Word Counter — Free Online Word Count Tool
You have a 500-word essay due, a 160-character meta description to finish or a tweet that keeps going over 280. You need to know exactly where you stand — not roughly, not after manually counting — right now, as you type.
This free word counter updates every keystroke. Paste your text or type directly and watch words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and keyword density all update in real time. No ads, no signup, nothing stored.
Character Limit Presets — What They Are For
Different platforms have strict character limits. Go over and your text gets cut off or rejected entirely. This word counter includes one-click presets for the most common limits:
Twitter / X — 280 characters Twitter counts every character including spaces, punctuation and emojis. Emojis count as 2 characters each. A tweet over 280 characters cannot be posted. Use the preset to see exactly how much space you have left as you draft.
Meta description — 160 characters Google displays meta descriptions in search results but truncates anything beyond 155 to 160 characters with an ellipsis. A cut-off meta description looks unprofessional in search results and wastes the opportunity to give searchers a clear reason to click. Keep yours under 160 and put the key point first.
Instagram caption — 2,200 characters Instagram shows only the first two or three lines before a “more” link. The hard cap is 2,200 characters — anything beyond this is silently removed when you post. Long captions work well on Instagram but stay inside the limit to avoid losing content without knowing it.
LinkedIn post — 3,000 characters LinkedIn shows the first 210 characters on the feed before a “see more” prompt. The maximum is 3,000 characters. Posts near the limit consistently perform well for thought leadership — LinkedIn’s algorithm gives slightly more reach to longer content than shorter posts.
How Many Words Per Page?
The answer depends on formatting — font, size, line spacing and margins all change the result. Here are the most common formats:
Format |
Words per page |
|---|---|
|
Single spaced, 12pt Times New Roman |
~500 words |
|
Double spaced, 12pt Times New Roman |
~250 words |
|
Double spaced, 12pt Arial |
~230 words |
|
Single spaced, 11pt Calibri |
~480 words |
|
A4 standard academic format |
~250–300 words |
This word counter estimates pages based on the standard academic double-spaced format of 250 words per A4 page.
How Many Pages Is X Words?
Word count |
Pages (double spaced) |
Pages (single spaced) |
|---|---|---|
|
500 words |
2 pages |
1 page |
|
1000 words |
4 pages |
2 page |
|
1500 words |
6 pages |
3 page |
|
2000 words |
8 pages |
4 page |
|
2500 words |
10 pages |
5 page |
|
3000 words |
12 pages |
6 page |
|
5000 words |
20 pages |
10 page |
|
10000 words |
40 pages |
20 page |
Word Count Targets for Common Writing Tasks
Not sure how long your piece should be? Here are the standard expectations across the most common writing formats:
Writing task |
Typical word count |
|---|---|
|
Tweet / X post |
Up to 280 characters |
|
Meta description |
150–160 characters |
|
Email subject line |
40–60 characters |
|
LinkedIn post |
150–1,300 words |
|
Blog post (short) |
300–600 words |
|
Blog post (standard) |
1,000–1,500 words |
|
Blog post (long-form) |
2,000–3,000 words |
|
Cover letter |
250–400 words |
|
Personal statement |
500–650 words |
|
High school essay |
300–1,000 words |
|
Dissertation chapter |
8,000–12,000 words |
|
Short story |
1,000–7,500 words |
|
Novella |
17,500–40,000 words |
How Many Words Should a Blog Post Be?
There is no universal answer — it depends on the topic, search intent and what is already ranking. But here are the practical benchmarks:
300 to 600 words — quick answers, news updates and simple how-to guides. Rank well for very specific long-tail queries but rarely compete on broader topics.
1,000 to 1,500 words — the baseline for most blog content. Enough to cover a topic properly without padding.
2,000 to 3,000 words — the sweet spot for most SEO-focused content. Enough space to cover the topic thoroughly, answer related questions and earn featured snippets.
3,000+ words — pillar content, in-depth guides and comparison posts. Tend to earn more backlinks and rank for a wider range of keyword variations.
Use this word counter to track your draft length without opening a separate app. Paste your text and see instantly where you stand.
What Is Keyword Density?
Keyword density is the percentage of times a specific word appears in your text relative to the total word count. If the word “calculator” appears 10 times in a 500-word article the keyword density is 2%.
The keyword density section of this word counter shows your top 10 most-used meaningful words — common filler words like “the”, “and” and “is” are filtered out automatically — along with how many times each appears and its density as a percentage.
Why it matters for SEO — using your target keyword too rarely means Google may not associate your page with that topic. Using it too often — keyword stuffing — triggers ranking penalties. The accepted guidance is 1% to 2.5% for your primary keyword with natural variation in phrasing throughout.
Why it matters for readability — the keyword list also reveals repetition you may not notice while writing. If one word dominates your text it may feel monotonous to readers even if the density is within SEO limits. Varied vocabulary keeps readers engaged.
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Frequently Asked Questions
About This Word Counter
This word counter is part of CalcDaysTime — a free suite of date, time and maths tools. All analysis runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never sent to our servers, stored or shared with anyone.
Disclaimer: Word counts, reading time and keyword density are calculated from the text you enter. Results may differ slightly from Microsoft Word or Google Docs due to differences in how each handles punctuation, hyphenation and whitespace.