Word counts matter everywhere — academic essays have minimum requirements, Twitter has a 280 character limit, meta descriptions should be under 160 characters, and blog posts have optimal length ranges for SEO. A reliable word counter takes the guesswork out of all of these.
Common word count targets
| Content type | Recommended length |
|---|---|
| Tweet/X post | Under 280 characters |
| Meta description | 150–160 characters |
| Email subject line | Under 60 characters |
| Blog post (SEO) | 1,500–2,500 words |
| Short story | 1,000–7,500 words |
| University essay | Check your guidelines |
How to use Privatool Word Counter
- Go to Word Counter
- Paste or type your text in the input area
- Stats update in real time — no button to press
You'll instantly see:
- Word count — total words (split by whitespace)
- Character count — with and without spaces
- Sentence count — split by
.,!, and? - Paragraph count — separated by blank lines
- Reading time — based on 200 words per minute average
- Top keywords — most frequent words excluding common stop words
Keyword density checker
The word counter shows your top 5 most frequent words (excluding "the", "and", "is", etc.). This is useful for checking whether your content naturally uses your target keyword without over-stuffing — which can trigger Google's spam filters.
The general guideline is to keep keyword density below 2–3%. If your top keyword appears more than once per 50 words on average, consider varying your language.
Setting a character limit
Use the optional character limit feature when writing for platforms with hard caps. A live progress bar fills as you approach the limit, turning red when you exceed it. This is useful for Twitter/X posts, SMS messages, and SMS-based marketing copy.
Works offline
Once the page loads, the word counter works without internet — all processing runs in the browser with JavaScript. No API calls, no server round-trips.