Estimate how long a piece of text takes to read or read aloud.
Calculated locally — your text never leaves your device.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time = word count ÷ words per minute, while speaking time uses about 130 words per minute. Most adults read 200–250 words per minute silently. For example, a 1,000-word article takes about 5 minutes to read at 200 wpm and roughly 7.5 minutes to read aloud — useful for articles, scripts and presentations.
Understanding your result
Most adults read 200–250 words per minute silently. Technical content reads slower; light content reads faster.
Formula and method
Reading time = word count ÷ words per minute. Speaking time uses about 130 words per minute.
Assumptions and limitations
Estimates rely on average speeds, so actual times vary with the reader, the difficulty of the material and how the text is delivered. Technical or unfamiliar content reads slower than the default assumption, and speaking pace differs between people. Treat the figures as a planning guide, not a precise measurement. Calculation happens in your browser.
Worked example
A 1,000-word article takes about 5 minutes to read at 200 wpm and roughly 7.5 minutes to read aloud.
How to use this tool
- Paste your text.
- Set a reading speed, or keep 200 words per minute.
- Press Calculate.
About the Reading Time Calculator
The Reading Time Calculator estimates how long your text takes to read silently and to speak aloud, useful for articles, scripts and presentations.
Who should use this tool
Writers, editors, speakers and course creators who need to know how long content takes to consume. If you are pacing a blog post, timing a script for a video or presentation, or planning a lesson, this estimates both silent reading time and spoken time from the word count you paste in.
Benefits
- Estimates both silent reading and spoken aloud time
- Uses standard average speeds for quick, sensible results
- Helps pace articles, scripts and presentations
- Calculates instantly in your browser from pasted text
Practical use cases
- Adding a reading-time label to a blog article
- Timing a script before recording a video
- Checking a speech fits a presentation slot
- Planning how much a lesson's text will take
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Frequently asked questions
What reading speed should I use?
Use 200–250 wpm for general audiences. Lower it for technical or dense material.
Why is the speaking time longer than the reading time?
People speak more slowly than they read silently. Silent reading runs at roughly 200 to 250 words per minute, while speaking aloud is around 130 words per minute. Because fewer words are spoken each minute, the same text takes noticeably longer to deliver out loud than to read.
Does the estimate account for difficult or technical text?
The calculation uses an average reading speed and does not analyse how hard your text is. Dense, technical or unfamiliar material reads slower than the assumed pace, so add a margin for specialist content. For light, everyday writing, the estimate is usually close.