Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to help you choose the right practice path.
Is Type Faster free? Do I need a credit card?
Typing practice, speed tests, drills, keyboard breaks, and standard account features are free. You do not need a credit card for the core app.
I am hiring — are candidate typing tests free?
Employers can send candidates a secure timed typing test (1 minute by default; paid plans can choose 5 or 10 minutes). Each account includes 5 free invite links to try the product (no credit card). Additional links are available through monthly Hiring Vault plans or one-time Starter and Growth packs. Candidates never pay to take the test.
Paid Hiring Vault plans and one-time Starter/Growth packs add more invite links plus everything below:
- Preview the candidate test before you send a link
- Choose 1-, 5-, or 10-minute test length on invite links
- Custom typing passage on invite links (US keyboard / ASCII only)
- Email when a candidate completes a test
- Trust signals on every completed result
- Watch typing replay on completed results
- CSV export for your hiring pipeline
- Your company name on the candidate test page
- Sort, search, and filter your link table
Starter — 20 links for $79 · Growth — 50 links for $149 (one-time). Vault Keeper — 5 links/mo from $19/mo · Growth — 40 links/mo from $99/mo · Scale — 100 links/mo from $199/mo.
View hiring plans & pricing (no sign-in required to browse). Sign in from there to generate links.
Which test should I use: 1, 3, or 5 minutes?
Use 1-minute for quick daily checks, 3-minute for balanced benchmarking, and 5-minute for endurance and consistency validation.
What is the difference between tests and drills?
Tests measure your current performance, while drills target weak keys and patterns to improve future scores.
Where can I read guides about the platform?
The Type Faster guides hub has fifteen articles — timed tests, drills, progress, leaderboards, Labs, story library, steno, verified shares, and employer hiring — each linking to the live tool. Browse all topics on the blog index. Signed-in members also have step-by-step help after signing in to Member guides.
What are keyboard breaks?
Keyboard breaks are eighteen calm mini-games for a short reset between timed runs. They do not track WPM, leaderboards, or achievements. Sign in to play; you need a physical keyboard. Browse the keyboard breaks guides.
Does programmer mode support symbols and multiline code?
Yes. Programmer mode includes symbol-heavy snippets and structured multiline examples with indentation for JSON, XML, and code-style text.
Can I practice with my own content?
Yes. Use Custom Practice to paste or import your own text and code snippets, including multiline content with line breaks.
Do I need an account?
You can start instantly as a guest with the 1-minute test. Drills, keyboard breaks, progress tracking, custom practice, social, and leaderboard qualification require signing in.
Where are Account, Social, and profile settings?
When signed in, click your profile photo and chevron in the top-right header to open the account menu — Public profile, Social, Account, and Log out. On mobile, open the navigation menu (☰) and scroll to the Account section. Step-by-step help: Account menu in the header.
How do display names work on leaderboards?
Public leaderboards show your display name when you set one under Account → Public display. If you skip it, visitors see a friendly pseudonym (for example Able Meteor · 337) — not your @username — so email-like handles stay private on ranked rows. If you use linked sign-in (Google, Apple, or similar) and your provider shares a name, we copy it into Public display on first login; edits in Account apply on Type Faster only, not on your provider account. After a few tracked tests, ranked members may see a banner on the leaderboard with a shortcut to Profile settings. Step-by-step help: change how your name appears.
How do country boards and the Global Peak map work?
Country boards list typists who opt in: set a country in Account → Privacy and turn on show on leaderboards. Once you rank on Global Peak, you can appear on the world map, your country's board, and country stats (entrants, top WPM, average WPM). Browse country boards or open Global Peak → Worldwide on the leaderboard. Step-by-step help: Leaderboards & country boards.
What is anonymous encouragement (Cheers)?
Signed-in members can send a private Encouragecheer on another user's public bragging moments, verified score links, main leaderboard rows, live event leaderboard rows (including upcoming public events), and top-three winner avatars on completed event cards and the recent-winners banner — one cheer per visitor per item per UTC day. Public counts show cheer-days total (deduped visitor-days, not click spam). Recipients see totals only; other members never see who cheered (similar to YouTube Members-style privacy). Owners can pause new cheers under Account → Privacy (Anonymous encouragement); hiding your public profile or opting out of public leaderboard rows also blocks cheers on those surfaces. Past totals stay visible when paused. Account shows received stats plus private milestones (unique supporters and typists you have encouraged — not public badges), optional bell alerts, and an opt-in weekly email digest. Guests cannot cheer. Step-by-step help: anonymous encouragement.
How do I contact support?
Use the Contact page form. Messages are submitted securely and delivered to our support team.