Word counter
Type or paste your text to see its word count, its reading time, and the words you repeat most.
Most used words
Words you use more than once show up here.
Emoji and stray punctuation don't count as words, and “well-known” counts as two. Times are estimates at 200 words per minute for reading and 130 for speaking. It all runs in your browser: your text is never uploaded.
Example input and result
Hello Typedly. Write something worth reading.
Result
Words: 6 Characters: 45 Without spaces: 40 Sentences: 2 Paragraphs: 1 Reading time: 2 s Speaking time: 3 s
What the word counter shows
Type in “Your text” or paste a draft, and the word counter updates as you go, with no button to press. You get seven counts plus a “Most used words” list that flags any word you use more than once. Tap “Load example” to see it work before you paste your own text, and “Clear” empties the box when you're done.
- Words: every word, split by spaces and punctuation
- Characters: everything you typed, spaces and line breaks included
- Without spaces: the same count minus spaces, tabs, and line breaks
- Sentences: end at a period followed by a capital, at ? or !, or at a line break
- Paragraphs: blocks of text separated by a blank line
- Reading time: estimated at 200 words per minute
- Speaking time: estimated at 130 words per minute
Check an essay against its word limit
When a teacher asks for a 500-word essay or a 250-word abstract, paste only the body. The title, your name, headings, and the reference list all add words, and many assignments leave them out of the limit. If the instructions don't say, ask, because a gap of 10 words can decide whether you're over.
“Copy result” copies a report with every count and the repeated-words list, ready to paste into a chat or your notes. “Download TXT” saves the same report as a text file. Neither button copies your original text, only the numbers about it, so keep your draft in the app where you wrote it.
Most used words: catch the ones you overuse
The list collects words that show up more than once and shows up to 10 of them, most repeated first, with ties in alphabetical order. It skips the short words every text needs, like the, and, of, to, or it, and it skips numbers. Everything appears in lowercase, so “Toby” and “toby” count as the same word.
Try “I think the plan is good. I think we can start, and I think the team agrees. The plan also needs a budget, and the team also needs time.” The list comes back as think ×3, also ×2, needs ×2, plan ×2, and team ×2. Three “I think” in two sentences is the pattern to fix. Cut one, or start that sentence another way, and the number drops as you edit.
Reading time and speaking time for speeches
Reading time assumes 200 words per minute and speaking time assumes 130, because reading a text out loud takes longer than reading it in your head. Both round up to the next second and show as “45 s” or “2 min 5 s”.
For a talk, multiply your minutes by 130: a three-minute speech is about 390 words and a five-minute one about 650. Treat that as a starting point. Nerves can push you faster, while pauses for slides or questions add time, so rehearse the final draft out loud with a timer before the day. The list shows a few sample lengths, with reading time first and speaking time second:
- 150 words: 45 s and 1 min 10 s
- 350 words: 1 min 45 s and 2 min 42 s
- 500 words: 2 min 30 s and 3 min 51 s
- 1,000 words: 5 min and 7 min 42 s
What counts as a word in this counter
Words are split with your browser's language rules, English on this page. The count can differ by a word or two from a word processor that treats hyphens or numbers another way, and that's normal. These are the cases behind most mismatches, so check them first if your number looks off:
- “well-known” counts as two words, because the hyphen splits it
- “don't” and “it's” count as one word each
- Numbers like 2024, 3.5, and 1,000 count as one word each
- In “#throwback” the word counts and the # adds nothing
- Emoji and lone symbols such as 😀 or ? don't count
- A web address like typedly.com counts as one word
Frequently asked questions
How do I count the words in my text?
Paste the text into “Your text” or type it straight into the box. The counts refresh as you type: words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, and both reading and speaking time. There's no button to press and no account to create.
How many words is a five-minute speech?
About 650 words at 130 words per minute, the pace this tool uses for speaking time. Paste your draft and trim or add until speaking time reads close to 5 min, then rehearse it out loud, since everyone talks at a different pace.
Why does my word processor show a different count?
Every program decides what a word is in its own way, and most differences come from hyphenated words, numbers, and symbols. Here “well-known” counts as two and an emoji counts as zero. If an assignment has a strict limit, ask which program will be used to check it.
Do titles and references count toward the word count?
This counter includes everything you paste: titles, headings, quotes, footnotes, and references. Many essay limits cover only the body, so paste that part alone, or delete the rest from the box before you read the number.
Is there a length limit?
The box takes up to 500,000 characters, enough for tens of thousands of words, like several chapters of a thesis. Anything past that limit is cut off when you paste, so split longer documents into parts and add the counts together.