ReadingRate · What's new · 2026-10-30
Test your reading speed and time any book
ReadingRate has a reading speed test and a reading time calculator, both free and neither needing an account. The test gives you a passage from a classic novel, asks three questions about it, and tells you your words a minute against the adult average. The calculator takes that speed and tells you how long a book will take, from its page count, its word count or its title.
Available on web.
The passage appears only when the clock starts and no clock shows while you read, so you read as you normally would. A speed counts only if you answer at least two of the three questions correctly — skimming fast and understanding nothing is not a reading speed.
The result is set against published adult averages for silent reading and shown as the time eight well-known books would take you.
The calculator converts pages at 300 words a page, the median from ReadingRate's own study. If you pick a book from the catalogue instead, the time is adjusted for that book's difficulty, as it is on the book's own page.
What it can't do
- There are three passages, all English fiction. Your speed on a philosophy book or in another language will differ.
- The result is kept in the browser tab and is not saved to an account. Close the tab and it is gone.
- It does not set the pace used on the reading lists or the best-books lists; there you choose slow, average or fast yourself.
- One short passage is a snapshot. Your logged sessions over weeks are the better measure, and that is what the finish-date prediction uses.
Questions people ask
- How do I find out my reading speed?
- Take ReadingRate's reading speed test: read a passage from a classic novel, answer three questions, and see your words a minute. It is free and needs no account.
- How long will it take me to read a book?
- The reading time calculator works it out from the book's pages, its word count or its title, at your own speed. For a book in the catalogue the estimate is adjusted for how hard the book is.