Word Counter for Essays and UPSC Answers
Live word, character, sentence and paragraph counts as you type, in English, Hindi and other Indian languages. Free, private, no sign-up.
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Sentences
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Reading time
Choose a word limit to track your answer length.
Counts update live as you type.
How to use the word counter
- Type or paste your text into the box. You can paste an answer, an essay or a whole assignment.
- Watch the six counters update live: words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and reading time.
- Pick a word limit (150, 250 or the essay range) to see how close you are with the progress bar.
- Edit until you are within the limit, then press Clear to start the next answer.
How the counts work
| Count | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Words | Groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks that contain a letter or digit |
| Characters | Every Unicode character, including spaces and line breaks (an emoji counts once) |
| No spaces | Characters excluding spaces, tabs and line breaks |
| Sentences | Text ending in . ! ? or । followed by a space or the end; decimals such as 3.14 are ignored |
| Paragraphs | Blocks separated by at least one blank line |
| Reading time | Words ÷ 200 words per minute |
Example: a UPSC GS answer
Suppose your answer to a 10-mark question has 168 words in 9 sentences. The counter shows 168 words and a reading time of about 51 seconds, and with the 150-word limit selected the bar shows you are 18 words over. Trimming one example sentence brings you within the limit.
Key facts
- UPSC Mains GS papers ask for 150-word answers to Questions 1–10 and 250-word answers to Questions 11–20.
- Each UPSC essay should be about 1,000–1,200 words.
- This counter treats any space-separated token with a letter or digit as one word, in any language.
- Average silent reading speed used here: 200 words per minute.
Tips for writing within a word limit
- Plan the split. For a 150-word answer, a common approach is roughly 20–25 words of introduction, 100–110 words of body and 20–25 words of conclusion.
- Cut filler first. Phrases like "it is important to note that" add words without adding marks.
- Use points, not paragraphs, in the body when the question asks you to list or examine dimensions.
- Practise with a timer. A three-hour GS paper with 20 questions leaves about 9 minutes per answer on average, so learn how 150 and 250 words feel when handwritten.
- For Hindi medium, paste your typed answer here; word counts work the same way as in English.
Frequently asked questions
How does this word counter count words?
A word is any group of characters separated by spaces or line breaks that contains at least one letter or number. Hyphenated words such as well-known count as one word, and stray symbols such as a lone dash or a full stop (।) standing on their own are not counted.
Does the word counter work for Hindi?
Yes. Words are separated by spaces, so Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and other Indian-language text is counted correctly, and sentences ending in a purna viram (।) are counted as sentences. Characters are counted as Unicode characters, so a letter with a matra, such as की, counts as two characters.
What is the word limit for UPSC Mains answers?
In the UPSC Civil Services Mains General Studies papers, the question paper usually asks for answers to Questions 1 to 10 in 150 words and Questions 11 to 20 in 250 words. In the Essay paper, each of the two essays should be about 1,000 to 1,200 words. Always follow the limit printed on your question paper.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time assumes an average adult silent reading speed of 200 words per minute, rounded up to the nearest second. A 250-word answer takes about 1 minute 15 seconds to read.
How are sentences and paragraphs counted?
A sentence ends with a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or purna viram followed by a space or the end of the text; decimal numbers like 3.14 are not split. Paragraphs are blocks of text separated by a blank line.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Your text stays in your browser and is never sent to any server. Closing the tab clears it.