ScriptfoxScript timer
How long will your script take to say out loud? Paste it in, pick your pace, and watch the time move as you write. Then fit it to the length you actually have.
Target 1:00 is about 150 words at this pace.
Conversational: most YouTube talking heads
Trims or stretches it to about 150 words, in your voice. Free, three a day.
ScriptFox scrolls as you speak, so you keep your eyes on the camera. Free, no card.
How long is my script?
Reading time is the word count divided by your speaking pace. Most people talk at about 150 words a minute in conversation and on camera, so a 750-word script runs five minutes. A slower, deliberate read (a tutorial, a sermon, a eulogy) sits near 125 words a minute; a Short or an excited pitch runs 175 and up.
Written scripts almost always run long. A page that looks like a minute is usually 75 or 80 seconds out loud, because we write in complete sentences and speak in short ones. Timing the script before you record is the cheapest edit you will ever make: cut it here, as words, instead of in the edit, as takes.
Section tags and bracketed notes are not spoken, so the timer leaves them out of the count. Everything else with a letter or a digit in it counts as a word.
Words to minutes at a glance
How many words fill each length at the three paces. The average column is the one to plan on.
| Length | Slow (125 wpm) | Average (150 wpm) | Fast (175 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds0:30 | 63 | 75 | 88 |
| 1 minute1:00 | 125 | 150 | 175 |
| 2 minutes2:00 | 250 | 300 | 350 |
| 3 minutes3:00 | 375 | 450 | 525 |
| 5 minutes5:00 | 625 | 750 | 875 |
| 8 minutes8:00 | 1,000 | 1,200 | 1,400 |
| 10 minutes10:00 | 1,250 | 1,500 | 1,750 |
| 15 minutes15:00 | 1,875 | 2,250 | 2,625 |
| 20 minutes20:00 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 3,500 |
| 30 minutes30:00 | 3,750 | 4,500 | 5,250 |
How the fit works
Set the length you need and press Fit. The script comes back at about the number of words that length holds at your pace, still in your words: the same order, the same meaning, the same voice. Shortening cuts repetition, hedging and asides first and never drops your hook or your call to action. Lengthening adds a detail, an example or a reason, never filler.
It is free: three fits a day without an account, twenty with a free one. The timer keeps no copy of your script; the fit sends the text to the AI service for the rewrite and nothing is stored on our side.
Reading it on camera
Plan for 150, write for 140. A script that fits the time exactly at an average pace leaves no room for a breath or a laugh. Aim a little under and the delivery relaxes.
Say it once before you film. The words that trip you up out loud are the ones to rewrite, and you find them in thirty seconds of reading, not in the third take.
Read it from something that follows your voice. A fixed-speed prompter makes you chase the text or wait for it. ScriptFox listens as you read and keeps the next line where your eyes are, so you can pause, ad-lib and look at the lens. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How many words a minute do people speak on camera?
About 150 in conversation and in most YouTube talking-head videos. A deliberate read, a tutorial or a sermon runs closer to 125; a Short, a Reel or an excited pitch runs 175 and up. The timer's three paces are those three numbers, and Custom sets any pace from 80 to 250.
How accurate is the reading time?
Within a few seconds a minute for most people, once the pace is right. The thing that throws it is not the arithmetic but the pauses: a toast with laughter or a lesson with questions runs longer than the words alone. Read a paragraph aloud with a stopwatch once and pick the pace that matches.
Does it count my notes and section headings?
No. A line that starts with # (the section tags ScriptFox writes, such as "## Hook") and anything in [square brackets] are notes to the reader, so they are left out of the count. Everything else that has a letter or a digit in it is a spoken word.
What does "Fit it with AI" do to my script?
It rewrites the script to about the number of words your length holds at your pace, keeping your voice, your order and your meaning. Shortening cuts repetition and asides before anything else and never drops the hook or the call to action; lengthening adds detail and examples, not filler. You get three fits a day without an account and twenty with a free one.
Where does my script go?
Nowhere, unless you send it. The timer counts in your browser. A fit sends the text to the AI service for the rewrite and ScriptFox keeps no copy. "Read it on the teleprompter" saves it to your ScriptFox account as your first script, and only then.
How many words in a…
Each length has its own page, with what fits in it and the timer set to that length.
Time it here. Read it there.
A teleprompter that scrolls as you speak. Free to try, no card required.