---
title: "Word and character counter — free, runs in your browser"
description: "Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time, counted as you type. Free, no sign-up, and nothing you enter leaves your browser."
url: https://atoneplace.net/tools/word-counter/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Word and character counter

Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time, counted as you type.

## How it works

Paste or type text to get live counts of words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time. Nothing is sent anywhere — the counting happens in your browser.

Character limits are the usual reason people need this, and the definition of a "character" varies by platform. Counts here are of Unicode code points, so an emoji counts as one character even though it may occupy several bytes. Some platforms count differently, and a few count certain emoji as two.

Reading time assumes 238 words per minute, which is the median for adult silent reading of non-technical English in the research literature. Technical or unfamiliar material reads considerably slower; speaking aloud is slower still, at roughly 130 to 150 words per minute.

> This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server, logged or stored, and the page keeps working with the network disconnected.

## Common questions

### How many words is a page?

Roughly 500 words for a single-spaced page in 12pt Times New Roman with one-inch margins, or about 250 double-spaced.

### How long does it take to read 1,000 words?

About four minutes at an average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute. Reading it aloud takes around seven minutes.

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