So I Built a PDF Word Counter

Every day, I faced the same annoying problem.

I receive a PDF file, and for invoicing purposes, I need to know how many words it contains. Simple task, but the process? Not at all straightforward.

The Pain Was Real

To count words in a PDF, here’s what I used to do:

• Open the PDF.
• Copy the content (if it’s even copyable).
• Paste it into one of those online word counters.
• Repeat if the file is too big or complex.

It was a tedious and repetitive task that always disrupted my flow. Sometimes the formatting would mess up. Sometimes the PDF wouldn’t allow copying at all. And worst of all, I never really trusted those tools with sensitive documents.

So I Googled Around...

Surely someone had built a good tool for this, right?

Well... yes and no.

I found tools. But:

• Many of them required uploading the file to a server
• Others had clunky interfaces, annoying ads, or limits
• Most didn’t allow me to select specific pages or see basic stats like reading time
• And a few were just flat-out broken
• Does not support scanned PDF

I Wanted Something Simple. And Private.

So I decided to build my own.

I wanted:

• A tool that runs in the browser
• That doesn’t upload or store anything
• That gives instant stats: word count, character count, and estimated reading time
• And that even allows you to select specific pages from the PDF

And that’s exactly what I built.

countwordsinpdf.com Was Born

The domain name came naturally. I wanted to win the SEO game, and this name is clear, honest, and Google-friendly. It's exactly what the site does.

So now, when you land on countwordsinpdf.com, here's what you'll get:

• Drag and drop your PDF
• Instantly see your word count
• No uploads. No tracking. No nonsense
• Support for scanned PDF using OCR technology

What’s Next?

• Make it LLM-friendly
  AI is now everywhere, and so I need to make the site easily readable and parsable by LLMs, not just crawlers.
• Offer an API
  A lightweight API version would let other developers and tools integrate PDF word counting into their apps. Think Zapier workflows, browser extensions, or even academic tools.
• Add an MCP
  The tool already solves a real problem, so it's only natural to ask: Can I make it support MCP next?

Give it a spin.
Next time you need to count words in a PDF, skip the stress and go to countwordsinpdf.com.