Grammarly is one of the most popular grammar and writing analysis tools over the Internet. This is a huge breakthrough over past built-in spell checkers, specifically tied to one program. Alotuhg Grammarly has become a predominant and default tool for many users, and at no point, The Digital Trail tries to diminish such wonderful features, the tool posses is flaws and downsides, which makes the usage of It intrusive instead of productive. Before we refer to several tools out in the market than rather competing itself can become a fantastic extension and mixture of tools features, we want to point out a brief summary of Grammarly greatest features and where you might find yourself frustrated.
But there are tons of really good Grammarly ⇣ alternatives out there. Here is a collection of the best.
What do I like about Grammarly?
Grammarly has everything you need
You create many different types of content every day, both professional and personal, and everything you write must convey certain information and be free of any errors. However, copying the prepared text into a separate tool is not the best solution. I know that when I rely on it, take my time, forget it, or just intentionally skip this step, and then make an embarrassing mistake.
In the case of Grammarly, however, there are no more excuses. One (maybe a few) clicks are enough to install the plugin in both Word and the web browser (Chrome, Safari or Firefox).
This means that you can use the tool to check any content you wrote in your browser – product reviews, news on social networks or even profiles on dating sites, as well as content created in Word.
The next time you start typing, you’ll see a Grammarly icon in the text window. As you type, the tool will check everything in real time and underline all errors in red. A red circle will also appear with the number of mistakes you made in the text box.
When you are done typing – or as you type if you prefer – you can click on each item underlined in red for more information. If it’s a simple mistake, such as a typo or a basic grammar error, Grammarly will show you suggestions for correcting the mistake by clicking on it and replacing it with the correct option you chose. You can also ignore the error or, if it’s not a typo, add it to your dictionary.
Grammarly understands you well
Great written communication means writing content for your audience – you certainly care about that too. What I like most about Grammarly is how much you can customize comments. All you have to do is click on the goal setting option and then the settings that should be used by your tools.
I really like that the settings are almost the same as the choices writers make in their words as they type. This is another example of Grammarly being a collaborative tool that puts the writing process in the foreground.
For example, your writing style is greatly influenced by your goal. Grammarly allows you to define whether you want to inform, describe, convince or tell a story through text. Then, based on this, it presents you with a recommendation, as if the tool was reviewing your writing style on its own.
If you create content for an audience of experts in a specific field, you definitely want to use the terminology they are familiar with without needing to be explained in the text. When you select expert settings in the target audience section, the tool will take a closer look at the terminology and jargon used.
The domain settings are just as helpful, although I would prefer them to use a more writer-friendly word for choosing a writing style. It definitely differs depending on whether you are writing a technical report or a story for a creative writing class (or just for fun. When you choose a writing style, Grammarly will adapt its suggestions to it.
Do you have a minute? That’s all it takes to learn
Grammarly is an easy-to-use tool. In fact, it’s very simple. You don’t have to attend any training or even read many pages of manual or any documentation. If you are using Microsoft Word, you will understand Grammarly within minutes. You can also always check if the tool is installed in your browser before you start using it. To do this, look for the G icon in your browser.
When the tool detects a possible error in a browser text window, such as on LinkedIn or in a review on Amazon, it will underline the word or phrase in red to let you decide what to do with it.
If you want more detailed information, you can paste the text into Grammarly. On the right side of the screen you will see the statistics. You can see all alerts or just one type – typos, grammar, punctuation, repetition, or vocabulary.
You can see how your typing style compares to other users by clicking the performance button and reviewing the details. The number on the button shows your percentage of your position relative to the entire Grammarly community with similar goals. The tab provides more information about your readability, reading time, sentence length and speaking time. You can also download the report in PDF format.
Grammarly will turn your writing into science – if that’s what you want
Sometimes the deadline is fast approaching and you want to be on time with everything. Grammarly knows it well, and you can just select the corrected words or phrases without digging into additional information. Quick, simple and painless.
However, sometimes you want to learn more about the errors and reasons for highlighting. To do this, just click on the “See more” option in Grammarly to see the reason and explanation for selecting a given word or phrase as an error
Anyone who didn’t pay attention to grammar lessons at school many years ago, or just doesn’t remember the writing rules anymore, can quickly learn the rules Grammarly provides. Even being a professional writer, I am glad that I could recall all the rules for using participles and commas.
More than just correcting typos and grammar
Your content may be grammar perfect, but that’s not all. The free version only highlights grammar errors and typos. With the paid version, you also get tips on how to improve your writing style – by identifying overused words, jargon, or the passive voice.
When I used Grammarly to check out this article, I found out that I was misusing the word “tool”. Grammarly suggested a different similar word to me each time. It was enough for me to go through the suggestions and click on them instead of spending a lot of time figuring out alternatives.
Improving the language at every turn
It’s not easy to compose an email or any other content on a mobile phone. It’s easy to make a typo and not very attractive style, all thanks to small buttons, a small screen and just a rush.
You can download the free or paid version of the application to your phone. Grammarly will give you tips and corrections in real time in the same way as on a laptop whenever you start typing.
