Grammarly is a popular grammar checker app used by over 12 million people worldwide from more than 150 countries.
This proofreading tool checks your text for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, suggests word replacement options and gives insights into sentence structure.
As bloggers or content writers looking to write high-quality content that is concise, error-free, engages, and motivates readers to continue reading, Grammarly is a great tool to use. It can help you produce explicit, straightforward, and grammatically accurate content.
By now, you are wondering, does Grammarly really work as claimed, and is the premium worth paying for? Although I will tell you all about Grammarly features in this review, you can decide if the premium is worth the cost.
Let’s get started.
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P.S. I only recommend products and services that I personally use.
What is Grammarly?
Grammarly is a comprehensive online writing assistant that proofreads and checks the quality of your writing for grammar, spelling, punctuation mistakes, typos, and other words you might have missed while typing.
The apps help people write more accurately, eliminate mistakes, and express themselves more effectively.
And in addition, it provides users with a personalized learning experience by giving error messages specific to that user’s writing style.
You can add Grammarly through Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge browser extensions.
How does Grammarly work?
Grammarly checks your writing for incorrect words, grammar, spelling mistakes, word choice, missing punctuation, and style, underlines them, and suggests how to fix them.
It offers many valuable features, including contextual spellchecking, plagiarism detector, text completion suggestions, vocabulary enhancer, and word-byline generator.
One of the features I use regularly is the “set goal.” Once I upload my documents from Google docs to Grammarly, the table pop-ups to set the style, intent, audience, and tone have been very helpful.
Grammarly can check all your writing once it is a browser extension. And with that, spot mistakes in your email messages, documents, social media posts, and text messages.
Who should use Grammarly?
Grammarly is not only for writers or students alone but for anyone who wants to increase their written communication and writing skills. Also great for professionals who need to produce quality content.
- Students
- Educational institutions
- Bloggers
- Content writers
- Authors
- Small businesses
- Social media managers
Your level doesn’t matter; Grammarly will present your content better by eliminating typos, grammatical errors, and style inconsistencies. And if you want to be completely confident in your work, Grammarly can help eliminate any mistakes that might diminish the credibility of your message.
What Are The Key Feature In Grammarly?
Grammar checking
Grammarly has a browser extension that checks all your writing, including emails, social media posts, blog posts, and messages. It can correct thousands of mistakes in seconds to ensure you write with confidence.
As opposed to other apps, which only offer a few spellchecker functions without feedback, Grammarly provides feedback on grammar mistakes and the essential spellchecker function.
Vocabulary enhancement
Grammarly’s innovative word choice detects potential synonyms of the words you use the most.
Spell checking
Grammarly will find text with spelling mistakes, suggest corrections, and allow you to add the words to your personal dictionary.
Contextual Spelling Correction
This feature ensures that words are spelled correctly in the proper context, so you don’t have to worry about wrong grammar or spelling anywhere.
The reason is that some words are spelled correctly but appear in the wrong context. So, Grammarly corrects these contextual mistakes.
Writing Goals
One of my favorite features is “set goals.” It pop-up a few seconds after uploading my document on the app.
You may have a particular writing style since you know your audience and what suits them. So grammar helps you set this goal right from the beginning of your writing.
There are different writing styles; for example, you can set the audience to General, Knowledgeable, or Expert, make it formal, neutral, or informal, and even set the tone to how you want your audience to relate to the content.
Punctuation And Grammar Structure
Grammarly checks for grammar and punctuation errors while you are typing. It works as a browser extension or an application on your device.
Grammarly can detect errors often missed by other grammar checking tools.
Plagiarism check
With the Grammarly premium version, you don’t have to worry about falling into the trap of plagiarised content. Instead, this app searches the web for any writing similar to yours and suggests ways to fix them.
It underlines where your text matches others showing the details of the websites.
Multiple suggestions
Grammarly checks through your document to give corrections of multiple spelling errors.
Write On The Go
You can access Grammarly from Windows, iOS, iPad, iPhone, and Android.
Clarity
Grammarly notifies you when your writing is wordy and difficult to understand and suggests an alternative.
When you have important figures and dates, Grammarly suggests putting them in bold for better understanding.
Performance score
After you have corrected all the suggested errors by Grammarly, you can check your performance score. It gives details of your word count, readability, and vocabulary.
How Much Does Grammarly Cost?
