Estimating reading time at your own speed
Many blogs and newsletters show an estimated reading time, such as 4 min read, at the top of an article. It sets expectations, and readers are more likely to start a piece when they know how long it takes. Speakers use the same calculation to check that a talk fits its slot.
Paste a text, set the words per minute, and this tool shows the word, character, sentence and paragraph counts with the reading time at that speed.
How to use it
- Paste the text into the box.
- Set the words per minute: about 230 for silent reading, 130 to 160 for speaking aloud.
- Read the estimated time in minutes and seconds.
- Round it for display, for example to a whole minute for an article header.
Example: two short paragraphs
Reading takes time. Short texts read fast.
Words: 7 Sentences: 2 Paragraphs: 2 Reading time: 0 min 2 s at 230 wpm
Words are counted by the spaces between them, and a blank line starts a new paragraph.
Choosing the speed
A 2019 review of 190 studies by Marc Brysbaert found that adults read English non-fiction silently at about 238 words per minute on average, and fiction slightly faster. 230 is a reasonable default. Technical writing, text read on a phone and text in a second language are read more slowly, so documentation sites often assume 200.
Reading aloud is much slower: presenters and audiobook narrators speak at roughly 130 to 160 words per minute. A 10-minute talk therefore needs about 1,300 to 1,600 words of script.
Showing reading time on a site
Round up to whole minutes and never show less than 1 minute. If a post contains many images, code samples or tables, add time for them; Medium, for example, adds about 12 seconds for the first image and less for each one after. A consistent method across the site matters more than precision.
Questions
How is this different from the word counter?
The word counter adds top words and character counts for length limits. This tool focuses on reading time and lets you set your own speed.
Does it count words in other languages?
It counts space-separated words, which works for most European languages. Chinese and Japanese, which do not use spaces, need a character-based estimate instead.
Is my text uploaded?
No. Counting happens in your browser.