Quick answer: Paste your text: the counts update as you type, and reading time assumes 200 words a minute (speaking 130).
How it's calculated
A word is any run of text between spaces that contains at least one letter or digit. Hyphenated words (well-known), numbers with separators (1,250.50), web addresses and e-mail addresses count as one word each; a dash on its own or a bullet does not. Em and en dashes and ellipses between words split them.
Arabic is counted as written: والكتاب is one word even though it joins و and ال to the noun. Tashkeel (harakat) and tatweel (ـ) do not split or add words, so مُحَمَّد and محـــمد are one word each. Tashkeel marks are separate characters in Unicode, so they appear in the character count but not in "letters only".
Characters include spaces but not line breaks; "without spaces" also drops spaces and tabs. A sentence ends at . ! ? ؟ or … followed by a space, or at the end of a line, so a decimal point (3.14) does not end one but an abbreviation like "e.g." does. Every non-empty line is a paragraph.
Reading time is words ÷ 200 and speaking time words ÷ 130, both rough estimates. Writing an amount out for a document? The number to words converter writes it in Arabic and English.
Worked examples
- "Hello world. How are you?": 5 words, 25 characters, 21 without spaces, 19 letters, 2 sentences
- "هل أنت بخير؟ نعم.": 4 words, 17 characters, 12 letters, 2 sentences
- 1,000 words: 1,000 ÷ 200 = 5 min reading; 1,000 ÷ 130 ≈ 7 min 42 s speaking
Length limits
The strip under the counter compares your text with these limits. Only X and SMS are hard limits; the search figures are guidelines.
| Where | Limit | How it is counted |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 | Weighted: Latin, Arabic and most punctuation count 1, emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean 2, any link 23 |
| SMS, Latin text (GSM-7) | 160 | Per single message; a few symbols such as € [ ] { } count 2; long messages are split into parts of 153 |
| SMS, Arabic or emoji (UCS-2) | 70 | Per single message; long messages are split into parts of 67 |
| Search result title | about 60 | Guideline only: Google shortens titles to fit the screen width |
| Meta description | about 155 | Guideline only: Google shortens snippets as needed and may write its own |
What counts as a word
- Counted: Arabic and Latin words, numbers (2026, ٢٠٢٦, 1,250.50), hyphenated words, links and e-mail addresses.
- Not counted: punctuation on its own (- • … —), tatweel on its own, extra spaces and blank lines.
- One word each: words with attached prefixes (وبالقلم), words with tashkeel, and stretched words (محـــمد).
Frequently asked questions
How are Arabic words counted?
As written, separated by spaces. Prefixes joined to a word, such as و، ف، ب and ال, are part of that word, so وبالقلم is one word, the way most editors count it.
Does tashkeel change the count?
Not the word count or the letter count. Each haraka is its own Unicode character, so the "characters" figures do include them.
How is reading time worked out?
Word count divided by 200 words a minute for silent reading and 130 for speaking aloud. These are rounded assumptions; real speeds vary a lot by reader, language and text.
Does X count Arabic letters as two characters?
No. In X's counting rules Arabic letters weigh 1, like Latin. Emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters weigh 2, and every link counts as 23. The X figure here follows those rules and is an approximation.
Why is an Arabic SMS shorter?
Text that uses only the GSM-7 alphabet fits 160 characters in one SMS. Any Arabic letter or emoji switches the whole message to UCS-2, which fits 70.
Can it handle long documents?
Yes. Tens of thousands of words are counted in a fraction of a second, and typing stays smooth while the counts catch up.
Is my text sent or saved?
No. Counting runs in your browser. Nothing you type or paste leaves your device or appears in the address bar.