Best Grammarly Alternatives: 9 Grammar Checkers Compared
· Updated October 30, 2026
The best Grammarly alternatives in 2026 are ProWritingAid for deep style checks, LanguageTool for many languages, and Sapling for fast team replies. If you want a free Grammarly alternative or something cheaper than Grammarly, LanguageTool and Wordtune both have free plans and paid plans under $7 a month.
Grammarly Pro is listed at $12 a month. Every price below was checked on vendor pages in October 2026.
Why Look for a Grammarly Alternative?
Most people leave Grammarly to save money, to get deeper style feedback, or to check languages other than English.
Grammarly is a writing assistant that checks grammar, spelling, clarity and tone. It works in your browser, email, documents and many desktop apps. It also adds AI tools that rewrite and draft text.
Its plans page lists three options as of October 2026:
- Free: $0, with basic grammar and spelling checks.
- Pro: listed at $12 a month, with more AI help and style checks.
- Enterprise: priced by the sales team.
Here are the main reasons people look for a switch:
- Price. Several tools on this list cost half as much, or less.
- Depth. Novelists and long-form writers often want full reports on pacing, repeats and sentence length.
- Languages. Grammarly focuses on English. Some tools check German, French, Spanish and many more.
- Chatbots caught up. ChatGPT and Claude can fix and rewrite whole drafts on request.
None of this means Grammarly is bad. It is easy to use and works almost everywhere. But you may get more for your money elsewhere.
Quick Comparison: 9 Best Grammarly Alternatives
ProWritingAid is our top pick overall, followed by LanguageTool and Sapling. Here is how all 9 compare on best use, starting price and why to switch. Prices were checked in October 2026, so confirm them before you pay.
| Tool | Best For | Starting Price | Why Switch |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProWritingAid | Fiction and long-form writers who want deep style reports | Free; Premium about $10/mo yearly | Deeper style reports for less than Grammarly Pro |
| LanguageTool | Multilingual writers on a budget | Free; Premium about $5.83/mo yearly | Checks 30 plus languages for about half the price |
| Sapling | Support and sales teams that write fast replies | Free; Pro about $12/mo yearly | Team snippets and autocomplete for chat replies |
| Trinka | Academic and technical writers | Free; Premium about $48/yr | Built for research papers and formal English |
| QuillBot | Students who paraphrase and check grammar | Free; Premium about $8.33/mo yearly | Paraphrasing plus grammar for a lower price |
| Wordtune | Rewriting sentences in a new tone | Free; Advanced about $4.89/mo yearly | The cheapest paid rewrite plan on this list |
| Hemingway Editor | Making writing short and easy to read | Free web editor | Shows hard sentences at no cost |
| ChatGPT | Full rewrites, drafts and edits on request | Free; Plus about $20/mo | Rewrites whole drafts, not just single errors |
| Claude | Careful edits of long documents | Free; Pro about $17/mo yearly | Edits long files in your own style |
What Makes a Good Grammarly Alternative?
A good Grammarly alternative catches real errors, works where you write, and costs less or does more.
We weighed six things:
- Accuracy. How well it catches grammar, spelling and punctuation errors.
- Style help. Whether it flags wordy, passive or hard sentences.
- Where it works. Browser, Word, Google Docs, email and desktop apps.
- Languages. Whether it checks more than English.
- Price. Whether prices are public and lower than Grammarly Pro.
- Free access. Whether the free plan is useful on its own.
Tools ranked higher when they publish clear prices and match Grammarly on the basics. For a wider view, see our list of the best AI grammar checkers.
Best Full Grammar Checkers Like Grammarly
These four tools are the closest match to Grammarly, since they check grammar, spelling and style as you type.
1. ProWritingAid: Best for fiction and long-form writers who want deep style reports
ProWritingAid is a grammar checker and style editor. It is popular with authors, bloggers and students who write long pieces.
What it does well. ProWritingAid goes past basic fixes. It runs reports on overused words, sentence length, pacing and repeated phrases. Paid plans add AI feedback on story chapters and ideas.
Key features:
- Grammar, spelling and style checks
- Many in-depth writing reports
- Story and chapter feedback on paid plans
- Works in browsers, Word and Google Docs
Pricing. There is a free plan with daily limits, such as 10 rephrases a day. Premium is about $10 a month billed yearly ($120) or $30 monthly. Premium Pro is about $12 a month billed yearly or $36 monthly. Lifetime plans cost $399 and $699. Checked October 2026.
Best for: Authors and long-form writers who want detailed style feedback.
Limitations. The many reports can feel like a lot at first. The free plan caps editing reports at 500 words.
2. LanguageTool: Best for multilingual writers on a budget
LanguageTool is a grammar and style checker that supports many languages. It works in browsers, Word, Google Docs and desktop apps.
