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Free readability checker
Paste a draft. This page estimates a Flesch reading ease score and a Flesch–Kincaid grade from the words, sentences, and an approximate syllable count. The text stays in your browser.
Scores update as you type. They are not sent anywhere.
How the score is calculated
- A word is the text between spaces, tabs, or line breaks. The same rule is on the word counter.
- A sentence is approximate. The counter looks for a period, question mark, or exclamation mark. A draft with words and no ending mark still counts as one sentence.
- Syllables are estimated. Three letters or fewer count as one syllable. Longer words count vowel groups. A trailing silent e is dropped, unless the word ends in le, as in table.
- Reading ease is 206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words). A higher number is easier. Short, simple text can score above 100.
- Grade level is 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59. A result near 8 is about US grade 8 on this formula. A negative result is simpler than grade 1. It is not a school placement.
Rudolf Flesch published the reading-ease formula in 1948. The grade-level form used here is the later Flesch–Kincaid version. Another checker can disagree when its syllable counter differs. A score does not say whether the draft is true, useful, or likely to rank. For the title people see in search, use the SERP preview.
Bands for the ease score on this page: 90 and above is very easy, 80 is easy, 70 is fairly easy, 60 is standard, 50 is fairly difficult, 30 is difficult, and below 30 is very difficult.
Questions about this checker
What is a Flesch reading ease score?
A number from the 1948 Flesch formula. Higher means shorter words and shorter sentences. This page uses 206.835 minus 1.015 times words per sentence, minus 84.6 times syllables per word. A very short sample can score above 100.
How are syllables counted?
They are estimated. A word of three letters or fewer counts as one syllable. Longer words count groups of vowels, and a trailing silent e is dropped unless the word ends in le. The estimate can miss a syllable, so the score is an estimate too.
What does the grade level mean?
The Flesch–Kincaid grade is 0.39 times words per sentence, plus 11.8 times syllables per word, minus 15.59. A result near 8 is about a US grade 8 reading level on this formula. It is not a placement test, and a negative number means the sample is simpler than grade 1.
Does this tool upload what I paste?
No. The text stays in the browser. Blogoose does not receive it.