PerfectIt Vs. Grammarly: What’s The Difference?

PerfectIt vs. Grammarly: Which writing assistant is a better option? Continue reading to find out!

Without a grammar checker, I couldn’t create high-quality content as quickly and easily as I do! It spots almost everything, including spelling and grammar errors, accidental plagiarism, and readability issues. As a freelance writer, my go-to is Grammarly because I’ve used it since I started my writing career, and it helps me finish my work faster and eliminates rounds of edits. 

But I’ve also tested countless other writing software products. One of these includes PerfectIt. It markets itself as a platform that scans for consistency errors while enforcing style rules. So I decided to give it a shot and share my thoughts. Below, I’ll talk about my experiences with PerfectIt and Grammarly, the pros and cons, and which is better.

Product Name	Availability	Use For	Features	Pricing
PerfectIt	Windows and macOS.	Writers and businesses looking for software that’ll spot consistency errors.	Inconsistency checks and integration with the Chicago Manual of Style.	$90 annually per user
Grammarly	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and the Grammarly desktop and mobile app.	Anyone who needs a writing assistant and plagiarism checker.	Plagiarism checking, readability analysis, and team plans.	Free/ $30 per month

What are PerfectIt and Grammarly?

PerfectIt is proofreading software that’s available as an add-in to Microsoft Word. Founded by Daniel Heuman in March 2009 while living in the UK, PerfectIt helps writers locate typos, inconsistencies, and undefined abbreviations, among other mistakes. 

For example, if you’re using the words “email” and “e-mail” in one document, PerfectIt will flag this and prompt you to use one version. Once you’ve installed PerfectIt, you’ll access a 14-day free trial. After this, you’ll have to pay $90 annually.

Grammarly scans for spelling, grammar, consistency, readability, and plagiarism errors. It also has a browser extension compatible with applications like Gmail and WhatsApp, so there’s no need to copy and paste your text into the web app every time.

Grammarly has a free plan that lets you check your writing for basic writing errors. You don’t have to upgrade to the paid plan, but it offers more advanced checks for readability, style, and plagiarism, which will set you back $30 per month.

What PerfectIt and Grammarly Have In Common

PerfectIt and Grammarly are writing assistants, and some of their writing checks overlap. For instance, both platforms scan for writing inconsistencies, spelling and grammar errors, and mismatched punctuation. They also allow you to tailor your house style guide around your business so your brand tone remains consistent, even if multiple employees are creating content.

PerfectIt vs. Grammarly: The Differences

PerfectIt and Grammarly are both accurate grammar checkers; the main difference is the type of checks they conduct. PerfectIt specializes in spotting writing inconsistencies, typos, and incomplete edits.

However, Grammarly scans for all these issues as well as readability problems, unclear writing, and plagiarism. Grammarly also works without downloading another application, while you can only use PerfectIt if you have Microsoft Word.

What’s Better About PerfectIt?

These are some areas where PerfectIt thrives:

• It cross-references your text to the Chicago Manual of Style
• PerfectIt is more suitable for academic and business writing

It Cross-References Your Text to the Chicago Manual of Style

PerfectIt integrates with the Chicago Manual of Style, so it’ll check your writing and cross-reference it to see if you’re breaking any style rules.  This is helpful if you employ several writers. You won’t have to manually check to see that each document follows the Chicago Manual of Style. Simply paste it into PerfectIt, and let the proofreader do the heavy lifting. Learn more using the Chicago Manual of Style.

PerfectIt Is Suitable For Academic and Business Writing

After using PerfectIt for a few months, I noticed that the edits are more formal than Grammarly. For instance, PerfectIt won’t make your sentences easier to read by rewriting them. You might also be interested in our EPUB vs. MOBI vs. PDF guide. 

You might think this is a bad thing if you’re a freelance writer. Nobody’s going to read your work if it’s stodgy and boring. But teachers can mark you down in colleges and high schools if your work is too casual. 

Also, in the corporate world, informal writing may seem unprofessional. This leads me to believe that PerfectIt is better when checking school assignments, academic papers, and technical documents.

