While Microsoft Word and Google Docs offer built-in word count features, many times, users require more specialized tools. This is where a free online word counter comes in handy.

In this article, we’ll give you the inside scoop on the 10 best free online word counters and reveal how they can take your writing from good to great!

What Is a Word Counter?

That is a tool used to count the number of words and characters in a specified text automatically—all in just a few seconds. Different tools have their own word count systems, meaning one document may be counted as 750 words on one counter but 770 on another.

Word counters also have varying interpretations of what counts as a word, such as if punctuation marks and numbers should be included.

For example, Microsoft Office editions are straightforward: anything except for a space is counted as a word.

Why Is Word Counting Necessary?

Word counting is often essential for certain types of writing projects—especially those that involve a set word limit. For instance, if you’re writing a blog post, an article for a magazine, or a college essay, words matter!

Word count can be a deciding factor in choosing the best translation service provider, as many translators and translation agencies charge by the number of words in the document (either the source or target word count).

At the same time, other writing projects don’t require a word count. For example, if you’re writing in your diary or emailing someone special, you don’t need to worry about whether you’ve written enough words or exceeded your limit.

Still not sure when word count is necessary? Here are some situations where it would be beneficial to keep track of how many words (or characters) you have written:

  • Resumes/Cover Letters; 
  • Contracts;
  • Job applications;
  • Newsletters;
  • Reports/Research papers;
  • Social media posts;
  • Advertising campaigns;
  • SEO web content;
  • Presentations;
  • Short stories;
  • Novels, essays, etc.

The important takeaway here is that having an accurate word count can help keep you on track and ensure you meet the required criteria for any type of project that has a specific word count requirement.

However, not all of document files can be copy directly for word counting purpose, or their format are not easy to count the words, then you might need a free file conversion tool.

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Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your number of words counter:

  • Keep track of your progress: If you’re writing for an assignment, for instance, then it’s important to keep track of how many words you’ve written and if you need to reach a specific goal. This way, you can ensure that every piece of writing is properly handled and you won’t miss any deadlines because of insufficient length;
  • Stick to your style guide: Word counters can help keep your writing consistent with any in-house style guidelines—you can easily check whether specific words are being used and adjust as necessary without having to re-check entire passages or paragraphs;
  • Stay on top of how much content has been published: Word counters are also helpful if you need an overview of how much content has been published—you can determine how much text there is, compared to what was expected, without having to count each letter manually!

10 Best Free Online Word Counters to Choose From

So, now that you know what a word counter is and how it works, let’s take a look at some of the best free online word counters currently available.

Besides counting words and characters, this online editor can assist you in improving your word choice and writing style, as well as detect grammar errors and plagiarism.

To check word count, place your cursor into the text box above and begin composing. You can also paste the text into the online editor above by copying it from another program. Even if you leave the website and return later, you won’t lose any edits thanks to the Auto-Save feature.

This tool can help you with selecting and placing keywords for your article. It also prevents you from overusing particular words or word combinations.

Find out how many words and characters are in your content by entering it directly or pasting it.

To complete the calculation, there is no need to press any “submit” buttons, so you don’t lose precious time. You can type the text and quickly perceive the number of words you got up to this point. In addition, the website does not store any information entered or pasted into the word counting box, so your safety is assured.

This tool for counting words is fairly simple to use. The text can be pasted or typed directly into the box.

This tool counts not only words but characters, sentences, and even paragraphs. Additionally, there are a number of useful features, such as:

  • Word Frequency Counter: It basically makes a list of all the words that are used in the content, how many times you have used them, and how much of the text they make up. Now, why do you even require this information? Besides revealing the words you use most frequently in your writing, it can help you with SEO;
  • Flesh Reading Score: A text’s readability is very important. The Flesh Reading Score is a measure of how easy it is to read;
  • Reading Time: It provides you with an estimate of how long it would take a typical person to read the text. When writing a speech, this is especially helpful, because you often can’t tell how long it is until you practice reading it aloud.

So before you hit publish or submit your essay or article somewhere else: use this free word counter tool—it’s an easy way to get great results!

This site characterizes words utilizing separators, such as empty spaces and some symbols. As a result, any text between these separators is considered a word. If you need to count the characters you’ve used in your writing, you can benefit from the free character count tool as well.

