Free toolPostWyse

Reading Time Calculator

Paste any text. Get word count, character count, sentence count, and reading time across four audience speeds: skim, average, careful, and audio.

Paste your content

Average reader

< 1 min

at 225 words per minute

Words

Characters

161

Sentences

Paragraphs

By audience

Skim reader

280 wpm, scanning

< 1 min

Average reader

225 wpm, default

< 1 min

Careful reader

180 wpm, technical

< 1 min

Audio narration

160 wpm, spoken

< 1 min

How long should a blog post be

The honest answer: as long as it takes to be useful, and not a word longer. SEO research shows posts in the 1,500 to 2,500-word band rank highest because they cover the topic deep enough to satisfy the AI engines that summarize them. But density beats length. A 900-word post with one strong table and three working examples will out-rank a 3,000-word one full of filler.

SEO blog: 1,500 to 2,500 words. 7 to 11 minutes for an average reader. Enough room to rank.
Thought leadership: 800 to 1,200. 4 to 5 minutes. Dense enough to share, light enough to finish.
LinkedIn post: 200 to 350. Under 90 seconds. Mobile-skimmable.
Newsletter: 400 to 700. 2 to 3 minutes. Long enough to be valuable, short enough to survive the inbox.

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Frequently asked

What words-per-minute rate should I use?

225 wpm is the global average for silent reading. Use 280 wpm for skim audiences (Twitter, LinkedIn), 180 wpm for technical or legal content, and 160 wpm for audio narration or video voiceover.

Why show four audience speeds?

A 1,200-word post takes 4 minutes for an average reader, 7 for a careful technical reader, and 7.5 for someone listening to it. Showing the spread helps you decide whether to trim, split into parts, or expand.

Is the count accurate for content with code blocks or HTML?

It counts words split by whitespace, so code reads like words. If your content is half code, expect the count to overstate reading time slightly. We're shipping a code-aware mode in the next pass.

Does this save my text?

No. The tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, nothing is logged, nothing is stored.