Word & Character Counter
Instantly check your text length. Perfect for meeting client word-count constraints.
Count words and characters against a limit someone else set
Writers rarely count words out of curiosity. The count matters because a contract specifies a deliverable of 1,200 words, a meta description truncates past a certain length, or a platform enforces a hard character cap. Those three cases need different numbers — words, characters including spaces, and characters excluding spaces — and the distinction is exactly where disputes about delivered scope start.
How This Local-First Tool Works
- Characters with and without spaces are reported separately, because contracts and platforms disagree about which one they mean. If a deliverable is specified in characters, establish which definition applies before you write, not after you invoice.
- Word counts differ between tools by a few percent, because hyphenated compounds, numerals and em-dashes are tokenised inconsistently. For a contracted deliverable, agree on the tool as well as the number.
- Useful ceilings worth remembering: a title tag truncates in search results around 60 characters, a meta description around 155, and most social platforms cap the visible portion of a bio well below what they accept.
- Reading time is derived from word count at an assumed pace, which makes it an estimate rather than a measurement. It is fine for a blog byline and a poor basis for pricing narration or video scripts.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does the word count include headings and captions?
- It counts everything you paste. If a client is paying for 1,200 words of body copy, decide up front whether headings, captions, alt text and metadata count toward that figure — this is one of the most common sources of a disagreement at delivery.
- Why does my count differ from Word or Google Docs?
- Different tokenisation. Hyphenated words, numbers with separators, and dashes used as punctuation are treated differently across tools, which produces variance of a few percent on a long document. For contracted work, name the tool in the agreement.
- Characters with or without spaces — which do clients mean?
- Translation and localisation work usually means characters including spaces; some publishing contracts mean excluding. There is no universal convention, so ask. The gap between the two figures on a long piece is large enough to matter.
- Is my text uploaded?
- No. Counting happens in your browser as you type, which is worth knowing if the draft is confidential or under embargo.
Related Free Tools
Every Solo OS tool runs the same way: fill in the form, watch the document build, download the PDF. Nothing is uploaded and no account is required. When this document is done, the proposal generator, UPI invoice generator and PDF e-sign tool cover the rest of the engagement.