Free Online Word Counter Tool

What is a word counter?

When you add your text to ShyEditor's Word Counter, our advanced platform immediately handles the tedious task of counting for you, so you can see right where your word limit is sitting for your project.

So, if you're unsure whether compound words count as one or two words, avoid the hassle of searching and let Shy Editor be your word counter.

Trust ShyEditor's expertise to know that hyphenated words only count as one, that accented letters don't count as two words, and that, usually, spaces do count as a character.

There's no reason to strain your eyes by manually counting words to ensure you meet your writing goals. Your time and vision are far too valuable for such a task.

When to use a word counter?

Online word counting tools have a variety of uses, from helping you check your daily writing goals to meeting assignment requirements to creating viral social media posts.

How to use the word counter?

To use ShyEditor's free online word counter tool, just type or paste in your text, and ShyEditor's word counter will instantly calculate the number of words.

When you're done working on a section of text, use the trash can icon in the bottom right corner to clear the window for a clean slate.

If you've changed or refined the input text to meet a target word count, you can easily download it or copy the updated text to your clipboard using the icons in the bottom right corner.

Who needs a word counter?

When counting words, the objective is usually to meet a minimum or a ballpark number, with a few exceptions. Below are some use cases where a word counter would be needed:

• Students: Often, in school or at a university, students will be asked to write a short response to a question or a longer essay. These can range from 250 words to thousands of words.
• Writers: Daily writing goals are important for a serious writer, even at the hobby level. Those looking to make writing a habit or hone their skills often choose to set a daily word count goal, like Ernest Hemingway's 500-words-per-morning habit that helped him produce classics such as "The Old Man and the Sea."
• Job seekers: When putting together cover letters or tackling case studies for job applications, hitting a specific word count can often be part of the process. For instance, a job seeker might need to whip up a 1,500-word report on a case study to demonstrate their understanding of the market.
• Educators and researchers: Research abstracts are one exception where the word count has a strict maximum that is typically difficult to achieve since abstracts often need to summarize years of research into ~300 words.