What it does well. LanguageTool checks English and many other languages, such as German, French, Spanish and Dutch. That makes it a strong pick if you write in more than one language. Its paid plan is one of the cheapest here.
Key features:
- Grammar, spelling and style checks in many languages
- Picky Mode for stricter style checks
- AI sentence rephrasing
- Browser and Office add-ons
Pricing. The free plan checks up to 2,000 characters per text field and gives 3 AI rephrases a day. Premium is $69.90 a year (about $5.83 a month), or about $4.99 a month on a 2-year plan. Quarterly billing is $49.90. Checked October 2026.
Best for: People who write in two or more languages, or want a cheap paid plan.
Limitations. The free character limit is tight for long documents. Its AI writing tools are lighter than Grammarly's.
3. Sapling: Best for support and sales teams that write fast replies
Sapling is an AI writing assistant built for customer-facing teams. It also includes an AI detector.
What it does well. Sapling checks grammar inside help desk and chat tools. It suggests sentence completions and lets teams save snippets for common answers. That helps support agents reply faster and with fewer errors.
Key features:
- Grammar and spelling checks
- Autocomplete and saved snippets
- AI detector for text
- API for developers
Pricing. Free covers basic writing help and AI detector checks up to 2,000 characters. Pro is about $12 a month billed yearly or $25 monthly. Enterprise starts at 10 seats at about $15 a seat a month. The API is pay as you go. Checked October 2026.
Best for: Support, sales and success teams that answer lots of messages.
Limitations. Pro costs about the same as Grammarly Pro. It is less focused on long essays or books.
4. Trinka: Best for academic and technical writers
Trinka is a grammar checker made for academic and technical writing. It targets research papers, theses and formal reports.
What it does well. Trinka knows the style rules of formal and scientific writing. It flags word choice and tone that would not fit a journal. Paid plans add file proofreading, plagiarism checks and citation help.
Key features:
- Grammar checks tuned for academic English
- Whole-file proofreading
- Plagiarism and AI checks on higher plans
- AI writing requests each month
Pricing. Basic is free with 5,000 words of writing help a month. Premium is about $48 a year. Premium Plus is about $125 a year. A Confidential Data plan is about $300 a year. Checked October 2026.
Best for: Students, researchers and scientists who write formal papers.
Limitations. It is less useful for casual email or marketing copy. Some features run on credits, which can be confusing.
Best Rewriting and Style Tools That Replace Grammarly
These three tools focus on rewriting and readability, which many people use Grammarly for anyway.
5. QuillBot: Best for students who paraphrase and check grammar
QuillBot is a writing toolkit best known for its paraphraser. It also has a grammar checker, summarizer and citation tool.
What it does well. QuillBot rewrites sentences in different modes, such as formal or simple. Its free grammar checker fixes basic errors. Students like having paraphrasing, summaries and citations in one place.
Key features:
- Paraphraser with several modes
- Free grammar checker
- Summarizer and citation generator
- Browser and Word add-ons
Pricing. There is a free plan. Premium is about $8.33 a month billed yearly, based on our earlier check. Its pricing page did not load fully for us in October 2026, so confirm before you buy.
Best for: Students and writers who rewrite a lot of text.
Limitations. Its grammar checks are lighter than Grammarly's. Heavy paraphrasing can still need a careful read.
6. Wordtune: Best for rewriting sentences in a new tone
Wordtune is an AI rewriting tool. It suggests new ways to say a sentence, and it can shorten, expand or change the tone.
What it does well. Wordtune is fast for one sentence at a time. Highlight a line and pick a version that sounds more formal or more casual. Paid plans add grammar checks and fluency fixes.
Key features:
- Sentence rewrites in different tones
- Shorten and expand options
- AI summaries of articles and videos
- Unlimited spelling fixes on the free plan
Pricing. Basic is free with 10 rewrites a day and 3 summaries a month. Advanced is about $4.89 a month billed yearly or $6.99 monthly. Unlimited is about $6.99 billed yearly or $9.99 monthly. Checked October 2026.
Best for: People who want to polish tone more than fix grammar.
Limitations. The free plan does not include grammar checks. It is weaker for full documents.
7. Hemingway Editor: Best for making writing short and easy to read
Hemingway Editor is a readability tool. It highlights long, hard sentences and passive voice in color.
What it does well. Hemingway shows a reading grade for your text. Yellow and red marks point to sentences that are hard to follow. It is a simple way to make blog posts and emails clearer.
Key features:
- Reading grade score
- Color marks for hard sentences
- Flags for passive voice and adverbs
- Free web editor
Pricing. The web editor is free to use. Hemingway also sells paid options with AI fixes, but its pricing page did not load for us in October 2026. Check the site for current prices.
Best for: Bloggers and business writers who want plain, short text.
Limitations. The free editor does not fix grammar for you. It does not work inside your email or browser the way Grammarly does.
