Script length calculator
Script length calculator: how many words for a 1, 5 or 10-minute video
A 5-minute video needs about 700 to 800 words of narration, because most voices speak between 140 and 160 words a minute. Paste your script below to see how long it will run, or pick a length to get the word count you need. The two voice paces are the ones we measured on our own AI voices, not a rule of thumb.
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Real output, not a mockup
Script
The brain weighs just three pounds, yet it uses 20% of the body's energy…
Generated from a plain-text script, nothing edited by hand. You can make any video like this in 5–10 minutes.
Words to minutes calculator
Choose a speaking pace, then count a script or turn a length into words. What you paste stays in your browser: nothing is sent or saved.
About 0 s of narration
0 words · 160 words per minute
Narration only. Pauses between scenes and an intro or outro add a few seconds.
How many words for each video length
Word counts for the lengths people search most, rounded to the nearest ten. The middle columns are the paces of our American and British English voices.
| Video length | Slow (130 wpm) | British voice (140 wpm) | American voice (160 wpm) | Fast (180 wpm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 seconds | 65 | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| 1 minute | 130 | 140 | 160 | 180 |
| 2 minutes | 260 | 280 | 320 | 360 |
| 3 minutes | 390 | 420 | 480 | 540 |
| 5 minutes | 650 | 700 | 800 | 900 |
| 10 minutes | 1,300 | 1,400 | 1,600 | 1,800 |
| 15 minutes | 1,950 | 2,100 | 2,400 | 2,700 |
| 20 minutes | 2,600 | 2,800 | 3,200 | 3,600 |
To go the other way, divide your word count by the pace: 1,000 words at 160 words a minute run for about 6 minutes 15 seconds.
Words per minute: reading, speaking and narration are not the same
Most online calculators use a single figure, often 130 or 150 words a minute, and that is why their estimates drift. Pace depends on who is speaking and what for. A 2019 meta-analysis by Marc Brysbaert in the Journal of Memory and Language, covering 190 studies, put adult silent reading of English non-fiction at about 238 words a minute and reading aloud at about 183. Narration for a video is slower than both: the voice has to leave room for the listener, and in a drawn video, for the drawing.
We measured the AI voices we use for video. They read at about 160 words a minute in American English, 140 in British English, 163 in Spain Spanish and 160 in Latin American Spanish. That is why this calculator offers those paces rather than a generic average: if you make the video with AnimatedBoard, the estimate is what you will actually hear.
If you record the narration yourself, time one paragraph with your phone's stopwatch, count its words and use the Custom pace. Most people speak a little faster when they read than when they explain, so read the way you would explain it to a friend.
What changes the real length of a script
The calculator counts anything between spaces that contains a letter or a number, the way a word processor does. A few things take longer to say than their word count suggests, so check them before you trust the total.
- Numbers: "1,250" is one word on the page and six when read aloud. Write numbers the way they should be said if timing matters.
- Abbreviations and symbols: "e.g.", "%" and "$" become several spoken words.
- Headings and stage notes: remove anything the voice won't read before you count.
- Pauses: every scene change, a dramatic pause or a question left hanging adds time that no word count shows.
- Long sentences: they are read faster but understood worse. Short ones add pauses and clarity.
How to write a script that fits an exact length
Four steps, whether the video is a 45-second Short or a 15-minute explainer.
Choose the length and the pace
Decide how long the video should be and which voice will read it. Put both in the calculator's second tab and write down the word budget.
Write a little under the budget
Aim for about 95% of the words. Scene changes and pauses fill the rest, and a script that ends early is easier to fix than one that runs over.
Paste the draft and count
Paste the finished draft into the first tab. If it runs long, cut asides and repeated ideas first, then examples that don't change the viewer's understanding.
Read one paragraph aloud
Listen for tongue-twisters, numbers and sentences you have to read twice. Those are the places where a voice slows down or the viewer gets lost.
Let the length come out right on its own
If you make the video with AnimatedBoard, you don't need to count at all.
From an idea, to the minute
Give our AI a topic and choose 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 or 15 minutes. It drafts a script for that length, within about 5%, and you edit it before anything is drawn. Writing it costs no minutes.
From your own script, word for word
Paste your script and the video says exactly what you wrote. The editor shows its estimated length before you generate anything, using the pace of the voice you picked.
From a document, to the length you choose
Upload a PDF or a Word file and pick the length: our AI summarises a long document or explains a short one in more depth, without adding facts.
Your script is ready. Hear it as a video.
Paste it, pick a look and a voice, and download the first minute free. No card.
Frequently asked questions
How many words is a 5-minute video?
About 700 to 800 words. At 140 words a minute, a typical British English narration pace, 5 minutes is 700 words; at 160, an American English pace, it is 800. A slow, teaching pace of 130 words a minute needs only 650.
How many words are in a 1-minute script?
Between 130 and 180 words, depending on the pace. For a calm explainer, plan on 140 to 160. A 30-second Short needs only 70 to 80 words, which is less than most people expect.
How long is a 1,000-word script?
About 6 minutes 15 seconds at 160 words a minute and about 7 minutes 9 seconds at 140. Add a few seconds for pauses between scenes.
How many words for a 10-minute YouTube video?
About 1,400 to 1,600 words of narration. Many YouTube scripts run slightly longer because presenters speak faster on camera, but a narrated explainer is closer to 1,500.
How many words per minute do people speak?
It varies with the speaker and the purpose. Our AI voices read at about 140 words a minute in British English and 160 in American English. For comparison, a 2019 meta-analysis found adults read English non-fiction aloud at about 183 words a minute and silently at about 238.
Does the calculator save my script?
No. It runs entirely in your browser: the text is counted on your device and is never sent or stored.
Can AnimatedBoard write a script of an exact length?
Yes. Choose 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 or 15 minutes and our AI drafts a script for that length from your topic, within about 5%. You can edit it before generating the video, and writing it costs no minutes.
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