Apps Like Grammarly: 12 Writing Assistants That Actually Improve Your Prose
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About Grammarly
Founded
2009
USA
Ships to
Worldwide (web-based)
Editor-reviewed
Every recommendation read and refined by hand
Honest tradeoffs
Drawbacks listed, not hidden
No paid placements
Brands cannot pay to be ranked
Writing tools used to be spell-checkers with delusions of grandeur. Now they're expected to handle tone, clarity, concision, citation hygiene, and the occasional ghostwriting job — all without making your prose sound like it came out of the same beige content blender as everyone else's LinkedIn post. The category has split: some tools chase the AI generation gold rush, some retreat into careful, rule-based editing, and a few are quietly building the most useful writing infrastructure of the last decade.
Grammarly sits awkwardly in the middle of that split. For a long time it was the default — the green underline that caught the comma splice you'd missed, the browser extension that saved you from sending a typo to your boss. That muscle memory is real, and the free tier still does honest work on basic correctness. But Premium has crept north of $140 a year while the suggestions have grown louder and less interesting, the privacy questions around uploading every keystroke to a cloud service have sharpened, and the generative features feel bolted on rather than built in. Meanwhile, competitors have either gotten dramatically better at the editing job, dramatically cheaper, or dramatically more private.
The green underline is no longer the only way to write more clearly.
Grammarly sits awkwardly in the middle of that split. For a long time it was the default — the green underline that caught the comma splice you'd missed, the browser extension that saved you from sending a typo to your boss. That muscle memory is real, and the free tier still does honest work on basic correctness. But Premium has crept north of $140 a year while the suggestions have grown louder and less interesting, the privacy questions around uploading every keystroke to a cloud service have sharpened, and the generative features feel bolted on rather than built in. Meanwhile, competitors have either gotten dramatically better at the editing job, dramatically cheaper, or dramatically more private.
The green underline is no longer the only way to write more clearly.
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12 brands
The 12 Best Alternatives to Grammarly
1
ProWritingAid
Est. 2012
London, UK
$
cheaper
Long-form writers and novelists who want structural feedback, not just comma fixes
Deeper, report-driven editing across grammar, style, overused words, sentence variety, and readability — the closest direct competitor on features.
Pros
- Lifetime license option (~$399) kills subscription fatigue
- Integrates with Scrivener, Word, Google Docs, browsers
- 25+ writing reports go far beyond grammar
- Genuinely useful for fiction and long-form
Cons
- Interface feels dated compared to Grammarly
- Reports can overwhelm new users
- Real-time checking is slower
2
LanguageTool
Est. 2003
Potsdam, Germany
$
cheaper
Privacy-conscious writers and multilingual users
Transparent Pricing
Open-source-rooted grammar and style checker with 30+ language support and a self-hostable option for genuine privacy.
Pros
- GDPR-compliant, EU-based, self-hostable
- Supports 30+ languages including German, French, Spanish
- Free tier is genuinely usable
- Premium is ~$60/year, less than half of Grammarly
Cons
- Style suggestions are less aggressive than Grammarly's
- No AI rewriting in the core product
- Browser extension occasionally misses context
3
Hemingway Editor
Est. 2013
Martinsburg, WV, USA
$
cheaper
Writers who want shorter, punchier sentences
Strips your prose down to readability grade, passive voice, and adverb overuse — the discipline coach Grammarly never wanted to be.
Pros
- Web version is free forever
- Desktop app is a one-time $20 purchase
- Readability scoring is uniquely useful
- No account required for the web version
Cons
- Doesn't catch grammar errors as well as Grammarly
- Opinionated style won't suit every writer
- No browser extension or Word integration
4
QuillBot
Est. 2017
Chicago, IL, USA
$
cheaper
Students and non-native English speakers rewriting drafts
Paraphrasing and rewriting at the core, with grammar checking, summarization, and citation tools layered on — built for revision, not just correction.
Pros
- Paraphraser is best-in-class for awkward sentences
- Free tier handles most student needs
- Citation generator and summarizer included
- Premium is ~$100/year
Cons
- Paraphrased output can feel synthetic
- Grammar checker is secondary to the rewriter
- Academic use raises plagiarism-policy questions
5
Wordtune
Est. 2018
Tel Aviv, Israel
≈
similar
Professionals tweaking tone in emails and Slack
AI-driven rewrites that suggest tone shifts — casual, formal, shorter, longer — alongside grammar correction, all in real time.
