Reading Time Estimator
Reading speed varies a lot from person to person. Some people move through a page slowly, savoring every word, while others skim toward whatever matters most to them. Neither habit is wrong — they simply reflect different purposes and how familiar the material feels. Knowing your own comfortable pace helps you plan your day more realistically, whether you are estimating a report or deciding if there is time for one more chapter.
Uses your browser's built-in speech recognition (Chrome/Edge only). Your voice is sent to your browser's speech service to convert to text — OllTools' own server never sees or stores the audio. Accuracy also depends on the recognizer itself, not just your reading, so treat the score as a fun estimate.
Paste any text and see how long it takes to read — live, with slow/average/fast presets or your own measured words-per-minute speed.
How it works
- Paste your article or blog post
- The estimated reading time updates live below, no button
- Pick a Slow/Average/Fast preset, or type your own wpm for a more accurate estimate
Frequently asked questions
What's the default reading speed?
200 words per minute, the commonly cited average for adult silent reading.
Can I use my own reading speed?
Yes — type a number into the custom wpm field and the estimate recalculates using your own measured speed instead of a preset.
How accurate is this estimate?
It's an estimate, not a guarantee — actual reading time varies ±20–30% depending on the reader and how technical the text is. Entering your own measured wpm improves accuracy.
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From the blog
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Most screen-time calculators throw a shocking number at you without saying where it came from. Here's the honest math — with disclosed assumptions — plus what a real two-week study found when people put the phone down.
2026-09-22
Most reading time calculators lock you to one fixed speed. Ours lets you type your own.
We checked a popular reading time tool directly: it uses a fixed 200 wpm with no button to change it, and needs a click for every update. Another only offers two preset speeds. Ours updates live and takes any wpm number you give it.
2026-08-29Update history
- 2026-09-09 Added: an optional "read aloud" speed test using your browser's built-in speech recognition (Chrome/Edge) — read the passage into your mic and get both your speed (wpm) and an accuracy score (with mismatched words highlighted), no server involved. Falls back to the existing button-based timer in browsers without speech recognition support (Firefox, iOS Safari).
- 2026-09-09 Shortened the built-in speed test's sample passage (was 206 words, now about a third of that) so the test itself doesn't feel like a chore. Also added an optional name field so your certificate can say "Certified to: [your name]".
- 2026-09-09 Added: a built-in speed test — read a sample passage, press start/done, and your measured WPM auto-fills the custom speed field. Also added a slow-to-fast gauge showing where your speed falls, and a downloadable for-fun certificate (PNG, with QR code).
- 2026-08-30 Added: a cover image — used as the card thumbnail, social share image, and blog title image.
- 2026-08-29 Launched: live reading time estimate (no button), slow/average/fast WPM presets plus a custom WPM input for your own measured reading speed.