Word & Character Counter

Free online word and character counter

Check the length of your writing with HedgieTools's word and character counter. View word count, character count, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time as you edit. Use it to review an essay, prepare an article, shorten an email or check copy against a character limit.

How to count words and characters

Type or paste your text into the editor to see your statistics update automatically. Keep editing to compare the length of different drafts, or select Clear to start again. The Paste button uses your clipboard when your browser allows access; you can also paste directly into the text field.

Understand your text statistics

The character counter includes spaces and punctuation. Without spaces excludes whitespace, including tabs and line breaks. Combined characters, such as an accented letter or a joined emoji, count as one visible character. Paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Word and sentence counts follow the browser's text segmentation rules, so results can differ from another editor or a platform's own character limit.

Estimate how long your text takes to read

Reading time is calculated at 225 words per minute. It gives you a quick estimate for blog posts, newsletters and other written content. Actual reading time depends on the reader and the complexity of the text; it is not an estimate of speaking time.

Find frequently repeated words

Top keywords shows up to ten of the most frequent words in your text, ignoring capitalization and a list of common English words. Use these counts to spot repetition and review your word choices. Frequency alone does not measure writing quality or predict search engine rankings.