Reading Time Calculator

Your text

Paste an article, essay, chapter, briefing or script. Or switch to a manual word count when you only know the total.

0 wordsSelect text for local timing

0Words

0Sentences

0Paragraphs

0Characters

Time at a glance

The headline estimate uses your active silent-reading pace and optional pause allowances.

0 secestimated silent reading time

0 min readreader-facing label

0 secRead aloud

0 secSkim pace

0 secPace range

0 secAdded pauses

Reading lab

Set assumptions, plan backwards, calibrate, inspect sections and export.

Input source text or known total

Word segmentation locale

Silent reading pace 238 WPM

Read-aloud pace WPM

Skim pace WPM

Range: slower pace WPM

Range: faster pace WPM

Optional pause allowances

fully transparent additions

Images

Sec / image

Sec / paragraph

Tables / figures

Sec / table

Reference, not a rule. The 238 WPM non-fiction and 260 WPM fiction presets are research-informed English adult averages. Individual pace, language, difficulty and purpose can differ substantially; calibration is more personal.

Reverse planner

duration → word budget

Target minutes

Plus seconds

0 wordsfit the target at the current pace.

Personal pace calibration

timed sample → WPM

Words read

Minutes

Seconds

238 WPMmeasured pace

Reading-session planner

splits on paragraph boundaries

Minutes per session

Max sessions shown

Session splitting is text-based and uses paragraph boundaries. Manual image/table pauses are not assigned to individual sessions because their exact locations are unknown.

Markdown headings become named sections. If there are no headings, paragraphs become sections. Timing uses the active silent-reading pace without unlocated image/table pauses.

Section timeline

0 sections

Pace window

slower ↔ faster assumption

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Reader-facing rounding

Badge wording

0 min read

Embed snippet

plain HTML, no script

<span>0 min read</span>

The badge is an estimate. Keep the pace assumption consistent across a publication if you want comparable labels.

Draft persistence

Diagnostics & self-test

Runs deterministic checks for segmentation, time math, calibration, planning, badge rounding and Unicode handling.

Not run yet.

Method: base reading time = words ÷ words-per-minute. Optional visual/paragraph pauses are added explicitly. The research-informed English presets are starting points, not claims about an individual reader. Section and session views avoid pretending that unlocated images or tables belong to a specific section.

Know the time beforeyou ask for attention.

Your text

Know the time before
you ask for attention.