The Best Grammarly Alternatives Of 2020 (Reviews & Pricing)

Are you looking for Grammarly alternatives or proofreading software that will transform your writing into a polished masterpiece? 

It’s no secret that Grammarly is one of the best online grammar checkers on the market. Powerful Word and Outlook integrations combine with artificial intelligence to make it great for writers, authors and bloggers alike. 

I use it almost daily, but Grammarly isn’t for everyone.

Fortunately, there are lots of editing tools that writers can pick from.

In this article, I’ll go over the features, pricing and pros and cons of the five best Grammarly alternatives on the market (including two that are great for non-native English speakers). 

I’ll also cover some free alternatives to Grammarly.

If you’re searching for different features, a lower price point, or simply a new grammar checker tool, you’ll find it here!

Ready to fine-tune your writing skills and publish killer content? 

Let’s go!

Please note, this list of Grammarly alternatives contains affiliate links meaning I earn a small commission if you sign up. I only ever recommend products I use and trust.

1. ProWritingAid

Most people consider ProWritingAid the best Grammarly alternative. 

Why?

It offers similar features with the same level of accuracy! This text editor and style checker software eliminates errors, optimizes vocabulary, and improves sentence structure. 

ProWritingAid is a great writing and editing tool for all types of content, including blog articles, books, social media posts, and editor’s notes.

The online editor will also check for:

• Overused words
• Clichés
• Sticky sentences (long sentences that should be edited down)
• Readability
• Passive voice
• Incorrect tenses
• And more!

The ProWritingAid app also has a web browser plug-in for nearly all web browsers like Google Chrome and Firefox.

Unfortunately, there’s currently no mobile app for iOS or Android. 

Want a detailed look at ProWriting Aid? Check out my in-depth ProWritingAid Review.

ProWritingAid vs Grammarly

Like Grammarly, ProWritingAid is quick and accurate, and it has several useful features that mirror Grammarly’s. It also contains additional grammar checking features for fiction writers. For example, you can open up large files (like your novel) and check it at once. It also checks for clichés, writing styles and vague words.

ProWritingAid also offers you a house style tool. 

What’s a house style tool?

This software allows users to save and apply a specific tone and writing style to the text. It is especially useful for companies looking to implement a consistent writing style for their content. 

But that isn’t all.

ProWritingAid also supports Scrivener. If you use Scrivener as your word processing tool, you’ll have no trouble linking it to ProWritingAid.

Pros

• Built-in thesaurus
• Readability analysis
• Integrates with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, Open Office and more. 
• Insightful writing style checker 
• Sentence fragment checker
• House style tool
• Inappropriate colloquialisms checker
• Powerful self-editing features
• Free version available

Cons

• Many key features are limited to the premium version
• Slower than Grammarly
• Less beneficial for people who struggle to write and spell in the English language
• No mobile checker app for Android or iOS

Price 

The web browser extension is a free tool, but the desktop version is paid.

ProWritingAid Premium costs:

• $0 per month (free Chrome extension)
• $20 per month (paid monthly)
• $5.83 per month (paid yearly)
• $240 for lifetime access (one-time payment)

Want to learn more? Read my ProWritingAid review.

Note: The plagiarism checker software costs extra. Ten checks cost $10, 100 checks cost $40, 500 checks cost $120, and 1000 checks cost $200. Alternatively, you can choose Premium Plus which comes with 60 plagiarism checks per year, for a slightly higher monthly cost.

2. Ginger

Created back in 2007, Ginger software is now one of the world’s most reliable Grammarly alternatives. It’s offered as a mobile app, a desktop version and a plug-in for web browsers— helping you write and correct wherever you want!

Like most proofreading software, Ginger helps you write and edit in real-time with its grammar, spell check and proofreading features. Ginger highlights grammatical suggestions in blue and provides alternative vocabulary for commonly used terminology. The software also has advanced natural language programming to function as a human editor.

What’s more?

Ginger software has a text reader that verbalises your text back to you, allowing you to listen to your flow, analyse the level of text engagement and eliminate passive voice. 

However, that isn’t all. 

Ginger can even translate your text into 60 different languages including Spanish, French and German for free! This is great for non-native speakers who struggle to write and spell in English.

