How does this thing count words?

Pretty straightforward - it splits your text by spaces and line breaks. Handles the edge cases too: multiple spaces, tabs, weird Unicode stuff. I spent way too long making sure the emoji counting works right. Each emoji shows as one character, even those complex family emojis that are technically multiple Unicode code points joined together.

Do emojis count as one character or multiple?

One character each. Even the complex ones like 👨👩👧👦. This actually took me forever to get right because JavaScript sees those as multiple code points, but Twitter and other platforms count them as one visual unit. So that's what TypeCount does too.

What's the Flesch Reading Ease score about?

It measures how easy your text is to read. Scale of 0-100 - higher means simpler. Most web content should aim for 60-70 (8th grade level). Below 30 is basically academic papers that require rereading. Above 80 is super simple. I check mine constantly because I tend to overcomplicate things.

How accurate is the reading time?

It uses 200 words per minute, which is average for online reading. Will your actual readers be faster or slower? Depends on the content and the person. But it gives you a ballpark. A 5-minute read feels different than a 15-minute one.

Is my text private? Where does it go?

Nowhere. Literally nowhere. Everything runs in your browser using JavaScript. Your text never touches my server. I couldn't read it even if I wanted to. When you close the tab, it's gone. I built it this way because I use it for client work myself.

Can I check social media character limits?

Yep - click any platform card above the text area. You'll see a progress bar showing how close you are. Twitter's 280, Instagram's 2,200, LinkedIn's 3,000, plus like 15 other platforms. I add more whenever someone asks.

Free Word & Character Counter

Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs in real-time. Check limits for Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other platforms.

What This Does

You paste text (or type it), and you see the counts. Words, characters, sentences, paragraphs - all updating as you type. No buttons to click, no waiting. I built it to be fast because I got tired of slow tools.

There's also readability scoring (Flesch Reading Ease), reading time estimates, and keyword extraction. Useful if you care about SEO or just want to know if your writing is clear. I check my readability scores probably more than I should.

The platform limit thing is what I actually use most. Click Twitter, see a progress bar fill up as you type. Hit 280 characters, it turns red. Same deal for Instagram, LinkedIn, whatever. No more googling "what's the LinkedIn character limit" five times a week.

Who Actually Uses This

Social Media People

You know the drill. Twitter's 280, Instagram's 2,200, LinkedIn's 3,000. Different limits everywhere. The platform cards show you exactly where you stand so you stop getting cut off mid-sentence.

Students Writing Essays

"500 words minimum, 2,500 max." Sound familiar? The basic counter works, but the essay tracker is better for long papers. Set a goal, watch your progress. Less stressful than constantly doing math in your head.

SEO Folks

Meta titles under 60 characters. Descriptions under 160. Go over and Google cuts you off with "..." and your beautiful copy looks broken. The meta checker shows you exactly how it'll look in search results.

Writers and Bloggers

Blog posts are usually 1,000-2,000 words. Deep dives might be 3,000-5,000. The reading time helps too - there's a difference between a quick 3-minute post and a 15-minute commitment. Good to know before you hit publish.

What Gets Counted

Words

Total word count, updated as you type. Handles contractions, hyphenated words, and numbers correctly.

Characters

Character count with and without spaces. Emojis and special characters are counted accurately using Unicode segmentation.

Sentences

Sentence count based on punctuation. Also shows average sentence length to help you vary your writing rhythm.

Paragraphs

Paragraph count based on blank lines. Useful for structuring longer documents and ensuring good visual flow.

Reading Time

Estimated time to read your text at 200 words per minute. Helps you gauge if content is the right length for your audience.

Readability

Flesch Reading Ease score from 0-100. Higher scores mean easier reading. Aim for 60-70 for general web content.

Character Limits Cheat Sheet

I keep looking these up, so I put them all in one place. Here's what each platform gives you:

Platform	Content Type	Limit
Twitter/X	Tweet	280
Instagram	Caption	2,200
LinkedIn	Post	3,000
Facebook	Post	63,206
TikTok	Caption	2,200
YouTube	Description	5,000
Threads	Post	500
Pinterest	Pin Description	500

Need dedicated counters for specific platforms? Check out our social media character counters with platform-specific tips and features.

How It Works (It's Not Complicated)

Honestly, you probably don't need instructions. But here's the gist:

Paste your text up top. Or just start typing. The numbers update as you go.
Look at the stats on the right. Words, characters, sentences, reading time, readability - it's all there.
Click a platform card if you're writing for social media. The progress bar shows how close you are to the limit.
Export if you want - there are buttons for copying text, copying stats, or downloading as TXT/JSON/CSV. Most people don't need this.

That's it. Your text stays in your browser. Nothing saved, nothing sent anywhere. Close the tab and it's gone.

Frequently Asked Questions

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