7 Best Readability Test Tools Online: Free & Tested!

It’s essential to make content that your audience will like. Using readability test tools is one of the best ways to make sure that your content is easy to understand. These tools look at the length of your sentences, the difficulty of your words, and the number of syllables to see how hard your writing is. They help you make sure that a wide range of people can read your content and understand your message.

In this guide, I’ll show you some of the best online tools for testing how easy it is to read. I’ll give you a complete picture of each one, including its features, prices, and my opinion on which one is best for you. If you’re a content marketer, a student, or just someone who wants to improve their writing, you’ll learn which tool can help make your content more transparent and more interesting.

What Are Readability Tools?

Readability tools are made to check how easy it is to read your writing. They figure out your readability score by looking at things like the length of your sentences, the number of syllables, and how hard the words are. These tools give you feedback that helps you make your writing easier to understand or better for the best possible Experience for your audience.

Why Should You Use Readability Tools?

Improve Engagement: Clear writing keeps your readers interested, reduces bounce rates, and improves overall user experience.
Boost SEO: Google and other search engines prioritize readable content. The easier your content is to read, the better it ranks.
Save Time: Rather than spending too much time guessing if your content is explicit enough, readability tools provide immediate feedback with actionable suggestions.

Let’s now explore the best readability test tools available online and how they can help you achieve writing that resonates with your target audience.

Top 7 Readability Test Tools Online

1. Hemingway Editor

Best for: Simplified, focused editing.

Key Features:

Complex Sentence Detection: Hemingway highlights long and complex sentences, encouraging you to break them down into smaller, more digestible parts.
Passive Voice Detection: The tool highlights passive voice in your writing and encourages you to switch to active voice for clearer, more direct language.
Adverb Usage: It marks unnecessary adverbs and suggests more direct and concise words.
Readability Score: The tool calculates a Flesch-Kincaid grade level score to give you a measure of how easy your text is to read.

Screenshot of Hemingway Editor showing readability score and sentence structure analysis.

Pros:

Simple Interface: It’s incredibly easy to use, with a clean layout that makes readability testing a breeze.
Focus on Simplicity: It’s great for content creators who want to simplify their writing for a broader audience, especially bloggers and web writers.
Offline Access: The paid Version allows you to work offline, which is perfect if you like to write on the go.

Cons

Limited Features: It only provides basic readability formulas and doesn’t offer real-time suggestions for improvement.
No Advanced NLP: Hemingway doesn’t integrate advanced NLP features like some other tools, meaning it can only offer basic feedback.

Pricing:

Free Version: Access the basics online.
Paid Version: $19.99 for the desktop app, which offers additional features like offline access and advanced formatting tools.

Personal Experience: I’ve personally used Hemingway for simplifying blog posts. It’s great when you need to streamline complex paragraphs or adjust tone quickly. It’s not the tool I would use for a detailed analysis, but for simple, straightforward editing, it’s unbeatable.

2. Readable

Best for: AI-powered readability analysis with real-time feedback.

Key Features:

Multiple Readability Formulas: Readable supports formulas like Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and SMOG Index, helping you understand your content’s complexity.
Real-Time Suggestions: As you type or paste text into the tool, Readable provides real-time suggestions to enhance clarity and readability.
NLP-Powered: It uses Natural Language Processing (NLP), which helps analyze the context of your writing. This allows it to make more intelligent recommendations for sentence restructuring and word choice.
Multilingual Support: Ideal for global content creators, as it can check readability in multiple languages.

Example of Readable tool’s real-time feedback for improving writing clarity and readability

Pros

Real-Time Editing: You get immediate feedback, which makes it easier to refine your content as you write.
Customizable for Different Audiences: You can adjust the tool’s feedback based on the audience you’re writing for—whether it’s technical, academic, or general.
Great for Global Audiences: The multilingual support is a massive plus for creators who write for diverse audiences.

Cons

Limited Free Plan: The free Version offers limited features, and you’ll need a paid subscription for advanced analysis.
Complex for Beginners: The depth of suggestions might be overwhelming for new writers.

Pricing:

Free Trial: Available for a limited time.
Paid Plan: Starting at $5 per month, depending on the level of access you need.

Personal Experience: Readable is fantastic for those who want detailed, AI-driven suggestions as they write. It’s perfect for SEO-driven content creators, especially those who work with multilingual or global content. Its NLP-powered features make it stand out from basic readability checkers.

3. Grammarly

Best for: Comprehensive grammar and readability check.

Key Features:

Grammar & Readability: Grammarly checks both grammar and readability, offering suggestions for improving sentence structure, word choice, and clarity.
Tone Detector: Helps you adjust your tone based on the intended audience, making sure your writing is consistent and engaging.
SEO Optimization: Suggests changes to help optimize content for SEO by recommending keyword usage and improving sentence structure.
NLP Integration: Grammarly uses advanced NLP to understand context and suggest smarter changes to improve your writing.

Grammarly interface showing grammar and readability improvements for content creators.

Pros

All-in-One Tool: Grammarly is more than just a grammar checker—it’s a complete writing assistant, helping with style, tone, clarity, and more.
Tone Adjustments: Its tone detector is handy for marketers and businesses who want to maintain a consistent brand voice.
Browser Integration: Works directly within popular writing platforms like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and even email, making it easy to use anywhere.

