How to use the word counter
Type or paste into the box. Counts update as you write; nothing is sent to a server, so you can paste confidential drafts, client work or unpublished manuscripts. Your text is kept in this browser so it survives a refresh, and it follows you if you open another Textkiln tool. Use Clear to remove it.
What counts as a word
Textkiln follows the convention word processors use: a word is a run of characters between spaces that contains at least one letter or digit. That means:
- “well-known”, “don’t” and “3.5” are one word each, as in Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
- Words joined by an em dash (“yes—no”) or an ellipsis are counted separately, because the dash replaces a space.
- Stand-alone symbols such as “&” or “—” are not words.
- Chinese, Japanese and Thai are written without spaces, so those passages are split with the Unicode dictionary segmenter built into your browser rather than counted as one giant word.
Differences of a few words between tools almost always come from hyphens, dashes, numbers and URLs. If you have to hit an exact limit for a publisher or a school, check which tool they use and confirm there.
Sentences, paragraphs and reading time
Sentence detection ignores the full stops in abbreviations (“Dr.”, “e.g.”, “U.S.” before a name), initials (“J. K. Rowling”) and decimals. A line on its own, such as a heading or list item, counts as a sentence even without a full stop.
Paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line. If your text has no blank lines at all, each line counts as a paragraph (the way a word processor treats every press of Enter).
Reading time uses 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, the averages from Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis of 190 reading studies. The older “200–250 wpm” rule of thumb is close, but the meta-analysis is the better source. Speaking time defaults to 140 wpm, a typical presentation pace.
Typical length targets
| Piece | Common range |
|---|---|
| Tweet-length summary | 25–50 words |
| Meta description | 25–30 words (about 155 characters) |
| News article | 500–800 words |
| College application essay (Common App) | up to 650 words |
| In-depth blog post | 1,500–2,500 words |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 words |
These are conventions, not rules: write as long as the reader needs, then cut what they don’t.
Worked example
Here is what the Word Counter returns for its built-in example. Settings used: Reading speed: Average non-fiction (238 wpm); Speaking pace: Presentation (140 wpm). Click Try an example in the tool above to load it, then change it as you like.
Good writing is rewriting. The first draft gets the ideas onto the page; the second makes them clear; the third makes them sing.
Most readers skim before they commit. Short paragraphs, specific verbs and a clear opening sentence give them a reason to stay. Long, winding sentences that bury the point in the middle make them leave.
So count your words, but count what they do, too.| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Words | 67 |
| Characters | 383 |
| Sentences | 6 |
| Paragraphs | 3 |
| Reading time | 17 sec |
| Speaking time | 29 sec |
Questions
Is my text saved or uploaded?
Your text is never uploaded. It is stored only in your own browser (local storage) so it is still there if you reload, and you can clear it at any time with the Clear button.
Why does Microsoft Word give a slightly different count?
Word and Textkiln both count space-separated tokens, so most counts match exactly. Differences usually come from em dashes without spaces, stand-alone symbols, or footnotes and text boxes that Word includes or excludes.
Does it count words in other languages?
Yes. Languages that use spaces are counted the same way as English. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Lao, Khmer and Myanmar text is split into words with the Unicode segmenter in your browser.
Are numbers counted as words?
Yes. “2024”, “3.5” and “10%” each count as one word, as they do in word processors.
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