▶ Subscribe on YouTube
Home / Tools / Utility Tools

Reading Time Calculator

Paste any text and get its estimated reading time.

Text0 words
Reading Speed
WPM
Estimated Reading Time-
At speaking pace (130 WPM)-
Word Count0
Character Count0
Average word length-

What does this tool do?

The average adult reads 200–250 words per minute for standard prose. Knowing how long your content takes to read helps you set expectations for readers, plan newsletter length, and optimise for engagement — studies show that content marked with a reading time has higher click-through rates because readers know what they are committing to. Paste any text here and get an instant estimate.

How to use it

  1. Paste your article, email, or document into the text box.
  2. The reading time and word count appear instantly.
  3. For content aimed at a technical audience, add 25% to the estimate — technical content takes longer to process.

Pro tips

  • Technical content with code examples takes longer to read — budget 25–30% extra time.
  • For speeches and presentations, the average speaking pace is around 130 words per minute, not 225.
Example

Paste a 1,500-word blog post

Estimated reading time: ~6–7 minutes
Word count: 1,500
Character count: ~8,400

When would you use this?

  • Adding an accurate "5 min read" label to a blog post before publishing
  • Checking whether a newsletter is too long — most email platforms show declining open rates above 3 minutes
  • Estimating how long a prepared speech will take to deliver (use 130 words per minute for spoken word)
  • Deciding whether to split a long article into a two-part series