The grade levelyour copy actually reads at.
Clear writing isn't dumbing down. It's respect for a busy reader. This checker runs your text through the four formulas every editor trusts (Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch, Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG), tells you the US grade level in plain English, and points at the exact long words dragging it down.
Your text
The read
Reading ease
Fairly readable — most adults breeze through.
Reads like
9th grade (high school)
Avg grade
8.9
All four formulas
- Flesch–Kincaid grade6.7
- Gunning Fog index9.9
- SMOG grade10
- Avg words / sentence9
- Avg syllables / word1.59
Hardest words — simplify these first
Your move
Readable is step one. Persuasive is the whole game.
Your copy reads like 9th grade (high school) — Reading Ease 63.4.
Clear copy that doesn't sell is just tidy. I write copy that reads at a 7th grade level and still moves people to act, the hard kind of simple. Send me a page you want sharper and I'll show you, free, what I'd cut and what I'd say instead.
Plain English
If they have to read it twice, you've already lost them.
Readability is how much effort it takes to understand your writing. It's driven by two things the formulas measure: how long your sentences are, and how many syllables your words carry. Short sentences and plain words read fast; long sentences and Latinate vocabulary read slow, and slow, on the web, means gone.
The benchmark almost everyone underestimates: most successful mass market copy reads at a 6th to 8th grade level. That's not because readers can't handle more. It's because they won't. They're skimming on a phone between two other tabs. The Flesch Reading Ease score (0 to 100, higher is easier) and the grade level formulas put a number on whether your copy meets them there.
This tool reports all four standard scores, averages the grade level ones into a single 'reads like Nth grade' verdict, and lists your hardest words so you know precisely what to swap. Aim for a Reading Ease of 60+ and a grade level around 6 to 8 for marketing copy. Keep the meaning; cut the friction.
The formula
Reading Ease = 206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words)
A passage averaging 14 words per sentence and 1.5 syllables per word scores about 71, 'fairly easy,' roughly 7th grade. Push sentences to 22 words and 1.8 syllables and the same idea drops near 45, 'difficult,' college level. The fix is almost always shorter sentences and plainer words.
Reading Ease, decoded
The Flesch Reading Ease bands and what they mean for marketing copy. For anything meant to persuade or sell, aim high:
| Reading Ease | Difficulty | Reads like |
|---|---|---|
| 90 to 100 | Very easy | 5th grade |
| 70 to 89 | Easy / conversational | 6th to 7th grade |
| 60 to 69 | Plain English (aim here) | 8th to 9th grade |
| 50 to 59 | Fairly difficult | 10th to 12th grade |
| 30 to 49 | Difficult | College |
| 0 to 29 | Very difficult | Graduate |
Source: Flesch Kincaid / Gunning Fog readability research · Standard
Your text reads too hard. Here's why.
Long average sentence length.
Sentences over ~20 words are the number one readability killer. Cut them in half. One idea per sentence. Use periods where you reached for a comma.
Lots of 3+ syllable words.
Latinate vocabulary ('utilize,' 'facilitate,' 'implementation') inflates every score. Swap for the plain Anglo Saxon version ('use,' 'help,' 'rollout').
Dense, unbroken paragraphs.
Even simple words read hard in a wall of text. Break into short paragraphs, add subheads and lists, and give the eye somewhere to rest.
Passive, hedged phrasing.
'It could be argued that…' adds words and saps force. Write in the active voice and say the thing directly.
Jargon and acronyms.
Insider terms make readers feel outside. Define on first use, or replace with the everyday phrase your customer would actually say.
How to drop the grade level
01Halve your longest sentences
Find the three longest sentences and split each into two. This single move improves every readability score at once.
02Swap big words for small ones
Use the hardest words list below. 'Approximately' → 'about.' 'Subsequently' → 'then.' You lose nothing but friction.
03Write at a 7th grade level on purpose
Hemingway wrote at 4th, 5th grade. Plain isn't simple minded. It's the hardest, most respected kind of clear.
04Read it aloud
If you run out of breath mid sentence, it's too long. The ear catches what the eye forgives.
05Cut every word that isn't working
'Very,' 'really,' 'just,' 'in order to.' Shorter sentences with fewer filler words read faster and hit harder.
06Front load the point
Put the conclusion first, then support it. Skimmers get the message even if they bail halfway.
The vocabulary
- Flesch Reading Ease
- A 0 to 100 score where higher means easier. 60 to 70 is plain English; below 30 is dense and academic.
- Flesch, Kincaid Grade
- Translates the same inputs into a US school grade level, the number editors quote most.
- Gunning Fog Index
- Estimates the years of education needed to read text on the first pass, weighting complex words heavily.
- SMOG Grade
- A grade level formula built around the count of 3+ syllable words; favored for health and safety copy.
- Complex word
- A word of three or more syllables, the main driver of higher (harder) grade level scores.
Readability questions, straight answers
For marketing and web copy, aim for a Flesch Reading Ease of 60 or higher and a grade level of about 6 to 8. Technical or academic writing naturally runs harder, but if you're trying to persuade or sell, easier almost always converts better. The goal is effortless comprehension, not a literary award.
Keep going
A calculator tells you what. A call tells you what to do about it.
Send me the account behind these numbers. I'll tell you straight where the money's leaking and what I'd fix first — free, and you keep it whether you hire me or not.