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Readability Checker

Paste any text to get a Flesch Reading Ease score, the Flesch–Kincaid grade level, and live word, sentence, and syllable counts. Runs entirely in your browser.

Start typing or paste text to see readability scores.

Flesch Reading Ease. A 0–100 score where higher means easier. Roughly: 90+ very easy (5th grade), 60–70 plain English (8th–9th grade), 30–50 college, below 30 hard / academic.

Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level. Translates the same underlying counts into a U.S. school grade. A score of 7 means a 7th grader should understand the text.

Both formulas use only sentence length and syllables per word, so they treat short jargon as easy and long simple words as hard. Use them as a rough guide, not gospel — they don't know what the words mean.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?

Scores run from 0 to 100, and higher is easier. 60–70 is plain English that most adults read comfortably, 70–80 is fairly easy, and below 50 is difficult and usually reserved for academic or technical writing. For general web content, aim for 60 or above.

What grade level should I target?

For a broad online audience, a Flesch–Kincaid grade level of 7 to 9 is a good target — readable without feeling dumbed down. Marketing and news copy often aim even lower.

How are the scores calculated?

Both formulas combine average sentence length (words per sentence) with average word length (syllables per word). Longer sentences and more multi-syllable words lower the reading ease and raise the grade level.

How do I improve readability?

Shorten long sentences, prefer short common words over long ones, use active voice, and break dense paragraphs up. Small edits to your longest sentences usually move the score the most.

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