Audiobook Calculator
See how long any audiobook takes at 1.5x or 2x, where you are in it and the day you will finish. Writing one? This audiobook calculator also turns your word count into finished hours and a narration budget.
A 80,000-word novel
8 h 36 min
at normal speed
- 1×8 h 36 min–
- 1.25×6 h 53 min1 h 43 min saved
- 1.5×5 h 44 min2 h 52 min saved
- 2×4 h 18 min4 h 18 min saved
- speed, progress, word count and budget
- 4 in 1
- any playback speed, in steps of 0.05
- 0.25x to 4x
- words per finished hour, the industry estimate
- 9,300
- every number is worked out in your browser
- 0 uploads
How do you calculate audiobook listening time?
Divide the audiobook length by your playback speed. An 11 hour 26 minute audiobook takes 7 hours 37 minutes at 1.5x, saving 3 hours 49 minutes, and 5 hours 43 minutes at 2x. For a book that is not recorded yet, divide the word count by about 9,300 words per finished hour: 80,000 words make an audiobook of about 8 hours 36 minutes. The audiobook calculator above does both as you type.
How to use the audiobook calculator
Three steps, and the results update while you type.
Pick what to work out
Choose Speed for listening time, Progress for percent done and a finish date, Words for a manuscript, or Budget for studio time and narration cost.
Audiobook CalculatorSpeedProgressWordsBudget- Listening time at 1.5x7 h 37 min
- Done25%
- Finished audiobook length8 h 36 min
- Narration budget$2,150
Enter the audiobook length or word count
Type hours and minutes, or paste a length such as 11:26:00 straight from your app. For a manuscript, type the word count or paste the text.
Audiobook Calculator11:26:00Audiobook length
Hours11Minutes26Seconds0Paste a length such as 11:26:00 into any field.
Read the results and share them
Listening time, time saved, finish date or budget appear at once. Copy link saves your numbers in the link, so a friend or co-author opens the same audiobook calculation.
Audiobook CalculatorListening time at 1.5x
7 h 37 min
Time saved 3 h 49 min
/audiobook-calculator
#m=speed&l=41160 Copy linkLink copied
What this audiobook calculator does for you
Listeners and authors get their answers on one page, with numbers that add up.
Audiobook length
11 h 26 min
Adds up to the minute
- Listening time at 1.5x
- 7 h 37 min
- Time saved
- 3 h 49 min
Listening time and time saved add up to the minute
Rounding each figure on its own can make them miss the book by a minute. We round the listening time once and subtract, so 7 h 37 min plus 3 h 49 min is exactly the 11 h 26 min you entered.
Done
25%
Page 80 of 320 in print
Track audiobook progress as a percentage or a page
Reading trackers ask for a page or a percent, while audiobook apps show time. Enter the time you have listened and the print page count: 2 h 30 min of a 10 hour audiobook is 25%, page 80 of 320.
Word count
80,000
Narration pace, words a minute
9,300 words per finished hour
Turn a word count into finished hours at your pace
Authors need audiobook length before a single chapter is recorded. The industry estimate is 9,300 words per finished hour, about 155 words a minute; pick 140 or 170 for a slower or brisker reader, or paste the manuscript to count it.
Left at 1.5x
7 h 37 min
Minutes a day
30
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
16 days of listening; today is day 1
Speed to finish by then
14 days at 30 minutes a day
1.65x
Plan a finish date or the speed you need
Tell it how many minutes you listen a day and it gives the day you finish, counting today as day 1. Set a date instead and it finds the slowest speed that still gets you there.
Narration budget
$2,150
$250 per finished hour × 8 h 36 min
A novel of 80,000 words
Studio time
53.3 h
- Recording
- 17.2 h
- Editing
- 25.8 h
- Review
- 10.3 h
Usually 43 h to 60.2 h
Budget narration by the finished hour
Narrators are usually paid per finished hour, and each one takes about 6.2 hours of studio work: 2 to record, 3 to edit and 1.2 to review. Enter your rate and see the budget, with the 5 to 7 hour range.
In the address bar
/audiobook-calculator
Stays in your browser, never sent
What the server receives
GET/audiobook-calculator
Calculated in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
Private, and easy to share
Your manuscript and numbers never leave the browser; there is nothing to upload and no account. Copy link keeps the inputs after the # in the address, which servers never receive.
