How words are counted
Words are runs of letters and numbers separated by spaces or punctuation, so "it’s" and "e-mail" count as one word. Chinese and Japanese are written without spaces, so each Han or kana character counts as one word, the convention used for Chinese word counts.
Characters and reading time
Characters are counted as you see them on screen, so an emoji with a skin tone counts once. Reading time assumes 238 English words or 300 Chinese characters per minute, typical silent reading speeds for adults.
Is my text private?
Yes. Counting happens in your browser and your text is never uploaded.