Text Tool
Word Counter: Count Words and Characters Online
Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time as you type โ and see the character count platforms will actually use.
24
Words
136
Characters
2
Sentences
1
Paragraphs
0:06
Reading time
0:11
Speaking time
Against platform limits
Top keywords
- text2ร ยท 14.3%
- type2ร ยท 14.3%
- characters1ร ยท 7.1%
- correctly1ร ยท 7.1%
- count1ร ยท 7.1%
- counter1ร ยท 7.1%
8
Counts
6
Platform Limits
Live
As You Type
100%
Free
How to Use the Word Counter
- 1
Paste your text
A caption, a bio, an essay โ plain text or already styled.
- 2
Read the counts
Words, characters, sentences and reading time update on every keystroke.
- 3
Check the limits
The bars show how the same text sits against each platform cap.
How the Word Counter Works
Everything updates as you type. Words are runs of characters separated by whitespace, so a hyphenated word counts once and a bare number counts as a word. Nothing is sent anywhere โ the counting happens in the page you are looking at, which is worth knowing if the text is not published yet.
The counts that follow are the ones people actually check something against: how long it will take to read, whether it fits in a bio, and which word has been repeated more than intended. It doubles as a character counter, and that side of it is where this page differs from most โ see the section below.
Why Character Counts Disagree Between Tools
Paste a styled word into most counters and the number comes back roughly double. This is the single thing worth understanding about any character counter, and it is not a bug in those tools so much as a wrong unit.
JavaScript stores text as UTF-16 code units. Ordinary letters take one unit each. The styled alphabets that produce ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ต๐ธ or ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ live outside the basic range and take two units each, so a counter reporting text.length sees ten where you see five. A 150-character Instagram bio written in script would look like it was at 300.
Three different numbers are defensible, and this page keeps them apart:
- Characters (code points) โ one per character, and the unit platforms count against their limits. This is the headline number.
- Visible characters (graphemes) โ what a reader sees. Differs from code points when combining marks are involved: glitch text stacks several marks onto one letter, and each mark is its own code point.
- UTF-16 length โ what a naive counter reports. Shown only so the gap is visible.
For plain English text all three are identical, which is why the problem stays invisible until you paste something styled.
Platform Character Limits
The bars under the counter compare your text against the caps people run into most. Each is measured in code points, which is how these platforms count:
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| Instagram bio | 150 |
| X post | 280 |
| Facebook bio | 101 |
| LinkedIn headline | 220 |
| Meta description | 160 |
| YouTube title | 100 |
A styled bio hits these limits at exactly the same point a plain one does, because the platform counts characters rather than storage. That is worth saying plainly, since the doubled number other counters report suggests otherwise.
Reading Time and Speaking Time
Reading time is words divided by 238 per minute, a commonly cited average for adult silent reading in English. Speaking time uses 130, closer to an unhurried presentation pace.
Both are averages and should be read as such. Dense, technical or unfamiliar text runs slower than the figure; a familiar caption runs faster. The number is useful for deciding whether a post is a thirty-second read or a three-minute one, not for timing a talk to the second.
Sentences, Paragraphs and Lines
A sentence ends at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, including the fullwidth versions used in Japanese and Chinese text. An ellipsis counts once rather than three times. Text with no terminator at all still counts as one sentence, because a single line without a full stop is still a sentence to whoever wrote it.
Paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line, so pressing return once continues a paragraph and pressing it twice starts a new one. Lines count every non-empty line, which is the more useful figure when you are laying out a bio where each line matters.
Top Keywords and Density
The keyword list shows the words used most often, with the percentage of the text each accounts for. Very common words โ the, and, of, to and similar โ are removed first, along with anything under three letters, so the list surfaces words you chose rather than words the language requires.
It is a self-editing tool. Seeing the same adjective at 4% is usually a signal to vary it. It is not a target: writing towards a density figure produces text that reads badly, and keyword density has not worked as a ranking lever for a long time.
Counting Examples
The same five-letter word in different styles, and what each counting method reports:
| Text | Visible | Characters | .length | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | 5 | 5 | 5 | Plain text โ all three agree |
| ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ต๐ธ | 5 | 5 | 10 | Script style โ a .length counter doubles it |
| ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ | 5 | 5 | 10 | Bold โ same surrogate pairs |
| Hฬธeฬตlฬทlฬถoฬด | 5 | 10 | 10 | Glitch marks โ code points exceed what you see |
| ๐จโ๐ฉโ๐ง | 1 | 5 | 8 | One emoji, joined by zero-width joiners |
Only the first row agrees across all three. Everything below it is a case where the number a typical counter gives you is not the number the platform will use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this counter show a different character count from other tools?
Because most counters report text.length, which counts UTF-16 code units rather than characters. Styled letters such as ๐ are stored as two units each, so a five-letter styled word is reported as ten characters. This counter reports code points, which is the unit Instagram, X and other platforms count against their limits, and also shows the visible count so you can see where the two differ.
Which number should I use for an Instagram bio?
The Characters figure, which counts code points. Instagram allows 150 and counts every Unicode character as one, including styled letters. The limit bars on this page compare your text against that number directly, so you do not have to work it out.
What counts as a word?
Any run of characters separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks. Hyphenated words such as "well-known" count as one, and a number on its own counts as a word. Styled text is counted the same way as plain text โ ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ต๐ธ ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ป๐ต๐ญ is two words.
How is reading time calculated?
Words divided by 238 words per minute, which is a commonly cited average for adult silent reading in English. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, closer to a measured presentation pace. Both are averages, so treat them as a guide rather than a stopwatch โ dense or technical text reads slower than the figure suggests.
How does it count sentences?
A sentence ends at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, including their fullwidth equivalents. Text with no terminator at all still counts as one sentence, because a single line without a full stop is still a sentence to the person who wrote it. An ellipsis counts once rather than three times.
What does keyword density mean here?
How often a word appears as a percentage of the words counted, after very common words such as "the" and "and" are removed. It is useful for spotting a word you have leaned on without noticing. It is not a target to optimise towards โ writing to hit a density figure reads badly and has not been a ranking factor for a long time.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. All counting happens in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded, stored or logged, which matters if you are counting something unpublished.
Is the word counter free?
Yes, completely free with no sign-up and no limit on how much text you paste.
Counting a bio you are about to style?
Styling does not change the character count, so write and count first, then style. These pages cover the next step.