Being a business owner who often answers customer questions via email no matter where I am, I can confidently say that the app allows me to create professional responses and posts on social networks, even if I don’t pay much attention to them. I highly recommend downloading the mobile version to anyone who writes anything on their phone – that is, to virtually everyone.
We live in the world of WordPress
I’ve always missed the option to check typos and grammar in WordPress. So much so that even before I started using Grammarly, I was just copying my posts to Word and checking spelling and grammar.
I was very happy when I found the Grammarly plugin for WordPress. Instead of copying my posts, I can check them while applying all the changes without leaving WordPress. As a result, my posts not only get better, but also have fewer tabs open in my browser.
The WordPress plugin works the same and offers the same feature set as the WordPress plugin.
Nobody forgets about Google Docs
Many of my clients are addicted to Google Docs, but it scared me because their proofing tool is really awful. Yes, each time I routinely copied and pasted the text into another editor that showed me even more errors than I could have imagined.
Recently, Grammarly added a beta add-on to Google Docs which I tested last week. The program in documents works much better than before. However, it still has a few imperfections (see one of the bugs I found below) and can be quite slow at times. Hopefully the next version will be like the rest of the additions.
What I don’t like about Grammarly?
While I find this tool very useful and it’s part of my standard writing, I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t point out a few (very) minor issues that I ran into. Note that none of these are too much of a handicap, and I just had to make a little effort to get them to my head.
Many opinions about Grammarly say that it is an expensive program, but I do not agree with it – especially if someone writes a lot, then the costs are much lower compared to using it. Imagine not even having to hire a proofreader or editor, which would incur additional costs.
Before upgrading to the paid version, I had the feeling that every time I clicked a button I was encouraged to upgrade to the premium version. Yes, I understand the reason, but it irritated me a bit as I didn’t plan to update any time soon. However, I think the advertisement paid off for the producer because in the end I did update – it didn’t even take long for me.
At first, I was delighted that I could check spelling and grammar every time I wrote something. I liked it a lot and used the tool to check the biographies of my foster dogs, which I checked very quickly in the browser, without having to copy to Word – everywhere I wrote.
However, I quickly became irritated when I realized that “everywhere” meant literally anything – every letter I typed on any web page on my computer. This meant I was getting suggestions even while chatting with friends on Messenger or when I wanted to send a message to a UPS courier to leave my package at my door if I wasn’t home.
At first, I thought there was no option to remove Grammarly from certain websites. But my great editor told me that such a thing exists. Just click on the Grammarly icon in your browser to disable Grammarly for a specific website. Now I can write on Messenger without using this tool.
Well, nobody’s perfect
Maybe my expectations were a bit high, but I was hoping Grammarly would pick up on all my typos – unfortunately, it doesn’t. Sometimes it will give me an incorrect suggestion, such as adding a tip that I don’t need.
I often skip words when writing. I’ve noticed that Grammarly doesn’t always notice my missing words. While it detects many of my mistakes and gives me suggestions to improve my writing, I still need to review my work carefully. I can’t mindlessly accept all suggestions.
You don’t have WiFi? You don’t have Grammarly
This is one of the biggest disadvantages. Sometimes I would like to work in places without internet, such as on an airplane. Grammarly, unfortunately, relies on an internet connection and that means you cannot use this tool without internet. While it’s not the end of the world, it can be a bit annoying. Keep this in mind when planning to work on various projects in places where WiFi access may be limited.
Grammarly alternatives – Overview
Grammarly is not the only tool of its kind on the market. There are many other Grammarly alternatives available, both free and paid. I checked out a few competitors offers and spoke to many writers who have used them. Grammarly is the only tool that I use regularly. Honestly, it’s also the only tool that I recommend without the need for additional tools.
The main reason is that Grammarly detects more errors. It is even second to none, because it catches far more errors than other available tools. This is finally all about grammar checking tools, so that’s enough for me to use every day.
I also appreciate the accessories that are very useful to me very often, because they make my style more professional. I was surprised that add-ons are not a standard option in other tools of this type. For example, Ginger add-ons available in the free version are very useful, but browser extensions and add-ons are only available in the paid version of ProWritingAid.
Although After the Deadline has browser extensions, they are difficult to use. I won’t mention that the tool doesn’t have a Word plugin. Due to the fact that I write my texts primarily in Word, I would always have to take an additional and separate step, which of course involves a waste of time.
However, there are also a few things that I appreciate about the other tools:
- HemingWay
- Writer
- Ginger
- 1Checker
- Online Correction
- Prowriting ads
- Jetpack
- PaperRater
- Slick Write
- Reverso
- Readable
- Sapling
- SentenceCheckup
- AutoCrit
- Writefull
- WhiteSmoke
- Antidote
- LanguageTool
- Grammar Check
- Online Correction
- Linguix
- Virtual Writing Tuto
- Druide
- Grammar Lookup
- Sentence CheckuAfter The Deadline
- QuillBot
- Spell Check24
- Sentence Checker
- Typely
- SpellCheckPlus
