Free online tool to count Hanzi characters and get a Chinese word count (字/词) for any text. Instant, accurate, and free — no registration.
Paste or type your Chinese text below. The counter will instantly count all Chinese characters (Hanzi).
1. Paste or type your Chinese text into the text area above.
2. Click "Count Characters" to instantly analyze your text.
3. View results including the Chinese word count, total character count, unique characters, and estimated HSK level.
Chinese doesn't put spaces between words, so "Chinese word count" and "Chinese character count" answer different questions:
• Character count (字数) counts every single Hanzi character. 你好 = 2 characters. This number is exact and is what most Chinese teachers, exams and editors mean by 字数.
• Word count (词数) counts a multi-character word as one unit. 你好 = 1 word, 计算机 = 1 word (3 characters). Because words aren't separated in writing, word count must be estimated by segmentation.
This page is both tools in one: the Chinese character counter gives you the exact 字数, and the built-in Chinese words counter estimates 词数 by matching your text against the complete 5,000-word HSK 1-6 vocabulary with longest-match segmentation. As a rule of thumb, one Chinese word averages about 1.5–1.7 characters, so a 600-character essay is roughly 350–400 words.
Which number should I use? For school essays, HSK writing tasks and translation quotes, follow the requirement literally: 字数 → character count, 词数 → word count. If the requirement just says "Chinese word count", providing both numbers is the safe choice.
• Chinese Learners – Check how many Hanzi they encounter in reading materials
• Teachers – Analyze text difficulty for classroom materials
• Students – Estimate the vocabulary size of Chinese texts, or hit essay word-count requirements (字数/词数)
• Writers & Translators – Get an exact Chinese character word count for quotes and writing requirements
A Chinese character counter is a tool that counts the number of Hanzi (Chinese characters) in a given text. It helps learners and teachers analyze text difficulty and vocabulary requirements.
Character count (字数) counts each Hanzi individually; word count (词数) treats multi-character words like 计算机 as a single word. Since written Chinese has no spaces, a Chinese words counter must estimate word boundaries — this tool does it by longest-match segmentation against the 5,000-word HSK vocabulary. The character count is always exact; the word count is a close estimate.
Yes — the results show both the exact character count and the estimated word count side by side. If your assignment says 字数, use the character number; if it says 词数, use the word estimate. When in doubt, the character count is what most graders check.
The Hanzi Test estimates how many Chinese characters you know, while this counter counts characters and words in a text. They complement each other: test your level, then count characters in texts you read.
Yes, free to use with no registration. Count as much text as you need.