Add reading time to Jekyll without a plugin

You do not need a plugin to show an estimated reading time in Jekyll. Liquid can count the words in a post and divide that number by an assumed reading speed.

This example uses 180 words per minute:

<p>
  {% assign words = content | number_of_words %}
  {% if words < 360 %}
    1 min
  {% else %}
    {{ words | divided_by: 180 }} mins
  {% endif %}
  read
</p>

Posts below 360 words show 1 min read. Longer posts use integer division, so the result is deliberately a rough estimate rather than a stopwatch pretending to be precise.

Use page.content if the snippet is in a layout and content is not giving you the expected value. You can also change 180 to match the reading speed you prefer.