K3N8HExplain Like I'm 5
Explain Like I'm 5
Ask about a topic, or paste a dense passage, and get it back in words a chosen reader can follow. It runs entirely in your browser: no account, no AI model, nothing is sent anywhere.
Explain it for...
Browse the 76 written topics
Science
Nature
Body and health
Technology and computing
Money and economics
Law and civics
Everyday life and society
Math
How it works, honestly: topic answers are explanations written by hand for each of five reading levels. Passage simplifying uses fixed rules (a plain-word glossary, splitting long sentences, turning passives around, dropping filler) and a readability formula, so it never invents facts, but it also cannot understand a passage the way a person does. Always check anything important, especially legal, medical or financial text, against the original or a professional.
About Explain Like I'm 5
Plain-language explanations for five reading levels, from age 5 to expert. Runs entirely in your browser: no account, no AI service.
Two modes, both fully on your device. Ask about a topic and get a hand-written explanation at the reading level you pick: 76 topics across science, nature, health, technology, money, law and everyday life, each written separately for a 5-year-old, a 10-year-old, high school, college and an expert from another field, with an analogy, key words and related topics. Or paste a dense passage, such as a legal clause or a study summary, or load a .txt or .md file, and it is rewritten by fixed rules: a glossary of about 870 jargon terms is swapped for plain words or explained in brackets, long sentences are split, passives turned around and filler removed, and you see the reading grade before and after. You can describe the reader in your own words ("a 14-year-old who loves video games") and step the result simpler or more detailed. It never invents facts, and for a topic outside its library it says so instead of guessing.
What you get
- Live tool at /play/eli5 (free, unlimited use, no account, works without an internet connection once loaded)
- Commercial license: white-label/embed this tool on your own site
Topic answers come from a library of 76 hand-written explanations, so it cannot answer questions outside that library and says so rather than guessing. Passage simplifying is rule-based: it does not invent facts, but it also cannot truly understand a passage, so check anything legal, medical or financial against the original or a professional. Only .txt and .md files can be loaded; convert PDFs and Word files to plain text first.
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