Skip to main content

Word Counter

An essay to cut down, a caption to fit or a draft to check: paste your text and see the counts change as you edit. Free to use, with no sign-up.

Built for real drafts

See how much you have written and where there is room to trim

Count English and Chinese together

Check an English essay, a Chinese draft or a mix of both. See the combined word total alongside separate CJK character and Latin word counts.

Live count, no button

Shorten a sentence or add a paragraph and see the counts update as you edit. Keep the numbers in view while you work toward a limit.

Check a draft without sharing it

Use the counter for an unfinished essay, a private note or a passage you are still working on. Your text is counted only on this page and is not uploaded or saved.

Get a sense of reading time

See an estimated reading time for a newsletter, article or class handout. Use it as a guide when deciding whether a section needs to be shorter.

How It Works

Paste, check and trim until your draft fits

1

Paste your text

Paste an essay, a blog draft, a caption or a translation. You can keep editing the text in the box while you check it.

2

Read the numbers

Words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, lines and reading time are all on screen at once.

3

Edit toward your target

Cut a repeated point or expand a section that needs more detail. When you are done, copy the revised text back to your document.

Use Cases

Wherever a limit is part of the assignment

Essays and assignments

Course briefs come with a word range. Check where you stand before you submit, not after.

Page titles and descriptions

Compare shorter versions of a page title or description and put the key message first. Character counts help you edit; search results may still shorten the text.

Social posts and ads

Trim a caption or ad to a character target before publishing. Check the final text in the destination app too, since platforms can count emoji and links differently.

Bilingual and translated copy

Check the length of each version before a translation goes to layout. Separate counts help when the original and translation use different writing systems.

Count your text now

Type or paste below to check words, characters and reading time as you edit.

Your text is counted only on this page. It is not uploaded or saved.

0
Words
0
Characters
0
Reading time (min)
0
Characters (no spaces)
0
CJK characters
0
Latin words
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Lines

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you count mixed Chinese and English text?
Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters are counted individually, and everything else is split on whitespace with tokens counted only if they contain a letter or a digit. The word total is the sum of the two. For example, 你好world counts as 3: two Chinese characters plus one English word.
Is my text uploaded or stored anywhere?
No. The counter uses your text only on this page and does not upload or save it. Copy any changes you want to keep before leaving or refreshing the page.
What is the difference between word count and character count?
For the word total, CJK characters count individually and other text is split into words at whitespace. Character count also includes punctuation and spaces; the count without spaces excludes all whitespace, including line breaks. Combined emoji may count as several characters here. Check your destination's rules if you need an exact match.
How is reading time estimated?
Latin words are divided by 200 per minute and CJK characters by 400 per minute, then added and rounded up. Text containing counted words or CJK characters reports at least one minute. This is a rough guide; the reader, the subject and reading aloud can change the time needed.
Do I need an account to use the counter?
No. Counting and editing text on this page are free and need no account. To write in the Muses editor, sign in and paste your text there; this page does not transfer it automatically. AI writing uses your account's available credits.

From word count to finished draft

Need a stronger opening or a clearer argument? Work through the next revision with AI in Muses, and keep drafts and research in one project.