Word Counter, Character Counter & Readability Analyzer
Paste or type text to count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type. See reading and speaking time, five readability scores including Flesch Reading Ease, the most used keywords and phrases, and how your text fits limits for social posts, SMS and search snippets.
Written by Suhaib Hassan. Readability formulas are the published standard ones. Our methodology.
It splits your text into words, sentences and syllables in the browser, then applies the standard readability equations.
Writers, students and marketers need counts and readability in one place, without uploading their drafts anywhere.
Readability equations
Flesch Reading Ease
206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words)Flesch-Kincaid grade
0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59Coleman-Liau and ARI
CLI = 0.0588 L − 0.296 S − 15.8
ARI = 4.71 × (letters ÷ words) + 0.5 × (words ÷ sentences) − 21.43Gunning Fog is 0.4 × ((words ÷ sentences) + 100 × (words of 3+ syllables ÷ words)). L is letters and S is sentences per 100 words.
Reading ease score guide
Worked examples
Illustrative text, each checked by hand.
Reading time
A 1,190 word article at 238 words a minute.
spoken at 150 wpm: 1,190 ÷ 150 = 7.9 min
Flesch score
100 words, 5 sentences, 140 syllables.
syllables ÷ words = 1.4
206.835 − 20.3 − 118.44 = 68.1
plain English
Grade level
The same passage.
= 7.8 + 16.52 − 15.59 = 8.7
about grade 8 to 9
How to use a word counter
- Paste your text into the box. Counts and scores update as you type.
- Check words and characters against your assignment, post or snippet limit.
- Use the readability scores to see whether shorter sentences and simpler words would help.
- Look at the keyword table to spot words you repeat too often.
Word and sentence counts are estimates. Abbreviations, numbers and unusual punctuation can change how sentences and syllables are counted, and readability scores suit English prose only.
By Suhaib Hassan · Reviewed 29 September 2026 · How CalculatePilot verifies formulas →
Sources
- Flesch, R. (1948), A new readability yardstick, Journal of Applied Psychology; Kincaid et al. (1975), Derivation of new readability formulas, US Navy.
- Coleman, M. and Liau, T. L. (1975), A computer readability formula designed for machine scoring; Gunning, R. (1952), The Technique of Clear Writing.
- Brysbaert, M. (2019), How many words do we read per minute?, Journal of Memory and Language (about 238 wpm for non-fiction).
Frequently asked questions
How does the tool count words?
It counts groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks, ignoring stray symbols. Hyphenated words such as "well-known" count as one word, and numbers count as words.
What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?
For general audiences, 60 to 70 is plain English that most adults find easy. Web content and marketing often aim for 60 or higher, while technical and academic writing can score much lower.
How is reading time worked out?
Word count divided by reading speed. The default is 238 words per minute, the average for adult silent reading of non-fiction, and speaking time uses 150 words per minute.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded or saved. The share link contains only your settings, not your text.
Why do readability tools disagree?
Each formula weighs sentence length, syllables or letters differently, and syllable counting is an estimate. Treat the scores as a guide and look at the range, not a single number.
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