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Readability Checker

Paste English text to get its Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch–Kincaid grade, Gunning Fog, SMOG, Coleman–Liau and ARI scores, and see which sentences run longest.

Your text

Longest sentences

Your longest sentences will be listed here.

Readability

Scores appear here once you add text.

Sentences

0

Words

0

Syllables

0

Words per sentence

0

Sentences over 25 words

0

How this counts

The formulas only measure sentence length and word length or syllables. They cannot tell whether text is clear, accurate or well organised.

Sentences end at . ! or ? (allowing for common abbreviations such as Dr. and e.g.) and at line breaks, so a heading counts as a sentence. Syllables are estimated with spelling rules, which are close but not perfect, especially for names. A number counts as a one-syllable word. Your text stays in your browser.

The formulas

Flesch Reading Ease

206.835 − 1.015 × words per sentence − 84.6 × syllables per word. Most text lands between 0 and 100; higher means easier.

Flesch–Kincaid Grade

0.39 × words per sentence + 11.8 × syllables per word − 15.59. The result reads as a US school grade.

Gunning Fog

0.4 × (words per sentence + percentage of words with three or more syllables). Gunning's rules leave out proper nouns, compound words and words that only reach three syllables with -es or -ed; this checker does not, so its score can run slightly high.

SMOG

1.043 × √(polysyllables × 30 ÷ sentences) + 3.1291, McLaughlin's regression form. It was designed for a 30-sentence sample. McLaughlin also gives a quick hand version, 3 + the square root of the polysyllable count, which this checker does not use.

Coleman–Liau

0.0588 × letters per 100 words − 0.296 × sentences per 100 words − 15.8. It counts letters instead of syllables.

Automated Readability Index

4.71 × characters per word + 0.5 × words per sentence − 21.43, where characters are letters and digits.

Flesch Reading Ease bands

  • Very easy90–100
  • Easy80–90
  • Fairly easy70–80
  • Plain English60–70
  • Fairly difficult50–60
  • Difficult30–50
  • Very difficult0–30

Bands from Rudolf Flesch's interpretation table.

Gunning Fog: Gunning, R. (1952). The Technique of Clear Writing. McGraw-Hill.

Sources

Limits last checked against these sources on 2026-10-19.

Public information

Health leaflets, official letters and help pages are read by a wide range of people. A grade score is a quick first check before testing with real readers.

Editing your own drafts

The longest-sentence list shows where to split first. Shorter sentences usually move every score more than changing individual words does.

Comparing versions

Paste a before and an after to see whether an edit made the text easier by these measures. Compare texts of similar length on the same topic.

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Readability checker FAQ

What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?

It depends on who will read the text. In Flesch's own table, 60–70 is plain English, higher is easier, and below 30 is very difficult. Academic and legal writing often scores low on this scale.

Why do the grade-level formulas disagree?

Each was fitted on different readers and texts and weighs different features. Flesch–Kincaid, Gunning Fog and SMOG use syllables; Coleman–Liau and ARI use letters or characters. A spread of two or three grades between them is normal, so look at the overall range rather than one number.

How much text do I need?

The more the better. Below about 100 words a single sentence can shift the scores a lot. SMOG was designed for a sample of 30 sentences, so on shorter text read it as a rough guide.

Does a better score mean better writing?

Not on its own. The formulas count sentence length and word length. A text of short, simple words can still be confusing, and a technical term your readers know well can be clearer than a vague short word. Use the scores to find long sentences, then read the text yourself.

Can I check text in other languages?

No. These formulas and their coefficients were built for English. If most of the text is in another script, the checker shows a notice instead of scores. Text in other Latin-alphabet languages will get scores, but they will not mean much.

Why might my score differ from another tool's?

Tools split sentences and count syllables in different ways, and some apply Gunning's exclusions or use a simplified SMOG. Small differences in counting change the scores, so compare texts with the same tool.