How WPM Is Calculated
Words per minute (WPM) is a measure of typing speed. Because different typing sites define it slightly differently, the numbers are only meaningful when the method is clear. Here is how TypingWhiz computes it.
One word equals five characters. This is the de-facto standard used by Monkeytype, 10fastfingers, TypingTest.com, and most competitive sites. A five-character word is shorter than most English words, but it makes the math consistent across different character densities.
Gross WPM = (total typed characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes elapsed. Every character you press counts toward the numerator, whether it was correct or not. Gross WPM measures raw throughput.
Net WPM = (correct typed characters ÷ 5) ÷ minutes elapsed. Only correct characters count. A mistake in the middle of a word effectively removes that character from the numerator, which is why a test with high accuracy always scores higher net WPM than the same raw throughput with low accuracy.
Accuracy = (correct characters ÷ total typed characters) × 100. This is the ratio of what you got right to what you pressed. It does not degrade when you backspace and retype a character correctly — the original mistake stays in the count, which is deliberate. Accuracy should reflect the actual keystrokes, not the final text.
Elapsed time excludes paused periods. If a test can be paused, the elapsed time accumulates only while the timer is running. Leaving a test open on a different browser tab does not inflate your WPM because the tab's visibility change pauses the clock.
Why "net" and "gross" differ. A typist who types 300 characters in 60 seconds but 30 of them are wrong scores 60 gross WPM and 54 net WPM. The 6 WPM difference is the cost of inaccuracy. This is why experienced typists aim for 97–99% accuracy: the marginal cost of one error is small, but many errors compound.
Leaderboard eligibility. Only valid tests of at least 60 seconds count for ranking. Short tests can be gamed more easily and do not reflect sustainable speed. The threshold is enforced both in the interface and again on the server before an attempt is considered for ranking.
See these formulas in action on our typing test and use the result screen to compare gross versus net WPM.