Word Counter Online
The word counter tells you how many words a piece of text contains, along with sentence, paragraph, character and estimated reading-time figures. It is designed for writers working to a word budget and counts locally in your browser.
Your text
Counts
Your result will appear here.
Not sure where to start? Use Load example.
Results update automatically and are calculated on your device. Nothing you type is sent to a server.
Runs in your browser. Processing happens entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to Delimiter.live.
How to use the Word Counter
- Paste your draft into the input box, or type directly into it.
- Watch the word count update on every keystroke.
- Use the sentence and paragraph figures to check pacing and structure.
- Copy the summary or clear the box when you are done.
Example
Input
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Output
Words: 9 Sentences: 1 Characters (with spaces): 44
Common use cases
- Hitting an essay, article or dissertation word limit.
- Estimating cost for freelance work priced per word.
- Checking that a product description or landing page is long enough to be useful.
- Splitting a long draft into sections of a similar length.
Limitations and things to watch for
- A word is any run of characters separated by whitespace, so a hyphenated compound such as "state-of-the-art" counts as one word and "e.g." counts as one word. Word processors use similar but not identical rules, so counts can differ by a few words on long documents.
- Markdown or HTML markup pasted into the box is counted as text. Strip it first with the text cleaner if you want prose-only figures.
Frequently asked questions
How does this tool define a word?
Any sequence of non-whitespace characters counts as one word. Hyphenated compounds and abbreviations containing full stops therefore count as a single word, which matches most editorial conventions.
Does it match the count in Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
It is usually identical and occasionally differs by a handful of words on long documents, because each program handles hyphens, numbers and footnotes slightly differently.
Is my draft private?
Yes. Counting runs in your browser and the text is never transmitted to Delimiter.live or anyone else.
Can I count words in a Word or PDF file?
Not directly — this tool works on pasted text. Open the document, select all, copy, and paste it here.