculator, part of AlphaZulu LLC. Formulas are shown in full and rule figures are checked against official sources; see how we build calculators.