Content & Writing Tools

Readability Checker

Check your text's readability with six industry-standard formulas - Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG, Coleman-Liau, and ARI. See the grade level, audience recommendation, and reading time instantly.

FLESCH READING EASE
FLESCH-KINCAID GRADE
GUNNING FOG INDEX
COLEMAN-LIAU INDEX
SMOG INDEX
AUTOMATED READABILITY INDEX
Grade —
Grade 1Grade 5Grade 10Grade 15Grade 20+
👤 This text is best suited for:
0
Words
0
Sentences
0
Syllables
0
Characters
0
Avg Words/Sent
0
Avg Syll/Word
0
Complex Words
0%
Complex Word %
2M+
Texts Analyzed
50+
Tools Available
6
Readability Formulas
0
Data Stored
— How It Works —

Analyze Readability in 3 Steps

Paste your text, click Analyze, and get a full readability breakdown with six formulas, a grade-level gauge, and audience recommendation.

1
Paste Your Text
Paste an article, blog post, email, or essay. Minimum 30 words and 1 sentence. For best results, use 100+ words.
2
Click Analyze
Six readability formulas run instantly - Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade, Gunning Fog, Coleman-Liau, SMOG, and ARI.
3
Read the Dashboard
See color-coded scores, a visual grade-level gauge, audience recommendation, estimated reading time, and detailed text statistics.

Readability Checker - 6 Formulas, Visual Dashboard, Audience Insights

Readability determines whether your audience actually understands what you write. Search engines favor clear, accessible content. Readers stay longer on pages they can read easily. This Readability Checker analyzes your text with six industry-standard formulas and presents the results in a visual dashboard you can understand in seconds.

Unlike basic checkers that give you a single score, this tool shows all six formulas side-by-side, a visual grade-level gauge, an audience recommendation card with estimated reading time, and a full text statistics breakdown - all processed instantly in your browser.

Six Readability Formulas Explained

📊
Flesch Reading Ease
Scores from 0 (hardest) to 100 (easiest). Based on sentence length and syllables per word. A score of 60-70 is considered ideal for general audiences. Developed by Rudolf Flesch in 1948.
🎓
Flesch-Kincaid Grade
Converts readability into a U.S. school grade level. A score of 8.0 means an 8th grader can understand it. Used by the U.S. military to assess technical manuals.
🌫️
Gunning Fog Index
Measures the years of education needed to understand text on first reading. Focuses on complex words (3+ syllables) and sentence length. Created by Robert Gunning in 1952.
📐
Coleman-Liau Index
Unique because it uses character count instead of syllables, making it simpler to compute. Based on average letters per 100 words and average sentences per 100 words.
💬
SMOG Index
Stands for "Simple Measure of Gobbledygook." Focuses on polysyllabic words and is widely used in healthcare to assess patient-facing materials. Developed by G. Harry McLaughlin in 1969.
🤖
Automated Readability Index
Uses character count and word count rather than syllables. Designed to be easily computed by machine. Returns a U.S. grade level needed to understand the text.

This Tool vs. Basic Readability Checkers

FeatureBasic CheckersThis Tool
Number of formulas1-26 (all major formulas)
Visual grade gaugeNo✓ Animated gradient bar
Audience recommendationRare✓ With emoji + description
Reading time estimateSometimes✓ Minutes + seconds
Score color codingBasic✓ Green/amber/red + labels
Text statisticsLimited✓ 8 metrics including complex word %
Short text warningNo✓ Accuracy warning for <100 words
PrivacyVaries✓ 100% browser-based

Features of This Tool

Six readability formulas: Flesch, FK Grade, Gunning Fog, Coleman-Liau, SMOG, ARI
Visual grade-level gauge with animated marker on a green-to-red gradient
Audience recommendation with grade range, description, and reading time
Color-coded scores: green (easy), amber (moderate), red (difficult)
8 text statistics: words, sentences, syllables, characters, averages, complex word %
English syllable counter with 60+ exception dictionary for accuracy
Short text warning for inputs under 100 words
100% private - all processing in your browser, no data sent to any server

Who Uses Readability Checkers?

✍️
Content Writers & Bloggers
Ensure blog posts and articles are accessible to your target audience. Aim for grade 7-8 for general web content to maximize engagement.
🔍
SEO Professionals
Search engines favor clear, readable content. Google has indicated that readability is a factor in content quality assessment and user experience.
🎓
Educators & Students
Match reading materials to student grade levels. Verify that assignments, textbooks, and study guides are appropriate for the intended age group.
🏥
Healthcare & Legal
Patient-facing materials should target grade 6-8. Legal documents and consent forms can be tested to ensure they meet accessibility standards.
— FAQ —

FAQs – Readability Checker

Six formulas: Flesch Reading Ease (0-100 score), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Index, Coleman-Liau Index, SMOG Index, and Automated Readability Index (ARI). Each uses a different approach to measure text difficulty.

For general web content, aim for 60-70 (Standard). Scores above 70 are fairly easy to read. Blog posts and marketing copy typically target 60-80. Academic writing may score 30-50.

For general audiences and web content, target grade 7-8. Most popular newspapers write at this level. Healthcare materials should target grade 6-8. Academic papers naturally score higher at grade 12-16.

It averages the five grade-based formulas (FK, Fog, Coleman-Liau, SMOG, ARI) and plots the result on a gradient bar from green (easy) through amber to red (difficult). The purple marker shows where your text falls.

The tool uses a vowel-group algorithm enhanced with rules for silent-e, the -le suffix, the -ed suffix, and a dictionary of 60+ common English exceptions. This provides accuracy comparable to commercial readability tools.

Words with three or more syllables. The Gunning Fog Index and SMOG Index specifically use complex word counts. The tool shows both the count and percentage of complex words in your text.

Based on the average adult reading speed of 238 words per minute. The tool divides your word count by 238 to estimate the time needed to read the entire text.

Readability formulas need a meaningful sample to be accurate. With fewer than 30 words, the statistical measures become unreliable. For best results, use 100+ words. A warning appears for shorter texts.

Completely. All six formulas run in your browser using JavaScript. Your text is never sent to any server, stored, or tracked.

Yes. While readability is not a direct Google ranking factor, it impacts user engagement metrics. Readers stay longer on pages they can understand, reducing bounce rates and improving time-on-page - signals that search engines do consider.

Check Your Readability Score

Six formulas, a visual grade-level gauge, audience insights, and reading time - all from a single click. Free, private, browser-based.

📊 Analyze Readability Now