AI models don’t read words, they read tokens: chunks of text that are often part of a word. Token counts decide how much you pay for an API call and how much text fits in a model’s context window. Paste any prompt, article or document into this free token counter to get a quick estimate and what it would cost to send on the model you choose.
How it works
- Token counts here are an approximation, not an official tokenizer: about 1 token for every 4 characters of English text, blended with a words-based estimate.
- Other languages, code, emoji and numbers often use more tokens per character, so treat the figure as a rough guide.
- Anthropic says Claude 4.7 and later models use a newer tokenizer that produces about 30% more tokens for the same text, so we show a separate Claude estimate.
- Your text never leaves your browser. Nothing is sent to us or to any AI company.
Frequently asked questions
Is this an exact token count?
No. It is a fast estimate that runs in your browser, based on about 4 characters per token for English. Exact counts depend on each model's tokenizer. OpenAI publishes its tokenizers, and Anthropic and Google offer token-counting endpoints in their APIs.
Why does Claude show more tokens?
Anthropic says Claude 4.7 and later models use a newer tokenizer that produces about 30% more tokens for the same text. We apply that 30% to our estimate for those models.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. Counting happens in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded to Centertainment or any AI company.
How many tokens is 1,000 words?
Roughly 1,300 to 1,400 tokens for typical English prose with the common 4-characters-per-token rule. Other languages and code usually need more.
What does a token cost?
Prices are quoted per million tokens and vary a lot. On our list they run from $0.10 per million input tokens (for example GPT-6 Luna and Claude Haiku 5.5) up to $10 for the largest models, with output tokens costing more.
Please note that this is an approximation, not an official tokenizer. For English it uses the common rule of about four characters per token, blended with a word count. Every model family splits text slightly differently, and other languages, code, emoji and long numbers usually need more tokens per character. If you need an exact figure for billing, use the tokenizer or token-counting endpoint that your AI provider offers.
Why Claude shows a higher number
Anthropic says its Claude 4.7 and later models use a newer tokenizer that produces about 30% more tokens for the same text. So we show a separate Claude estimate with that 30% added, and use it automatically when you price text on those models.
How to use it
- Paste your text. Counting starts as you type and happens in your browser, so nothing is uploaded to us or to any AI company.
- Choose the model to price it on, and whether the text is input (your prompt) or output (the reply). Output tokens usually cost several times more.
- See the cost for one send and for 1,000 sends, in the currency you choose.
As a rule of thumb, 1,000 words of ordinary English prose is about 1,300 to 1,400 tokens. Ready to budget a whole app? Take your token numbers to the API cost calculator, or see every tool on the AI cost calculator page.