Reading Time Calculator
Runs entirely in your browser
Estimate how long your text takes to read silently or speak aloud, with an adjustable reading speed. Everything happens directly in your browser.
How to use Reading Time Calculator
- Paste or type your text into the box.
- Adjust the reading speed if you want a different average than 200 words per minute.
- See the estimated reading and speaking time update instantly.
Features
- Live word and character counts.
- Adjustable reading speed for silent reading time.
- Estimated speaking time for scripts and presentations.
- 100% client-side — your text never leaves your browser.
Example
This 40-word video script intro:
Welcome back to the channel. Today we're breaking down five common mistakes people make when starting a new fitness routine, and exactly how to avoid each one so you keep making progress instead of losing motivation after the first week.gives a reading time of 12 sec at the default 200 words per minute, and a speaking time of 18 sec at the fixed 130 words-per-minute speaking pace — useful for checking whether a video intro fits inside a target length.
Tips for estimating length
- Speaking time always uses a fixed average of 130 words per minute and isn't affected by the reading-speed field — only the reading time updates when you change it.
- Word count is based on whitespace-separated tokens, so a long URL or code snippet counts as a single "word" even though it may contain dozens of characters — treat the estimate as approximate for text like that.
- Setting the reading speed field to 0 shows "—" instead of a time, since a reading pace of zero words per minute has no meaningful duration.
- Slow the reading speed down for dense or technical material, and speed it up for casual writing aimed at fast readers — 200 words per minute is only a general-purpose default.
Is Reading Time Calculator safe?
Yes. Reading Time Calculator estimates timing locally, using your chosen words-per-minute value and the fixed 130-wpm speaking pace described above — your text is never sent to a server, and nothing is kept once you close or refresh the tab.
Frequently Asked Questions
What reading speed does this use?
It defaults to 200 words per minute, a commonly used average adult silent-reading speed, but you can change it to match your own audience.
How is speaking time calculated?
Speaking time is estimated using an average spoken pace of 130 words per minute, which is useful for scripts, presentations and voiceovers.
Why would I change the words-per-minute value?
Reading speed varies by audience and content difficulty. Lower it for technical or unfamiliar content, or raise it for a fast-reading audience.