Grammarly

Grammarly is a downloadable browser extension that checks your writing for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors, as well as ways in which you could improve your clarity and readability and cut down on passive voice.

It also allows users to choose a specific tone and style they want to convey and write in.

Grammarly uses AI to search for errors and suggest changes you might want to make.

The program is used by bloggers, professional writers, multi-million dollar businesses, and students worldwide.

But does this software live up to the hype?

Read on for our Grammarly review, where we will discuss the functioning, subscription plans, and editing features to give our final verdict on Grammarly’s usefulness.

Grammarly Review: Overview

Grammarly is a complex program with a unique backstory.

What is Grammarly?

Grammarly is an online writing tool that professionals, students, and creative writers can use to proofread their documents.

The writing assistant checks for more than 200 spelling, punctuation, and more errors.

It also suggests vocabulary and structural changes to your writing to make it easier to read and more in line with a specific tone you select.

Grammarly History

Grammarly is a writing assistant that came online in 2009.

It was founded by Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, and Dmytro Lide.

Initially, the program was sold as a way for universities to improve students’ writing, specifically those learning English as a second language.

But after low sales, the program was marketed as an online tool and sold directly to users worldwide.

Today, it’s available on all major web browsers and is used to edit everything from short stories to business emails and proposals.

Pros and Cons of Grammarly

Here are a few of the major pros and cons to keep in mind about Grammarly before you subscribe to a premium plan or go with an alternative option:

Pros of Grammarly

• Checks for hundreds of errors
• Allows users to select a style and tone they want to write in
• Provides an expansive free version
• Easy to download and use

Cons of Grammarly

• Makes incorrect suggestions
• Can cut down on creative expression
• May not read conveyed tone
• Wrongly interprets context

How Much Does Grammarly Cost?

As you might expect, Grammarly doesn’t give away all of its editing tools for free.

A free version allows users to check for basic grammatical errors, and a Premium version checks for vocabulary enhancement, genre-specific style errors, plagiarism, and more.

The Premium version starts at $12.00/month.

You can also choose to pay quarterly or annually.

There is also an option for businesses.

The business option is perfect for a company with multiple writers, all of whom use different computers.

Everyone can use the software, select their writing style and tone, and have their dictionary of terms.

This plan starts at $15.00 per member per month.

Is Grammarly Worth the Cost?

There are a lot of editing and proofreading software options available online, some of which offer as many features as Grammarly does.

But, if you write anything on your computer, Grammarly is worth the cost.

This is particularly true if you’re concerned with avoiding as many errors in your writing as possible and completing your work as quickly as you can while maintaining a high standard of writing.

Why Grammarly is Worth The Cost?

Grammarly is worth the cost, whether you pay monthly, quarterly, or annually, because of the variety of platforms it functions with and the speed at which it catches and suggests corrections to your writing.

Its real-time grammar correcting is unsurpassed when it comes to online editors.

Plus, it is highly accurate.

Although this doesn’t mean it never makes a mistake, it usually suggests useful and correct changes.

The Problem Grammarly Solves

Grammarly is so popular because of the wide range of applications it has.

It takes much of the stress out of editing, particularly if you’re on a deadline, and you can trust it to find your mistakes quickly and clearly.

Unlike some online editors that make suggestions without explanations, you’ll always know exactly why Grammarly has suggested what it has.

This will help you make an informed decision about whether or not to accept the suggested corrections.

Why Would Somebody Want to Use Grammarly?

Grammarly has something to offer most writers.

Unless your writing is always entirely free from mistakes, you can benefit from downloading and testing out the free version of their software.

Who is Grammarly Best For?

Grammarly is best for students and writing professionals, particularly those who need to write a great deal in one day and do not have hours to devote to proofreading to fix errors in their writing.

Grammarly is very simple to use, allows for customization, and always explains why it thinks you should make certain changes.

While these suggestions might not always be 100% accurate, they usually are helpful.

Who Should NOT Use Grammarly?

You may not want to overuse Grammarly if you’re a creative writer.

One of Grammarly’s major failings is that it does not always understand creative writing choices despite having a “creative” style setting.

If you’re writing in a particularly out-of-the-box style (for example, purposefully not using any punctuation or capitalization or writing in a stream-of-consciousness style), Grammarly will bombard you with notifications that you made mistakes and try to correct them for you.

What To Think About Before Buying Grammarly?

There are a few different things to consider before buying Grammarly.

It may be helpful to ask yourself the following questions before using the software.

Will the time Grammarly saves me in editing outweigh the cost?

For most writers, the answer is yes.

Grammarly is one of the fastest ways to check your writing in real-time.

