Short answer: Monkeytype is the better typing test in 2026 for most users. It has a cleaner interface, deep customization, accurate per-test analytics, and an open-source community. 10FastFingers wins only on language breadth, multiplayer competitions, and simplicity if you want one quick test and nothing else.
Monkeytype and 10FastFingers are the two most-used online typing tests in 2026. Both give you a WPM score in about a minute. Both are free. And both have devoted user bases that will defend their choice in any typing forum. But they are not actually the same kind of tool, and which one is better depends entirely on what you are trying to do.
Here is a head-to-head comparison across the dimensions that actually matter.
Interface and design
Monkeytype was built by people who clearly use typing tests every day. The default view is essentially a stream of words on a clean background, a small timer, and nothing else. No ads, no leaderboard banners, no popups. The aesthetic is closer to a code editor than a website.
10FastFingers shows you the same kind of word stream, but it is wrapped in a more traditional website layout. There are sidebar elements, advertisements, navigation tabs, and language switchers visible during the test. None of it is broken — the test still works — but the visual noise is constantly there.
Winner: Monkeytype. If you take typing tests often, the calmer interface is genuinely worth caring about.
Customization
This is where Monkeytype creates the largest distance from 10FastFingers. The settings panel exposes options for test length, mode (time, words, quote, custom, zen), word frequency band, punctuation, numbers, language, theme, fonts, and a long list of smaller behavioural toggles.
10FastFingers gives you a one-minute test in your chosen language. That is essentially the entire knob set. You can switch to a "competition" mode or paste in custom text, but you cannot reconfigure how the test itself behaves.
Winner: Monkeytype, by a wide margin.
Word selection and realism
Both tools default to drawing from the most common words in your chosen language, which is the right choice for measuring sustained typing speed. The samples feel similar in practice.
Monkeytype goes further by offering quote mode (real prose pulled from books and other sources), code mode (programming syntax in various languages), and frequency-banded word lists (top 200, top 1000, top 10000) so you can choose between easy familiar words and rarer ones that stretch your vocabulary recall.
10FastFingers stays with common words across all its language tests. Custom text is supported, but you have to supply your own.
Winner: Monkeytype for variety, 10FastFingers for simplicity if all you want is the same test format every time.
Language support
This is the one category where 10FastFingers genuinely beats Monkeytype. 10FastFingers supports over 50 languages for its standard tests, including many smaller ones that Monkeytype either does not have or has only as community-contributed lists.
Monkeytype supports dozens of languages too, including major Indian, European, and East Asian languages, but the per-language polish is uneven. If your native language is widely spoken and you want a typing test in it, both work. If you type in a less-common language, 10FastFingers is more likely to have a complete test ready.
Winner: 10FastFingers for sheer language breadth.
Accounts and progress tracking
Monkeytype's account system is one of its best features. Every completed test is saved to your profile with WPM, accuracy, consistency, mode, and a result graph showing speed over the course of the test. You can review long-term trends, filter by mode, and see your personal bests across every test type you have tried.
10FastFingers also lets you create an account and tracks high scores, daily averages, and basic statistics. It is functional, but the analytics feel like a 2010s product rather than a 2020s one.
Winner: Monkeytype.
Multiplayer and competition
10FastFingers has a long-running competition feature where you race against other users in real time. The community around these competitions is one of the reasons people have stuck with the platform for over a decade.
Monkeytype has added competitive elements over time but it is fundamentally a solo tool. If head-to-head racing is what gets you to practice, TypeRacer is the dedicated answer, but 10FastFingers handles this use case better than Monkeytype does.
Winner: 10FastFingers.
Accuracy of the WPM score
Both sites use similar calculations: characters typed divided by five, divided by minutes elapsed, with some correction for errors. The numbers you get from each should be in the same ballpark.
However, both tools tend to slightly inflate scores compared to real-world typing. The word lists draw from the most common words in the language, which means you are not stopping to think about spelling unusual words or punctuation. Your actual sustained WPM while writing emails or documents will usually be lower than your test result.
Monkeytype's punctuation and numbers modes get closer to realistic typing. 10FastFingers' standard test does not include either.
