Word Counter
Count words, sentences, characters, lines and reading time, live as you type. Free, private, no sign-up.
Sentences are counted at . ! ? followed by a space or a line break. Abbreviations like e.g. and decimals like 3.5 are not split. Paragraphs are counted at blank lines.
A free word counter that just works
Paste an essay, a tweet, a meta description, or a chapter and this word counter updates instantly: words, sentences, characters with and without spaces, paragraphs, a full line breakdown, and estimated reading and speaking time. Everything runs in your browser, so your writing never leaves your device and there is nothing to sign up for.
How sentences and paragraphs are counted
Sentences are counted at . ! ? followed by a space or a line break. Abbreviations like e.g. and decimals like 3.5 are not split.
- A run of marks counts once, so an ellipsis or a “wait?!” ends one sentence, not three.
- An ellipsis followed by a lowercase word is a pause, so “Wait… what happened?” is one sentence.
- A closing quote or bracket after the mark stays with that sentence.
- Common short forms are skipped: Dr., Mr., St., vs., etc., e.g., i.e., a.m., U.S., and single initials like J. R. R.
- Text with words but no final period still counts as one sentence, which is what you want for a headline or a note.
- Paragraphs are counted at blank lines, so lines you break without an empty line between them stay one paragraph.
The count is a close reading of punctuation, not a grammar parser. An abbreviation that really did end a sentence (“pens, paper, etc.”) is counted with the sentence that follows it, and a name used as a whole word (“Room A.”) is read as an initial. Sentence and paragraph counts show the shape of your writing, not just its length: a paragraph that has swollen into a wall of text, or an intro that is one long breathless sentence, stands out here in a way a word count hides.
Counting lines, including the blank and repeated ones
The four line numbers are there for lists rather than prose. Lines counts every line, blank ones included. Non-empty lines skips the blanks, so the gap between the two numbers is how much empty space is in your text. Unique lines counts repeats once, which is the fastest way to see how much duplication a pasted list holds. A Windows line break counts as one break, so a file pasted from Notepad does not read double.
Character limits worth writing against
Most hard limits count characters including spaces, so the Characters figure is usually the one to watch. The one without spaces is what some academic and translation rules prefer. Emoji are the exception: they are often more than one character underneath, and platforms count them differently (X counts most as two), so leave a little headroom when your text is close to a limit.
- X post: 280 characters. Bluesky: 300. Threads: 500.
- Instagram bio: 150 characters, captions 2,200. X bio: 160.
- SEO title: about 60 characters. Meta description: about 155.
- One SMS segment: 160 characters before it splits into two.
Reading time and speaking time
Reading time starts at 200 words per minute, a common silent-reading pace for adults, and the slider moves it anywhere between 100 and 400 so you can match your own audience. Speaking time stays at 130 words per minute, which is the number to use when you are timing a talk, a script or a podcast segment. Both are shown as minutes and seconds from your live word count.
Why writers keep losing their best lines
You copy a perfect sentence to move it somewhere, then copy something else, and it’s gone. Your clipboard remembers exactly one thing. Relic gives it a memory of everything: every snippet you copy is kept, searchable forever, on every device, and end-to-end encrypted so only you can read it. The word counter is free; never losing a draft again is the upgrade.