Word Counter for Essays & Articles

Count words, characters, paragraphs, and reading time as you type. Ideal for essay limits, article briefs, and homework assignments.

Use this tool
Word Counter
Count words, characters, and get reading time.
Open Word Counter →

Why this matters

Most essay assignments specify word counts. Most blog editors enforce character limits. The Word Counter tracks both in real time, plus reading time and keyword density — useful for SEO and readability.

Step by step

  1. 1
    Open the word counter
    No upload needed.
  2. 2
    Paste your text
    Drop in your essay, article, or notes.
  3. 3
    Watch the counts update
    Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and reading time refresh as you type.
  4. 4
    Check keyword density
    See which words appear most often.
  5. 5
    Edit
    Trim or expand to hit your target.

Frequently asked questions

How many words is a typical essay?

High school: 300–800. College: 1000–3000. Theses: 10,000+.

Does the counter handle non-English text?

Yes — Unicode-aware word and character counting works across languages.

Is reading time accurate?

It assumes ~200 words per minute, which is the average adult silent reading speed.

Is my text uploaded?

No. Counting runs in your browser.

Does it count words inside HTML tags?

It counts the visible text content. HTML/markup tags are typically ignored if visible markup is pasted.

Can I save the analysis?

Copy the stats panel manually. We don’t store anything.

Try Word Counter now
Free, private, no signup. Runs in your browser.
Open Word Counter →