How to Count Words and Check Readability
Counting words is the easy part, and it is where most tools stop. The more useful question is whether the writing is any good — whether the sentences have grown too long, whether one word is being repeated far more than you realise, whether a reader will get through it comfortably. This tool answers all three as you type, and nothing you paste leaves the page.
Paste or type your text
Everything updates live. You can also load a plain text file and get the same analysis.
Check it against a limit
Meta descriptions, page titles and posts all have practical limits. The bars show how close you are.
Read the score honestly
A readability score below 50 usually means long sentences and abstract words, both of which are fixable.
What the Readability Score Actually Measures
The Flesch Reading Ease score is driven by exactly two things: average sentence length and average syllables per word. That is a crude model of difficulty and it has obvious limits — it cannot tell whether your argument makes sense, and it will happily give a high score to fluent nonsense.
What it is genuinely good at is catching prose that has drifted. Writing gets harder to read in a very predictable way: sentences accumulate clauses, and concrete words get replaced by abstract ones with more syllables. Both push the score down, and both are fixable in the same two moves — split long sentences, and replace long words with short ones. A score above 60 reads as plain English. Below 30, most readers will struggle regardless of how expert they are.
The grade level is the same measurement expressed differently: roughly the number of years of schooling assumed. Most published journalism sits between grades 8 and 10. Technical documentation often lands at 14 or above, which is worth knowing even when it is unavoidable.
Using Keyword Density Sensibly
It is a repetition check, not an SEO target
Search engines stopped rewarding keyword density many years ago. What it is still useful for is noticing that you have used one word eleven times without realising.
Common words are hidden by default
The, and, of and their relatives dominate any English text and tell you nothing. Turn them on only if you want the raw distribution.
Two to three percent is unremarkable
A main topic word appearing at that rate is natural. Above five percent, the text usually reads as repetitive to a human, which is the real problem.
Look at what is missing too
If a page is about a topic and that topic barely appears in the list, the writing may be circling the subject without ever addressing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I count words online for free?
Paste or type your text and the count updates live, along with characters, sentences and paragraphs. Free, no signup, nothing uploaded.
Is my text uploaded to a server?
No. Everything is calculated inside your browser, which matters for drafts, client work and anything unpublished.
What is a good readability score?
Above 60 reads as plain English and suits most general writing. Below 30 is difficult for almost everyone. Technical writing often sits between 30 and 50.
How do I improve a low readability score?
Split long sentences, and replace long abstract words with shorter concrete ones. Those two changes drive almost the entire score.
How is reading time calculated?
At around 220 words per minute, a typical adult silent reading speed. Speaking time uses 130, which is a comfortable presentation pace.
What counts as a sentence?
A span of text ending in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. Abbreviations with full stops can inflate the count slightly.
Is keyword density still important for SEO?
Not as a target. Search engines have not rewarded it for many years. It is still useful for spotting unintentional repetition.
Why are common words excluded from the density list?
Because the, and and of dominate every English text and tell you nothing about the content. You can switch them on if you want the raw counts.
How are syllables counted?
By counting vowel groups with a few standard corrections. There is no exact method without a dictionary, but this is what readability formulas use.
What are the limit bars for?
Meta descriptions, page titles, tweets and typical post lengths all have practical limits. The bars show at a glance whether you are within them.
Can I analyse a file?
Yes. Load any plain text file up to 5 MB and it is analysed in full.
Is this word counter really free?
Completely free, with no limits, no signup and no premium wall. Everything runs in your browser.
Last updated: July 21, 2026 · FlipMyFormat Word Counter
Written and maintained by the FlipMyFormat team