This means that as you write, Grammarly will highlight (with different colors according to the error) parts of your sentence it thinks you should take another look at.

This could be a missing comma, an example of passive voice, a sentence that would sound better if rearranged, and more.

Do I need editing suggestions?

For some, the answer might be no.

If you’re an incredibly detail-oriented writer with a comprehensive understanding of grammar, punctuation, syntax, and the specific style you want to write in, you may not need an AI editor reading over your shoulder.

Features and Benefits of Grammarly

Grammarly offers many different benefits that may help you improve your writing and even write faster over time.

These include real-time proofreading, high accuracy in its suggestions, an explanation of every suggested correction, and multiple styles and tone choices.

1. Real-Time Proofreading

Grammarly’s ability to correct your writing as you’re writing it is perhaps the most popular feature.

The program can analyze your work quickly, underlining and highlighting passages it thinks you should proofread.

You might acknowledge these corrections as you go or look over them when you’re done with a passage or the entire document.

They also offer a pop-up sidebar that organizes all of the corrections the program found in one place.

Each sidebar section recommends grammar and punctuation suggestions and examples of changes based on the recommendations.

I’ve found that this is particularly helpful when looking at sentence structure corrections.

The program rewrites the sentence in a different colored font, showing you how it would read if you rearranged it.

With a click of your computer mouse, you can accept the suggestion and reformat the entire sentence.

2. Accuracy

Another major benefit of Grammarly as a writing assistant is that the program provides highly accurate corrections.

Whether you’re only interested in grammatical changes, like spelling errors or missing punctuation, or you’re ready to explore sentence structure changes, Grammarly almost always hits the mark with their corrections.

Every user will eventually encounter a suggestion from Grammarly that’s less than ideal.

The program may misunderstand what you’re trying to say or not know an unusual word that you’re using.

Luckily, it’s easy to add words to your Grammarly dictionary and ignore any suggestions you don’t like.

3. Explanations of Corrections

Unlike other proofreading services, Grammarly tells you why you should change your sentence structure or what was incorrect about your writing.

The explanations help you make the most informed choice regarding whether or not to accept their correction.

Plus, over time, you’ll learn what mistakes you make and avoid those instinctually.

For example, if you care about writing in an active voice, the passive voice suggestions may help you learn how to spot and rephrase those passages.

4. Style and Tone Choices

Another element of the program that makes it stand out from its competitors is that you can choose what style you want to write in.

You’ll get to choose from:

• Business
• Academic
• Casual
• Technical
• Creative
• General

Selecting a style is easy.

Plus, you can change it any time you want to.

I’ve found that this is incredibly beneficial when I transition from blog-writing to my personal writing projects.

Not every article I write needs to have the same style, so I adjust my style in Grammarly accordingly.

Plus, while writing, Grammarly will tell me what tone it thinks I’m using, which helps me adjust my writing.

For example, it may read my content as “optimistic,” “excited,” “assertive,” “formal,” “regretful,” “unassuming,” “sad,” and or another tone descriptive.

You can also choose to write in American English, British English, Canadian English, etc.

5. Document Writing

Grammarly also allows users to write within their editing software or upload a previously written document from their hard drive and check it.

This feature is incredibly useful if you don’t write in Google Docs, WordPress, or another similar online blogging platform.

Grammarly Customer Service

If you want to install Grammarly but are having problems with your browser, have questions about the writing assistant’s features, where and when you can use it, and how the AI generally works, you can contact customer service.

Does Grammarly Offer Customer Service?

Grammarly does offer customer service.

Their team can answer questions you have about the program and how it operates with different browsers and in a variety of documents.

You also have the option to submit a request online and describe your issues in detail.

The fact that Grammarly does not offer immediate customer support may be an issue for those dealing with an unresolved problem in the program, but the team at Grammarly is very good at responding to concerns and inquiries.

What Types of Customer Service Does Grammarly Offer?

Grammarly does not offer real-time customer support or any type of phone support.

The only way to contact them is through their email submission system.

When submitting a question or concern, you’ll pick from a few categories, like “billing and subscription,” “feature request,” and “resolve a technical issue.”

Each of these categories provides more options to help narrow down your issue.

Eventually, you’ll receive a suggested answer to your concern from the automated platform.

If that doesn’t resolve the problem, you can “Submit a ticket,” and they will get back to you within 48 hours.

Why Should You Trust Us?

We have spent hours scouring the web for the best reviews and information about Grammarly, its history, features, pros, cons, and applications.

We know how important clarity in reviews is and are dedicated to providing honest assessments of blogging tools, whether we like them.

I have used Grammarly for all my editing needs, including in GoogleDocs, WordPress, and more.

