What is keyword density and why does it matter?

It's the percentage of times a word or phrase appears relative to the total word count. Densities above 3–5% for a single phrase are usually treated as over-optimization by search engines, so it's worth checking before you publish.

Does character count include spaces?

The main character count includes spaces. A separate "Characters (no spaces)" metric is also shown, since some limits — older SMS rules among them — count characters without spaces.

Are contractions counted as one word or two?

As they appear on the page — "don't" and "it's" each count as one word, consistent with how most professional word counters and style guides handle them.

Why does keyword density only show up after 30 words?

Shorter texts produce statistically unreliable results — in a short sample, any word can appear to have high density purely by chance.

What counts as a complex word?

A word with 3 or more syllables. It's the core metric behind the Gunning Fog index, a formula that estimates how difficult a text is to read.

Word Counter

Free online word counter — count words, characters, paragraphs and reading time instantly. Detailed text analysis with keyword density.

Updated March 2026

Input

LIVE FEEDBACK ACTIVE

CTRL+S Save

⇧+Enter Copy

Words

+0% from target

Characters

including spaces

Detailed Metrics

No Space Count 0

Paragraphs 0

Average Sentence Length 0

Complex Words 0

System Estimate

0min

Estimated reading time based on a technical standard of 200 words per minute.

Keyword Density

Analysis requires a minimum of 30 words.

How to Use This Word Counter

Paste text, read the stats, export or copy

1. Paste or type your text

Every metric updates instantly as you type — there's no button to click.

2. Read your text statistics

Words, characters, paragraphs, reading time, and keyword density, all in one view.

3. Copy or export the report

"Copy Analysis" grabs a text summary, or "Export" saves it as a .txt file.

What This Word Counter Does

More than a word count

Full text count

Words, characters (with and without spaces), paragraphs, and sentences, all in one place.

Average sentence length

Word count divided by sentence count — a quick signal of how fluent your writing reads.

Complex word detection

Flags words with 3+ syllables, based on the Gunning Fog readability formula.

Reading time estimate

Calculated at 200 words per minute, a pace suited to focused, technical reading.

Keyword density analysis

Surfaces your most frequent 1-, 2-, and 3-word phrases, with common stop words filtered out.

Draft manager

Save drafts across sessions, then undo or redo edits as you keep writing.

Metrics Explained

What each number in the panel actually tells you

Metric

What it means

Characters without spaces

The count used by SMS limits and other character-only rules

Complex word

A word with 3+ syllables — the basis of the Gunning Fog readability index

Density above 3–5%

A signal to Google that a phrase may be over-optimized

When You'll Use This

The most common scenarios among people who use this tool

SEO and blogging

Track progress toward the 1,500–2,500 words recommended for long-form content, and check keyword density before you hit publish.

Essays and academic papers

Stay inside a professor's or journal's word count limits without pasting your draft into a separate word processor.

Technical documentation

Use the reading time estimate to decide whether a page has grown too long and needs to be split into shorter sections.

Social media and ad copy

Check text against X's 280-character limit or a Google Ads headline's 30-character cap before you post.

Editors and translators

Compare word counts before and after a pass to see exactly how much a piece grew, shrank, or changed in density.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Trusting density scores on short text

Keyword density only appears once you pass 30 words — shorter samples produce statistically unreliable percentages.

Targeting keyword density above 3–5%

Pushing a phrase past that range is generally treated as over-optimization and can hurt rankings instead of helping them.

Assuming contractions count as one word

"Don't" and "it's" each count as a separate word here, matching how most professional word counters and style guides handle them.

Why Use This Word Counter

It goes beyond a raw word count: paragraph structure, average sentence length, and the share of complex words are all measured — real readability signals, not just a single number on a screen.

The built-in draft manager with undo and redo makes it useful for longer writing sessions, not only a quick check you run right before publishing.

Frequently Asked Questions

It's estimated at 200 words per minute, a pace suited to focused or technical reading — more conservative than the 250–300 words per minute typical of casual reading. A 1,000-word article works out to roughly 5 minutes.