Free tool
How fast do you speak?
Read a passage aloud, find your words per minute, and compare it with how long the same text takes to type.
Good morning everyone. Quick update before the meeting: the draft is finished and with the editor, the photos arrive on Thursday, and the printer needs our final files by Monday at noon. If anything changes, I will message the group. Please send me your corrections by tomorrow evening so there is time to fit them in. Thanks for the careful work this week.
63 words
How it works
Pick a passage (or paste your own), press start, read it aloud at your normal pace, and press the button when you finish. Your speed is the word count divided by the time in minutes. Nothing is recorded: the page only runs a timer, and no audio leaves your browser.
For the typing comparison, enter your own typing speed in words per minute. If you do not know it, any online typing test will tell you.
Questions
What is a good speaking speed?
There is no single right number. Slower reading suits complicated material and a faster pace suits casual talk. The useful comparison is your own speaking speed against your own typing speed.
Does this record my voice?
No. The test is a timer. It never uses your microphone, and nothing you type or paste is sent anywhere.
Is reading aloud the same as speaking freely?
Not exactly. People often pause and rephrase when they speak their own thoughts, so free speech can be faster or slower than reading. Treat the result as a guide.
Try Pepys Dictate on your Mac
Free for 2,000 words a week, or $9.99 once, plus tax where applicable, for unlimited use on up to 3 Macs. Speech recognition and formatting run on your Mac.
Apple silicon, macOS 13 or later. More about Pepys Dictate