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Free Readability Checker Online

Score your writing with Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade, Gunning Fog, and Coleman-Liau - plus sentence-length breakdown, passive-voice detection, and tips.

  • 100% free
  • No signup
  • Runs in your browser
Guide

What is a readability score?

A readability score estimates how hard your writing is to understand, based on measurable features like sentence length and word complexity. This tool runs four established formulas (Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade, Gunning Fog, and Coleman-Liau) and adds sentence-length analysis and passive-voice detection, so you get both a score and concrete reasons behind it.

Reading the Flesch scores

Flesch Reading Ease runs from 0 to 100, where higher is easier: 60 to 70 is plain, comfortable English for a general audience, while below 30 is dense and academic. Flesch-Kincaid Grade and Gunning Fog instead express difficulty as a US school grade level, so a score of 8 means an average eighth-grader could follow it.

What level should you aim for?

For most web content, marketing, and general audiences, aim for roughly a grade 7 to 9 reading level (Flesch Reading Ease around 60 to 70). This is not about dumbing down; even expert readers prefer clear, efficient writing. Specialist or technical audiences tolerate higher complexity, but clarity always helps comprehension and keeps readers on the page.

How to improve your score

  • Shorten long sentences; split any that run past about 25 words.
  • Prefer short, common words over long or jargon ones where you can.
  • Replace passive voice with active voice ("we tested it", not "it was tested").
  • Break dense paragraphs into smaller chunks and use lists where appropriate.

Last updated: July 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a readability score?
A readability score measures how easy text is to read and understand. It is calculated using factors like sentence length, word length, and syllable count. Higher Flesch scores mean easier reading.
What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?
For general web content, aim for 60–70 (standard, readable by most adults). Blog posts and marketing copy should target 70–80. Technical documentation can be lower.
What reading level should I write for?
Most web content should target a 7th–8th grade reading level (Flesch-Kincaid Grade 7–8). This ensures broad accessibility without feeling simplistic. News articles typically target 6th–8th grade.
What is the Gunning Fog Index?
The Gunning Fog Index estimates the years of education needed to understand text. A score of 8 means an 8th-grade education suffices. Scores above 17 indicate extremely complex text.
How can I improve my readability score?
Use shorter sentences (under 20 words), prefer common words over complex ones, avoid passive voice, break up long paragraphs, and use subheadings to organize content.