9 Best Grammar Checker Tools, You Must Try
June 24, 2020
Vikrant Modi
How many times have you come across a write up that has not made any sense to you? Have you ever started a blog and left it halfway because it got difficult to comprehend?
Bad grammar can cost you your reputation. In research conducted by Website Planet, it was observed that websites with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes lost almost double the number of potential customers when compared to typo-free sites.
They analyzed more than 5000 site visitors over two weeks and observed that the bounce percentage of visitors on websites with grammatical errors was 85% more to their typo-free counterparts. This can have a severe impact on your ranking on SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages).
The importance of using correct grammar is not limited to businesses; a study discovered that 43% of the users found the use of bad grammar unattractive.
In this age of digital revolution, you no longer need a personal editor by your side to save you from the grammatical mistakes and spelling errors. There are various grammar checker tools available that can act as a second pair of eyes.
We have listed down a few famous ones.
1. Grammarly
The AI-powered “writing enhancement” tool has managed to gain mixed reviews.
There are two versions available; the free version corrects basic grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, and the premium version gives more in-depth analysis and suggestions.
Side-By-Side Comparison of Free and Premium Grammarly Accounts
| Features |
Free |
Premium |
| Critical grammar and spelling checks |
✓ |
✓ |
| Conciseness |
✓ |
✓ |
| Readability |
✓ |
✓ |
| Vocabulary enhancement suggestions |
✕ |
✓ |
| Genre-specific writing style checks |
✕ |
✓ |
| Plagiarism detector that checks more than 16 billion web pages |
✕ |
✓ |
How much does the app cost?
- Monthly — $29.95 USD/month.
- Quarterly Subscription — $19.98/month (billed as $59.95 USD)
- Annual Subscription — $11.66/month (billed as $139.95 USD)
Facts and features of Grammarly:
- It is compatible with MS Word and Outlook.
- It improves the choice of words with context optimized vocabulary suggestions.
- It can detect over 250 types of grammatical errors, and also helps with sentence-style mistakes.
- Grammarly detects plagiarism of the text against over 8 billion web pages.
- It can even contextually spellcheck the document – for example, writing deer instead of dear.
- It generates a writing score that can help you understand your readability level.
- It can also detect continuity errors in your text – for instance, it will catch if you have capitalized the same word differently in the text.
- This grammar checker tool has over 10 million daily active users.
Reviews and ratings
The tool enjoys mixed reviews and ratings. While most bloggers and websites rate Grammarly at a good 4.5-4.7, a few users rate at as low as 2 or 3.
The biggest issue about Grammarly, according to a few users, is its customer service.
According to a review by a fiction writer on Trustpilot, the suggestions given by Grammarly for writing fiction weren’t very helpful. Even with the settings changed, Grammarly’s recommendations did not make sense.
Few freelance writers on Reddit and other websites found Grammarly to be very helpful in correcting common grammatical and spelling mistakes. The synonym suggestions for overly repeated words were unique and contextually correct.
According to a few reviews, if English is your second language, then Grammarly can be beneficial for the style of writing suggestions.
Another user had an issue about pasting text on Grammarly. They said, “Copy-pasting into Grammarly changes the format. So you can’t just take your now fixed piece back to Google Drive without manually indenting every paragraph again.”
All in all, it’s a great tool for most people. It depends quite upon your own writing style, though.
2. Ginger
Ginger is one of the best online grammar checker tools. It has both a free version that corrects basic errors and a paid version for advanced edits.
How much does the tool cost?
- Monthly subscription: $29.96 per month.
- Quarterly subscription: $19.98 per month if you pay upfront.
- Annual subscription: $12.48 per month if you pay upfront.
Facts and features of Ginger:
- Word prediction: The software offers word prediction feature for an accelerated typing experience.
- The grammar checker tool detects spelling mistakes, contextual spelling mistakes, punctuation errors intricately.
- Sentence rephrasing software – it can help with rephrasing a plagiarized sentence.
- Language translator: it can translate over 40 languages with accurate grammar.
- Speech to text: The VR feature of the software can translate speech into text.
- It also checks your text for plagiarism.
Ratings and Reviews:
Ginger enjoys high ratings by its users. According to FinancesOnline, the Grammar checker tool enjoys 88% user satisfaction.
The ratings for the app commonly range between 4 and 4.7.
According to a few users, the app slows down the word processing operations and can lag a lot with lengthy documents.
Ginger offers line-by-line sentence correcting and suggestions. While a few users find this feature to be a blessing, others find it to be time-consuming.
3. Hemingway Editor
Hemingway Editor is a tool that makes your writing bold and clear. The online tool is free, and also has an offline desktop version.
How much does the Hemingway Editor cost?
The offline desktop version is available for a one-time payment of USD 19.99.
Facts and features
- Hemingway Editor highlights and corrects grammar, fluency, and sentence structure.
- It cannot be used as an extension to other websites. In the online version, you have to copy-paste the text on the website.
- It uses different colours to highlight the sentences that convey different mistakes or suggestions.
- Yellow: for sentences identified as lengthy or structurally complex
- Red: for sentences that are very hard to read
- Purple: for sentences and words have a more suitable, simpler alternative
- Blue: for words that are adverbs or weak and hesitant language
- Green: for sentences that use passive voice
- The tool publishes content to WordPress, Medium, or any Webpage directly.
Ratings and reviews
The Hemingway app is one of the most accessible software to use. It helps to make your writeup clear and easy-to-read.
Users praise the distraction-free writing mode. It helps avoid distractions while writing. You can then switch back to edit mode to make corrections.
Users feel that the suggestions are basic, and the tool doesn’t provide any in-depth analysis but is useful if you want to write short and crisp sentences.
