Reading Time Calculator
Paste text and get estimated read-aloud duration. Calculate reading and speaking time instantly.
Text Statistics
Reading Time
0 seconds
Silent reading at 150 wpm
Speaking Time
0 seconds
Read aloud at ~140 wpm
How to calculate reading time
Get the read-aloud and silent reading duration of any text in three steps.
- 1
Paste your text
Copy an article, blog post, script, or speech and paste it into the box. The word count and timings update instantly as you type.
- 2
Set your reading speed
Adjust the words-per-minute slider to match your pace. Around 200 wpm is average for silent reading, while read-aloud speech averages about 140 wpm.
- 3
Read your reading and speaking time
See both the silent reading time and the spoken duration, so you know how long the text takes to read or how long a voiceover will run.
Reading time vs. speaking time
Reading time estimates how long it takes to read a piece of text silently, while speaking time, sometimes called text to speech time, estimates how long the same text takes to read aloud. Speaking is always slower, so a script that reads in four minutes might take six minutes to narrate.
Knowing both numbers is useful for planning blog posts, presentations, podcast scripts, YouTube voiceovers, and speeches. Writers use reading time to set expectations for readers, and creators use speaking time to fit content into a target runtime.
This calculator counts the words in your text and divides by a words-per-minute rate you control, so you can match your own pace or a standard average and see the result instantly.
Words to minutes reference
Estimated reading time (silent, ~200 wpm) and speaking time (aloud, ~140 wpm) for common word counts.
| Word count | Reading time | Speaking time |
|---|---|---|
| 100 words | 30 sec | 43 sec |
| 250 words | 1 min 15 sec | 1 min 47 sec |
| 500 words | 2 min 30 sec | 3 min 34 sec |
| 750 words | 3 min 45 sec | 5 min 21 sec |
| 1,000 words | 5 min | 7 min 9 sec |
| 1,500 words | 7 min 30 sec | 10 min 43 sec |
| 2,000 words | 10 min | 14 min 17 sec |
| 5,000 words | 25 min | 35 min 43 sec |
Frequently Asked Questions
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time is the word count divided by a reading speed in words per minute. This calculator defaults to an average silent reading pace and lets you adjust it, then shows the result in minutes and seconds.
How long does it take to read 500 words?
About 2 minutes 30 seconds to read silently at 200 words per minute, and roughly 3 minutes 34 seconds to read aloud at a typical speaking pace of 140 words per minute.
How long does it take to read 1,000 words aloud?
Around 7 minutes when spoken at an average pace of 140 words per minute. Silent reading of the same 1,000 words takes about 5 minutes.
What is the average reading and speaking speed?
Most adults read silently at 200 to 250 words per minute. Reading aloud is slower, averaging 130 to 150 words per minute, which is why speaking time is always longer than reading time.
How many words is a 5-minute speech?
At an average speaking rate of 140 words per minute, a 5-minute speech is about 700 words. A 10-minute talk is roughly 1,400 words.
Why is speaking time longer than reading time?
People read silently faster than they can clearly pronounce words out loud. Reading aloud also includes natural pauses for punctuation and breathing, so the same text takes longer to speak than to read.
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