How the counts work
Words are groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks. Characters include letters, numbers, punctuation and spaces, and a second figure shows the count without spaces. Sentences are counted by the punctuation that ends them (periods, question marks and exclamation marks), and paragraphs are blocks of text separated by a blank line. Abbreviations such as "e.g." can make the sentence count run slightly high, so treat it as an estimate.
Reading and speaking time
Reading time assumes about 238 words per minute, a commonly cited average for adults reading non-fiction silently. Speaking time assumes 150 words per minute, which suits a clear, unhurried presentation. Your own pace may be faster or slower, especially with technical material.
Length limits worth knowing
| Where | Rough limit |
|---|---|
| Post on X (standard accounts) | 280 characters |
| Search result title | about 50 to 60 characters before it may be cut off |
| Search result description | about 150 to 160 characters before it may be cut off |
| Text message (single SMS) | 160 characters |
| College application essay | often 250 to 650 words; check each school |
Search engines truncate titles and descriptions by pixel width rather than a fixed count, so the numbers above are guidelines.
Writing tips that use the counts
- If your average sentence runs past 25 words, look for places to split it.
- Keep paragraphs to a few sentences for easier reading on phones.
- Write to the requested word count with a small margin either way, since some systems count hyphenated words and numbers differently.
Privacy
All counting happens locally in your browser. What you type or paste is not uploaded, saved or shared.