fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "text_length")
What this pulls
Estimate reading time by the row. Returns minutes to read each cell down a column — Google Sheets or Excel.
It's one of 250+ live sources you reach with a single =VERVE() function — served from APIVerve's production data engine, billed at 1 credit per resolved cell, and refreshed on whatever cadence you set. No API keys to wrangle, no scripts, no exports.
See it in a cell
A real example — the input you type, and the values you can pull from it. Click any cell to see the formula behind it.
This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.
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click any cell to see its formula1 credit / cell
Ways to use it
Clean a column of text
Fill =VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "text_length") beside messy text and get the normalized, analyzed, or translated version back — data cleaning without leaving the grid.
Analyze at scale
Score or classify a whole column of responses, reviews, or messages in one fill instead of one-by-one.
Compose with other formulas
Nest Calculate Reading Time's output inside your existing SUM, IF, or CONCAT logic like any other cell value.
Use it in your sheet
The same function works in both apps — install once, sign in with your key, and type it into any cell.
Google SheetsAdd-on
Install from the Workspace Marketplace, then drop the formula into a cell. Autocomplete suggests the source and its fields.
fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "text_length")
Microsoft ExcelAdd-in
Same source, same arguments, same key — in Excel on desktop, the web, or mobile. Excel namespaces it as VERVE.CALL. Drag to fill a whole column.
fx=VERVE.CALL("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "text_length")
Optional inputs
Tune the result by adding name=value before the field argument — in any order. Leave one out and its default applies.
wpm
Words per minute reading speed
fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "wpm", "250")
Fields you can pull
Add a field name as the last argument to land just that value in the cell.
Word count
fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "word_count")
Reading time minutes
fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "reading_time_minutes")
Reading time seconds
fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "reading_time_seconds")
Words per minute
fx=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "words_per_minute")
Calculate Reading Time, answered
Everything you need to wire it into a sheet.
How do I pull Calculate Reading Time into Google Sheets?
Install the VerveSheets add-on, sign in once with your key, and type =VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "word_count") into any cell. The "field" argument names the value you want back, so the cell resolves to a single number or string you can chart, sort, or feed into another formula.
What data can I pull from Calculate Reading Time?
Calculate Reading Time returns word_count, reading_time_minutes, reading_time_seconds and words_per_minute — name any one of them as the "field" argument and that value lands in the cell. Leave the field out and the whole record spills into a two-column table instead.
Can I narrow what Calculate Reading Time returns?
Yes — Calculate Reading Time takes "wpm" as optional inputs. They go in as "name", value pairs after the required ones, in any order, so =VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "wpm", "250") shapes the result without changing anything else.
Can I fill a whole column of Calculate Reading Time at once?
Yes. Put your text values down a column and point the formula at the range — A2:A50 instead of A2 — and one call returns a value for every row. Dragging the formula down works too, but the range form is a single billed call per column rather than one per cell.
How many credits does each Calculate Reading Time cell cost?
Each resolved cell costs 1 credit. A cell only re-bills when it actually refreshes, so a sheet you aren't touching doesn't keep charging.
Does Calculate Reading Time work in Excel as well as Google Sheets?
Yes — same arguments, same key, same fields. Excel namespaces custom functions, so the call is =VERVE.CALL() there and =VERVE() in Google Sheets; nothing else about it changes.
Google Sheets
Microsoft Excel
