How WPM Is Calculated
The math behind your typing score, in plain language.
A word is five characters
Words vary wildly in length, so measuring 'words per minute' by counting actual words would be unfair — a minute of short words would score higher than a minute of long ones. The standard fix, used across the typing world, is to define one word as five characters, including spaces.
Gross WPM and Net WPM
Gross WPM measures raw output: every character you typed, divided by five, divided by the minutes elapsed. Net WPM measures useful output: only the correctly typed characters, divided by five, divided by minutes. When your accuracy is high the two are close; when it's low, Net WPM drops well below Gross.
- Gross WPM = characters typed ÷ 5 ÷ minutes
- Net WPM = correct characters ÷ 5 ÷ minutes
- CPM = characters typed ÷ minutes
Why sites report different numbers
Different tests count characters differently — some ignore spaces, some penalize errors more harshly, some use different text difficulty. A number that includes spaces and long words will differ from one that doesn't. That's why your score can vary between sites even when your actual speed hasn't changed. What matters most is tracking your own trend on one consistent test.