Word Counter
Free word counter and character counter. Get live word count, character count, sentence count, and estimated reading time.
Worked example
A 450-word piece of text gives a reading time of 450 ÷ 225 = 2 minutes, and a speaking time of 450 ÷ 130 ≈ 3.5 minutes — noticeably longer, since speaking a script aloud is naturally slower than reading it silently.
Frequently asked questions
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is your word count divided by 225 words per minute — the commonly cited average adult silent-reading speed for straightforward text. A 450-word piece works out to about 2 minutes.
How is speaking time calculated?
Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, a typical pace for reading text aloud at a natural, comprehensible speed — noticeably slower than silent reading, which is why the same piece of text takes longer to say than to read.
How are sentences counted?
Sentences are counted by splitting on sentence-ending punctuation — periods, question marks, and exclamation points. This is a simple heuristic, so it can overcount abbreviations like "e.g." or "Dr." that contain a period but aren't the end of a sentence.
What is the difference between the two character counts?
One count includes every character, spaces included. The other excludes whitespace, giving you just the count of visible characters — useful for platforms with character limits that only count non-space characters, or when comparing text density.