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Free Readability Checker
Paste your text or a URL and see the reading grade, the Flesch score and the sentences that hurt it, highlighted as you type: too long, passive, adverb-heavy, hard words. The checks Yoast runs, the "answer first" test AI answers reward, and an honest note for Hindi text. No word limit, no sign-up.
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How to use it
Check a text in three steps
Paste the text, or give the URL
A draft from your editor, or a live page: we fetch it and keep only the article, with its headings. Pick who the page is for; that sets the target grade.
Read the grade and fix the sentences
Red is very long, yellow long, blue passive, purple an adverb, green a hard word with a short swap. The list on the right names each sentence to fix and why; click one to jump to it. Edit in the box and watch the score move.
Check the sections answer first
For each heading, the first two sentences should answer it in 40 to 60 words. That is what snippets and AI answers quote. Copy the clean text back when you are done.
Built forWriters finishing a briefPages written for AI citationShopify, Wix and static sites without YoastIndian sites writing in simple EnglishEditors
Quick answer
What is a readability checker?
A readability checker estimates how easy a text is to read from its sentence length and word length, and gives a grade or a score: Flesch Reading Ease from 0 to 100 (60 to 70 is plain English, right for most web pages) and a US school grade (7 to 9 for a general audience). This one also highlights the sentences that pull the score down, long, passive or full of hard words, runs the checks Yoast and Hemingway are known for, and tests whether each section answers its heading in the first two sentences. Readability is not a Google ranking factor; it decides whether people read on and whether a passage is clear enough to be quoted.
The formulas
Six scores, what they weigh, and the target
| Formula | Weighs | Target for web copy |
|---|---|---|
| Flesch Reading Ease | Words per sentence, syllables per word; 0 to 100, higher is easier | 60 to 70 |
| Flesch-Kincaid grade | The same inputs as a US school grade | 7 to 9 |
| Gunning Fog | Sentence length and words of three or more syllables | Under 12 |
| SMOG | Polysyllables per 30 sentences | Under 10 |
| Coleman-Liau | Letters and sentences per 100 words (no syllables) | Under 10 |
| ARI | Characters per word, words per sentence | Under 10 |
They disagree with each other by a grade or two; that is normal. Fix the flagged sentences and every score moves together. A grade under 4 on business copy is a warning too: short, choppy sentences read as careless. Dale-Chall is left out on purpose: it needs its 3,000-word list, and the six above agree with it closely enough.
What a good score is
Targets by audience
| Audience | Grade | Flesch | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| General public (US and UK data) | 7 to 9 | 60 to 70 | The average adult reads at about 8th grade |
| Indian readers with English as a second language | 5 to 7 | 70 to 80 | Short sentences and common words carry across languages |
| Experts, developers, lawyers | Up to 12 | 40 to 60 | Jargon is the vocabulary; sentences still short |
| A passage you want quoted (snippet, AI answer) | Under 9 | Over 60 | Two sentences, 40 to 60 words, subject first |
The checks
What each highlight means
| Check | Threshold | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Long sentence | Over 20 words; very long over 30 | Split it at the "which", "and" or comma. Yoast allows 25% of sentences over 20 words. |
| Passive voice | A form of "be" plus a past participle; Yoast allows 10% | Say who acts: "the dentist places the implant". |
| Adverb | An -ly word or an intensifier (very, really, extremely) | Cut it, or pick a stronger verb. |
| Hard word | Three or more syllables, with a shorter swap in our list | Use the swap: "utilise" to "use", "sufficient" to "enough". |
| Same start | Three sentences in a row starting with the same word | Vary the opening. |
| Long paragraph | Over 150 words | Break it; one idea per paragraph. |
| Transition words | Yoast wants 30% of sentences to carry one | "So", "because", "for example", "however" tie sentences together. |
| Subheading distribution | Over 300 words without a heading | Add a heading that names the question the next part answers. |
| Answer first | The first two sentences under a heading: 40 to 60 words, subject first | Start with the answer, not "It is important to note that". |
Hindi and Hinglish
What the checker does with Hindi text
Flesch, Fog and the rest count English syllables and English easy words. Run on Devanagari they print a number that means nothing, and most tools do exactly that. This checker says so, and measures what still holds: sentence length (danda-aware), paragraph length, very long words, and reading time at Hindi reading speed. Hinglish gets the same treatment with a note.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is a readability score?
An estimate of the years of schooling a reader needs to understand a text on the first pass, computed from sentence length and word length. Flesch Reading Ease runs 0 to 100; the grade formulas give a school year.
What is a good readability score?
For most web pages, Flesch 60 to 70 and grade 7 to 9. Lower for a wide Indian audience reading English as a second language; higher is fine for experts. Pick the audience above the box and the tool sets the target.
How is Flesch Reading Ease calculated?
206.835 minus 1.015 times the average words per sentence minus 84.6 times the average syllables per word. Shorter sentences and shorter words raise it.
What is the difference between Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade?
Same inputs, different scale: Reading Ease scores 0 to 100 (higher is easier); the grade formula gives a US school year (lower is easier).
Does readability affect SEO?
It is not a ranking factor. It decides whether people read on, stay and share, and whether a passage is clear enough for a featured snippet or an AI answer to quote. That is where the traffic effect comes from.
What is passive voice and why avoid it?
"The implant is placed by the dentist" instead of "The dentist places the implant". Passive sentences are longer and hide who acts. Some are fine; Yoast flags a text when more than 10% are passive.
How long should a sentence be?
Average under 20 words. The tool flags sentences over 20 and marks over 30 as very long. Yoast allows 25% of sentences over 20 words.
How long should a paragraph be?
Under 150 words, and shorter on mobile where a paragraph is a wall. One idea per paragraph.
What reading level is the average adult?
About 8th grade in the US. For Indian readers writing in English as a second language, aim a grade or two lower.
Does the tool work for Hindi or Hinglish?
The English formulas do not apply, and the tool says so instead of printing a grade. It measures sentence and paragraph length, very long words and reading time, which do apply.
Is Hemingway Editor free?
The web editor is free; the AI rewrites and the desktop app are paid. This tool gives the same highlights plus the formulas, the Yoast checks and the answer-first test, free.
Can I check a web page by URL?
Yes. The page is fetched once and stripped to its main text with its headings; menus, footers and sidebars are left out so they do not skew the score.
Keep going
More free SEO tools and guides
- Word Counter & Keyword Density Checker: counts and keyword use for the same text.
- Heading Structure Checker: the H2 and H3 outline the answer-first test reads.
- Question Finder: the questions those headings should name.
- Writing for citation (GEO guide, chapter 4) and Content briefs (Intermediate, chapter 4).
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Plain sentences, the answer first
The grade, the Flesch score, the sentences to fix, and whether each section answers its heading. Free, no word limit.