Free online Flesch-Kincaid test — paste text for instant analysis, or enter your own counts to calculate directly. Get Flesch Reading Ease + Grade Level in one place.
No text? Enter your totals below to calculate Flesch Reading Ease and FK Grade Level directly. You can use word counts from Word, Google Docs, or any text editor — or switch to averages using the second form.
| Flesch Reading Ease | FK Grade Level | Difficulty | US School Grade | Real-World Examples | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90 – 100 | ≤ 5 | Very Easy | 5th grade | Children's books, comics | Kids content, instructions |
| 80 – 89 | 6 | Easy | 6th grade | Tabloid news, casual conversation | Social media, simple emails |
| 70 – 79 | 7 | Fairly Easy | 7th grade | Popular fiction, sports reporting | Consumer landing pages |
| 60 – 69 | 8 – 9 | Standard | 8th–9th grade | Time magazine, most blog posts | General web content ✓ |
| 50 – 59 | 10 – 12 | Fairly Difficult | 10th–12th grade | Business reports, HR policies | Professional audiences |
| 30 – 49 | 13 – 16 | Difficult | College | Academic journals, technical docs | Specialist readers |
| 0 – 29 | 17+ | Very Difficult | Post-graduate | Legal contracts, scientific papers | Expert-only content |
Output: 0–100. Higher = easier. The syllable coefficient (84.6) dominates — each extra syllable per word swings the score by ~85 points. This is why word simplicity matters more than sentence length.
Output: US school grade (e.g. 8 = 8th grade). Lower = easier. A grade of 8 means a typical 14-year-old can understand the text. Most editorial guidelines target Grade 6–9 for general audiences.
Use Test My Text to paste and auto-analyse any content. Switch to Calculate Manually if you already know your word, sentence, or syllable counts from another tool.
You get the Flesch Reading Ease (0–100, higher is easier) and the FK Grade Level (US school grade, lower is easier) simultaneously. The table highlights your exact range.
Follow the improvement tips to shorten sentences and simplify words. Hit Copy Results to share the score summary with editors, clients, or your content team.
The Flesch-Kincaid readability test refers to two related formulas developed from Rudolf Flesch's 1948 research: the Flesch Reading Ease score (0–100, higher is easier) and the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (a US school grade, lower is easier). Both measure how easy text is to read using sentence length and syllables per word. They are built into Microsoft Word, Yoast SEO, Grammarly, and Hemingway Editor.
For general web content and blog posts, aim for a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60–70 (FK Grade Level 8–9). Marketing emails and landing pages perform best at 70–80 (Grade 6–7). Technical documentation typically sits between 40–60. Legal and academic writing routinely falls below 30. Match your target to your audience — don't over-simplify for professional readers.
Yes — switch to the Calculate Manually tab. Enter your total word count, sentence count, and syllable count (from any source — Word, Google Docs, an existing report). If you have the averages already, enter those directly using Method B. The tool computes both Flesch Reading Ease and FK Grade Level instantly.
Two changes have the biggest impact: (1) Shorten sentences — target 15–20 words on average by splitting at conjunctions. (2) Simplify words — replace multi-syllable terms with shorter alternatives ("use" instead of "utilise", "about" instead of "approximately"). Also use active voice, avoid nominalizations, and break long paragraphs. Each change directly moves both scores.
Google does not use Flesch-Kincaid scores as a direct ranking signal. However, readable content reduces bounce rate and increases dwell time — both of which correlate strongly with ranking improvements. Google's Helpful Content system rewards content written for people, and readable writing is a core part of that. Yoast SEO and Rank Math flag readability issues for this reason.
Both use sentence length and syllables per word as inputs but map them onto different scales. Flesch Reading Ease: 0–100, higher is easier. FK Grade Level: US school grade, lower is easier. A score of 65 Reading Ease corresponds to Grade 8–9. Use Reading Ease to compare content clarity at a glance; use Grade Level to target a specific audience age or education level.
