Readability Score Checker
Last updated:
Paste your content to grade how easy it is to read. Get Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid grade, Gunning Fog, SMOG, Coleman-Liau, and ARI scores, plus word, sentence, and syllable statistics to tighten your writing.
Runs in your browser. Your text is never uploaded.
Found issues? That’s exactly what our SEO audit fixes.
Our SEO Audit + Essentials package ($555, one-time) finds and fixes exactly these kinds of problems, with a prioritized plan in plain English.
Looks clean here. How is the rest of your SEO?
One passing check doesn’t make a ranking strategy. We audit the full picture: content, technical SEO, internal links, and search intent.
Want us to act on this result? Fix these findings →
Prefer the partnership route? Refer clients to us, earn 10% →
How the Readability Checker Works
- Paste text, drop in an article, landing page, or email copy.
- It counts the units, sentences, words, syllables, characters, and complex words.
- It applies the formulas, six standard readability scores are calculated at once.
- You revise, shorten long sentences and swap complex words to raise the score.
Why Readability Matters
- Higher engagement, clear writing keeps readers on the page longer.
- Wider reach, plain English serves more visitors, including non-native speakers.
- Better conversions, easy-to-scan copy makes offers and CTAs land.
- Machine-readable clarity, self-contained, clearly written answers are easier for parsers to interpret, although readability alone cannot earn a citation.
Combine readability with the on-page SEO checklist for content that ranks and converts.
Flesch Reading Ease Scale
| Score | Level | Audience |
|---|---|---|
| 90 to 100 | Very easy | 5th grade |
| 70 to 89 | Easy to fairly easy | 6th to 7th grade |
| 60 to 69 | Plain English | 8th to 9th grade |
| 30 to 59 | Fairly difficult | High school to college |
| 0 to 29 | Very difficult | Graduate / professional |
Flesch Reading Ease Score Bands
A detailed breakdown of every Flesch Reading Ease band, the reading ease it describes, and the matching school grade level or audience. Use it to set a target score for your content; most web copy should aim for 60 or above.
| Score | Reading ease | Grade level / audience |
|---|---|---|
| 90 to 100 | Very easy | 5th grade. Easily understood by an average 11-year-old. |
| 80 to 89 | Easy | 6th grade. Conversational English for consumers. |
| 70 to 79 | Fairly easy | 7th grade. Comfortable reading for most adults. |
| 60 to 69 | Standard (plain English) | 8th to 9th grade. The sweet spot for most web and business content. |
| 50 to 59 | Fairly difficult | 10th to 12th grade. High school level. |
| 30 to 49 | Difficult | College level. Dense or technical writing. |
| 0 to 29 | Very difficult | College graduate. Academic, legal, or professional text. |
Next steps
Readability Score Checker related tools and articles
Continue with the closest follow-up checks and guides based on this tool's topic, crawl intent, and optimization workflow.
Readability Score Checker: FAQ
What does the Flesch Reading Ease score mean here?
How is the average grade calculated?
Why do the grade formulas disagree?
How are words, sentences, and syllables counted?
What counts as a complex word?
How much text should I analyze?
How should I improve a difficult result?
Is the text I paste uploaded?
Free 48-Hour Website Audit
Not sure what to fix first on your own website? We'll review it and tell you, in plain English. Free & non-obligatory.
Want Content That Reads Well and Ranks?
We plan and improve useful, well-structured content around search intent, audience needs, evidence, and measurable business outcomes.