What Grammarly Users are Saying

Grammarly users are vocal regarding their experience with the editor.

Almost all reviewers have positive things to say about what the application can do, specifically the wide variety of errors it can catch.

But, there are some distinct cons that most users have noticed.

For example, one Grammarly user, April, noticed that the program always wants to add more commas to her sentences than she feels are necessary.

She wrote that the AI software does not consider how the sentences sound when it makes a suggestion for punctuation, which is technically helpful but does not take into account readability.

Another user, Tim, had a few more negatives about the program he wanted to point out.

He states:

Grammarly removes words from my sentences that I feel add to the flow of the text. The extra words may sometimes be unnecessary, but when it comes to the overall experience of the text, they need to be there.

A third user, Samantha, found it easy to ignore the suggestions she didn’t like, stating:

While there are sometimes suggestions that help my writing, I don’t have to apply the ones I don’t like.

She added that the vast majority of Grammarly’s suggestions are ones she does use in her work but enjoys the flexibility of taking or leaving suggestions at her discretion.

Grammarly Alternatives

You may want to consider a few alternatives before downloading Grammarly.

Many have some, if not all, of the same features, with unique cons to consider for usage.

1. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is a plagiarism checker, spelling and grammar proofreader, and an application that can help you improve your writing style.

It’s geared towards writings of all varieties and can be used across multiple apps.

How Does ProWritingAid Differ From Grammarly?

ProWritingAid and Grammarly are similar in many ways.

But, ProWritingAid is geared toward writers who are creating longer, more in-depth documents.

These works include books, thesis documents, long business proposals, etc.

It is less expensive than Grammarly but is also slower.

Who is ProWritingAid Best For?

ProWritingAid is best for writers who have a little more time to spare in their editing process.

Grammarly instantaneously suggests changes to your documents, while ProWritingAid takes slightly longer.

Grammarly also allows you to create a personal dictionary, which ProWritingAid does not.

This may be critical for those in unique fields or creative writers.

2. Hemingway Editor

The Hemingway Editor is a popular alternative for Grammarly used to reduce repetition and unnecessary word usage and improves sentence structure.

How Does Hemingway Editor Differ From Grammarly?

The Hemingway Editor has an offline mode, something that Grammarly does not.

The offline mode may be important for someone traveling or who doesn’t want to maintain an internet connection.

The Hemingway Editor also has a different price model.

For one payment of $19.99, you purchase and own the program forever, this makes it far cheaper than Grammarly.

But, it doesn’t check for plagiarism, nor does it have the ability to check for spelling, style, emotion, or tone in your writing.

Who is Hemingway Editor Best For?

The Hemingway Editor is best for someone interested in improving their writing skills, in terms of overall clarity and directness.

The program is very good at cutting down on extra words or superfluous explanations.

It gives you a score similar to how Grammarly grades documents that help you understand how well you’ve done according to its standards.

3. Wordtune

Wordtune is another popular alternative to Grammarly.

It’s a reliable proofreading software used by businesses, writers, and students.

How Does Wordtune Differ From Grammarly?

Unfortunately, Wordtune’s grammar and proofreading abilities pale compared to Grammarly’s.

It won’t catch most of your spelling errors, but it does fairly well rewriting your sentences to make them easier to understand.

You can use it to change your document’s tone.

For example, shifting a piece of writing that sounds causal to make it more formal.

Who is Wordtune Best For?

Wordtune is best for those who want an affordable option.

It starts at $9.99/month and has an option for team usage, similar to Grammarly.

Wordtune is not ideal if you’re looking for an all-inclusive option to help you express yourself in a specific tone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are a few answers to other questions you might have about Grammarly and what it can or cannot do.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, Grammarly is a personal writing assistant that checks your writing in real time for grammatical errors.

With the premium version, the program also can scan your content for changes that may improve the sentence structure, tone, or style, following what specifications you provide it.

While the free version is somewhat limited, it is still highly useful for those who need a quick check of their document.

Grammarly is used by businesses, students, freelance writers, advertisers, and more worldwide.

It began as a small company and has since expanded its global reach.

This is mostly because Grammarly is incredibly easy to use and available on many different platforms, including Google Chrome, Word, Outlook, Apple Mail, and hundreds of other desktop apps like Slack and Discord.  

If you are looking for editing software that you can rely on, I think Grammarly is the right choice.

By Brett Helling

Brett has been starting, growing, and monetizing websites since 2014. While in college, he began to learn about digital marketing. After graduating, he continued to build a diverse portfolio of websites while working a full time job. After years of building the portfolio on the side, he made the jump to run his websites full time.