Reading Time WP

81 Quality Score

Active Installs

19/30

With 30,000 active installs, the plugin has a moderate reach within the WordPress community, which is reasonable for a single-purpose utility.

Update Freshness

25/25

Last updated on November 17, 2024, the plugin appears to be actively maintained, though the 10-month gap before the most recent update suggests maintenance is on a slower cycle.

User Rating

14/15

A 96 out of 100 rating from 20 users is exceptional and indicates strong satisfaction among those who have reviewed it.

Support Health

8/15

With zero support threads opened and zero resolved, there is no track record to evaluate, which is a minor concern for users who may need help.

WP Compatibility

15/15

The plugin is tested with WordPress 6.7.5 and requires WordPress 3.0.1, giving it a very broad compatibility range, though no PHP version is specified.

Scores higher than 84% of indexed plugins

About

Reading Time WP creates an estimated reading time of your posts that is inserted above the content or by using a shortcode.

Active Installs 20k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.8/5

Last Updated 2026-08-26 2:42pm GMT

Requires WordPress 3.0.1+

Tested Up To 7.1

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

Reading Time WP calculates an estimated reading time for your WordPress posts based on word count and inserts it either automatically above the post content or manually via a shortcode. It provides a simple, lightweight way to give visitors a quick sense of how long an article will take to read, helping set expectations before they commit to the content.

Who It's For

This plugin is best suited for bloggers, journalists, and content-driven publishers who regularly publish long-form articles and want to improve reader engagement by surfacing time-to-read information. It works well for news sites, magazines, corporate knowledge bases, and educational content where readers benefit from knowing the commitment upfront.

Who Should Skip It

If you already use a full-featured SEO plugin like Yoast or Rank Math that includes a built-in reading time feature, there is no reason to install an additional dedicated plugin for this single function. Sites with mostly short-form posts, image galleries, or video embeds will also see little value, since reading time is less meaningful for those formats.

The Bottom Line

Reading Time WP does one thing and does it well, earning high marks from users who rated it, but the overall quality score of 55.16 reflects limited adoption and an untested support record. It is a reasonable choice for publishers who want a free, simple reading time widget without bloat, though users already running a major SEO plugin may find it redundant.

Related Plugins

WP Popular Posts 89/100

Pick this if your primary goal is showcasing trending content rather than displaying reading times, as it is a much more widely adopted and rated plugin.

GenerateBlocks 86/100

Choose GenerateBlocks if you need a full page-building toolkit, though you would have to add reading time functionality separately through a different solution.

Post Duplicator 86/100

Opt for Post Duplicator if your workflow involves cloning posts regularly, since reading time is a completely different feature category.

List category posts 84/100

Pick this alternative if you need to display posts in custom lists by category, rather than calculate and show reading times.

Public Post Preview 83/100

Choose Public Post Preview if your need is sharing draft posts with reviewers, which is unrelated to reading time display.