Ginger vs Grammarly

The pricing differences between the two are minimal, and both churn out accurate edits. Ginger, however, is better suited to users writing in multiple languages. It even gives you English grammar lessons to sharpen your writing skills. 

Ginger software will also provide sentence length and structure suggestions for lines that don’t read well. The tool instantly understands a sentence and rearranges the words, making it smoother and more readable.

Pros

• Identifies errors that other software overlooks
• Translates your text into 60 different languages
• Includes a powerful Chrome browser extension
• Allows addition of unique words to a personal dictionary 

Cons

• Requires more time to correct errors than Grammarly
• Limited-time free version
• Costly premium plans when compared with other Grammarly alternatives

Pricing

• $0 per month (free Chrome extension)
• $29.96 per month (paid monthly)
• $12.48 per month (paid yearly)
• $9.99 per month (paid every two years)

Ginger also offers a 7-day, 100% money-back guarantee. 

3. WhiteSmoke

Established in 2002, WhiteSmoke is a competitive proofreading tool that includes:

• Grammatical edits
• Punctuation edits
• A plagiarism checker
• A spell checker 
• Over 100 templates 

Templates inside of this proofreading software include resumes, thank you letters, cover letters, condolences and more. It’s the perfect option for anyone looking to craft a quick document to send out immediately!

WhiteSmoke supports nearly 55 languages and provides suggestions through Statistical Machine Translation. 

This illustrates the way linguists on the WhiteSmoke team constantly work to improve translation quality and text.

It ensures your translations are contextually and grammatically sound.

This software supports most web browsers, including Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox. It can also work with dedicated writing tools like MS Word, Google Docs and MS Office. 

WhiteSmoke will check 16 different kinds of sentence structure including fragments, run-on sentences, incorrect punctuation, and dangling modifiers.

WhiteSmoke vs Grammarly

Though not as fast or intuitive as Grammarly, WhiteSmoke offers some similar features, but at a lower price.  

Unfortunately, the mobile app and desktop version don’t have very intuitive interfaces. For example, users must paste their content into WhiteSmoke. They can’t directly upload docs. 

However, as a free plagiarism checker software, WhiteSmoke is still a powerful tool. 

Pros

• Translates text into over 50 languages
• Offers built-in plagiarism checker
• Provides good proofreading features
• Suitable for businesses

Cons

• The interface isn’t intuitive on iOS, Android or desktop 
• Slower than Ginger and Grammarly
• Uploading docs not available 
• No free browser extension

Pricing

• WhiteSmoke Chrome Extension – $8.33 per month (paid yearly)
• WhiteSmoke Essential – $10 per month (paid yearly)
• WhiteSmoke Premium – $13.33 per month (paid yearly)
• WhiteSmoke Business – $22.99 per month (paid yearly)

Want to see how the WhiteSmoke checker app rivals Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and Ginger? Check out my review of the best grammar checkers. 

4. Hemingway Editor

Hemingway Editor is a fast and efficient editing tool that largely focuses on improving readability. 

While the other tools on this list point out grammar mistakes and spelling errors, the Hemingway app focuses solely on complex sentences.

Whether it’s lengthy sentences, run-on sentences or the use of passive voice, Hemingway’s sentence rephraser will point out these errors. It’ll then break your writing into smaller and shorter sentences. 

How does it do this?

It points out your “very hard to read” sentences (marked in red) and slowly progresses through a series of five colours (of declining difficulty levels) to help you simplify your text.

The Hemingway app also lets writers publish directly to WordPress and Medium to save time. 

However, due to its lack of grammar, punctuation and spell check features, I suggest you use it only as a secondary tool for polishing your sentences.

Hemingway vs Grammarly

While Hemingway has more readability features than Grammarly, it can’t compete with Grammarly’s grammar checking features. If you plan to use the Hemingway app, you’ll probably have to use a secondary grammar checker tool for copyediting rather than relying on it to catch all of your grammatical mistakes.

While Hemingway’s sentence rephraser simplifies sentences, it can be problematic for text covering complex ideas and details. 

How?

For instance, a scientific study about brain neurotransmitters will likely have a lot of red highlights because it’s difficult to read. This isn’t necessarily a reflection of poorly written work — it’s just a complicated topic!

On the upside, Hemingway maintains formatting when you copy and paste your text to it. 

