Score your text on the Flesch Reading Ease scale (0–100). Higher means easier. Get a plain‑English category, ideal range, and per‑sentence breakdown.
Use Flesch Reading Ease when you need a single intuitive number to compare two pieces of writing — for example, your marketing copy vs. a competitor’s. It is the most widely understood readability score and is supported natively by Microsoft Word, so editors and stakeholders recognise it immediately.
Compared to Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level, Reading Ease is the inverse of the same input — easier to communicate to a general audience ("score of 70+") but less actionable than a grade level. Compared to Gunning Fog, Flesch is more forgiving of long sentences and harsher on multi-syllable words. For health-related text, prefer SMOG.
Flesch Reading Ease was developed by Rudolf Flesch in 1948 to measure how easy a piece of English text is to read.
The formula rewards short sentences and short words. Higher scores (90+) mean text a fifth-grader can read; very low scores (under 30) indicate academic prose.
It does not measure correctness, persuasiveness, or quality — only mechanical readability.
For general audiences aim for 60–70. Web copy and marketing often target 70+ for maximum reach. Academic writing typically scores 30–50.
The formula is 206.835 − 1.015 × (words/sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables/words). Lower numbers mean harder text.
No. The constants were calibrated on English. Use LIX or Coleman-Liau for European languages and treat results as approximate.
Only indirectly: longer words tend to have more syllables. For vocabulary-aware scoring use Dale-Chall.
Input
The cat sat on the mat. The sun was warm and the sky was blue.
Output
Flesch Reading Ease: 98.7 — Very easy (5th grade).
Twelve words, two sentences, all short and one syllable: average 6 words/sentence and ~1.05 syllables/word. The high score reflects very easy reading suitable for children.
U.S. grade level for your text.
readabilityPenalises complex (3+ syllable) words.
readabilityHealth & medical text grade level.
readabilityNo syllables needed — just characters.