Free Online Word Counter - Count Words, Characters & More Instantly
The Delimiter.site Word Counter gives you a real-time breakdown of any text you paste or type - word count, character count, sentence count, paragraph count, unique words, and estimated reading time, all updating instantly without a page reload.
What Does the Word Counter Measure?
Most people open a word counter just to check a length limit, but a full breakdown is often more useful. The counter tracks six statistics simultaneously.
Words
Any sequence of non-whitespace characters separated by a space, tab, or newline counts as one word. Hyphenated compounds like well-known count as one word; standalone numbers also count as one word each.
Characters (with and without spaces)
Characters is the raw length of your text including all spaces. Characters (no spaces) strips all whitespace first - useful for platforms that count only visible characters, or for estimating storage size.
Sentences
Sentences are detected by splitting on ., !, and ?
followed by whitespace. This gives a reliable count for standard prose, though it may vary
slightly for text heavy in abbreviations or ellipses.
Paragraphs
Each block of text separated by a blank line - two consecutive newlines - is counted as one paragraph. Single line breaks within a block do not create a new paragraph.
Unique Words
Unique word count compares words case-insensitively after stripping punctuation, so Apple, apple, and apple, all count as the same word. This is a quick indicator of vocabulary richness.
Estimated Reading Time
Calculated at 200 words per minute - the widely accepted average for silent reading of general prose. Technical content tends to be slower; simple conversational text is faster. For a detailed breakdown with a speed slider, use the dedicated reading time calculator.
How to Use the Word Counter
Step 1 - Paste or Type Your Text
Click the Paste button to pull text directly from your clipboard, or start typing in the input panel. All six statistics update with every keystroke - no button to press.
Step 2 - Read the Stats Panel
The stat cards update in real time. The primary Words card is displayed more prominently so you can glance at it quickly when working against a word limit.
Step 3 - Clear and Start Over
Press Clear to wipe the input and reset all counts to zero for the next piece of text.
Common Use Cases
Blog Posts and Articles
Most SEO guides recommend 1,000–2,000 words for general posts and 2,500–4,000 words for comprehensive guides. Paste your draft and check the count against your target before publishing. To also count lines and measure line length, use the line counter.
Academic Essays and Assignments
Universities often impose strict word limits. The word counter gives you an accurate count so you know exactly how many words to cut or add before submission.
Social Media and Ad Copy
Ad platforms enforce tight character limits - Google Ads headlines allow 30 characters, for example. Use the character counter to check before copying into your ad builder.
Estimating Reading Time for CMS Metadata
Adding a reading time estimate to blog posts improves click-through rates. Use the reading time calculator to populate your CMS metadata field before publishing.
How Many Pages Is My Word Count?
Page count depends on font, spacing and margins, but the standard estimate (12 pt Times New Roman, 1-inch margins) converts like this:
| Words | Pages (single-spaced) | Pages (double-spaced) |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 0.5 | 1 |
| 500 | 1 | 2 |
| 1,000 | 2 | 4 |
| 1,500 | 3 | 6 |
| 2,000 | 4 | 8 |
| 2,500 | 5 | 10 |
| 5,000 | 10 | 20 |
| 10,000 | 20 | 40 |
Typical Word Counts by Content Type
Use these benchmarks to judge whether your draft is in the expected range:
| Content type | Typical word count |
|---|---|
| Meta description | 20–25 words |
| News article | 600–800 words |
| Blog post (in-depth) | 1,500–2,500 words |
| College essay | 1,000–1,500 words |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 words |
| Novella | 17,500–40,000 words |
| Novel | 80,000–100,000 words |
| PhD thesis | 70,000–100,000 words |
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the word counter define a word?
Any sequence of characters separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks counts as one word. That means hyphenated terms like "state-of-the-art" count as a single word, while "state of the art" counts as four.
Why does my count differ from Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Different tools tokenise edge cases differently: em dashes, slashes between words, and stray punctuation can each shift the total by a few words. For essays and articles the difference is usually well under 1%.
Do numbers and symbols count as words?
Yes. Any whitespace-separated token counts, so "2026" and "&" each add one to the total, just as they do in most word processors.
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
At a typical speaking pace of 130 words per minute, a 5-minute speech is roughly 650 words. Use our reading time calculator to convert any word count into speaking time.
Is my text uploaded to a server?
No. Counting happens in your browser with JavaScript; the text never leaves your device and nothing is stored when you close the page.