There are many subscription plans
1. Free plan – $0
2. Premium plan
- Monthly subscription – $30/month
- Quarterly subscription – $20/month (billed as one payment of $60)
- Annual subscription – $12/month (billed as one payment of $144)
3. Business Plan
The payment depends on the number of team members
- 3 to 9 members – $12.50/member/month
- 10 to 49 members – 12.08/member/month
- 50 to 149 members – $11.67/member/month
4. Grammarly@edu for educational institutions.
Do Bloggers Need The Premium Version?
While Grammarly has a free version for the individual level, the premium has a more advanced feature to help bloggers become better writers.
But first, let’s look at the differences between the free and premium plan
Grammarly free version
The free version mainly checks errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word choice suggestions with a simple click of the button.
The fantastic thing about the free version is that there’s no time limit to its usage. So, you can use it forever.
Grammarly Premium version
Grammarly premium has many advanced features that can help you become a better writer, especially if you are not fluent in English. But what if my English is good enough? Why do I still need Grammarly?.
You need to write valuable and informative blog posts that make your message clear to readers as a blogger.
And, of course, you want to ensure you write original content, so you don’t fall into any legal issues with what you are publishing online.
Grammarly’s premium version has many advanced features, including a plagiarism checker to help you achieve this aim. In addition, you can use the app on many devices like desktops, iPad, iPhones, Android, and more.
Moreover, you have access to unlimited corrections, punctuation suggestions, definitions for complex words, and writing mistakes that are not even related to grammar or spelling.
- Plagiarism detection – search the web for phrases that match your content and offer suggestions to adjust your writing to stay original.
- Formality
- Safety – has an encrypted to save your work in the cloud.
- Removes tones that are impolite and negative
- Clarity – ensures your tone and style suit the specific audience.
- Removes wordiness from sentences
- Fluency suggestions, thus helping you avoid mix-ups of sentences associated with specific language.
You can take advantage of the free trial of 30 days to see if it fits your needs.
How Can You Integrate Grammarly With Other Devices?
Grammarly is a grammar checker and a plagiarism detector that works on all platforms, including but not limited to computers, smartphones, and tablets. You can attach it to your word processor to scan for grammatical errors while typing.
You can use Grammarly in different writing applications such as M.S. Word, Gmail, Facebook Messenger, or other text boxes.
You can integrate Grammarly in four ways.
1. Grammarly Editor
You can copy, type or upload your document to the app. It will automatically underline the mistakes and give suggestions to fix them.
2. Browser extensions
The app is available for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. In addition, it automatically suggests corrections for emails, social media, and blog posts.
3. Windows and Mac
Download the app for windows or mac on your desktop. Then upload your writing while the app checks for errors and suggestions on fixing them.
4. Grammarly keyboard
This feature is available for Android and iOS. So you can use it on the go while it checks for errors and gives suggestions through the devices.
Grammarly Pros And Cons
Pros
- Free version available
- It is straightforward to install – you can access it on the web, desktop, or mobile devices.
- Regular update of the app
- Checks overuse of passive voice
- Available in different English versions; American, British, Canadian, and Australian.
- It has a goal-setting feature.
- Integrates well with Microsoft word, google docs, and outlook.
Cons
- It does not integrate with Scrivener
- Limited features for free plan
- Though quite comprehensive, It cannot replace a human editor
What Writing Tool Competes With Grammarly?
ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is a writing assistant that you can use as a first draft generator, plagiarism checker, grammar checker, sentence structure checker, style analyzer, and consistency checker.
It can detect common errors in your sentences, grammar, and punctuation and highlight and correct them – saving you time and energy. The main challenge here is that you have to pay for the plagiarism checker separately.
Pricing
Like Grammarly, ProWritingAid has a free version, and the premium is more affordable than most of its peers.
The premium version – is $20/month, $79/year, and a $399 one-time payment (no plagiarism checker).
Premium plus; $24/month, $89, and $499 (plagiarism checker for 60 checks).
Pros
- You can use it anywhere on the go, just loading the ProWritingAid chrome extension onto your browser.
- It works on any device, including Scrivener, Windows P.C.s, Macs, iPods, iPhones, Android, and tablets.
- It is easy to use with minimal training needed or none at all
Cons
- You need to pay for the plagiarism check separately
- It does not work well with large files
- The free version limited to 500 words
Whitesmoke
Whitesmoke is a cloud-based writing app that detects and eliminates grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in your writing.
