This page answers one question precisely: how many days lie between two dates. The subtlety is whether you count the endpoints, and the answer depends entirely on what you are measuring, so the calculator lets you choose rather than picking for you.
Exclusive counting is the default and is what date subtraction gives you: from 1 March to 2 March is one day. Inclusive counting adds one, because it counts both dates as whole days — the convention used for hotel nights versus days, jury service, holiday entitlement and most contractual notice periods.
The weekday split is often the more useful output. Between 1 January 2026 and 25 December 2026 there are 358 days, of which 256 fall on a weekday and the rest on a Saturday or Sunday.
The formula
A- Start date
B- End date
mode- Exclusive counts the gap; inclusive counts both endpoints
W- Weekday days — Monday to Friday
E- Weekend days — Saturday and Sunday
How it works, step by step
- Enter the start date.
- Enter the end date.
- Choose exclusive or inclusive counting.
- The gauge gives the day count, with the weekday and weekend split below.
Worked examples
1 January 2026 to 25 December 2026
Exclusive counting gives 358 days; inclusive gives 359. The inclusive figure is the one to use if both the first and last day count as full days, such as a booking that runs from one date to the other.
Nights versus days
A hotel stay from 3 June to 10 June is seven nights but eight days of access to the room. Exclusive counting gives the nights, inclusive gives the days. Booking disputes usually come down to which of the two both sides assumed.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
Should I use inclusive or exclusive?
Use exclusive when measuring elapsed time, such as how long something took. Use inclusive when counting units of something that happens on each day, such as nights booked, days of leave or days of cover.
Does the count include leap days?
Yes. Any 29 February inside the range is counted as a real day, so 2024 spans are one day longer than the equivalent 2026 spans. 2024 had 366 days against 365 in 2026.
How is the weekday split worked out?
By stepping through the range and testing the day of the week of each date, using the same day-number arithmetic as the rest of the page. It is a true count, not an estimate of five sevenths.
What if the end date is before the start date?
The calculator sorts them, so you always get a positive count. Use the days until or days since pages if you need a signed direction.
Day count reference
| End date | Exclusive | Inclusive | Weekdays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 January 2026 | 30 | 31 | 22 |
| 1 March 2026 | 59 | 60 | 42 |
| 30 June 2026 | 180 | 181 | 129 |
| 30 September 2026 | 272 | 273 | 195 |
| 25 December 2026 | 358 | 359 | 257 |
| 1 January 2027 | 365 | 366 | 262 |
Weekday counts are inclusive of both endpoints and exclude Saturdays and Sundays only.