Free Word Counter & Character Counter — Real-Time, No Sign-Up

Why Use Content Tally's Word Counter?

Most word counters only do one thing. Content Tally combines a live word and character counter with file uploads (DOC, DOCX, PDF, CSV, XLS, XLSX) and website link analysis, so you get accurate counts whether your text started as a typed draft, an uploaded document, or a published webpage — all in the same view, with no sign-up and nothing sent to a server beyond what you explicitly paste or upload.

Real-Time Word Counting While You Type

Every number on this page updates as you type or paste — there's no "Count" button to click. Reading time is calculated using an average adult silent-reading speed of 225 words per minute, and speaking time uses a slower spoken-word pace, so both estimates are ready the moment you stop typing.

Character Limit Alerts for Social Media

Writing for Twitter/X or Instagram? Keep these limits in mind while you draft:

Switch the "Count spaces as characters" toggle above to check your count with or without spaces included, since some platforms count differently.

Word Count for Resumes & Cover Letters

Recruiters typically spend only 6-7 seconds scanning a resume on first pass, so length matters. Most US hiring guidance recommends keeping a resume to 400-800 words, fitting on a single page for early-career roles. Paste your resume draft above to check where you land — and see our cover letter word count guide for letter-specific ranges.

How to Count Words Without a Counter Tool

If you ever need to count words by hand — no software required:

1. Split the text at every space or line break.
2. Count how many pieces that split produces — each piece is roughly one word.
3. For a quick estimate on a long document, count the words in three representative lines, average them, then multiply by the total number of lines.

Most word processors also show a manual count under Tools > Word Count (or a live count in the status bar), which is faster than counting by hand for anything longer than a paragraph.

Word Counter with Paragraph Breakdown

Beyond a single total, the results panel above breaks your text down by words per paragraph and words per sentence, so you can see pacing at a glance — useful for spotting overly dense paragraphs in an essay, or checking that a script's sentences aren't running too long to read aloud comfortably.