What’s Better About Grammarly?

However, there are two glaring areas PerfectIt lags behind Grammarly. These areas include:

• Grammarly checks for readability
• Grammarly has a plagiarism scanner

Grammarly Checks For Readability

The biggest issue I noticed with PerfectIt is that it doesn’t scan for hard-to-read sentences. This is a significant drawback if you’re a copywriter or content writer because you want to write in a way that’s easy to understand. To test this point, I pasted my Canva review into PerfectIt, but I combined several sentences to see if the proofreader would tell me to split them up.

Even though these sentences were over 40 words long, PerfectIt didn’t spot readability issues. Fortunately, Grammarly immediately flagged my sentences as hard to read and suggested ways to improve.

See how Grammarly prompted me to split up my sentences, so it’s easier to read? PerfectIt has none of that. Also, PerfectIt marketed itself as one of the only tools to spot inconsistency mistakes. 

However, this isn’t true. If I paste an article into Grammarly, it’ll allow me to correct inconsistent writing. For example, in this screenshot, I purposefully used both “e-mail” and “email” and Grammarly spotted it. You can also check out our AutoCrit vs. ProWritingAid.

Grammarly Has a Plagiarism Scanner

Another reason Grammarly is the more well-rounded writing assistant. It offers a plagiarism scanner, while PerfectIt doesn’t.

This is a dealbreaker unless you already have a plagiarism checker like Copyscape. Every online writer and those in academia should use a plagiarism checker on their work. It only takes a few minutes. To learn why, it’s helpful to understand the consequences of accidental plagiarism, and with PerfectIt, there’s no way you’ll know if your document is plagiarism free.

Who Should Get PerfectIt (and Why)?

Since PerfectIt is compatible with the Chicago Manual of Style, it’s a good option for students, teachers, and businesses because it’ll automatically edit your document around these style rules.

PerfectIt also has team plans designed for businesses. For example, you can create a personalized house brand style guide that everyone on your team needs to follow. This ensures that your marketing messages stay consistent.

Who Should Get Grammarly (and Why)? 

If you’re a freelance writer, editor, or author and you care about communicating in a way that’s easy to understand, then Grammarly is a must. Grammarly will flag most of your writing issues. From here, you can focus on what really matters; the value you’re providing to your audience.

If you don’t feel like copying and pasting articles or school assignments into Grammarly all the time, feel free to install the Chrome browser extension. It integrates with Google Docs and Microsoft Word, so you can make edits as you write. This extension also works with Slack and WhatApp, automatically checking your messages before forwarding it to friends, family, and colleagues.

My Testing Criteria

When testing and comparing PerfectIt and Grammarly, I used these criteria to see how each application stacks up:

• Ease of use: As I tested PerfectIt and Grammarly, I paid close attention to the user interface and many learning curves.
• Accuracy: I analyzed the accuracy to see how valuable each tool was. Accuracy was my most important factor, so I ran countless tests.
• Affordability: Nobody wants to break the bank to use writing assistant software. So I considered the price of PerfectIt and Grammarly in my scoring criteria. 
• Additional features: It’s nice for a writing tool to offer additional features that might not be necessary but still streamlines the creative process.

Why You Can Trust Me

I’ve tested and reviewed software products for over five years, including marketing optimization software, writing assistants, project management tools, and programming applications.

Throughout my career, Grammarly has proved to be a reliable writing assistant. I’ve compared it extensively against a variety of other apps and have a deep understanding of how Grammarly works.

Final Word: PerfectIt vs. Grammarly

PerfectIt is built for professionals writing in the Chicago Manual of Style, while Grammarly makes your writing easier to read. Unless you’re writing in the Chicago Manual of Style, I don’t see the point in signing up for PerfectIt. 

Grammarly already offers all the features you’ll find in PerfectIt, plus more! Grammarly spots everything PerfectIt does, like inconsistencies, typos, and grammar errors. Grammarly also offers plagiarism and readability checks, which PerfectIt doesn’t.