# Word Counter Online: Words, Characters, Reading Time | ClipTen > Free online word counter: count words, characters with and without spaces, sentences and paragraphs, with reading and speaking time. No word limit. URL: https://clipten.com/tools/word-counter Updated: 2026-10-01 About ClipTen: https://clipten.com/llms.txt ClipTen (https://clipten.com/) Free tools (https://clipten.com/tools) Word counter ## Word counter Paste or type your text to count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you go, with how long it takes to read and to speak, and your most used words. No word limit. Made by ClipTen ### Stop going back to copy it again. Writing in one window and pasting quotes from five others? ClipTen keeps ten copies on your number keys, so each one is a shortcut away. Download forMac (https://clipten.com/mac#install) Get it fromMicrosoft Slots 1 to 5 free, no daily limit. All 10 for $15, once. See how it works (https://clipten.com/how-it-works) ### How to use it - Type in the box or paste your text. - The counts update as you type. - Check the most used words to spot ones you repeat too often. ### How words are counted A word is any run of letters or numbers, so don’t is one word, e-mail is one, and 2026 is one. The counter uses your browser’s own language rules, so it also counts Chinese, Japanese and Thai text, which has no spaces between words. Results can differ from Word or Google Docs by a word or two on dashes and web addresses; all are reasonable ways to count. ### Reading and speaking time Reading time assumes 238 words a minute, the average for adults reading non-fiction silently. Speaking time assumes 150 words a minute, a comfortable pace for a talk or a video. A 1,500-word article takes about 6 minutes to read; a 5-minute speech is about 750 words. | Words | Time to read | Time to speak | Pages, single spaced | | 250 | About 1 minute | About 2 minutes | Half a page | | 500 | About 2 minutes | About 3 minutes 20 seconds | 1 page | | 1,000 | About 4 minutes | About 7 minutes | 2 pages | | 1,500 | About 6 minutes | 10 minutes | 3 pages | | 2,000 | About 8½ minutes | About 13 minutes | 4 pages | | 3,000 | About 12½ minutes | 20 minutes | 6 pages | Pages assume a 12-point font with normal margins; double spacing doubles them. ### Common word limits | Piece | Usual length | | College application essay (Common App) | Up to 650 words | | Cover letter | 250 to 400 words | | Blog post that ranks well | 1,000 to 2,000 words | | LinkedIn post | Up to 3,000 characters | | Abstract for a paper | 150 to 250 words | Writing for a platform with a character limit instead? Use the character counter (https://clipten.com/tools/character-counter), which shows the limits for X, Instagram and SMS. ### Word count in other apps Word shows it in the status bar. Google Docs counts with Ctrl + Shift + C. Pages has View › Show Word Count. For text in an email, a form or a CMS, paste it here. Last checked October 2026. ### Questions How many words is a 5-minute speech? About 750 words at a comfortable 150 words a minute. Paste your script to see its speaking time. How long does it take to read 1,000 words? About 4 minutes at an average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute, and about 7 minutes to say aloud. How many pages is 1,000 words? About 2 pages single spaced, or 4 pages double spaced, in a 12-point font with normal margins. Is there a word limit? No. Paste a whole essay, report or book chapter; the count updates as you type. How do I see the word count in Google Docs? Press Ctrl + Shift + C, or ⌘ + Shift + C on a Mac, or choose Tools, Word count. Is my text saved or uploaded? No. Counting happens in your browser tab, and the text is gone when you close it. ### More free tools All free tools → (https://clipten.com/tools) - Character counter With limits for X, Instagram and SMS (https://clipten.com/tools/character-counter) - Case converter UPPER, lower, Title, Sentence and more (https://clipten.com/tools/case-converter) - Text compare See what changed between two texts (https://clipten.com/tools/text-compare) - Remove line breaks Join broken lines from PDFs and emails (https://clipten.com/tools/remove-line-breaks) - Lorem ipsum generator Placeholder paragraphs, sentences or words (https://clipten.com/tools/lorem-ipsum-generator) - Find and replace Replace words in any text, regex too (https://clipten.com/tools/find-and-replace-text) Download forMac (https://clipten.com/mac#install) Get it fromMicrosoft - Slots 1 to 5 free, no daily limit - No card, no subscription - All 10 slots for $15, once On a Mac, it installs in about a minute with one line in Terminal (https://clipten.com/mac#install).