Free writing tool
Reading time and script length calculator
Reading speed and speaking speed are not the same number, and only one of them decides whether your video fits its format.
Words
50
Sentences
4
Paragraphs
3
Characters
270
Reading time
13s
Spoken time
20s
Spoken length against format limits
Instagram Reelup to 1m 30s
FitsYouTube Shortup to 3m
FitsTikTok (standard)up to 10m
FitsLinkedIn native videoup to 10m
FitsCounted in your browser, nothing is uploaded. Sentence counts treat every full stop as an ending, so abbreviations inflate them slightly. Spoken time assumes continuous delivery: add time for pauses, an on-screen demo, or anything you expect to re-record.
The two numbers are further apart than people expect
Silent reading for an adult on familiar material runs somewhere around 240 words per minute. Comfortable narration runs closer to 150. That gap is not a rounding error: the same 160-word script is a 40-second read and a 64-second recording, and 64 seconds does not fit a 60-second format.
This is why scripts written to a reading estimate consistently overrun. The writer times the page, the camera times the delivery, and the difference shows up as a re-record. Write to the spoken number and the read number stops mattering.
Both rates are adjustable above because both are personal. Published averages for reading speed vary with the material and the study, and delivery speed is a trait before it is a statistic. If you have timed yourself reading a script aloud, use your own figure rather than the default.
Rough word budgets for short video
The right-hand column is the one to write against. A script that exactly fills the raw budget leaves no room to breathe, and delivery without pauses reads as anxious rather than efficient.
| Target length | Words at 150 wpm | Realistic with pauses |
|---|---|---|
| 15 seconds | About 38 | 25 to 30 |
| 30 seconds | About 75 | 55 to 65 |
| 60 seconds | About 150 | 115 to 130 |
| 90 seconds | About 225 | 175 to 195 |
What the counts will not tell you
- Sentence counts treat every full stop as an ending, so abbreviations such as e.g. and Inc. inflate them. The number is a structural signal, not a precise figure.
- A low word count is not the same as a clear script. Four sentences of forty words each is harder to follow than twelve short ones with the same total.
- Reading time says nothing about whether anyone will read it. It tells you the cost of the post, not its value.
- Time-to-read estimates published on articles are conventionally rounded up to whole minutes. If you are matching an existing site's badge, round the same way it does.