Reviews also talk about it being very primitive in its suggestions, “It does not have the functionality to account for broken writing rules that are intentional due to author style and creative literary devices”, says a user.
The app is best for teachers who need to explain their concepts in simple words.
4. After the Deadline
The grammar checker tool makes use of artificial intelligence and natural language processing technology to find writing errors and offers smart suggestions.
How much does After the Deadline cost?
The open technology software is available free of cost for both personal and commercial use.
Facts and features:
- The open-source technology enables developers to embed After the Deadline into any application they are building.
- Users can adjust the rules to suit their own set of language standards
- It offers contextual spelling check
- It can give advanced style suggestions
- It can also detect misused words
- It provides advanced grammar checking and explanation for errors to improve your writing
- After the Deadline also features French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish for its grammar and spelling checker.
Ratings and reviews:
Users have complaints against the punctuation checks. On the other hand, it is a highly rated app for ease of use and customer service.
Some people experience lots of glitches while using it with chrome extensions.
The system cannot accurately differentiate between American, British, and Canadian English.
5. White Smoke
Popular as one of the fully integrated, state-of-the-art English writing tools, it is regarded as one of the best grammar checker tools.
How much does White Smoke cost?
There is no free version, and the free trial is limited to 250 characters.
Essential – $9.95/month, $79.95/annual, $159.95/3-year plan
Premium – $14.95/month, $119.95/annual, $299.95/3-year plan
Facts and features:
- The translation feature for Over 50 Languages.
- Compatible with MacOS, Windows, and all browsers
- It offers 100 different document & letter templates.
- They also provide a mobile application that works on both IOS and Android that helps you correct your mistakes on the go.
- Writing tutorial features help with lessons and ways of improving your writing.
- Grammar check, spell check, style check.
- It offers a plagiarism check. It uses the database of more than 17-billion web pages to check for copied content.
Ratings and reviews:
White smoke enjoys good user ratings and user satisfaction.
One of the limitations that users talk about is the restriction of 10,000 characters per review.
The application faces glitches and crashes with iOS.
Their customer service is slow and unsatisfactory, according to many users.
6. Language Tool
Language Tool is an open-source language editor.
What is the cost of Language Tool?
- €19/mo. – billed monthly
- €39/mo. – billed every three months
- €79/yr. – billed annually
Facts and features
- Offers more than 1700 patterns for finding errors.
- Can check up to 40, 0000 characters per review.
- The free version can check up to 2500 characters per review.
- It can check grammatical errors in more than 20 languages.
- It can detect the use of the wrong gender in the salutation (German only).
Ratings and reviews:
The tool enjoys good ratings of its users, and the average rating is 4.5 to 4.7.
English proofreading is highly regarded. However, users feel that checking of other languages offered by the tool is basic and needs upgrades.
7. ProWritingAid:
It is a grammar checker, style editor, and writing mentor in one package.
How much does pro-writing aid costs?
The paid version costs $79.00/year/user.
It also has a free version.
Facts and features:
- The software suggests over 1000s of style improvements.
- The software offers over 20 writing reports that include the writing style report, grammar report, overused words report, clichés and redundancies report, sticky sentence report, readability report, repeats check, sentence length report, pronoun report, transition report, consistency check, pacing check, dialogue tags check, contextual thesaurus, diction report, alliteration report, homonym check, acronym check, house style check, and plagiarism report.
Ratings and reviews
It enjoys high ratings from the users.
The suggestions and reports help understand one’s limitation.
The prominent complaints from the users are that plagiarism checks have to be purchased in addition to the editing and grammar check software, which creates unnecessary hassle.
8. JetPack:
It is a WordPress plugin. You can add the proofreader to the WordPress post editor.
How much does JetPack cost?
JetPack offers various security services that are priced differently. However, the proofreading option is free for WordPress sites.
Facts and features:
- It provides spelling checker, style of writing suggestions, and grammar section. However, you can only use Jetpack with a WordPress account.
- It can also suggest the usage of bias language that means if the sentence can be offensive towards specific groups.
- It offers- Diacritical marks – symbols that inform the pronunciation of the letters.
- The software can detect jargon phrases, which refers to sentences or paragraphs that are relevant or can be comprehended by only a few people.
- It checks the text for redundant phrases, etc.
- It can also provide proofreading for languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, etc.
Ratings and reviews:
The overall rating for the software stands at 4.2 – 4.5.
The audience applauds the unique bias language feature as it helps in detecting common politically incorrect sentences.
It also has an SEO tool, so if you are a blogger or own a website, the suggestions can come in handy.
9. Google Docs/Word document
Both these document readers have a built-in grammar checker that can be used at no additional cost.
Facts and features:
- It highlights the basic spelling and grammar mistakes.
- The software also offers a customizable personal dictionary option.
- With Google Translate, you can also translate the document in 100+ languages.
Ratings and reviews
These grammar checkers provide the first line of guard against basic errors. The suggestions are rudimentary and do not offer explanations.
The translator feature is a word to word translator, and can’t translate with the meaning.
For example, the sentence, “Hello darling, how is life treating you?” translates to, “हैलो प्रिये? जीवन आपका इलाज कैसे कर रहा है?” This doesn’t make sense in Hindi.
If you need advanced suggestions and detailed feedback on your style of writing, then using more dedicated grammar checker tools is a better idea.
Additional Read – Content Marketing Tools to Identify Real Influencers
Conclusion
Making use of a second eye to check your writing can be beneficial. Even the top writers need editors to proofread their work. Any kind of error and inconsistency in your writing can create a negative impression for the writer.
Not everyone can afford a personal editor, and that’s where these best grammar checker software come into play.
We hope this article helped you in making a decision.