Readability Checker (Flesch Score)
Check the Flesch reading ease score and grade level of your text, with word, sentence and syllable statistics and the longest sentence.
Check the Flesch reading ease score and grade level of your text, with word, sentence and syllable statistics and the longest sentence.
Readable copy gets read. The Flesch reading ease score rates text from 0 (very hard) to 100 (very easy) using sentence length and syllables per word. The grade level estimates the US school grade needed to follow it.
Paste your text to see both scores and the statistics behind them, including the longest sentence, which is a good place to start editing.
The Flesch reading ease score is 206.835 minus 1.015 times words per sentence, minus 84.6 times syllables per word. The grade level is 0.39 times words per sentence plus 11.8 times syllables per word, minus 15.59. A text averaging 15 words per sentence and 1.5 syllables per word scores about 64.7, which is plain English, and about grade 8. Cutting the average sentence from 25 to 15 words raises the ease score by roughly 10 points, which shows why sentence length matters so much.
Both formulas see only length. They cannot judge clarity, structure, jargon you define, or whether the content suits the audience. Syllables here are counted by a rule of thumb, so words like area or poem may be miscounted, and results are approximate. Sentences are split on periods, question marks and exclamation marks, so abbreviations and decimals can create extra sentences, and lists without punctuation can create very long ones. Use the score to find hard spots, then rely on human review, particularly for technical, legal or medical writing.
For general web audiences, a reading ease of about 60 or higher, which is plain English.
No. The formula and syllable counting are designed for English.
Very short simple text can exceed 100, and long dense sentences can fall below 0. The formula has no hard limits.
No. It is analysed in your browser.
Bullet items often lack full stops, so they get merged into one long sentence. Add punctuation or check the body text separately to get a more meaningful result.
No. Grade level refers to US school grades and is only an estimate from the formula. Real comprehension depends on topic familiarity, layout and the reader's language background.