ProseScore vs Hemingway App

ProseScore is a free, privacy-first alternative to Hemingway with 8 readability formulas, sentiment analysis, keyword extraction, and SEO scoring — all running in your browser.

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Side-by-side comparison

Feature	ProseScore	Hemingway App
Price	Free tier / Pro $3.99/mo or $19.99 lifetime	$19.99 one-time
Readability formulas	8 formulas + consensus grade	1 (simplified grade level)
Privacy	Client-side only	Cloud-based
Sentiment analysis	✓	—
Keyword extraction	✓	—
SEO scoring	✓	—
Open source	✓ MIT license	—
Sentence highlighting	—	✓
Adverb detection	—	✓
Works offline	✓	Desktop app only

8 readability formulas in one tool

Hemingway uses a single simplified grade level. ProseScore runs all eight major readability algorithms and averages them into a consensus grade for a more accurate, well-rounded score.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

The most widely used readability formula. Maps text to a U.S. school grade level based on sentence length and syllable count.

Gunning Fog Index

Estimates the years of formal education needed. Penalizes complex (3+ syllable) words more heavily than Flesch-Kincaid.

Coleman-Liau Index

Uses character count instead of syllables, making it more reliable for technical text with acronyms and abbreviations.

SMOG Index

Considered the gold standard for health literacy. Counts polysyllabic words to estimate reading difficulty.

Automated Readability Index

Character-based formula designed for automated assessment. Fast and effective for large documents.

Dale-Chall Readability

Compares words against a list of 3,000 familiar words. Particularly accurate for lower reading levels.

Spache Readability

Designed specifically for primary-grade text (grades 1–3). Uses a familiar word list tuned for early readers.

Flesch Reading Ease

Scores text on a 0–100 scale (higher = easier). The most intuitive readability metric for non-technical users.

Why writers switch to ProseScore

More formulas, better accuracy One formula can mislead. Eight formulas averaged into a consensus grade give you a score you can trust.

Free to start, affordable to upgrade The free tier gives you Flesch-Kincaid, word count, and reading time. Pro unlocks all 8 formulas, sentiment, keywords, and SEO scoring for $3.99/mo or $19.99 lifetime.

Your text stays on your machine ProseScore runs entirely in your browser. No server, no API calls, no data collection. Your drafts are never transmitted anywhere.

Open source and transparent Built on textlens, an MIT-licensed TypeScript library. Inspect the algorithms, contribute improvements, or integrate into your own tools.

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No account, no email, no credit card. Paste your text and get results instantly.

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Pro from $3.99/mo or $19.99 lifetime — all 8 formulas, sentiment, SEO scoring, export