# Word & Character Counter Type or paste your text for an instant breakdown — words, characters, paragraphs, reading and speaking time, plus keyword density. Built for writers, editors, and anyone working to a limit. Nothing leaves your browser. Type some text to see the most frequent words. ## How the numbers are calculated **Words** are runs of non-whitespace characters. **Characters** are counted both with and without spaces — useful because some platforms (Twitter/X, SMS, ad copy) count every character, while others count only visible glyphs. **Paragraphs** are blocks of text separated by a blank line; **sentences** are split on terminal punctuation (. ! ?). ### Reading and speaking time Reading time assumes **238 words per minute** — the average silent reading speed for English non-fiction established by Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of 190 studies. Speaking time assumes **140 words per minute**, a typical measured pace for clear presentation delivery (conversational speech runs faster, around 150–160; audiobook narration slower, around 150). These are estimates: your real pace depends on the material's difficulty and your audience. ### Keyword density Density is the share of total words each term represents — a word appearing 8 times in a 400-word text has a density of 2%. With *Hide common words* enabled (the default), function words like "the", "and", and "of" are filtered out so the meaningful terms surface. Density is a rough SEO and editing signal: if one keyword dominates unnaturally, the writing may read as stuffed; if your intended topic words never appear, the piece may be drifting off-subject. ### Reading ease The reading-ease score is the Flesch Reading Ease formula: higher is easier. Roughly, 90–100 is very easy (5th grade), 60–70 is plain English (8th–9th grade), 30–50 is difficult (college), and below 30 is very hard (graduate level). It's a guide, not a verdict — technical writing legitimately scores low, and short punchy prose can score high without being simple. ### Privacy Every calculation runs in your browser as you type. Your text is never sent anywhere, saved, or logged. Draft a confidential manuscript or a client's copy here without concern. --- *Source: [ocxly.com/word-counter.html](https://ocxly.com/word-counter.html) — OCXLY, free 100% client-side privacy-first tools. A free word and character counter with reading time, speaking time, keyword density, and paragraph analysis. Runs entirely in your browser. From OCXLY Publishing House.*