TypeRacer vs Monkeytype: Which Is Better in 2026?

Which One Should You Pick?

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What I Checked

I read TypeRacer's Wikipedia page from top to bottom, including its skill level table. TypeRacer's own pages refused my script with an error on 26 October 2026, so the TypeRacer facts here come from that page.

For Monkeytype, I read its About page and opened its default settings in the public code on GitHub. That file shows what a brand new visitor gets before they change anything.

I also pulled Monkeytype's public leaderboard data the same day. Its English one minute board held 528,630 results.

No hidden test here. Every number below comes from those sources.

Where Each Site Came From

TypeRacer is the veteran. According to Wikipedia's TypeRacer page, it launched in March 2008. Programmer Alex Epshteyn built it with the Google Web Toolkit.

He wanted a multiplayer typing game because the shareware he'd used to learn touch typing had no multiplayer mode. PC Magazine listed TypeRacer among its Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites of 2008.

Monkeytype is much younger. Its GitHub repository was created on 14 May 2020. The About page says it was "created with love by Miodec."

It's open source under the GPL 3.0 license. As of October 2026, the repository had 20,939 stars and 3,389 forks.

Racing People or Typing Alone

This is the biggest split. TypeRacer is a race. Each player gets a little car, and the cars move forward as everyone types the same passage.

The main track drops you into a race with random players. You can also practice alone against your own ghost, join timed competitions or open a private track for friends.

Monkeytype's main test is solo. You type against the clock, and the site shows your result the moment you stop. Good results can land on a public leaderboard, but there's no car and no rival typing next to you.

If you're curious about racing there, read whether Monkeytype has multiplayer.

The Text You Type

TypeRacer gives you real sentences. Wikipedia says its passages run from about 20 to 930 characters. They come from songs, films, TV shows, video games and books, and players can submit new quotes.

That means capital letters, commas, apostrophes and the odd semicolon. Your pinkies stay busy with the Shift key.

Monkeytype starts somewhere much easier. Its About page says the default test uses the 200 most common English words. Its default settings switch punctuation and numbers off.

You can widen it to the 1,000 most common words, switch language or turn punctuation on. Most people never touch those settings, though.

How Mistakes Are Handled

TypeRacer is strict. Any error in spelling, capitals or punctuation must be fixed before the race lets you continue. A slip costs time right away.

Monkeytype is more forgiving by default. Its stop on error setting ships switched off, so you can type past a wrong letter and keep going.

It doesn't ignore those errors, though. Monkeytype's WPM counts only the characters in words you typed correctly. Its raw WPM counts everything, wrong words included.

So on TypeRacer, an error slows you down. On Monkeytype, an error lowers your score afterward. Both hurt, just in different ways.

Why Monkeytype Scores Run Higher

Put the last two sections together and the gap makes sense. Short common words are easy to read ahead. No capitals means fewer Shift presses. No punctuation means fewer reaches to the edge of the keyboard.

TypeRacer's quotes do the opposite. They're full of names, capitals and commas, and each error stops you until it's fixed.

That's why the same person usually posts a higher number on Monkeytype. It doesn't mean Monkeytype is inflated. It's measuring a simpler kind of text.

So never compare a Monkeytype personal best with a TypeRacer average. If you want a fair look at your own number, read what counts as a good Monkeytype score.

Test Lengths and Modes

Monkeytype gives you lots of dials. Its code lists preset time tests of 15, 30, 60 and 120 seconds, and word tests of 10, 25, 50 and 100 words.

There's a quote mode too, with short, medium, long and very long quotes. The default for a new visitor is a 30 second time test.

TypeRacer works differently. Each race lasts as long as the passage takes you. A short quote can be over in seconds, and a long one can run past a minute.

TypeRacer also has separate "universes" built around one kind of text. Wikipedia names a Numbers Universe and a Long Texts Universe as examples.

What Each One Tracks

Both sites save your history if you make an account.

After a TypeRacer race, you get five figures: registered WPM, unlagged WPM, accuracy, points and your place in the race. Registered WPM often loses a little to lag in how the site records it. Unlagged WPM removes that lag, so it's closer to your real speed.

A TypeRacer profile also shows your last 10 races, your all time average, your best race, races won and a speed percentile against other players.

Monkeytype's About page lists WPM, raw WPM, accuracy, character stats, test length and leaderboard info for each test. Its account system keeps your speed history over time.

Skill Levels and Leaderboards

TypeRacer sorts players into six levels based on their average. Here's the table from Wikipedia.

Monkeytype has no named levels. It ranks results on leaderboards instead. On its English one minute board, 57.2% of the 528,630 results were 70 WPM or faster when I checked.

That gap says a lot about the two crowds. On TypeRacer, 80 WPM earns the top level. On Monkeytype's easier board, 80 sits just above the middle.

Fair Play Checks

TypeRacer takes cheating seriously. Wikipedia says players who pass 100 WPM in a race must complete a typing CAPTCHA. If a player later scores 25% above their recorded CAPTCHA speed, another test switches back on.

The site also keeps keystroke replays. You can watch a replay of your own race, and the record makes fake scores harder to pass off.

For fast typists, that means a little extra work. Expect a speed check the first time you break 100.

For everyone else, it's good news. The races you lose are mostly to real people, not to scripts.

Cost and Ads

Both are free to use. TypeRacer's Wikipedia entry lists it as a commercial site with free registration.

Monkeytype runs on its community. The About page thanks people who helped financially by donating, enabling optional ads or buying merch. The word optional matters there.

Both work in a normal desktop browser, with no download. You can try either one without making an account, then sign up if you want your history saved.

Side by Side

Here's the short version of everything above.

Neither one wins every row. They're built for different moods.

Which Is Better for Your Goal?

If you're preparing for a job typing test, TypeRacer's real sentences are the closer match. A test built on real paragraphs will include capitals and punctuation, and TypeRacer trains both.

If you want to watch your raw speed climb, Monkeytype is the better tool. Its short tests, clean screen and history graphs make small gains easy to see.

If racing keeps you motivated, TypeRacer's live cars beat a silent timer. You can also mix the two. Warm up on Monkeytype, then race.

And if you want a race and a test in one place, try our practice mode first, then jump into a live race.