Free tool
Word counter
Paste your text to count its words, characters with and without spaces, sentences and paragraphs, and to see how long it takes to read and to say aloud. It also lists the words and phrases you repeat most and your longest sentences, two things worth a look before you publish.
It runs in your browser: nothing you paste is sent anywhere or saved. No sign-up.
Counted in your browser as you type. Nothing is sent or saved.
144 words, 825 characters, about 36 sec to read and 47 sec to say aloud.
Counts
- Words
- 144
- Characterswith spaces
- 825
- Characterswithout spaces
- 686
- Sentences
- 13
- Paragraphs
- 5
- Reading timeat 238 words a minute
- 36 sec
- Speaking timealoud, at 183 words a minute
- 47 sec
Most repeated words
- blog3 times
- first3 times
- post3 times
- reader3 times
- creep2 times
- draft2 times
- example2 times
- keeps2 times
- like2 times
- sentence2 times
Most repeated phrases
- blog post3 times
Longest sentences
Your sentences average 11.1 words.
- 36 wordsLong sentences creep into a first draft, because a writer who knows the subject well keeps adding one more condition, one more example and one more aside until the reader has forgotten where the sentence started.
- 19 wordsWhen the same word turns up in every sentence, the text starts to sound like a list of keywords.
- 13 wordsA good blog post reads like a person explaining something to a friend.
- 12 wordsThe title earns the click, and the first paragraph keeps the reader.
- 11 wordsRead the draft aloud: if a phrase sounds forced, change it.
The starting text is an example written for this page. Replace it with yours; the counts update as you type.
How the counter counts
- Words: anything between spaces that holds a letter or a digit. "Well-known", "don't", "$1,200", "3.5%" and a web address are one word each; a lone "&" or emoji is none. Two words joined by a long dash or an ellipsis, with no space, count as two. In Chinese and Japanese each character counts as a word, and Thai, Lao, Khmer and Burmese are split into words by your browser.
- Characters with spaces: every letter, digit, mark, space and emoji you typed, leaving out line breaks. An emoji, a flag or a letter with its accent counts as one character.
- Characters without spaces: the same, leaving out spaces and tabs too.
- Sentences: text that ends in a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or ellipsis. Abbreviations such as "e.g." and "Dr.", initials, decimals and web addresses don't end one. A line break does, so a heading or a list item counts as a sentence of its own.
- Paragraphs: blocks separated by an empty line. When the text has no empty lines, each line counts as one.
Reading time and speaking time
Reading time is the word count divided by 238 words a minute. Speaking time is the word count divided by 183. Both figures come from Marc Brysbaert's meta-analysis of reading rate in the Journal of Memory and Language (2019): across 190 studies and 18,573 participants, adults read English non-fiction silently at an average of 238 words a minute (260 for fiction), and across 77 studies they read aloud at 183.
These are averages for adults reading English. The same study found most adults read non-fiction at 175 to 300 words a minute, and lower rates for children, older adults and people reading English as a second language. Rates in other languages differ too, so for text in another language the times are a rough guide.
Repeated words, not keyword density
The repeated words list shows how often each word appears, with common words such as "the" and "and" hidden until you switch off "Hide common words". The phrases list shows two- and three-word phrases used at least twice inside a sentence; when a shorter phrase only ever appears inside a longer one, only the longer one is listed.
There is no target to hit. Google's spam policies describe keyword stuffing as filling a page with keywords in an attempt to manipulate rankings, including repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural. BlogAmplify never sets a keyword density for its own articles either. Use the lists to find a word you lean on too much, then vary it, or cut the sentence it props up.
How long should your post be?
There is no ideal word count for a blog post. The search decides: read the pages that rank for it, cover what they all cover, add what they miss, then stop. Our guide on how long a blog post should be walks through the method.
BlogAmplify works the same way. Before it writes an article, it reads the pages ranking for that article's search and sets the target length from how deeply they cover it, not from a fixed number. On the pages already on your site, Site Health flags blog posts under 300 words as thin. To check a headline, use the blog title checker, or browse the other free tools.
What the counter doesn't do
- It doesn't check grammar, spelling or facts.
- It doesn't give a readability score or a grade level.
- It doesn't compare your text with other pages, so it can't tell you whether it is original.
- Common words are hidden for English only; in other languages, switch "Hide common words" off to see everything, or read past them.
Frequently asked questions
How is reading time calculated?
The word count divided by 238 words a minute, the average silent reading rate of adults for English non-fiction in Marc Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies. Most adults read non-fiction at 175 to 300 words a minute, so treat the result as an average.
How is speaking time calculated?
The word count divided by 183 words a minute, the average rate of reading aloud in the same meta-analysis, based on 77 studies. It fits a script read from the page, such as a talk, a video voice-over or a podcast intro.
What counts as a word?
Anything between spaces that holds a letter or a digit. Hyphenated words, contractions, numbers, prices and web addresses count as one word each, and a lone symbol or emoji counts as none. In Chinese and Japanese, which don't put spaces between words, each character counts as a word.
Is there an ideal keyword density?
No, and this counter doesn't calculate one. Google's spam policies list repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural as keyword stuffing. Use the repeated words list to spot a word you lean on too much, then vary it or cut it.
How long should a blog post be?
As long as the search needs. Read the pages that rank for your search, cover what they all cover, add what they miss, then stop. A narrow question can be answered well in a few hundred words; a buyer's guide usually needs far more.
Is my text sent or saved anywhere?
No. The counter runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you paste is sent to BlogAmplify or anyone else, and nothing is stored, so reloading the page brings back the example.
Sources
- How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate, Marc Brysbaert, Journal of Memory and Language, volume 109, December 2019. The 238 and 183 words a minute are in its abstract. Checked October 19, 2026.
- Spam policies for Google web search, Google Search Central. The keyword stuffing section. Checked October 19, 2026.
Articles as long as the search needs
BlogAmplify plans a month of topics from your site's own data, sets each article's length from the pages ranking for its search, and researches, writes and publishes it to your blog.
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