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Word counter with reading time, speaking time and readability
Paste your essay, article or script and this word counter gives you words, sentences, paragraphs, reading and speaking time, pages, repeated words and readability, all at once.
Words
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0Characters
0No spaces
0Sentences
0Paragraphs
0 secReading time
0 secSpeaking time
0Pages
Words you repeat most
- Your most repeated words will show up here.
Stop words (the, and, of…) left out
Readability (Flesch Reading Ease)
– Type at least 30 words to get a score.
- Words per sentence0
- Sentences over 30 words0
- Syllables per word0
- Flesch-Kincaid grade level0
Estimates. Reading: 238 words per minute, the adult average for nonfiction in Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis. Speaking: 150, within the pace of audiobooks. Pages: about 600 words single-spaced, 420 at 1.5 and 300 double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 (measured by Notablia in October 2026; headings, lists or tables fit fewer). Change the speeds if you read or talk at a different pace.
How to use this word counter
Paste your text and the word counter instantly gives you words, characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, speaking time and pages. It’s built for long pieces: a blog post, a term paper, a thesis chapter or a video script.
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Paste or type your text
It counts as you type. Your text is saved only in your browser, so you won’t lose it if you close the tab, and “Clear” deletes it.
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Adjust the speeds if you need to
It starts at 238 words per minute for reading and 150 for speaking. If you read or talk at a different pace, change them and everything recalculates.
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Set a word goal
Type the target you were given (1,500, 3,000…) into “Word goal” and a bar shows how far you have to go.
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Check repeats and readability
Below, you’ll see your most repeated words, stop words left out, plus a readability score and how many sentences run over 30 words.
It counts words the way Microsoft Word does: hyphenated words, contractions and numbers like 1,500 count as one. It also works as a sentence counter and a paragraph counter, since every new line with text counts as a paragraph.
Reading time calculator and speech time calculator
Time is a simple division: minutes = words ÷ words per minute. For reading we use 238, the adult average for silent reading of nonfiction in Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis, which pools 190 studies. For words per minute speaking we use 150, inside the 140 to 180 range of audiobooks reported in the same paper.
| Text | Words | Reading time | Speaking time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blog post | 1,500 | 6 min 18 sec | 10 min |
| 60-second video script | 150 | 38 sec | 1 min |
| 30-second radio or podcast ad | 75 | 19 sec | 30 sec |
So this is a reading time calculator and a speech time calculator in one box. Change either speed and the numbers for your text update on the spot.
Readability checker: Flesch Reading Ease and grade level
The readability checker uses the classic Flesch Reading Ease formula (Rudolf Flesch, 1948) and the Flesch-Kincaid grade level.
Flesch Reading Ease = 206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words).
Grade level = 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59.
A score of 60 to 70 is plain English; 30 to 50 is difficult; under 30 reads like a legal contract. Syllables are estimated with English spelling rules, so treat the score as a way to compare drafts, not as a grade.
The repeated words list works as a keyword density checker: each word shows its count and its share, count ÷ total words × 100, with stop words (the, and, of…) removed. Switch to “Two-word phrases” to catch the pairs you lean on most.
How many pages is 1000 words? Pages and real use cases
Pages come from dividing by 600 (single-spaced), 420 (1.5) or 300 (double). So how many pages is 1000 words? About 1.7 single-spaced, 2.4 at 1.5 and 3.3 double-spaced. Those aren’t the 500 and 250 you see everywhere: we measured.
Three cases where it saves you time:
- SEO article: if the top results on Google run about 1,800 words, set that as your goal and watch the bar. Our guide to long-tail keywords shows you how to pick the topic first.
- YouTube or podcast script: the speaking time tells you whether your 3-minute script really runs 3 minutes.
- College paper: with the goal set and pages at double spacing, you know how much is left without opening Word.
For short texts with platform limits, like bios, ads or posts, use the character counter. Everything else is in our free marketing tools.
Word counter PDF: how to count the words in a PDF file
This word counter doesn’t open files, and that’s on purpose: your PDF never leaves your computer. The trick is to copy the text and paste it into the box.
- Open the PDF in your browser or your PDF reader.
- Select everything with Ctrl + A (Cmd + A on a Mac) and copy with Ctrl + C.
- Paste it into the box and read the count.
Two warnings. A scanned PDF is just photos of pages, so there’s no text to copy: run it through an OCR tool first. And headers, page numbers and footnotes sneak into the total. Paste only the body, and leave out the cover page and the bibliography if your professor or client doesn’t count them.
Word count in Word and Google Docs: shortcuts and limits
Both programs count as you type. In Microsoft Word, check the status bar in the bottom-left corner, click the number for a breakdown or press Ctrl + Shift + G on Windows. In Google Docs, go to Tools, then Word count, or press Ctrl + Shift + C (Cmd + Shift + C on a Mac). Select a passage and both count only that passage.
So why paste text here? Because this counter adds what the totals don’t: speaking time for a script, your most repeated words and pairs, a readability score and a word goal bar.
One more thing. Word counts anything between spaces as a word, even a lone dash or ampersand. This counter only counts letters and numbers, so a text full of symbols can come out a few words lower. If a limit is strict, check the final number in the program that will open the file.
Frequently asked questions about the word counter
How many words is a page?
In Times New Roman 12 with normal paragraphs, a page holds about 600 words single-spaced, 420 at 1.5 spacing and 300 double-spaced. We measured it ourselves with real text in English, Spanish and Portuguese. You’ll fit fewer with a bigger font, wider margins, headings or lists. So if your professor asks for a 10-page double-spaced paper, plan on roughly 3,000 words and type that into the word goal box.
How many words is a 5 minute speech?
About 750 words if you speak at 150 words per minute, a comfortable pace for a talk or a video. The normal range runs from 700 to 900, since audiobooks are recorded at 140 to 180 words per minute. To land a real five minutes, write about 700 and leave room for pauses and slides. Paste your script into the counter and check the speaking time: if it’s over five minutes, cut.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4 minutes and 12 seconds at 238 words per minute, the average adult pace for silent reading of nonfiction in Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis. Most adults fall between 175 and 300 words per minute, so the same 1,000 words can take anywhere from about 3 and a half to almost 6 minutes. Read aloud, they take close to 7 minutes at 150 words per minute.
How many words is an essay?
There’s no standard length: the assignment sets it. For college applications, the Common App personal essay has a 650-word maximum and a 250-word minimum, so most strong essays land between 500 and 650. For class essays, check the rubric for a word or page count. Put that number in the word goal box and the bar shows exactly how much you have left, or how much you need to cut.
Can ChatGPT count words?
Not reliably. ChatGPT reads text as tokens, not words, so its counts drift, especially on long texts. It can promise 500 words and hand you something quite different. Use it to draft, then paste the result into a word counter for the real number. If a limit is strict, whether it’s a college essay or an ad, trust the count here, not the chat, and trim or expand from there.