Pros
- Tone rewrites are genuinely better than Grammarly's
- Clean, modern interface
- Great in Gmail and LinkedIn
- Free tier offers 10 rewrites/day
Cons
- Heavy users hit paywall quickly
- Grammar checking is lighter than competitors
- Fewer language options
6
Ginger
Est. 2007
Tel Aviv, Israel
$
cheaper
Non-native English speakers
Grammar, spelling, and sentence rephrasing with a translator built in — particularly strong for ESL writers.
Pros
- Built-in translator covers 40+ languages
- Sentence rephraser is solid for ESL
- Premium ~$90/year
- Text-to-speech for proofreading by ear
Cons
- UI feels older
- Less polish than Grammarly
- Mobile keyboard can lag
7
Microsoft Editor
Est. 2020
Redmond, WA, USA
$
cheaper
Anyone already paying for Microsoft 365
Built into Word, Outlook, and Edge, with grammar, clarity, conciseness, and inclusivity checks — and it comes free with Microsoft 365.
Pros
- Free in Word and Outlook with M365
- Browser extension works across the web
- Inclusivity and sensitivity checks are well-built
- No extra subscription if you already use Office
Cons
- Style suggestions are less aggressive than Grammarly
- Free standalone tier is limited
- Best features locked behind M365 subscription
8
Sapling
Est. 2017
San Francisco, CA, USA
≈
similar
Support, sales, and CS teams writing at scale
AI-powered writing assistant tuned for customer-facing teams — grammar, snippets, autocomplete, and tone, with enterprise privacy controls.
Pros
- Snippet library saves repetitive typing
- SOC 2 Type II, enterprise privacy options
- Autocomplete is fast and contextual
- Integrates with Zendesk, Salesforce, Intercom
Cons
- Overkill for solo writers
- Personal plan is pricier than expected
- Creative writing isn't its strength
9
Linguix
Est. 2019
London, UK
$
cheaper
Freelancers and small teams
Grammar checking, style suggestions, and AI rewrites with reusable templates — a leaner Grammarly with a flatter price.
Pros
- ~$80/year premium
- Template library for repeated phrasing
- Decent browser extension
- Lifetime deals occasionally on AppSumo
Cons
- Smaller language model than Grammarly
- Less polished UX
- Fewer third-party integrations
10
Outwrite
Est. 2014
Hobart, Australia
$
cheaper
Students on a budget
Grammar, style, and a strong paraphrasing layer aimed at students — with a generous free tier.
Pros
- Premium starts at ~$10/month
- Strong rewrite suggestions
- Word and Google Docs add-ons
- Statistics dashboard for writing progress
Cons
- Lighter on advanced style coaching
- Smaller community and support
- Mobile experience is limited
11
DeepL Write
Est. 2023
Cologne, Germany
≈
similar
Writers who care about natural-sounding prose
Transparent Pricing
From the translation company with the best neural engine in the business — clarity and tone rewrites that sound disturbingly human.
Pros
- Rewrites read more naturally than Grammarly's
- German GDPR-grade privacy
- Free tier is generous
- Pairs beautifully with DeepL Translate
Cons
- Smaller feature set than Grammarly
- No deep grammar reports
- Limited language coverage in Write specifically
12
Writer
Est. 2020
San Francisco, CA, USA
$$$
pricier
Marketing and content teams enforcing brand voice
Enterprise-grade AI writing platform with custom style guides, terminology enforcement, and on-brand suggestions across an entire company.
Pros
- Custom style guides and brand terminology
- SOC 2, HIPAA-ready, no training on customer data
- Generative AI built for enterprise context
- Used by Accenture, Vanguard, Intuit
Cons
- Priced for teams, not individuals
- Setup investment is real
- Overbuilt for casual writers
Best free alternatives
If you've been paying Grammarly Premium out of habit, three of these will cover most of your needs without a subscription. LanguageTool's free tier handles grammar and basic style across 30+ languages with genuine privacy credentials. Hemingway Editor's web version is free forever and remains the sharpest tool for tightening flabby prose. Microsoft Editor is already included with any Microsoft 365 plan you're paying for — meaning you may already own a Grammarly alternative without realizing it.
