Sentence, Word, Character and Line Counter
Free sentence counter with word, character, paragraph, line and syllable counts. Markdown-aware mode ignores syntax so you count only real prose.
- Sentences
- 8
- Words
- 49
- Characters
- 272
- Characters (no spaces)
- 221
- Letters
- 205
- Paragraphs
- 4
- Lines
- 8
- Syllables
- 64
- Unique words
- 40
- Avg. words / sentence
- 6.1
Dr. Lee reviewed the results, e.g. the 3.5% drop in bounce rate, and signed off.
| # | Starts with | Sentences | Words | Chars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weekly update | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| 2 | The team shipped the search page on Tuesday. Dr. Lee revi… | 2 | 23 | 125 |
| 3 | Next week we focus on onboarding... The first draft is du… | 3 | 16 | 85 |
| 4 | Fix the mobile menu Write the release notes | 2 | 8 | 43 |
| Platform | Limit | Used | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| X post | 280 | 272 | 8 left |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 | 272 | 2,728 left |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | 272 | 1,928 left |
| Meta description | 155 | 272 | Over by 117 |
| Title tag | 60 | 272 | Over by 212 |
What Is a Sentence Counter?
A sentence counter is a tool that counts the sentences in a piece of text by finding the punctuation that ends each one, while ignoring periods that belong to abbreviations, decimals and initials. This page counts sentences, words, characters, letters, paragraphs, lines, syllables and unique words at the same time, and it updates as you type.
It understands markdown. With the default Ignore markdown syntax setting, a heading such as # Weekly update is one sentence of two words, a bullet list contributes one sentence per item, and link URLs, code fences and table pipes are not counted at all. Everything runs in your browser.
How to Count Sentences, Words and Characters
- Paste your text into the input pane, or open a .md or .txt file.
- Leave Ignore markdown syntax on for markdown; turn it off to count raw source.
- Read the sentence and word totals at the top of the Counts panel and the detailed counts below them.
- Check the longest sentence; anything over 25 words is a candidate for splitting.
- Use the per-paragraph table to find paragraphs that are far longer than the rest.
- Compare the character count with the platform limits table before you post.
Word Counter, Character Counter, Line Counter and Syllable Counter in One
Word counter
Words are runs of letters or digits. Hyphenated words (well-known), contractions (don't) and decimals (3.5) count as one word each. The word counter also reports unique words, which is a quick measure of vocabulary range, and the average words per sentence.
Character counter
The character counter reports characters with spaces, characters without spaces and letters only. Accented and non-Latin characters are counted once each, not by byte length.
Line counter and paragraph counter
The line counter reports the number of lines in the text, including blank ones. Paragraphs are blocks separated by at least one blank line, which matches how markdown and most editors define them.
Syllable counter
The syllable counter estimates syllables per word with an English vowel-group heuristic. It feeds readability formulas such as Flesch-Kincaid; if you want the scores themselves, use the readability checker linked below.
Character Limits by Platform
| Platform or field | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 characters | URLs count as 23 characters each |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters | Only the first ~210 show before “see more” |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters | Truncated after ~125 in the feed |
| Meta description | 155 characters | Google truncates by pixel width, roughly 155–160 |
| Title tag | 60 characters | Longer titles are cut in search results |
When to Use a Sentence Counter
Editors use a sentence counter to keep average sentence length in the 15 to 20 word range that most style guides recommend, and to catch single sentences that run past 30 words. Students check that an essay meets a sentence or word requirement, and marketers confirm a post fits its platform before scheduling it. Because the counts include a markdown-aware mode, the same tool works for READMEs, documentation and blog posts written in markdown without counting the syntax.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the sentence counter decide where a sentence ends?
A sentence ends at a period, question mark or exclamation mark that is followed by a space or a line break. Periods inside abbreviations such as Dr., e.g., i.e. and U.S., inside decimals like 3.14, and after single-letter initials are skipped, so they do not inflate the count. An ellipsis only ends a sentence when the next word starts with a capital letter.
Does the word counter include markdown syntax?
Not when Ignore markdown syntax is on, which is the default. Heading hashes, list bullets, link URLs, image tags, code fences, table pipes and emphasis markers are removed first, so only the words a reader sees are counted. Turn the option off to count the raw file exactly as written.
What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?
Characters with spaces is the full length of the text, which is what X, LinkedIn and most form fields enforce. Characters without spaces drops every space, tab and line break and is the figure some translation and typesetting quotes use. Letters counts only alphabetic characters, ignoring digits and punctuation.
How accurate is the syllable counter?
It uses an English heuristic based on vowel groups with corrections for silent endings such as -ed and -es and a short list of exceptions. On ordinary prose it lands within a few percent of a dictionary count, which is accurate enough for readability formulas. Words in other languages are estimated the same way and may be off.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Every count is computed in your browser as you type, and the sentence counter never sends what you paste or open to a server.