Word Count Tool
Explain like I'm 5 (what even is this tool?)
Paste your writing in. It counts the words, the characters, the sentences and the paragraphs, and tells you whether it fits inside the length limits for things like tweets, SMS messages, and SEO titles. Useful when a bit of writing has to be a particular size.
Counts
0 words, 0 characters
Full breakdown
- Words0
- Characters (with spaces)0
- Characters (no spaces)0
- Sentences0
- Paragraphs0
- Average word length0
Will it fit?
- Page title (60)–
- Open Graph title (70)–
- Meta description (160)–
- SMS message (160)–
- Tweet / X post (280)–
- Facebook visible (477)–
- Instagram caption (2,200)–
- LinkedIn post (3,000)–
Show workings
When word count actually matters
Most of the time, "write until you're done" is the right advice. But some formats enforce hard limits. SEO page titles beyond about 60 characters get truncated in Google's listings. Meta descriptions past 160 characters get cut off with an ellipsis. A tweet at 281 characters simply will not post. An SMS past 160 characters splits into two messages and costs you twice. This tool checks those limits live so you can trim before it's a problem.
How the counting works
Words are runs of non-whitespace separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks, which matches Word, Google Docs and almost every other editor. Hyphenated compounds like "well-known" count as one. Sentences are counted by full stops, question marks and exclamation marks followed by whitespace or end-of-text. Paragraphs are separated by blank lines. Average word length strips punctuation before measuring, so "don't." counts as a five-letter word.
Related calculators
Word count is the start. These are the related writing checks.
Common questions
How does the tool count words?
Runs of non-whitespace, same as Word and Google Docs. "well-known" is one word, not two.
Where do the character limits come from?
Platform conventions. Twitter/X 280, SMS 160, meta description truncated around 160, SEO title around 60, Open Graph title 70, Instagram 2,200, LinkedIn 3,000, Facebook visible around 477.
Does my text go anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser. Paste confidential drafts safely.
Does it count Markdown and HTML tags?
Yes. Tags and syntax characters are treated as tokens. For most purposes this is close enough. If your text is very heavy on formatting, strip tags first.