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Academic Essay Word Count Calculator with Citations
Free academic essay word count calculator with citations for US students and professionals. Count locally in your browser — no login required.
APA and MLA word limits usually apply to the body of your paper, not the reference list or title page. In-text citations typically count toward the total; parenthetical citations and block quotes follow your department's rules.
Paste your essay into our counter to track words, characters, and paragraphs in real time. Delete or paste only the body text if your instructor excludes references — all counting runs locally in your browser with no upload.
Try the counter
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- No spaces
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Read time
- ~0 min
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How we compare
Common gaps on competitor sites — and what ClientTools does differently.
- wordcounter.net (Saves typed essay buffers server-side posing a privacy risk)
- 2. grammarly.com (Forces subscription logins for long texts)
- 3. turnitin.com (Strictly enterprise B2B software)
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Frequently asked questions
Usually yes for APA-style papers — parenthetical and narrative in-text citations count toward the assignment limit. Reference lists and title pages are often excluded; confirm with your instructor.