Free Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and lines instantly. Check reading time, speaking time, goals and word frequency—private in your browser.
Type or paste your text
This text exists only in this page. DraftFort does not upload, transmit or save it.
Track length without saving the text
Most-used words
Frequency appears when you enter text.
Count words and characters without sending your text anywhere
Paste or type text to see its word count, character count, sentences, paragraphs, lines, reading time and speaking time update instantly. The tool also shows unique words, average word length, the longest word and a transparent frequency table.
The analysis happens inside your browser. DraftFort does not receive the text, and this page deliberately has no browser-draft option. The downloadable CSV contains statistics only—not the writing you pasted.
What counts as a word?
Counting every chunk between spaces is unreliable. Punctuation, contractions, hyphenation and scripts that do not separate each word with a space complicate the definition. DraftFort uses the browser’s locale-aware segmentation engine when available and counts segments marked as word-like.
That means punctuation on its own does not increase the word count. Numbers can count as word-like segments. Exact results can still differ from Microsoft Word, Google Docs, a publisher or a school because each product may define compound words, URLs, symbols and contractions differently. If a limit is formal, use the counting method required by the recipient.
Character count, spaces and UTF-8 bytes
The primary character result counts user-perceived characters, known as grapheme clusters. This matters for emoji and combined accents, which may use several Unicode code points while appearing as one character.
- Characters includes letters, digits, punctuation, spaces and line breaks.
- Without spaces excludes Unicode whitespace.
- UTF-8 bytes estimates the encoded storage size; a character can occupy more than one byte.
These distinctions are useful for social posts, metadata, form fields, SMS planning and database limits, but a platform may enforce its own counting rules.
Sentence, paragraph and line counting
Sentence counting uses locale-aware sentence boundaries when the browser supports them. Abbreviations and unconventional punctuation can still be ambiguous, so review unusual technical or academic writing.
A paragraph is a non-empty block separated by at least one blank line. A line is created by a line break, whether it contains text or not. This makes the rules visible instead of treating every wrapped line on screen as a new line.
Reading and speaking time
Reading time is words ÷ reading words per minute. Speaking time uses the same
formula with a separate pace. Defaults are 200 WPM for reading and 130 WPM for
speaking, but neither is universal. Adjust both fields for the audience,
language, complexity, pauses and delivery style.
The estimate rounds up to the next whole second. It is a planning aid, not a promise that every person will finish at that time.
Word and character goals
Set an optional word goal, character goal or both. Progress updates locally as you type. A goal can help with essays, abstracts, applications, product copy, video scripts and platform limits, but it does not judge quality or compliance with a publisher’s rules.
Continue the private document workflow
Once the length is right, use Markdown to PDF for a selectable-text technical document. Job applicants can move reviewed wording into the cover letter generator or resume builder. If the source is already a PDF, extract its selectable text first with PDF to Text, noting that image-only scans require OCR that DraftFort does not currently provide. Compare an earlier and revised version with the private Text Compare & Diff Checker.
Frequently asked questions
How does the word counter count words?
It uses the browser's locale-aware text segmentation when available, counting word-like segments rather than simply splitting at every space. This handles punctuation and many writing systems more accurately.
Does the character count include spaces?
Both values are shown. Characters counts user-perceived characters including spaces and line breaks; Without spaces removes whitespace. UTF-8 bytes are also shown because storage size is different from character count.
How are sentences and paragraphs counted?
Sentences use locale-aware sentence segmentation. Paragraphs are non-empty text blocks separated by one or more blank lines, while Lines counts every line created by a line break.
How is reading time calculated?
Word count is divided by the reading speed you choose. The default is 200 words per minute, but you can set 50 to 1,000 WPM. Speaking time uses a separate adjustable speed, defaulting to 130 WPM.
Does word frequency ignore common words?
No. It reports the actual most-used words after locale-aware lowercasing, including common words. This makes the calculation transparent instead of applying a hidden, language-specific stop-word list.
Can I download the results?
Yes. The CSV contains aggregate counts, selected reading and speaking speeds, and estimated times. It deliberately does not contain your pasted text.
Is my text uploaded or saved?
No. Analysis happens in the active browser page. DraftFort does not receive, upload or save your text, and this tool has no browser-draft feature. Clearing or closing the page removes it from the tool.