The website doesn’t save anything you have entered for word count purposes. Before copying and pasting the content into the input box, use a text editor or word processor to save your document.

This tool counts the number of characters, letters, symbols, words, sentences, and paragraphs in a text written in a variety of languages and alphabets, including Hindi, Arabic, French, English, Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and Hebrew.

It also determines the text’s keyword density, which could help you improve it for SEO. WordCounter360° displays the text’s top ten keywords without considering articles or pronouns.

This word counter provides extensive statistics about the word count, character count, and the number of characters without spaces. It also reports the number of syllables, monosyllabic and polysyllabic words, sentences, paragraphs, and so on.

This handy tool is compatible with all of the most popular web browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer.

There are many different highlights, like comprehensibility and keyword density. It also has an Auto-Save feature, which saves the user’s text to the browser so they can work on it later.

You can quickly determine the total number of characters in your article by using this tool. You will also know the number of white spaces that appear between the content.

Write anything you want in the large, white text box, or copy and paste the article you want to write into this field. The number of words and characters (with or without spaces) appear on the right side of the webpage.

In addition to word counting, there are plenty of other stats you get, such as the number of sentences, lines, paragraphs, punctuation, and numerals. The tool also calculates the average read and spell time.

There is a word count of “MS Words.” That means you get the word count you’d get if you used Microsoft Word.

This online free word counter is easy to use, regardless of the format or language of your uploaded document. Once you are ready, you can export the text by saving it as PDF, Word, EPUB, TXT, or FB2.

The most special feature of CountWordsFree is you can simply put URL inside, and it will present the result. 

Simply paste your text into the text box, and the online word calculator of SmallSEOTools.Com runs the scan automatically and displays the word count results right away.

Depending on the device you used to access the character counter, you can also upload files directly from your hard drive, mobile device, Google Drive, or Dropbox. Your content is completely secure and accessible only to you.

This online tool is available in several different languages. It is not a simple word counter but a helpful analyzer. It provides you with details such as the average sentence length, the number of characters (both with and without space), the total number of paragraphs, and many more.

This is a great option for basic word count needs, such as counting words, characters (with and without space), syllables, sentences, and paragraphs. What’s more, the tool determines the top keywords and phrases you have used.

You can copy and paste your content or URL or upload a document to get started.

WordCount has been created by Ahrefs, which is one of the most reliable and popular SEO software programs online. You are guaranteed that no one else is able to view your text.

Furthermore, there is some interesting information regarding the appropriate length of your content based on its type. And it has very clean dashboard without any ads.

Tips for Finding the Right Word Counter for You

When it comes to finding the right word counting tool for you, there are a few things to consider. The following are the ones that matter the most:

1. User-friendly Interface

The online word counter should have an intuitive and easy-to-understand interface so that you can quickly get started. Some tools might have a learning curve associated with them, so it’s best to choose one that’s easy for you to understand.

2. Counting Methodology

Check how the tool does its counting. Does it count the punctuation, the number of characters, and the number of words? This is important, since some tools might not give accurate or expected results. If accuracy matters for your work, go for the number of words counter that meets your needs.

There are some significant differences in the counting of words in a text, depending on its language. Here are some examples:

  • Chinese: Chinese characters are not separated with spaces, which makes word counting difficult. Sometimes several characters may represent a single word, and sometimes it might be a whole sentence;
  • Japanese: Japanese contains both hieroglyphs and two syllabaries: katakana and hiragana. So, actual word counting is even more complicated;
  • Thai: There are no spaces used in the Thai written language, so the conventional word count schemes are non-applicable.

If you are not familiar with those three languages, your best bet is to use a character count tool. The rest of the languages utilize spacing, and you can accurately count words with the free online word counter of your choice.

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4. Supported File Formats

Check if the tool supports your file format (e.g., DOCX, ODT) so you can save time and energy when counting words on documents formatted in various ways. Most counters should support multiple file formats, but some may only support a narrow range of them.

Check out the guide of translating a document in Word.

5. Pricing Plans

Finally, decide if you should pay for an online word counter tool or if you can use one of the many free versions available online today. Sometimes it pays off to invest in a more expensive version if you plan on using it more often than just one time.

Which Word Counter Will You Pick?

Summing it up, using a free online word counter can be a great and simple way to monitor the length of your documents. It can help you stay within the confines of the word or character limit you are aiming for.