Free Word Counter

Keep your work on track with Grammarly’s word counter. Instantly view word, character, and sentence counts to meet your writing requirements—and receive real-time feedback on grammar, spelling, and typos to ensure your work is clear and polished.
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  • Tone and clarity suggestions
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Suggestions
  • Words0
  • Characters without spaces0
  • Characters with spaces0
  • Sentences0
  • Paragraphs0
  • Reading Time0m 0s
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More Than Just a Word Counter

Go beyond a simple word counter with Grammarly’s comprehensive AI assistance. It cleans up your writing by finding grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, and typos—and with Grammarly Pro, you’ll get advanced suggestions to improve your writing skills over time.

Instant proofreading

Polish your writing with suggestions that help you quickly fix grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, and punctuation mishaps, all while using our word counter to keep track.
Grammarly corrects your usage of "less" to "fewer"
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Easy rewriting

Shorten an entire paragraph with a single click—making your writing easier to follow and helping you meet length requirements with our word counter—so you can get to the point faster.

Generative AI

With ideas and structure delivered straight to the page you’re already on, you’ll never miss a deadline again. Brainstorms, outlines, and new perspectives are at your fingertips, so you can move from idea to draft faster.
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Grammarly suggests edits for conciseness.

Clarity improvements

Ensure your message is easy to understand with suggestions that make your writing clearer and more concise—perfect for polishing your words and meeting word count requirements.

Tone suggestions

Build stronger relationships and drive projects forward with tone recommendations that help your words be well received.
Grammarly rephrases your text to make you sound more confident

Who Benefits From a Word Counter?

Grammarly’s word counter offers something for everyone.
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Professionals

Create impactful, concise reports and documents by tracking word count in real time.
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Students

Monitor your word count to stay within assignment limits and structure your essays effectively.
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Researchers

Track word count for abstracts, papers, and reports to meet publication or submission requirements
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Social media managers

Keep posts within platform-specific character limits for perfectly fitting messages across Instagram, LinkedIn, and more.
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Journalists

Monitor word and character counts to keep articles concise and within editorial guidelines.
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Copywriters

Refine your content to be fresh, engaging, and within word count limits.
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Marketers

Ensure blog posts, SEO copy, and ads meet word and character count guidelines for consistent, effective messaging.
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Authors

Align your writing with word and character count requirements for various publishing formats.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a word counter?

A word counter is a tool that helps you instantly track the number of words in your text. Whether you’re writing an essay, a blog post, or an email, a word counter makes it easy to see how many words, characters, and even sentences you’ve written—all in real time. It’s ideal for staying within word limits or simply keeping your writing concise and clear. 

Plus, with Grammarly’s suite of AI tools, you can do more than just count words—you can check grammar, detect plagiarism, and even paraphrase, refining your writing from start to finish.

When should I use a word counter?

Use a word counter, sentence counter, or character counter whenever you want to keep track of your writing’s length and meet requirements. Whether you’re working on a school assignment, a blog post, or a social media caption, a word counter helps you stay within limits and keep your message clear and focused

How do I use a word counter?

Using Grammarly’s word counter is quick and easy. Simply paste your text into the tool or start typing, and it will instantly display the total number of words, characters, and sentences as you write. This lets you monitor your word count in real time, helping you stay on track and meet requirements.

How long should my word or character count be for social network posts?

  • Facebook post: 40–80 characters (higher engagement with shorter posts)
  • Instagram caption: 100–125 characters (optimal readability before truncation)
  • X post: 71–100 characters (ideal for engagement)
  • YouTube description: 138–150 characters (focus on the first sentence to optimize for SEO and click-throughs)

What’s the ideal word count for admission essays?

  • College admission essay: 250–650 words (align with application guidelines)
  • Undergraduate college essay: 1,500–5,000 words (depends on course level)
  • Graduate school admission essay: 500–1,000 words (usually personal statements or essays)

How long should professional writing pieces be?

  • LinkedIn article: 1,500–2,000 words (in-depth content preferred by professionals)
  • Blog posts: 1,000–1,500 words (longer content often performs better for SEO)
  • Cover letters: 250–400 words (should be concise yet impactful)
  • Résumés: 400–600 words (focus on key achievements and experience)

What’s the recommended word count for creative writing?

  • Short stories: ~3,000–7,500 words (for most literary publications)
  • Novellas: 20,000–40,000 words (depending on the genre)
  • Novels: 70,000–110,000 words (varies by genre; literary and fantasy genres may be longer)

More AI Writing Assistance From Grammarly

Grammarly helps with all aspects of writing. Here are a few other useful tools that can support you.
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Easily Reword Text

Rewrite any content effortlessly with Grammarly’s rewording tool.

Rewording Tool
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Quickly Create Reports

Get high-quality business reports in a few clicks with Grammarly's report writer.

Report Writer
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Detect AI Content

Easily identify AI-generated content in your text with Grammarly’s AI Detector.

AI Detector

Make Great Writing Simple

Join over 40 million people who use Grammarly every day to make their writing shine.