Find out exactly how long your content takes to read. Enter a word count directly or paste any text. Adjust reading speed and get times for slow, average, fast, and silent reading.
Estimate Reading Time
Detected word count: 0 words
238 wpm
AT YOUR SPEED
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SLOW (150 wpm)
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AVERAGE (238 wpm)
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FAST (400 wpm)
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SPEAKING (130 wpm)
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AUDIO @1.5x (195 wpm)
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Common content reading times (at average 238 wpm):
Short blog post
800 words
~3.4 min
Standard blog post
1,500 words
~6.3 min
Long-form article
2,500 words
~10.5 min
Short e-book
10,000 words
~42 min
Novel
80,000 words
~5.6 hrs
5-min speech
~650 words
spoken 5:00
Why Reading Time Matters for Content Creators
Displaying estimated reading time on blog posts and articles is one of the highest-ROI UX improvements a content site can make. Research by Medium found that showing reading time increased engagement rates significantly — readers who know it's a "3-minute read" are more likely to start and finish the article.
Under 3 minutes: Very easy to commit to, high completion rates
3–7 minutes: The sweet spot for most blog content
7–15 minutes: Long-form, signals depth — works for pillar content
15+ minutes: Requires strong motivation from the reader — add a table of contents
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to read 500 words?
At the average reading speed of 238 words per minute, 500 words takes approximately 2 minutes and 6 seconds. At a slow pace (150 wpm), about 3 minutes 20 seconds. For a fast reader (400 wpm), about 1 minute 15 seconds.
How many words per minute is average?
Research from 2019 (Brysbaert, 2019) found the average adult reading speed is approximately 238 words per minute for non-fiction text. Fiction is read slightly faster. Technical or academic content is read slower. College-level readers average slightly higher at about 250–300 wpm.