About this readability score calculator
Readability formulas estimate how hard a text is to read from the length of its sentences and words. This calculator runs six of the most widely used ones on your English text. Flesch Reading Ease gives a score from 0 to 100 where higher is easier; the other five give a U.S. school grade level, and the average of those five is shown at the top. Writers use it to match their audience, teachers use it to pick reading material, and marketers use it to keep copy easy to scan. Most web content reads best at about grade 7 to 9.
How to use this calculator
- Add English text. Paste at least 100 words for a steady result, or press an example. An example only fills the box.
- Press Check readability. The average grade level, the six scores with what they mean, and the text statistics appear below.
- Compare with your audience. Aim for grade 7 to 9 and a Reading Ease of 60 to 70 for general readers.
- Revise and check again. Shorten long sentences or replace long words, then press Check readability again to see the change.
Frequently asked questions
Which score should I use?
Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid are the most widely recognized and are a good default. Gunning Fog and SMOG weigh long words more heavily, which suits technical and health writing. Coleman-Liau and ARI count letters instead of syllables, so they are steadier on text with many short technical words.
What score should I aim for?
For a general audience, a Flesch Reading Ease of 60 to 70 and a grade level of about 7 to 9. Technical or academic text can go higher, but every extra grade level loses some readers.
How are syllables counted?
By counting vowel groups in each word, after dropping a silent final e and a silent -es or -ed. This matches a dictionary for most words but can be off by one for words such as "created" or "science", so all scores are estimates.
What counts as a complex word?
Any word with three or more syllables. Gunning Fog and SMOG are built on this count. Numbers are not counted as words in any of the formulas.
Why is the Reading Ease 100 or 0?
The Flesch formula can go above 100 for very short, simple sentences or below 0 for very dense text. The result is capped to its usual 0 to 100 range, and grade levels below 0 are shown as 0.
Does it work for languages other than English?
No. The formulas and the syllable rules were built for English, so scores for other languages are not meaningful.