Reading Time Calculator

Find out how long your article takes to read and how long your script takes to say out loud.

FreeNo sign-upRuns in your browserMobile-friendly

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What does the Reading Time Calculator do?

Showing “5 min read” helps readers decide to start an article. This calculator divides your word count by a reading speed (238 words per minute by default — the average adult silent reading rate found in a large 2019 review of studies) and a speaking speed (150 wpm, typical for presentations and podcasts).

You can adjust both speeds and add images, each adding about 12 seconds of viewing time, similar to the method used by popular blogging platforms.

How to use the Reading Time Calculator

  1. Paste your article or script.
  2. Adjust reading and speaking speeds if your audience is faster or slower.
  3. Enter the number of images, if any.
  4. Use the reading time on your post or the speaking time to plan a video.

Examples

Video script

A 900-word script at 150 wpm takes about 6 minutes to record.

Blog post

1,800 words plus 5 images ≈ 8 minutes 34 seconds of reading time.

Common use cases

  • Adding “minutes to read” to blog posts
  • Timing speeches and presentations
  • Planning YouTube and podcast scripts
  • Estimating study time

Features and benefits

  • Private by design — your data is processed on your device and never uploaded.
  • Free with no account, no watermark and no usage limits.
  • Works on phones, tablets and desktops in any modern browser.

Limitations to know

  • Technical or unfamiliar content is read more slowly; children and second-language readers also read more slowly.

Helpful guides

Frequently asked questions

What reading speed should I use?

For general adult audiences, 200–250 wpm. For technical content try 150–200 wpm.

How fast do people speak?

Around 130–160 wpm in presentations; audiobooks are often 150–160 wpm.

Does it count images?

Optionally — enter the number of images to add about 12 seconds each.

Embed this tool on your website

Add the free Reading Time Calculator to your blog or website. Paste the code into your page’s HTML; the tool runs in your visitors’ browsers and stays up to date automatically. Please keep the credit line below the tool.

Free to use on any website. The tool runs inside an iframe served from viptools.pk; nothing your visitors type is sent to your site or ours. Preview the embedded version.

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