Winner: Monkeytype for realism if you opt into the harder modes.
Ads and noise
Monkeytype runs no advertising. The project is open source and funded by donations and merchandise. The page loads quickly, nothing tracks you aggressively, and the experience is deliberate.
10FastFingers has display advertising on every page. They are not aggressive popups, but they are present and they affect the feel of the site. If you take five tests in a row, you see the ads five times.
Winner: Monkeytype.
Mobile experience
Neither tool was designed for phones, and serious typing tests on touchscreens are not really useful anyway. Both sites are usable on tablets with external keyboards. Monkeytype's responsive layout is cleaner; 10FastFingers' is older.
Slight winner: Monkeytype.
Who should use which
The simple summary, after weighing all of the above:
- Use Monkeytype if you take typing tests regularly, care about deep customization, want clean analytics, type in a major language, and prefer an ad-free experience.
- Use 10FastFingers if you want a one-off speed check in a less-common language, like the multiplayer competitions, or simply prefer the simplicity of one test format every time.
For most users in 2026 — adults, students, knowledge workers, programmers — Monkeytype is the better daily driver. 10FastFingers remains useful for specific use cases, but it has stopped evolving while Monkeytype has continued to get better.
WPM context, briefly
Whichever tool you use, here is roughly where typists tend to fall:
- Around 40 WPM is average for adults who never formally learned to touch type.
- 60 to 80 WPM is what most office work demands and what consistent practice gets you to.
- 80 to 100 WPM is professional speed, the kind of pace seen in court reporting trainees and serious enthusiasts.
- Above 120 WPM is rare and usually requires deliberate, focused practice over years.
The question both tools are quietly asking
You are reading a comparison of typing tests, which means you probably want to type faster. Both Monkeytype and 10FastFingers will give you a score and a tiny bit of progress over time. Neither will get you to 150 WPM, because that ceiling does not really exist for human typing.
But you talk at 150 WPM right now. That is the average adult speaking rate. Modern voice transcription is finally good enough — and fast enough — that voice dictation is a genuine alternative to typing for everyday text production.
Both Monkeytype and 10FastFingers measure how fast your fingers move. Voice transcription measures how fast you can think.
Voice Keyboard Pro is a small macOS menu bar app and iOS keyboard. Hold a hotkey, speak a sentence, release, and the text appears at your cursor in whatever app you are using — email, Slack, Notes, Docs, terminal. The transcription is powered by Whisper, which supports 50+ languages including English, Hindi, Spanish, French, Mandarin, and many more. Smart Rewrite cleans up rambling speech into clean written prose. A custom vocabulary feature lets you add names and jargon the model would otherwise mishear. Privacy: the server only stores operational pings, never audio or transcript content.
There is a free tier with daily limits. Pro is $4.99 a month or $34.99 a year.
Common questions about both tools
Are the WPM scores comparable across Monkeytype and 10FastFingers? Roughly, yes. Both use the standard five-character word definition and both correct for errors in similar ways. A score on one site will typically be within a few WPM of your score on the other on a similar test length. The bigger source of variation is the word list itself — common words run faster than rarer ones.
Which one is better for warmup before a typing test or interview? Monkeytype, because you can match the exact mode you will be tested on (time-based, word-count-based, with or without punctuation and numbers).
Which one is better for programmers? Monkeytype, decisively, because of its code typing mode. You can practice typing syntax in JavaScript, Python, C, and other languages with realistic code samples. 10FastFingers does not have an equivalent.
Do either of them work offline? No. Both require an internet connection. If you need offline typing practice, you will need a desktop app rather than a web tool.
Which one has better community and forums? Monkeytype has an active Discord and an open-source GitHub repository. 10FastFingers has long-running forums tied to its competition system. Different communities, different vibes — both real.
Final verdict
Monkeytype beats 10FastFingers for most typists in 2026. Cleaner, smarter, ad-free, and still improving. 10FastFingers remains useful for non-English tests and competitive multiplayer.
But if you are reading this looking for a way to write faster, not just measure your typing — voice will out-perform either of them on day one. Practice your typing for the work that needs a keyboard. For everything else, try dictating instead.