Readers value clarity. Whether you write help docs, UX copy, research abstracts, or blog posts, readability scores help you match your audience. The SnipText Readability Score Checker runs locally and reports Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch Kincaid Grade, Gunning Fog, SMOG, ARI, and Coleman Liau with sentence level insights and export options.
What the checker measures
- Flesch Reading Ease: A higher number means easier reading. Good for a quick difficulty label.
- Flesch Kincaid Grade: Estimated US school grade. Many public sites aim for grade 8.
- Gunning Fog: Emphasizes complex words. Useful for technical and legal copy checks.
- SMOG: Based on polysyllabic words. Conservative for short documents.
- ARI and Coleman Liau: Character and sentence length based. Helpful when word tokenization is noisy.
Why readability matters
Editors, product teams, and academics rely on consistent reading difficulty. Scores help you hit brand guidelines, meet accessibility targets, and reduce support load. A lower grade level usually improves completion rates and trust unless you write for specialists.
Score breakdown with quick interpretations
- Reading Ease: 90 to 100 very easy, 60 to 70 standard, under 50 hard. Use as a friendly label for stakeholders.
- FK Grade: Grade 6 to 8 is public friendly, 9 to 12 is high school, 13 plus reads like college material.
- Fog vs SMOG: If both mark a sentence as tough, focus edits there first.
- Cross checking: Take an average of grade style scores for a stable target, then validate with Reading Ease.
How to lower a grade level in minutes
- Split long sentences. Aim for 14 to 18 words on average.
- Swap rare words for common ones when meaning is the same.
- Prefer active voice when it fits the goal.
- Remove stacked modifiers and filler like very, actually, and really.
- Use concrete examples and define terms once, then link to a glossary.
- Target grade slider: In the checker, set a goal like 8. Edit until the meter shows a close match.
- Sentence highlights: Sort by difficulty to fix hard lines first. Toggle passive mode to catch weak constructions.
- Export CSV: Share sentence metrics in QA checklists or with translators.
- Private workflow: Everything runs in your browser so drafts never leave your device.
Editing workflow with SnipText
For fast improvements, pair the checker with these tools and guides:
- Grammar Checker - catch grammar and punctuation issues after you simplify structure.
- Paraphrasing Tool - try shorter rewrites for stubborn sentences.
- Word and Character Counter - confirm limits for abstracts, captions, and meta descriptions.
- Whitespace and Formatting Cleaner - normalize spacing before analysis.
- Guides: Grammar Check Guide and Paraphrasing Best Practices.
Try it now
Open the Readability Score Checker, paste a paragraph, set a target grade, and fix the top three hard sentences. Then run a quick pass in the Grammar Checker and confirm length with the Word and Character Counter.
FAQ
- Do readability scores guarantee comprehension
- No. Scores are helpful signals. Clear structure, visuals, and examples still matter.
- Is there a single best score
- Each formula weighs text differently. Use two or three and focus on the average and outliers.
- Can I use this for academic writing
- Yes. Many journals still prefer concise, active writing. Use the checker to reduce unnecessary complexity while keeping required terms.
- Does the checker support exports
- Yes. Copy a JSON summary or export a CSV with sentence level metrics for audits and handoffs.