I added a small tool to Tools Online today: Word Count.
It is one of those utilities that looks almost too simple until you notice how often you need it. I hit this all the time when writing README sections, product descriptions, changelogs, SEO snippets, launch posts, and short technical notes.
The annoying part is not counting words itself. The annoying part is switching context just to check whether a title is getting too long, whether a meta description is still readable, or whether a draft has turned into a wall of text.
What I wanted
I wanted the boring version of this tool:
- paste text
- get the counts immediately
- keep everything in the browser
- avoid uploading draft content anywhere
- include enough numbers to make editing decisions quickly
So the tool shows character count, characters without spaces, word count, sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time.
Why it is useful for developers
Developers write more text than we usually admit. A lot of it is not code, but it still affects how people understand the code or the product around it.
A few places where I keep needing quick counts:
- README intros
- PR descriptions
- documentation summaries
- changelog entries
- landing page copy
- SEO titles and descriptions
- short product announcements
For example, when I am working on a tool page, I often want the description to be short enough for search results but still clear enough for a real person. Having the count update instantly makes that editing loop much faster.
Privacy matters for tiny tools too
This is also why I prefer small browser-side utilities for text work. Drafts often contain unfinished product ideas, notes, customer wording, or internal phrasing. There is no reason to send that text to a server just to count it.
You can try it here:
https://toolsonline.run/word-count
I am slowly collecting these small daily utilities into Tools Online. The goal is not to make a heavy platform. It is to make the little tasks developers repeat all day faster to finish.
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