Audiobook listening time by speed
Common audiobook lengths at the speeds most listeners use, rounded to the minute.
| Audiobook length | 1.25x | 1.5x | 1.75x | 2x | 2.5x |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 h | 4 h | 3 h 20 min | 2 h 51 min | 2 h 30 min | 2 h |
| 8 h | 6 h 24 min | 5 h 20 min | 4 h 34 min | 4 h | 3 h 12 min |
| 10 h | 8 h | 6 h 40 min | 5 h 43 min | 5 h | 4 h |
| 12 h | 9 h 36 min | 8 h | 6 h 51 min | 6 h | 4 h 48 min |
| 15 h | 12 h | 10 h | 8 h 34 min | 7 h 30 min | 6 h |
| 20 h | 16 h | 13 h 20 min | 11 h 26 min | 10 h | 8 h |
Audiobook calculator guide
How playback speed changes audiobook time
Listening time is the audiobook length divided by the speed, the rule behind every audiobook time calculator. A 10 hour audiobook takes 8 hours at 1.25x, 6 hours 40 minutes at 1.5x, 5 hours at 2x and 4 hours at 2.5x.
The time you save grows more slowly than the speed. Going from 1x to 1.5x is 50% faster but saves a third of the time; 2x saves half; 3x saves two thirds. The share saved is 1 minus 1 divided by the speed.
Time saved
Audiobook length · 10 h
1.5x
+3 h 20 min
2x
+1 h 40 min
2.5x
+1 h
3x
+40 min
A step from 1.5x to 2x saves less than the step from 1x to 1.5x: on a 10 hour book, 1 h 40 min against 3 h 20 min.
How long is an audiobook?
Audiobook length follows the word count. At the industry estimate of 9,300 words per finished hour, a 50,000 word novella runs about 5 hours 23 minutes, a 70,000 word novel about 7 hours 32 minutes, 90,000 words about 9 hours 41 minutes and 120,000 words about 12 hours 54 minutes.
Narrators differ. Most read between 140 and 170 words a minute, so an 80,000 word book lands between 7 hours 51 minutes and 9 hours 31 minutes. The Words mode of the audiobook calculator shows that range next to the estimate.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz39,486 words
4 h 15 min
A 70,000-word novel
7 h 32 min
A 120,000-word novel
12 h 54 min
Moby-Dick210,007 words
22 h 35 min
Track audiobook progress as a percentage or page
Your progress is the time listened divided by the audiobook length, which makes the Progress mode an audiobook percentage calculator. Multiply it by the print page count to get the matching page, which is what reading trackers such as Goodreads and StoryGraph ask for.
- 1Enter the audiobook length, then the time you have listened (or the percent your app shows).
- 2Add the page count of the print edition if you log pages.
- 3Read the percent, the page and the time left at your speed.
Plan when you will finish an audiobook
Days to finish are the listening time left divided by the minutes you listen a day, rounded up. 7 hours 37 minutes at 30 minutes a day takes 16 days; today counts as day 1.
Working back from a date, the speed you need is the audio left divided by the minutes you have. To finish an 11 hour 26 minute audiobook in 14 days at 30 minutes a day, you need 1.65x, rounded up to the next 0.05 step.
Listening faster and subscription hours
Some plans include a set number of audiobook hours a month. Spotify counts those hours at normal speed: a 5 hour audiobook at 2x takes you 2 hours 30 minutes but uses 5 hours of the allowance. Speed saves your time, not the plan’s hours, so plan by audiobook length.
Audiobook length · 5 h
Listening time at 2x
2 h 30 min
Hours taken from your plan
5 h
Who uses an audiobook calculator
The same numbers answer different questions.
Commuters
Know whether a book fits this week’s drives at 1.25x or needs 1.75x, and the day you will finish it.
Students with a reading list
Work out the speed that gets every assigned audiobook done before the seminar, with the minutes you have each day.
Book clubs
Turn listening time into a page number so readers and listeners can meet at the same chapter.
Self-published authors
Estimate audiobook length from the manuscript and price narration before asking for quotes.
Narrators and producers
Quote a project in finished hours and studio time, and check that the schedule holds.
Language learners
Slow a book to 0.75x and see how much longer it takes, then plan the minutes a day.
Audiobook calculator FAQ
Plan your next listen with the audiobook calculator
Listening time, progress, finished length and budget, worked out as you type.