Best Syllable Counter Apps in 2026, for Haiku, Song Lyrics and Poems

What a Syllable Counter Has to Get Right

Every counter does the easy part: "cat" is one, "window" is two. They differ on three things, and those three decide which one you want.

• Where the count comes from. A counter that looks each word up in a dictionary gets ordinary words right. One that guesses from spelling rules is fast and free but trips on words like "beautiful," which the wordcount.com counter's own page says it scores as four syllables instead of three.
• Per line or per word. A poem or a lyric needs a count beside every line as you type. A dictionary-style app that splits one word at a time is for settling an argument, not for drafting.
• What it does with the result. Songwriters want rhymes and a metronome next to the count. Haiku writers want the 5-7-5 target and somewhere to keep the poem. Neither wants the other's tools in the way.

How to Count Syllables Without Any App

You can do this by hand in seconds, and it is worth knowing even if you install something, because no counter settles every word.

1. Hand under your chin. Say the line slowly at normal volume. Each time your jaw drops is one vowel sound, which is one syllable.
2. Count vowel sounds, not vowel letters. "Cake" has two vowels and one sound. "Poem" has two sounds.
3. Check a doubtful word in a dictionary's pronunciation guide, not the dots in the headword, which mark where a word may break at the end of a line.
4. Accept that some words have two counts. "Fire," "hour" and "family" are said both ways. Pick the one you say and keep it consistent.

Our guide to counting syllables in a haiku goes through the tricky words one by one. If you would rather see the count appear beside each line while you write, that is what we built.

The Best Syllable Counter Apps, by Use Case

App	Best for	Cost	Watch for
17on	Haiku and short poems	Free; $4.99 one-time Premium	Free tier keeps 31 haiku; no rhyme tools
Lyric Notepad	Song lyrics	Free; in-app purchases	iOS 16 or later; Apple devices only
Lyrcs	Rap and rhyme-heavy verses	Free; Pro $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year	Needs iOS 18 or later
Wordbook: Syllable Counter	Single words on Android	Free with ads	Counts one word at a time
wordcount.com	Any device, no install	Free	Rule-based; can miscount single words

Best for haiku and short poems: 17on

This one is ours, so weigh it accordingly. 17on is a haiku journal with the counter built into the page you write on. Each line shows its count as you type, drawn from a dictionary of more than 126,000 English words rather than a spelling guess, and the form's target sits right there: 5-7-5 for Traditional, 4-4-6 for Modern. Premium adds five more styles, including Lune (counted in words) and Monoku (a single line of about 17 syllables). Everything you write is saved and searchable by keyword, date or tag, an inspiration feed carries classic haiku from Basho, Issa, Buson and Shiki, and the on-device AI never uploads your writing.

What it costs: free to start, supported by ads, with up to 31 haiku saved in the journal. A one-time $4.99 Premium unlock removes the cap, the ads and the watermark on shared cards, and opens all seven styles. What it does not do: it is built for short poems, so there is no rhyme finder, no recorder and no metronome; songwriters should look at the next two picks. On iPhone it needs iOS 17 or later. It is also on Google Play.

Best for song lyrics: Lyric Notepad

Lyric Notepad from Zipo Apps puts each line's syllable count at the left edge of the lyric, so you can match a verse to the one before it at a glance. Around it are the tools a songwriter reaches for: color-coded rhyme matching, a recorder you can attach to a song section, a metronome, and a measure mode that splits lines into quarter measures. It is free with in-app purchases and rated 3.6 from more than 600 ratings. Not ideal if: you are on Android, since it runs only on iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Macs, or you want numbers counted; one reviewer notes it skips syllables in digits.

Best for rap and rhyme-heavy verses: Lyrcs

Lyrcs counts the syllables on every line as you type and highlights rhymes in color, including rhymes inside a line, which is what a dense rap verse is built on. It adds an offline rhyming dictionary, near rhymes, a metronome and notes beside the lyrics, and it saves songs as plain text files. It is rated 4.3. Not ideal if: your iPhone cannot run iOS 18, or you only need the count; the Pro tier is a subscription at $14.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

Best for checking single words on Android: Wordbook: Syllable Counter

Wordbook is a dictionary app that splits a word into its syllables and counts them, with synonyms, antonyms and rhymes alongside. It is the quickest way on an Android phone to settle "is this two syllables or three." It is free with ads and in-app purchases and has about 35,000 installs. Not ideal if: you want to count a whole line or poem as you write it; it works one word at a time.

Best with no install: the wordcount.com counter

If you only need a count now and then, a browser counter is enough, and it works on any phone or computer. The free counter at wordcount.com shows a per-line table as you type and can check the lines against a 5-7-5 haiku or a 5-7-5-7-7 tanka. It needs no account. Not ideal if: accuracy on every word matters; it counts with spelling rules rather than a dictionary, which its own page puts at within about 5% on normal text.

Not what you want: speech-therapy syllable counters

Search the App Store for a syllable counter and you will also find apps like Disfluency Index Counter Plus. Those are for speech-language pathologists tallying fluent and stuttered syllables in someone's speech. They do not count the syllables in text you type.

Which One Should You Pick?

• You write haiku or other short poems: 17on, on iPhone or Android.
• You write songs and want rhymes and a recorder beside the count: Lyric Notepad.
• You write rap and live on internal rhymes: Lyrcs, if your iPhone runs iOS 18.
• You need to settle one word on Android: Wordbook: Syllable Counter.
• You count now and then and do not want an app: wordcount.com in your browser.

If haiku is the job, our buyer's guide to haiku apps compares the haiku-specific options beyond counting, and our Thanksgiving haiku examples give you eight counted poems to practice on.

---

---