Pros

• Better editing features than Microsoft Word
• Clean, easy-to-use interface
• Works offline
• Complements other editing tools

Cons

• Lacks a strong grammar checker tool
• Doesn’t consider the context of the content
• Unable to detect missing words
• Has the potential to oversimplify text

Pricing

• Web app – Free
• Desktop app – One-time payment of $19.99 (I use the desktop app)

5. Virtual Writing Tutor

Virtual Writing Tutor is an online grammar checker that’ll help you correct:

• Spelling errors
• Grammatical mistakes
• Punctuation flaws
• Paraphrasing hiccups
• Vocabulary pitfalls

It’s useful for developing the writing skills of non-native speakers because of its English-as-a-second-language intelligence. 

This free tool also offers proofreader training for novice teachers. It even lets teachers assign work to students to lessen their grading workload. 

Virtual Writing Tutor can also gamify the grammatical correction process by highlighting  grammar errors interactively. As well, it has a Target Structure Checker to help writers instantly improve the structure of their work. 

Virtual Writing Tutor vs Grammarly

While Virtual Writing Tutor offers some comparable features to Grammarly, the site creators suggest using a “two-pronged approach” for editing. 

Run your text first through Virtual Writing Tutor and then through a free proofreading software like Grammarly to ensure that it is error-free. 

While Grammarly is a better editing tool with a nicer interface, Virtual Writing Tutor is a completely free grammar tool. 

If you’re a writer on a budget, this may be the ideal proofreading tool for you, even if it’s not as comprehensive as Grammarly.

Pros

• Completely free
• Powerful target structure checker
• Good customer support
• Gamified approach to grammar edits
• Built-in language translation

Cons

• Limited capabilities when compared with Grammarly (e.g. no ability to check writing by style)
• The web interface contains distractions and some ads
• Does not support Android
• Developer recommends using Grammarly as well

Pricing

• Visual Writing Tutor is a free tool

6. Antidote

Antidote is a lesser-known grammar checker, even though it has been around for years. In fact, the team at Antidote recently released version 10 of this tool. While I spent a lot of time researching tools for this Grammarly alternative guide, I didn’t come across Antidote until their team reached out to me.

It contains many comparable features to the other tools in this guide, but also has some unique characteristics. You can paste a document directly into Antidote or add their plugin to Word. It checks for language, typography and style errors. Antidote also supports a personal dictionary, meaning you can add frequently used words (e.g. a technical term or character name)

After buying an Antidote license, you can use a beta version of this Grammarly alternative online too.

Antidote vs Grammarly

Grammarly and Antidote offer desktop versions. However, the Grammarly version requires internet access whereas Antidote runs locally on your desktop. That’s particularly useful for writers who want to check sensitive documents without uploading any information online or to a cloud server.

I’ve never run into issues checking my writing using grammar checkers that work online, but I can see how a tool like Antidote could help lawyers or those working on commercially sensitive materials. 

Antidote also includes useful statistics and estimates. One feature that stood out is the billing time by rate and word. This suggests it’s a good tool for professional proofreaders and editors.

Pros

• Works on your computer, without internet access
• Powerful grammar checking features for professional writers
• Available for mobile
• Supports British, American, Canadian English, and French
• Ideal for those who dislike monthly subscriptions

Cons

• Not as intuitive or fast as Grammarly
• The array of checks and possible errors is overwhelming, at first
• No free trial
• Desktop version takes up a lot of drive space

Pricing

• Windows, Mac or Linux license – One-time payment of €119 ($130)
• Business pricing available upon request

What’s the Best Grammarly Alternative?

This isn’t a comprehensive list of alternatives to Grammarly.

Other popular grammar software alternatives include:

• PaperRater
• 1Checker
• Reverso
• Slick Write
• OnlineCorrection.com
• Jetpack

However, I’ve featured my favourite examples of proofreading software in this guide. 

Except for Hemingway App, each example has comprehensive grammar punctuation and writing style features to help you avoid writing pitfalls like:

• Grammatical errors
• Run-on sentences
• Passive voice

These tools have everything you need to take your writing to the next level, so why not try one and get started today?

• Try ProWriting Aid 
• Try Ginger
• Try WhiteSmoke
• Try Hemingway
• Try Visual Writing Tutor
• Try Antidote