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Readability Checker

Paste any content and get an instant Flesch score, Gunning Fog index, passive voice %, sentence histogram, and specific suggestions to make your writing clearer.

Your Content0 chars (min 50)
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Paste your content on the left and readability scores will appear here instantly — no button needed.

Flesch Score
Ease of reading (0–100)
Gunning Fog
Grade level needed to understand
Passive Voice
% of sentences using passive voice
Sentence Histogram
Distribution of sentence lengths

Flesch Score Reference

90–100
Very Easy
Age 11 / 5th grade
80–90
Easy
Age 12 / 6th grade
70–80
Fairly Easy
Age 13 / 7th grade
60–70
Standard
8th–9th grade
50–60
Fairly Difficult
10th–12th grade
30–50
Difficult
College level
0–30
Very Difficult
Professional / Academic

Readability Checker — Flesch Score, Grade Level, and Reading Time

Content that is hard to read gets abandoned. Studies consistently show that readers leave pages with a Flesch Reading Ease score below 40 at significantly higher rates. The Flesch score — developed by linguist Rudolf Flesch in 1948 and still the industry standard — measures readability on a 0–100 scale based on average sentence length and average syllables per word. A score of 60–70 targets a standard US 8th–9th grade reading level, which is appropriate for most general-audience websites. Technical documentation, academic papers, and legal writing deliberately target lower scores; blog posts and marketing copy typically perform better above 50.

This tool also computes Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, estimated reading time, speaking time, average sentence length, and complex word percentage. Use it before publishing to verify your content matches your target audience. Readability affects E-E-A-T signals indirectly — Google's quality rater guidelines assess whether content is appropriate for its intended audience. High bounce rates caused by confusing content are a negative engagement signal. Pair this tool with the clarity checker to catch passive voice and filler phrases that reduce both readability and grammar quality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?

60–70 is considered standard for most general web content. 70–80 is easily understood by most readers aged 11+. Scores below 30 are typical of academic journals and professional legal text.

Does readability affect Google rankings?

Indirectly. Google's quality rater guidelines assess whether content is appropriate for its intended audience. Content that is consistently too hard or too easy for its target readership is a negative quality signal.

What is Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level?

It estimates the US school grade a reader needs to understand the text. A grade level of 8 means an 8th grader can follow the content, calculated from average sentence length and average syllables per word.

Is this tool free?

Completely free. Readability is computed in your browser — no text is sent to a server.

Related tools

Clarity Checker →Grammar Checker →AI Detector →E-E-A-T Checker →