Readability Checker
Flesch Reading Ease and grade level for your text, live as you type.
Paste Your Text Below
Paste your writing and this tool scores how easy it is to read, updating on every keystroke. It reports two standard readability measures — Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade level — alongside word, sentence, character and syllable counts and an estimated reading time. It is useful for tightening dense prose or checking that a piece suits its audience. Everything is calculated in your browser, so nothing you paste is uploaded, and the scores are estimates rather than a verdict on quality.
The two scores
Flesch Reading Ease runs from 0 to 100, where higher means easier, using the formula 206.835 − 1.015 × (words per sentence) − 84.6 × (syllables per word). The tool badges it Easy at 70 or above, Medium from 30 to 69, and Hard below 30. Flesch-Kincaid Grade estimates roughly how many years of schooling a reader needs, via 0.39 × (words per sentence) + 11.8 × (syllables per word) − 15.59. Both reward the same things: shorter sentences and shorter, fewer-syllable words.
How the stats are estimated
The tool counts words by splitting on spaces, sentences by looking for full stops, question marks and exclamation marks, and characters directly. Syllables are the tricky part, and it uses a heuristic: any word of three letters or fewer counts as one syllable, some common endings such as -es, -ed and a trailing -e are stripped, then the remaining vowel groups are counted. That approximation is close for everyday English but can miscount unusual words, names, acronyms and numbers — which in turn nudges both scores. Reading time is a separate estimate at 200 words per minute, rounded up to the next whole minute.
Treat the scores as a guide
These formulas were built for English prose and look only at sentence length and syllable counts. They do not understand meaning, jargon, or how well ideas are organised — so text can score "Easy" and still be confusing, or read "Hard" yet be perfectly clear to the right audience. Use the numbers to spot overlong sentences and to compare drafts, not as a grade of how good the writing is. This is indicative feedback, not professional education, accessibility or compliance advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do the two scores mean?
Flesch Reading Ease is 0–100 where higher is easier (70+ is badged Easy). Flesch-Kincaid Grade estimates the years of schooling a reader needs. Both improve with shorter sentences and simpler words.
How are syllables counted?
By a heuristic: words of three or fewer letters count as one syllable, some common endings are stripped, and vowel groups are counted. It is approximate and can misjudge unusual words, names, acronyms and numbers.
Why did my text score Easy but still feel hard to read?
The formulas only measure sentence length and syllable counts, not meaning, structure or jargon. They gauge surface complexity, so a clear score is not a guarantee the writing is actually clear.
What reading speed is the time based on?
Reading time uses 200 words per minute, rounded up to the next whole minute. All the calculations run in your browser and nothing you paste is uploaded.