Writing

Word & character counter

Real-time word, character, sentence and paragraph counter. Reading time estimate for articles and posts.

Whether you're writing a tweet (280 characters), a LinkedIn post (max ~3000, optimum ~1500), a meta description (~155), a SMS (160), an essay (academic word count) or a blog article, hitting the right length matters. This real-time counter shows words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs the moment you type or paste, plus reading-time and speaking-time estimates using the journalism-standard 225 WPM (silent) and 150 WPM (voiceover) rates. Everything runs locally in your browser — your text is never uploaded.

Words
0
Characters
0
No spaces
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Reading
< 1s
Speaking
< 1s
Avg / sentence
0

How it works

  1. 1Paste or type any text — counts update in real time, nothing leaves your browser.
  2. 2Watch the word + character counts: useful for Twitter/X (280), meta descriptions (~155), LinkedIn posts (~3000).
  3. 3Reading time uses 225 WPM (silent) / 150 WPM (spoken) — the journalism-standard estimates.
  4. 4Sentences split on . ! ? and paragraphs on blank lines — good enough for most writing.

Who it's for

  • Bloggers aiming for the 1500-2500 word sweet spot for SEO-ranking articles.
  • Copywriters writing meta titles (≤60), meta descriptions (~155) and OG cards.
  • Social media managers checking Twitter/X (280), LinkedIn (~1500 optimal), Instagram caption (2200 max).
  • Students hitting academic word count targets without under- or over-shooting.
  • Podcasters and video creators estimating script read time for a target episode length.
  • Translators and editors invoicing per 250-word page or per 1,800-character sheet.

Pro tips

  • Aim for 14-20 words per sentence on average. Anything over 25 signals dense, hard-to-read prose — Hemingway-style editing improves conversion.
  • For SEO articles, 1500-2500 words tends to rank best in 2026 — but only if the content actually says something. Padding hurts.
  • Meta descriptions under 120 chars often get expanded by Google. Over 160, they get truncated. Sweet spot: 150-158.
  • LinkedIn posts perform best at 1200-1600 characters with line breaks — use paragraph counts to keep the post scannable.
  • Reading time estimates assume native-language readers. For translated or technical content, add 20-30% to account for comprehension pauses.

Frequently asked questions

How are words counted?+

Any sequence of non-whitespace characters counts as a word. So "don't" is 1 word, "e-commerce" is 1 word, "it's a test" is 3. Contractions and hyphenated compounds stay grouped, matching how most word processors (Word, Google Docs) count.

Why are reading and speaking times different?+

Silent reading averages 225 words per minute (faster than speech). Comfortable voiceover / podcast / speech pace averages 150 WPM — any faster and listeners struggle. We display both so you can plan either a read-it article or a spoken-it script.

Is my text stored or sent anywhere?+

No. The counter runs entirely in your browser with JavaScript — there's no server call, no database, no logging. Close the tab and the text is gone.

How does it handle Chinese, Japanese or emoji?+

Character count is accurate for any Unicode character including CJK and emoji (each emoji = 1 character, even when it's a composite like 👨‍👩‍👧 counts as 1). Word count works for space-separated languages (EN, FR, ES, DE…) — languages without spaces (Chinese, Japanese) will show the whole text as 1-2 words; stick to character count for those.

Can I save my text here?+

No — this is a one-off counter. If you need to save, version and schedule long-form content (blog posts, newsletters, LinkedIn posts), Kiwi's BlogManager and VibeMarketing modules do exactly that, with AI assistance.

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