Word Counter
Does your essay hit 1,000 words? Will that post fit in 280 characters? Paste your text and get live word, character, sentence, and paragraph counts — plus how long it takes to read aloud or silently.
Words
0
Characters
0
0 without spaces
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Reading time
0 min
at 238 wpm
Speaking time
0 min
at 130 wpm
Platform character limits
- X / Twitter post — 280
- SMS message — 160
- Meta description — 155
- Title tag — 60
- Instagram caption — 2,200
- LinkedIn post — 3,000
Everything is counted in your browser — nothing you type leaves this page. Words are whitespace-separated tokens, so hyphenated compounds like “well-known” count as one word. Reading time uses 238 wpm, the published average for silent adult reading of non-fiction; speaking time uses a 130 wpm presentation pace.
How the Counts Work
Words are whitespace-separated tokens, sentences end at a period, question mark, or exclamation point followed by a space, and paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line — so “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen!” counts as 23 words, 118 characters (96 without spaces), and 2 sentences. Reading time divides words by 238 wpm, the published average for silent adult reading of non-fiction; speaking time uses a 130 wpm presentation pace, which is why a 5-minute speech runs about 650 words.
Common length targets
X / Twitter post 280 characters SMS message 160 characters Meta description ~155 characters Title tag ~60 characters Instagram caption 2,200 characters LinkedIn post 3,000 characters 5-minute speech ~650 words (130 wpm) Double-spaced page ~250 words (12 pt) Novel manuscript 80,000–100,000 words Reading time = words ÷ 238 wpm (silent average)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
About 650 words at a typical 130 wpm presentation pace — slower than conversation, since speakers pause for emphasis. A 10-minute talk runs ~1,300 words and a 30-minute keynote ~3,900. Nervous speakers often speed up toward 150+ wpm, so writing slightly short is safer than running long.
How many pages is 1,000 words?
Roughly 4 pages double-spaced or 2 pages single-spaced in 12 pt Times New Roman with 1-inch margins — the standard academic assumption of ~250 words per double-spaced page. Fonts and margins shift this: Arial runs slightly longer, Calibri slightly shorter.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4–5 minutes silently — the published average for adults reading non-fiction is 238 wpm (Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies), so 1,000 ÷ 238 ≈ 4.2 minutes. Reading aloud is much slower, around 7–8 minutes at a 130–150 wpm speaking pace.
Do hyphenated words and numbers count as one word?
In this counter — and in most word processors — yes: a word is any whitespace-separated token, so "well-known" is one word and "3.5" is one word. Contractions like "don't" also count once. That's why your count here matches Word and Google Docs but may differ from tools that split on hyphens.