Freewrite Wordrunner
Redge Shepherd
I just backed Wordrunner: The Mechanical Word-Counting Keyboard on Kickstarter. Before I forget, the campaign ends on June 17, 2025.
The Wordrunner is an all-aluminum “specialty” TKL keyboard targeted for writers. Freewrite, backed by Astrohaus, designed this keyboard, among other devices, to help writers be more productive.
The keyboard has a built-in word counter, productivity timer, and uniquely tailored function key assignments to navigate sentences and paragraphs.
While most applications can provide a word count, they don’t measure the number of words typed in a session. I’m curious how it handles the backspace key. Counting words suggests that the keyboard is content-aware, and I doubt that it is.
They say you can’t manage what you can’t measure. I use the timer pictured below to help track my tasks and break times. However, having an exclusive timer on a keyboard is a feature I wasn’t expecting.
The built-in timer is intended to help writers time their sessions or take regular breaks, essential for long sessions while seated. The session timer measures in hours and minutes. If I’m interested in “seconds,” I may not be able to retire my disk timer yet.
Construction
The keyboard has Kailh tactile switches; unfortunately, they are not hot-swappable. I prefer linear speed switches and have an affinity for Gateron’s smoothie silver speed switches.
Switches aside, the keyboard comprises the features we would expect from a premium keyboard, including sound dampening and RGB lighting.
If the timer and wordometer aren’t enough, the multi-directional joystick brings a new yet intuitive touch to typical media and volume controls.
Finally, wired and Bluetooth connectivity for up to 3 devices is available to enhance writing between multiple devices, where wired offers reduced latency.
Delivery
The timeline for this project suggests a delivery date in January 2026. Until then, I look forward to the updates via Kickstarter and reviewing the Wordrunner in the new year!
Price
As an “Early Access” backer, the keyboard is USF $349 or CA $488, a 22% discount off the future retail price of USF $449. Currency conversions are subject to foreign exchange rates at the time of payment.
Pledge awards are still available.
Related Articles and Resources
Wordrunner: The Mechanical Word-Counting Keyboard by Astrohaus — Kickstarter
Keyboard for writers has word-count odometer, sprint timer | Tom's Hardware
Freewrite’s latest keyboard has a mechanical word-counter to track your writing | The Verge
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Written by
Redge Shepherd
Redge Shepherd
I have over 40 years of programming experience using a variety of languages over the course of my career to develop real-time solutions for real-world problems. Keyboards connect us to the world and, as a keyboard enthusiast, I am searching for the ideal keyboard.