Hemingway App
Score the readability of your writing and flag wordy sentences, passive voice, and complex words, with an optional AI-assisted Plus tier for grammar fixes and rewrites.
The verdict on Hemingway App: Writers who need to know exactly which sentences are hard to read, not just where the grammar is wrong Hemingway App's classic editor (the free web tool and the one-time desktop purchase) shows you which sentences are hard to read without fixing them for you: it grades readability and flags passive voice, complex adverbs, and dense sentences with color coding, but the rewrite is yours. Pricing: Free / $19.99 one-time Desktop / $8.33/mo Editor Plus.
Best For
Writers who need to know exactly which sentences are hard to read, not just where the grammar is wrong
Standout Feature
A grade-level readability score that shows at a glance who can actually follow your writing
TL;DR
The classic/free editor is a clarity checker, not a grammar checker: it flags the problem sentence but leaves the rewrite to you, unless you're on Editor Plus, which does offer fixes and rewrites.
Alternatives
Fit Score: use-case reference
How this is scoredHemingway App scored 1 to 5 on five dimensions for the named use cases below. Part of our catalog-wide use-case reference, not a product-quality review rating.
Finding hard-to-read sentences in a near-final draft
4.4/5- Capability
- 5/5
- Reliability
- 4/5
- Value
- 5/5
- Ease
- 5/5
- Compatibility
- 3/5
Find dense sentences, passive constructions and readability problems in a near-final draft with visual flags and a grade-level signal. The classic web editor is free and the desktop option is a one-time purchase, but you still write the revisions yourself. Treat rigid readability rules as guidance when the style is intentional, not an automatic judgment of good prose.
Rewriting flagged sentences with Editor Plus
3.4/5- Capability
- 4/5
- Reliability
- 3/5
- Value
- 3/5
- Ease
- 4/5
- Compatibility
- 3/5
Revise flagged sentences with the separate Editor Plus tier, which adds AI-assisted fixes, grammar checking and tone adjustment. These features are not included in the free editor or the one-time desktop app. A recurring subscription is required, and suggested changes still need an author check where rigid clarity rules conflict with voice or intent.
Editorial judgment grounded in this tool's own published pricing, features, and our existing pros and cons, not a certification or a measured benchmark. Product quality is assessed separately under our review methodology.
Overview
Not yet reviewedProduct quality is assessed from original evidence. How reviews work.
The Hemingway App grades your writing for readability and flags the specific sentences making it hard to read: passive voice, complex adverbs, hard-to-read sentences, and suggestions to simplify. It's not a grammar checker, it's a clarity checker. The grade level score tells you who can actually read your writing at a glance.
Writers, content teams, and communicators use it to catch the bad habits that make prose dense: overlong sentences, hedging adverbs, passive constructions. The desktop app works offline; the web version is free. Integrates with Dropbox and Medium.
The source of the legacy catalog rating and review count has not been substantiated. Neither is presented here as a verified review rating or included in review structured data.
Workflow Fit Scores are separate, use-case-specific editorial judgments, not user-review averages. Read the Fit Score methodology.
- • Instant visual clarity on which sentences need work, faster than self-editing
- • One-time desktop pricing is excellent value for regular writers
- • Forces writing discipline that makes every piece more readable
- • No rewrite suggestions on the free/classic editor or desktop app; that requires the paid Editor Plus tier
- • Rigid rules can conflict with intentional stylistic choices
Key Features
- Readability grading
- Passive voice detection
- Sentence complexity analysis
- Adverb flagging
- Word count
- Desktop app (offline)
- Editor Plus: AI-assisted grammar fixes and rewrites (paid tier)
Trust & Data
Verified 2026-09
- Training on your data
- Not publishedEvery privacy and terms URL attempted for this vendor returned HTTP 404; no vendor-published data governance page could be located, so the fields above reflect a research access gap rather than confirmed vendor silence.
- Compliance
- Not published
- Retention
- Not published
- Export
- Not published
Source: hemingwayapp.com
As published by the vendor. Verify independently before purchase decisions.
Our Take
The separate Editor Plus subscription adds AI-assisted fixes for flagged issues, grammar checking, and tone adjustment, so 'no rewrites' is a classic/free-edition limitation, not a description of the whole product. The one-time $19.99 desktop purchase is still the best deal for writers who want a permanent clarity tool without a subscription and don't need the AI rewrite layer. It's most useful on a finished or near-finished draft, and its rigid rules will conflict with intentional stylistic choices, so treat the grade level as a signal, not a verdict.