WordPress Reading Time: the free AIFORYA extension

Show the reading time of your posts and keep your readers to the end.

AIFORYA Reading Time automatically adds a reading time estimate, a scroll progress bar and a statistics dashboard to your WordPress posts. All of it locally, with no API key, no account — and for free, with no time limit.

• Free and complete: published on WordPress.org, no crippled features.
• 100% local: no network call on the front end, no personal data collected.
• Lightweight: designed not to slow down your site, unlike all-in-one extensions.

Why display a reading time?

Showing the reading time at the start of an article is not a cosmetic detail: it is a contract of trust with the reader. They know what they are getting into, which reduces the bounce rate and increases the proportion of readers who go all the way. Paired with a progress bar, the effect is reinforced: visible progress acts as an achievement gauge that encourages continuing.

Most bloggers and media outlets know this, but shy away from two obstacles: existing extensions are either paid, or heavy (one more module in a sprawling SEO suite that slows down the whole site), or intrusive (visitor tracking, sending data to third-party servers). AIFORYA Reading Time was born to remove these three obstacles at once.

What the extension does

• Estimated reading time — automatic calculation shown before or after the content, based on an adjustable words-per-minute figure (from 100 to 500; 250 by default, the average speed of an English reader).
• Sticky progress bar — a scroll bar at the top of the article, whose color and height you choose.
• Anonymous reading statistics — a clear dashboard: number of sessions, average time spent, average completion rate and top 10 most-read articles.
• Shortcodes — [reading-time] and [reading-time-progress-bar] for pixel-perfect placement, compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor and Divi.
• Configurable post types — enable the calculation on posts, pages or your custom post types.
• Optional mobile display — hide the bar on mobile in one click.

How it beats competing free extensions

	AIFORYA Reading Time	Common free extensions
Reading statistics	Included (sessions, average time, completion)	Reserved for the paid version
Progress bar	Included and customizable	Often absent or paid
Privacy	100% local, anonymous session	Frequent tracking / server calls
Weight	Dedicated and lightweight extension	Module of a heavy suite
API key / account	None	Sometimes required

Install in 2 minutes

1. Download the extension shown here (or install it from WordPress.org).
2. Activate it from the Plugins menu.
3. Go to AIFORYA Reading Time › Settings to choose the reading speed, the post types and the display location.

That's it: reading time appears immediately on your posts.