Free Readability Analysis Tool

Analyze your text to get a readability score, see which sentences are hardest to read, and get an AI-improved clearer version. Free to start, up to 1,800 words, no account required.

Last updated: August 2026
100K+
Students & Professionals
1,800
Words Per Analysis
4.8
Avg. Rating
Text to Analyze *
0 / 1800 words
* Required field · Up to 1,800 words

Paste your text above and click Analyze to see your full readability dashboard.

Measuring readability...

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Original Text
Reading Ease
Improved Text
Reading Ease
Before
After
0 · Very hard50Very easy · 100
Grade Level
Avg. Sentence
Complex Words
Reading Time
Sentence Difficulty
Easy Moderate Hard
Recommendations
Improved Version
3 of 3 analyses remaining
Key features

Readability metrics at a glance

Get a detailed readability analysis using six established metrics, plus reading time and an AI-improved version for comparison.

Flesch Reading Ease
See how easy your text is to read on a 0–100 scale.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level
Identify the U.S. school grade level required to understand your text.
Gunning Fog Index
Measure the years of education generally needed to understand your writing.
SMOG Index
Estimate the reading grade level based on the complexity of your words.
Average Sentence Length
See your average words per sentence to identify overly long or difficult sentences.
Complex Word Percentage
See how much of your text consists of words with three or more syllables.
Reading Time
Estimate how long your complete text takes to read at a standard reading pace.
Improved Version
Compare your original text with an AI-improved version and see how the readability scores change side by side.
How It Works

Three steps to check your writing’s readability

Get a complete readability report in seconds.

01
Paste your content
Paste your text, upload a file (.pdf, .txt, .doc, or .docx), or load the built-in sample. The free tier accepts up to 1,800 words per analysis.
02
Get your scores
Instantly see your Flesch Reading Ease score, grade level, average sentence length, and complex word percentage in a clear dashboard.
03
Review and improve
Read the tailored recommendations, compare your before-and-after scores, then copy the clearer improved version into your writing.
Who it's for

Who can benefit from a readability checker

The right readability target depends on what you are writing and who will read it.

Academic essays and research papers

Academic writing targets a Flesch Reading Ease score of 30 to 50 and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 12 to 16. The Sentence Difficulty panel shows which paragraphs read harder than the argument requires, so you can tighten structure without oversimplifying.

Blog posts and marketing content

General audiences read best at a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 to 70. The Improved Version shows a rewritten draft at a lower grade level, giving you a direct before-and-after to work from.

Non-native English writing

A high Complex Word Percentage signals that word choice is adding difficulty beyond sentence structure alone. The Improved Version suggests simpler alternatives for flagged words so you can see clearer phrasing in context.

AI-generated text

Text created with an AI essay writer can contain long sentences and formal vocabulary that affect readability. The Sentence Difficulty panel flags the hardest passages so you know where to focus edits before submitting or publishing.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about readability analysis.

A readability analysis tool scores your text on how easy it is to read, using formulas like Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. It measures sentence length, word complexity, and syllable count, then flags the passages that score hardest and suggests improvements to bring the reading level down.

The tool calculates five metrics: Flesch Reading Ease (0 to 100, where higher means easier), Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (the U.S. school grade needed to read your text comfortably), Average Sentence Length (words per sentence), Complex Word Percentage (words with 3 or more syllables), and Reading Time. It also shows Gunning Fog Index, a second grade-level formula that weights polysyllabic words more heavily.

Both. It scores your original text, then generates a clearer rewrite and scores that too, so you see a before-and-after Reading Ease comparison. You can edit the improved version directly in the panel, copy it, or load it back into the editor to run a second analysis and see the updated score.

You can analyze up to 1,800 words per run. For longer documents, split the text into sections and analyze each part separately. This gives more precise feedback because you can identify which sections score hardest, rather than getting an average across the whole document.

The fastest improvements come from breaking long sentences at the nearest conjunction, replacing multi-syllable words with plainer alternatives, and splitting dense paragraphs. The tool's recommendations identify exactly which of these changes apply to your text, and the Improved Version shows them applied. Load it back into the editor to confirm the score has moved.

Yes, you get 3 free analyses with no account required. Creating a free PerfectEssayWriter.ai account gives you continued access to this tool alongside 30+ other writing tools. Paid plans add document export via Download and higher analysis limits.

AI systems like Google's AI Overviews prefer short, factual, clearly written sentences when selecting passages to cite. Sentences with a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 to 70 tend to match the patterns these systems favor most. Running your content through a readability analysis identifies and flags the passages least likely to be cited, so you can rewrite them before publishing.

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