# Reading time calculator: run it free, or from your agent

Minutes to read and to read aloud for pasted text or a word count, at the average speed or your own.

## Prompt

Use looot to add a reading time to these articles: [paste the URLs]. 1. Set up https://looot.ai/skill.md. 2. Search the catalog for a web page to markdown endpoint and check its price before you call. 3. Read each article and count its words. 4. Return a table with the URL, the word count and the reading time at 238 words a minute, rounded up to whole minutes.

## What it needs

Text, or a word count

## What comes back

- reading time
- speaking time
- word count
- time at five other speeds

## Endpoints and providers

- context-dev: context-dev-web-scrape-markdown

## What it costs

Nothing. The tool on the web page runs in the visitor's browser: no account, no API call and no limit per hour. The prompt above runs the same job from your own looot account with current data, billed per call.

## Blog posts

Show readers a minutes-to-read line that matches the real length.

## Talks and videos

Turn a script's word count into minutes before you record.

## Content plans

Size posts by reading time instead of word count.

## Whole sites

Have your agent read each article and add its reading time to a table.

## How do I calculate reading time?

Divide the word count by a reading speed in words per minute. Paste your text or type the word count here and the tool does it, in minutes and seconds.

## What is the average reading speed?

238 words per minute for silent reading of non-fiction and 183 for reading aloud, according to Brysbaert's 2019 meta-analysis of adult reading rate in English. Fiction reads a little faster.

## How long does it take to read 1,000 words?

About 4 minutes 12 seconds at 238 words a minute, and about 5 minutes 28 seconds read aloud at 183.

## How many words is a 10 minute speech?

About 1,830 words at 183 words a minute. Pauses for slides or questions make the real count lower, so leave room.

## Can I set my own speed?

Yes. Type any speed in words per minute for reading and for speaking. The table under the result shows five other speeds too.

## Does it work for languages other than English?

The word count works for any language written with spaces. The default speeds come from studies of English readers, so set your own speed for other languages.

## Is this reading time calculator free?

Yes. It runs in your browser, needs no account and has no limit.

## Related tools

- /free-tools/word-counter
- /free-tools/readability-checker
- /free-tools/website-to-markdown

## Last reviewed

2026-10-14.

## Agent skill for this page

https://looot.ai/free-tools/reading-time-calculator/skill.md sets an agent up for exactly the jobs on this page, with the live price of each, and offers the page's starter task once the user has picked a job and seen the price. The line to give an agent is under "Give this to your agent" below.

## For agents

### Give this to your agent

```text
set up looot for Reading time calculator - https://looot.ai/free-tools/reading-time-calculator/skill.md
```