Word Counter
Count words, characters, and sentences as you type — English and Arabic.
Word Counter counts words, characters, and sentences as you type or paste text, and estimates how long it will take to read out loud. Counting uses your browser's built-in Intl.Segmenter API, which understands word and sentence boundaries for both English and Arabic — not just where spaces happen to fall. All five counts update live in a small dashboard above the text box, so you can watch a count climb toward an assignment's word limit in real time. Reading time is estimated at about 220 words a minute and always rounds up to at least one minute.
How it works
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Paste or type your text in the box.
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Counts update instantly as you write.
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Check words, characters, and sentences against your limit.
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Copy your text back when you're done.
What you can use it for
- Checking a college essay or short-answer response against a strict word count before submitting it.
- Trimming a cover letter or personal statement down to fit a character limit set by an application form.
- Timing how long a speech or presentation script will take to read aloud before you rehearse it.
- Comparing a bilingual Arabic-English post or caption's length before posting it somewhere with a character cap.
Frequently asked questions
Does it count Arabic correctly?
Yes. Arabic doesn't separate every word with a space the way English does, so a naive space-based counter often miscounts it. Intl.Segmenter understands Arabic word and sentence boundaries directly, so the counts stay accurate for Arabic, English, or a mix of both in the same box.
Is my text sent anywhere?
Everything you type stays in the browser tab you're using — counting happens with client-side JavaScript, and there's no server call involved at any point. Closing or refreshing the page clears the text, since nothing is saved or transmitted.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time divides your word count by roughly 220 words per minute, a common average reading speed, and rounds the result to the nearest whole minute. It's meant as a quick estimate for pacing a speech or presentation, not an exact measurement — your own reading speed and the text's difficulty both shift the real number.
What counts as a 'sentence' or a 'word'?
A word is any segment the browser's language-aware segmenter marks as word-like, so numbers and hyphenated terms count as words while standalone punctuation doesn't. A sentence is a segment ending at sentence-final punctuation, like a period, question mark, or exclamation point, so a list of fragments without punctuation may count as fewer sentences than you'd expect.
Can I check my text against a specific word limit?
The word count updates as you type, so you can watch it approach a limit set by an assignment or application form in real time. There's no built-in limit field to type a target into, but the live count makes it easy to trim text down while you edit.
Why is my character count different from what another tool shows?
Some counters include or exclude spaces differently, or count emoji and accented letters as more than one character depending on how they measure text internally. This tool reports both totals — characters and characters without spaces — using standard Unicode code points, so compare against whichever number matches how the other tool defines a character.
Does it work for languages other than English and Arabic?
Yes — Intl.Segmenter is built into the browser and follows Unicode's general rules for word and sentence boundaries, so it handles most languages reasonably well, not just English and Arabic. Languages with very different scripts or writing conventions may still see edge cases, but everyday text in most languages counts correctly.
Good to know
- There's no file upload — text has to be pasted or typed directly into the box, so scanned documents need OCR first.
- Reading time is only an estimate based on an average pace; a technical or dense passage will likely take longer to read than the number shown.
- Nothing is saved between visits, so refreshing or closing the tab clears whatever you've typed — copy your text out before you navigate away.