How long will this take to read?

Editors, teachers and speakers all need the same number: how long will this take. Words divided by pace, and the pace is adjustable.

How Reading Time Calculator works

The counter or converter is a loop over the characters you typed, running in this tab. There is no draft to sync, no spell-check service and no copy of your writing anywhere but your own screen. Paste a confidential paragraph and it is treated like a local variable: created when you type, discarded when the tab closes.

That is the whole architecture: static files, one script, no upload endpoint to leak or log. Close the tab and the work is gone.

Good to know

  • Works offline once loaded, including on flights and in locked-down networks.
  • No file size limit beyond your device's own memory.
  • Free to use, with no account and no usage counter.
  • Results are produced locally, so they are not logged or shared with anyone.

Questions

What reading speed does it assume?

238 words per minute, the average for silent reading of English prose, and 130 for speaking aloud. Both are editable — technical writing is often closer to 150.

Why does it count words instead of characters?

Because pace scales with words, not letters. A 2,000-word page of long technical terms takes longer than the same count of plain words, and no counter can know that without reading it.

How are slides estimated?

At roughly 90 seconds of speaking per slide, which is the usual conference pace. A dense slide takes longer; a title slide takes two seconds.

Is my text uploaded?

No. The count happens in this tab and the text is discarded when you close it.

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