Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar

79 Quality Score

Active Installs

18/30

With 10,000 active installs and a popularity score of 60, the plugin has a modest but established user base that places it ahead of most niche alternatives.

Update Freshness

25/25

A recent update on July 10, 2025 and confirmed compatibility with WordPress 6.8.5 indicate the developer is keeping the plugin current, though the older PHP 5.2 requirement hints at legacy code.

User Rating

14/15

A 90 out of 100 rating from 19 reviewers is strong, but the small sample size means the score should be read as encouraging rather than definitive proof.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads opened in the available data is either a sign of a stable plugin or of users troubleshooting elsewhere, leaving support responsiveness unverified.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Compatibility lands at 75 thanks to a low minimum PHP version of 5.2 and broad WordPress support back to 4.2, though this wide compatibility can also reflect outdated code patterns.

Scores higher than 71% of indexed plugins

About

The Read Meter plugin displays the estimated reading time for blog posts along with a progress bar.

Active Installs 10k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.5/5

Last Updated 2026-08-24 9:45am GMT

Requires WordPress 4.2+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 5.2+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

Read Meter calculates an estimated reading time for each post and shows it to visitors, typically above or below the content. It also renders a progress bar that fills as the reader scrolls through the article, giving a visual cue of how much content remains.

Who It's For

This is best suited for bloggers and publishers whose audience reads medium to long-form posts and benefits from time estimates, such as news sites, educational creators, thought leadership platforms, and content marketing blogs. Sites with very short posts or those focused on quick product purchases will get less value from the feature set.

Who Should Skip It

If your posts are consistently under 300 words, run a storefront where reading time is irrelevant, or your theme already includes a reading progress bar, installing this plugin adds an extra script with no real payoff. Developers building custom progress bars via their theme would also be better off skipping this.

The Bottom Line

Read Meter delivers exactly what its description promises with a strong user rating, but the tiny review pool and unverified support record keep the overall score at a middling 66.53. It is a reasonable pick for long-form blogs that want a quick reading time and progress bar combo without configuring much.