Read Meter
Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar
by Brainstorm Force · WordPress.org page
Read Meter has 10,000+ active installs on WordPress.org and 116,269 downloads all time. We have tracked it since September 4, 2026; download trends appear after 30 days of data. The last update was on August 24, 2026, tested up to WordPress 7.1.
Read Meter at a glance
Is Read Meter well maintained?
Features
The feature list from the plugin's own readme on WordPress.org, trimmed to the essentials.
- A simple shortcode – [read_meter], gives you the flexibility to add read time anywhere on the site
- A simple ID attribute to the shortcode can display reading time of that particular post/page irrespective of where the shortcode is added – [read_meter id=47]
- Even if the post is updated multiple times, the plugin will calculate the read time for the most recent version of the post
- You can choose to display the read time and a progress bar on various post types
- You can decide whether you would like to include images and comments in the read time and progress bar
Read Meter reviews and ratings
19 reviews on WordPress.org, with the most recent ones as their authors posted them.
19 reviews
- 5★
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16
- 4★
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0
- 3★
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1
- 2★
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1
- 1★
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1
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Nice and intuitive
Works out of the box !
tampopo1969 -
Does not count custom fields
The plugin works, but it only counts the words on the blog itself. It does not count words in custom blocks and custom field text
ranmma -
Progress Bar is Cool; Read Time Broken
I really like the progress bar. This plugin is simple, which is good. No matter what, the read time is only 1 minute. I thought of reaching out to support, but then I saw that several people already have and the dev doesn't seem to have fixed the issue. Could be a great plugin, if the main feature worked. I would also be cool if it had the option to display word count.
steveoh88 -
Nice and easy
Perfect for purpose. I just added a bit a margin below to separate it better from the start of the text and presto! It just works. Thanks!
Jmarc -
Keep it simpel with this plugin
Excellent little plugin. The features make it usable for most websites. The only thing I did not figure out yet is how to dynamically translate the text 'Reading Time .. mins' while using TranslatePress. @Brainstorm Force: Thanks for making this plugin available.
imeco -
Such a good plugin!
Simple, practical and useful! Good job with this plugin and thank you.
aethronos
Details
The Read Meter plugin displays the estimated reading time for blog posts along with a progress bar.
The full description, screenshots and every review live on the WordPress.org page.
Tags
- progressbar
- readtime
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- Version
- 1.0.11
- Last updated
- Aug 24, 2026
- First published
- Jun 17, 2019
- Requires WordPress
- 4.2
- Tested up to
- 7.1
- Requires PHP
- 5.2
- Pricing
- Free on WordPress.org
Read Meter FAQ
What does Read Meter do?
According to its WordPress.org readme, Read Meter offers A simple shortcode – [read_meter], gives you the flexibility to add read time anywhere on the site, A simple ID attribute to the shortcode can display reading time of that particular post/page irrespective of where the shortcode is added – [read_meter id=47], Even if the post is updated multiple times, the plugin will calculate the read time for the most recent version of the post, You can choose to display the read time and a progress bar on various post types and You can decide whether you would like to include images and comments in the read time and progress bar.
How many active installs does Read Meter have?
WordPress.org reports 10,000+ active installs for Read Meter as of September 7, 2026.
Is Read Meter still maintained?
Yes. The last release was on August 24, 2026 and it is tested up to WordPress 7.1.
Does Read Meter have good support?
On the WordPress.org forum, 1 of 1 recent support threads for Read Meter are marked resolved. That is the developer's free support; a paid version usually comes with its own channel.
Is Read Meter free?
Read Meter is free to install from WordPress.org. Many plugins also sell a paid version or add-ons.