Reading time calculator
Paste a draft blog post, article or speech and get an honest estimate of how long it takes an average reader to get through it — the figure bloggers put under a headline ("6 min read") and speakers use to time a talk without a stopwatch, based on roughly 220 words a minute of silent reading.
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Preparing Reading Time Calculator for you…
Loading the tool into your browser. Nothing is uploaded — the work happens on your device.
- Words {{ n(stats.words) }}
- Characters {{ n(stats.characters) }}
- No spaces {{ n(stats.charactersNoSpaces) }}
- Sentences {{ n(stats.sentences) }}
- Paragraphs {{ n(stats.paragraphs) }}
- Reading time {{ stats.readingLabel }}
How to use this tool
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Paste your draft
A blog post, script, speech or essay — any length.
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Read the reading time stat
Shown alongside the word count, based on average adult reading speed.
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Trim or pad to hit a target length
Useful for a 5-minute talk slot or a "quick read" blog post.
Questions people ask
How is reading time calculated?
By dividing the word count by 220 words per minute, a commonly cited average for adult silent reading of general prose. It is a useful estimate, not a promise — dense technical writing reads slower, and a skimmer moves faster than a careful reader.
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
Spoken delivery is slower than silent reading — roughly 130-150 words per minute for a comfortably paced talk — so a 5-minute speech is closer to 650-750 words, not the ~1,100 words that 220 wpm silent reading would suggest.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
About 4.5 minutes at the 220 words-per-minute average this tool uses — paste any text and the exact figure for your word count is calculated instantly rather than needing the arithmetic done by hand.
Why do blog posts show a "reading time" under the title?
It sets reader expectations before they commit to clicking — a visible "3 min read" tells someone whether they have time for the article right now, and studies on content engagement generally find it reduces early bounce-offs.
Is my draft text uploaded anywhere?
No — the calculation happens entirely in your browser's JavaScript, with nothing sent to any server, so an unpublished draft stays private.
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