In addition, WhiteSmoke integrates with all apps and browsers, but it’s not as easy as Grammarly to use. It also offers a wide range of tools for editing text, such as adding bullet points, highlighting the text, or adding notes.
Pricing
- Essential plan – $4.16/month
- Premium plan – $6.67/month
- Business Plan – $11.50/month
Pros
- Works on Windows, Mac os and all browsers
- You can use it on any tablet, desktop, or laptop with an internet connection.
- Translator for over 50 languages.
Cons
- No free plan
- Support is slow and not available 24/7
- You can only upload up to 10,000 characters at once
- Pay an extra fee to get the mobile app.
- You cannot export files from Whitesmoke with the original formatting intact, so it’s not great for saving work in progress that you might want to edit later.
Ginger
Ginger is a free online system that checks for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and gives context-based corrections. It integrates well with chrome, safari, and Edge but not with Firefox.
Although Ginger is famous compared to others, it’s quickly making waves in the industry.
Pricing
- $13.99/month for the monthly subscription
- $7.49/month billed as $89.88 for the annual payment
- $6.99/month billed as 167.76 for a two-year payment
Pros
- Free version available
- Access to a personal trainer
- Suggest context-based corrections
Cons
- Highlights all mistakes in the same color
- No integration for Google docs
- No Plagiarism checker
- No Firefox browser extension
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Is Grammarly Free?
You can use a free version for unlimited time but with limited features. But with premium, you have access to all the features.
How much does Grammarly cost?
The premium costs $30 for a monthly subscription and $20/month if you pay for the annual subscription of $144.
Is my work safe on Grammarly?
Yes, Grammarly uses encryption to protect your document from external access, but I suggest not saving sensitive documents on the app.
What payment method does Grammarly accept?
You can use PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and UnionPay cards.
Where Can You Use Grammarly?
You work well on Microsoft Word, Google Docs, WordPress, and social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Linkedin.
Is Grammarly easy to use?
The interface is intuitive and easy to use. all you need is to log in with your Facebook, Gmail ID, or email address to get started, and you can edit your documents on the go, even with your mobile phone.
Visit the website, choose your preferred device to install the app, download it and follow the instruction after.
Is Grammarly accurate?
Though Grammarly is very comprehensive and efficient for fixing all sorts of mistakes in your text, including spelling errors, punctuation, and, more importantly, grammatical errors
But, of course, it’s not perfect and cannot replace the human editor.
Final Verdict
If your grammar skill is good, you may use the free version alone from the start to see how it works.
But if you are a blogger or content creator, I suggest you go for the premium option because of the advanced features.
Though the price seems on the high side, the value you get is much more worth the cost.
Moreover, I have been using Grammarly for some time to proofread my work, which has helped me pick up mistakes I may not have noticed.
Though Grammarly helps take a large percentage of errors in your writing away, it’s best to cross-check your content before publishing.
Remember, Grammarly is inaccurate and cannot take the place of a human editor.
Thank you for reading!
And if you have any questions, please drop them in the comments.
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Hi Muslimah
Thanks for your extremely detailed review on Grammarly. I have been using the free version of Grammarly and really happy with its assistance to my writing and thinking of upgrading to the paid version. You have mentioned about its ability to “checks overuse of passive voice”, is it only in the paid version?
Thanks again
Grace
Hi Grace
Yes, most of the advanced features are on the premium version. However, if you write content regularly on your site, I suggest you go for the paid plan.
Thank you.
Cheers.
Grammarly has honestly saved my life. I now have articles that are well-written because of this tool. If you are a blogger, I would suggest that you stick to Grammarly. Watch how your writing will improve. I will be sure to share this article with everyone and tell them about the importance of Grammarly.
When I finish editing my writing, I run it through Grammarly and often be surprised to see some spelling mistakes I missed.
I agree; it’s a must-have tool for bloggers and content writers.
Thank you.
Cheers
Ok so this article caught my eye. I have been using Grammarly for a few years now. However I find it doesn’t fix everything in my writing so I have to use other checkers as well. I never new of the extra features so I will be looking into that. What is your favorite thing about Grammarly?
Hi Kiersti
I agree Grammarly cannot replace a human editor but still one of the best I have used. I can’t entirely agree with some of the suggestions, and most times, I proofread and edit before running my post through the app, which does help.
My favorite feature is the plagiarism checker.
Could you share your experience of using other checkers with us?