Best for privacy
Grammarly's cloud-based model means every sentence you type passes through their servers — fine for blog posts, less fine for legal drafts, medical notes, or anything under NDA. LanguageTool is EU-based, GDPR-compliant, and offers a self-hosted version for full data control. DeepL Write inherits DeepL's strict German privacy posture. Writer offers enterprise contracts with no training on customer data. If privacy is the reason you're leaving, these three are where to look first.
Best for serious writers
Grammarly's suggestions are tuned for business communication — short, clear, inoffensive. For novelists, essayists, and long-form journalists, that's a straitjacket. ProWritingAid's 25+ reports cover sentence variety, pacing, repeated words, and dialogue tags in ways Grammarly never attempts. Hemingway forces concision. DeepL Write produces rewrites that don't sound like they came out of an LLM. Together they cover the territory Grammarly Premium pretends to but doesn't.Which Alternative Is Right for You?
If you want the closest feature-for-feature replacement at a lower price, ProWritingAid is the obvious move — especially with the lifetime license. If privacy is what's pushing you out the door, LanguageTool (self-hosted if you're technical, hosted if not) is the cleanest exit. If you only ever used Grammarly for tone-checking emails, Wordtune does that one job better, and Microsoft Editor does it free if you're already on M365. Students writing essays should look at QuillBot or Outwrite first. Teams enforcing brand voice across dozens of writers should look at Writer. And anyone who suspects their writing has gotten worse — wordier, hedgier, more generic — under Grammarly's influence should spend a week with Hemingway Editor and notice what changes. Frequently Asked Questions
QIs there a free alternative to Grammarly that's actually good?
Yes. LanguageTool's free tier handles grammar and style across 30+ languages, Hemingway Editor's web version is free forever for readability and concision, and Microsoft Editor is included with any Microsoft 365 subscription you already pay for. Between those three, most casual users won't miss Grammarly Premium.
QWhich Grammarly alternative is best for privacy?
LanguageTool is the strongest answer — it's EU-based, GDPR-compliant, and offers a self-hosted version so your text never leaves your servers. DeepL Write inherits DeepL's strict privacy stance, and Writer offers enterprise contracts that explicitly don't train on customer data. Avoid any tool that won't tell you where your text is processed.
QWhat's better than Grammarly for fiction and long-form writing?
ProWritingAid, by a wide margin. Its 25+ reports cover sentence variety, pacing, dialogue tags, overused words, and readability in ways Grammarly's business-tuned engine doesn't attempt. Pair it with Hemingway Editor for a final concision pass and you'll outclass Grammarly Premium for novel-length work.
QIs ProWritingAid or Grammarly more accurate?
They catch different things. Grammarly is faster and slightly better at obvious surface errors. ProWritingAid catches more nuanced issues — passive voice patterns, sticky sentences, sentence-length variation, overused phrases. For polished prose, ProWritingAid's depth wins. For a quick email scan, Grammarly is marginally snappier.
QAre AI writing tools like QuillBot or Wordtune considered cheating in school?
It depends entirely on your institution's policy. Most universities now distinguish between grammar correction (allowed) and AI rewriting or generation (often restricted or required to be disclosed). QuillBot's paraphraser sits squarely in the gray zone — check your syllabus and your school's academic integrity policy before using any AI rewriter on graded work.
Our Verdict
The Best Grammarly Alternative For You
If you want the closest feature-for-feature replacement at a lower price, ProWritingAid is the obvious move — especially with the lifetime license. If privacy is what's pushing you out the door, LanguageTool (self-hosted if you're technical, hosted if not) is the cleanest exit. If you only ever used Grammarly for tone-checking emails, Wordtune does that one job better, and Microsoft Editor does it free if you're already on M365. Students writing essays should look at QuillBot or Outwrite first. Teams enforcing brand voice across dozens of writers should look at Writer. And anyone who suspects their writing has gotten worse — wordier, hedgier, more generic — under Grammarly's influence should spend a week with Hemingway Editor and notice what changes.