Cons

Premium Plan Needed for Full Access: Some of the most valuable features (like tone detection and advanced readability checks) are locked behind the premium plan.
Suggestions Can Be Repetitive: For experienced writers, some of the suggestions might feel unnecessary or redundant.

Pricing:

Free Version: Offers basic grammar and spelling checks.
Premium Version: Starts at $11.66 per month for advanced features.

Personal Experience: Grammarly is my go-to tool when I’m working on blog posts and professional emails. It offers real-time suggestions that go beyond grammar, helping me fine-tune my tone and style. While the premium plan is essential for the entire eExperience, the free Version is still helpful for basic edits.

4. DigitaltCab Readability Test

Best for: In-depth, multiple-formula analysis.

Key Features:

Multiple Readability Formulas: The DigitaltCab readability test tool offers various readability formulas, including the Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and SMOG formulas, among others.
Detailed Analysis: The tool provides a breakdown of the complexity of your text, offering insights into the accessibility of your writing.
AI-Powered Tools: While it doesn’t explicitly use NLP, it uses AI principles to assess sentence structure and readability.

Digitaltcab readability test results showcasing multiple readability formulas.

Pros

Free to Use: DigitaltCab is a free tool, which makes it accessible to everyone.
Comprehensive Formula-Based Feedback: Offers deep insights into your content’s readability.

Cons

No Real-Time Suggestions: Unlike some tools, it doesn’t offer real-time feedback, meaning you have to make edits manually after the analysis.
Formula-Based: It mainly provides feedback based on readability formulas, which may not be as intuitive for everyone.

Pricing:

Free.

Personal Experience: DigitaltCab is an excellent tool for analyzing longer pieces of content. I often use it for reports and more technical writing, where I need a detailed readability check. The lack of real-time suggestions means it’s less helpful for quick editing, but it’s fantastic for a deep dive into readability.

Add your text to get an instant readability score

Calculates Readability

5. WebFX Readability Test

Best for: Quick and simple readability check.

Key Features:

Multiple Formulas: Supports Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, SMOG, and others.
Results Gauge: Displays readability results on an easy-to-read gauge.

WebFX readability tool displaying readability results and score gauge.

Pros

Quick and Free: It’s fast and doesn’t require you to sign up, making it perfect for quick checks.
Easy to Use: The interface is clean and straightforward, ideal for users who need a basic readability check.

Cons

No Suggestions for Improvement: Unlike other tools, WebFX doesn’t provide actionable suggestions for improving your content.
Lack of Depth: For users looking for detailed feedback, it’s too simple.

Pricing:

Free.

Personal Experience: I use WebFX when I need to quickly check the readability of a short piece, like a blog post. It’s not as detailed as other tools, but for quick, no-frills readability checks, it’s perfect.

6. ProWritingAid

Best for: Comprehensive writing analysis beyond readability.

Key Features:

Grammar, Style, and Readability: ProWritingAid provides an in-depth analysis of your grammar, style, readability, and overall writing quality.
NLP Features: It uses NLP principles to offer thoughtful suggestions for improving your writing’s clarity and flow.
Customization: ProWritingAid tailors its suggestions depending on the genre of your writing, whether it’s fiction, business writing, or blogging.

Pros

Detailed Feedback: Offers feedback on a variety of writing elements beyond readability.
Works Across Platforms: It integrates with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and browsers.

Cons

Free Version Limitations: You’re limited in how much content you can check with the free Version.
Overwhelming for New Writers: The depth of analysis might be too much for those just starting.

Pricing:

Free Version: Offers basic features.
Premium Version: Starts at $70 per year.

Personal Experience: ProWritingAid is my choice when I need a comprehensive review of my writing. Whether it’s an article, story, or email, it helps me refine my content across grammar, style, and readability.

7. Originality. AI Readability Checker

Best for: Readability, SEO, and plagiarism detection.

Key Features:

Supports 11 Readability Formulas: Originality. AI stands out by offering 11 different readability formulas, making it one of the most comprehensive tools for analyzing content.
SEO and Keyword Density: It checks your keyword density, ensuring your content is SEO-optimized.
Plagiarism Detection: Useful for making sure your content is original.

Screenshot of Originality. AI Readability Checker

Pros

Great for Long Documents: It can analyze documents up to 10,000 words.
Affordable: Offers a cost-effective solution for those needing advanced features like plagiarism detection.

Cons

Limited Free Version: The free Version allows for up to 10,000 words.
Subscription Required for Full Features.

Pricing:

Free for Up to 10,000 Words.
Subscription: Available for more features, with affordable options.

Personal Experience: I love using Originality. AI for both readability checks and SEO analysis. It’s great for longer pieces, and the plagiarism detection feature adds an extra layer of security for content creators.

Conclusion

Each readability tool has its strengths, and choosing the right one depends on your specific needs. If you’re looking for quick and easy checks, tools like WebFX and Hemingway Editor are great. For more comprehensive analysis, Grammarly and ProWritingAid offer detailed insights into grammar, readability, and style—tools like Readable and Originality. AI offers advanced features, such as NLP and plagiarism detection, for those who require more robust solutions.

Final Nudge

Experiment with a few of these tools to see which one works best for your content. A clear, readable, and engaging piece of writing will always capture your audience’s attention, improve your SEO rankings, and keep your content flowing smoothly.