liminfoEssay Word Counter
Free web tool: Essay Word Counter
Word Count
0
Characters (with spaces)
0
Characters (no spaces)
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Common Word Limits
250 words
0 / 250
0%
500 words
0 / 500
0%
1000 words
0 / 1000
0%
1500 words
0 / 1500
0%
2000 words
0 / 2000
0%
About Essay Word Counter
The Essay Word Counter analyzes pasted text and displays five key statistics simultaneously in real time as you type: word count, character count (with spaces), character count (without spaces), sentence count, and paragraph count. Word count is calculated by splitting on whitespace after trimming, so only non-empty tokens are counted. Sentence count uses a split on .!? punctuation followed by a non-empty segment check. Paragraph count splits on blank lines (double newline), ignoring empty paragraphs.
Below the statistics grid, the tool shows a word limit progress panel for five common essay length targets: 250 words (short response), 500 words (short essay), 1000 words (standard essay), 1500 words (extended essay), and 2000 words (long-form). Each target displays your current word count over the limit, a colored progress bar (blue while under, red when over), and the percentage reached. When you exceed a limit, the bar turns red and the percentage is labeled "(over)" to make overages immediately visible.
This tool is used by students writing college application essays, high school and university essay assignments, blog writers managing article length, and professionals drafting reports with word-count constraints. Because all counting happens client-side with no network requests, there is zero latency between typing and seeing updated statistics — and no essay content ever leaves your browser.
Key Features
- Real-time word count updated on every keystroke without any button press
- Character count shown both with spaces and without spaces simultaneously
- Sentence count splits on period, exclamation mark, and question mark punctuation
- Paragraph count based on blank-line separation (double newline), not line count
- Word limit progress bars for 5 common targets: 250, 500, 1000, 1500, and 2000 words
- Progress bars turn red and show "(over)" label when the word limit is exceeded
- Percentage complete displayed per limit so you can gauge how close you are to each target
- 100% client-side — essay text never leaves your browser, ensuring complete privacy
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the word counter count words?
The tool splits the text on one or more whitespace characters (spaces, tabs, newlines) after trimming leading and trailing whitespace. Each resulting non-empty token is counted as one word. This matches the behavior of most word processors. Hyphenated words (e.g., "well-known") count as one word, and numbers count as words.
What is the difference between character count with and without spaces?
Character count with spaces counts every character including spaces, tabs, and newlines. Character count without spaces strips all whitespace characters before counting. Some academic institutions specify character limits that exclude spaces, so having both counts lets you check either requirement at a glance.
How are sentences counted?
Sentences are counted by splitting the text on sequences of . ! or ? characters and then filtering out any resulting segment that is entirely whitespace. This means "Hello!" counts as one sentence, and "Hello. How are you?" counts as two. Note that abbreviations like "Dr." may slightly over-count sentences in edge cases.
How are paragraphs counted?
Paragraphs are counted by splitting on blank lines — specifically on one or more newline characters surrounding a line containing only whitespace. This means pressing Enter once to start a new line does not create a new paragraph; you need to press Enter twice (leaving a blank line between blocks of text), which is the standard paragraph convention.
What word limits are shown in the progress panel?
The panel shows progress toward five common academic and professional word limits: 250 words (typical short response or paragraph assignment), 500 words (short essay or blog post), 1000 words (standard one-page essay), 1500 words (extended essay), and 2000 words (long-form article or report). These cover the most frequently assigned lengths in high school, college, and professional writing.
Why does the progress bar turn red?
The progress bar for a given word limit turns red and displays your word count as "(over)" when you have written more words than that limit allows. This gives an immediate visual warning that you need to cut content to meet that particular constraint. Other limits where you are still within the count remain blue.
Can I use this for college application essays?
Yes. Common App main essays have a 650-word limit, supplemental essays vary from 100 to 650 words, and UC essays are typically 350 words each. While none of these exact limits appear in the preset panel, you can mentally compare your current word count against any target. The tool gives you the live count without any sign-up or tracking.
Is my essay text saved or stored anywhere?
No. The essay text exists only in the browser's React state while you have the page open. It is never sent to a server, never stored in cookies or localStorage, and disappears completely when you close or refresh the tab. You can safely paste confidential drafts without any privacy concerns.