What the Scores Mean
| Flesch Reading Ease | Difficulty | Typical audience |
|---|
| 90–100 | Very easy | 5th grade — children's books |
| 70–89 | Easy | 6th–7th grade — consumer content |
| 60–69 | Standard | 8th–9th grade — ideal for web writing |
| 50–59 | Fairly difficult | High school — trade publications |
| 30–49 | Difficult | College — academic writing |
| 0–29 | Very difficult | Graduate — legal, scientific papers |
Flesch-Kincaid Grade, Gunning Fog and SMOG all estimate the school grade needed to understand the text on first reading — they weight sentence length and complex words differently, so quoting two or three of them gives a fairer picture than any single number.
How to Write More Readably
- Split long sentences. Anything over 25 words usually hides two thoughts — this tool lists them for you.
- Prefer short words. utilize → use · approximately → about · demonstrate → show.
- Active voice. "We tested the tool" beats "The tool was tested by us."
- One idea per paragraph, front-loaded — readers scan, especially on phones.
Check length targets with the Word Counter, and compare drafts with the Text Diff Checker.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?
60–70 for general audiences; 70–90 reads very easily; below 50 is hard, below 30 academic. Most successful blogs score 60–80.
What grade level should my writing target?
Grade 7–9 for most web content and marketing — even expert readers prefer it because it's faster to process. News targets grade 8.
How are syllables counted?
Vowel-group counting with silent-e and suffix adjustments — the standard heuristic, ~95% accurate; small differences barely move the scores.
How do I improve a bad score?
Split 25+-word sentences, replace 3+-syllable words with shorter ones, use active voice, cut filler. The issues list above shows exactly where.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No — everything runs locally in your browser. Safe for confidential drafts.