Best AI Assistants That Edit Like Grammarly
These chatbots are not grammar checkers, but they can fix and rewrite whole drafts when you ask.
8. ChatGPT: Best for full rewrites, drafts and edits on request
ChatGPT is OpenAI's AI assistant. It writes, edits and explains text on almost any topic.
What it does well. Paste a draft and ask ChatGPT to fix the grammar, cut it in half or change the tone. It can explain why a change helps. You can also save custom instructions so it edits in your style.
Key features:
- Grammar fixes and full rewrites
- Tone and length changes
- Explanations of grammar rules
- Free plan with limits
Pricing. There is a free plan. Plus is widely reported at about $20 a month. Confirm on OpenAI's page, which we could not load in October 2026.
Best for: People who want one tool that edits, drafts and answers questions.
Limitations. It does not check as you type in every app. It can change your meaning, so read every edit.
9. Claude: Best for careful edits of long documents
Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant. Many writers use it to edit long drafts and reports.
What it does well. Claude handles long files well. You can upload a full report and a style guide, then ask for a careful line edit. Projects let you keep your style rules in one place.
Key features:
- Line edits and full rewrites
- Projects to store style guides
- File uploads for long documents
- Free plan with limits
Pricing. Free costs $0. Pro is about $17 a month billed yearly ($200 up front) or $20 monthly. Max starts at about $100 a month. Checked October 2026.
Best for: Writers who edit long reports, books or research.
Limitations. It does not underline errors as you type. Usage limits apply on every plan.
How Should You Choose a Grammarly Alternative?
Choose based on what you write, which languages you use, and how much you want to spend.
- You write books or long posts: ProWritingAid, for its style reports.
- You write in more than one language: LanguageTool.
- You answer customers all day: Sapling.
- You write research papers: Trinka.
- You paraphrase a lot for school: QuillBot.
- You want to change tone fast: Wordtune.
- You want plain, short text: Hemingway Editor.
- You want whole drafts rewritten: ChatGPT or Claude.
If you mostly rewrite text, see our list of the best AI paraphrasing tools or our guide to QuillBot alternatives. For drafting from scratch, see the best AI writing tools.
How We Evaluated These Grammarly Alternatives
This list is built from each vendor's official pricing pages and product docs, checked in October 2026.
Tools were ranked on accuracy, style help, where they work, language support, price and free access. This list is not based on hands-on testing. Paste the same short text into two free plans to compare them before you pay.
Prices change often, and some vendors show different prices by country. Always check the final price at checkout.
What Is Cheaper Than Grammarly?
Wordtune, LanguageTool, Trinka, QuillBot and ProWritingAid all have paid plans cheaper than Grammarly Pro's listed $12 a month.
Here is a quick monthly cost view, based on published yearly prices:
- Grammarly Pro: listed at $12
- Trinka Premium: about $4 ($48 a year)
- Wordtune Advanced: about $4.89
- LanguageTool Premium: about $5.83
- QuillBot Premium: about $8.33
- ProWritingAid Premium: about $10
- Sapling Pro: about $12
Yearly billing is where most of the savings are. Monthly billing on most of these tools costs two to three times more per month.
Is There a Free Grammarly Alternative?
Yes. Every tool on this list has a free plan or free version, and LanguageTool's free plan is the closest match to Grammarly Free.
Each free plan has limits:
- LanguageTool: up to 2,000 characters per text field.
- Wordtune: 10 rewrites a day, with no grammar checks.
- ProWritingAid: editing reports capped at 500 words, twice a day.
- Trinka: 5,000 words of writing help a month.
- Hemingway Editor: the web editor is free.
Free plans are fine for short emails and school work. If you write every day, a cheap yearly plan removes most limits.
The Bottom Line
ProWritingAid is the best Grammarly alternative for most writers, and LanguageTool is the best free or cheap pick.
Sapling suits support teams, and Trinka suits academic writers. QuillBot and Wordtune are best for rewriting. Hemingway Editor is best for clear, short text. ChatGPT and Claude are best when you want a full draft rewritten.
Next steps: Pick two tools that fit how you write, paste the same text into both free plans, and keep the one you like. For more options, see our full list of the best AI grammar checkers.
Comparing every AI writer?
See our full ranking of the best AI writing tools for drafts, emails, docs and marketing copy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Grammarly cost in 2026?
Grammarly Free costs $0. Grammarly Pro is listed at $12 a month, and Enterprise is priced by sales. Prices were checked in October 2026.
What is the best Grammarly alternative?
ProWritingAid is the best pick for most writers. It has a free plan, deep style reports and Premium at about $10 a month billed yearly.
What is the best free Grammarly alternative?
LanguageTool is the best free Grammarly alternative. Its free plan checks grammar and style in many languages, up to 2,000 characters per text field.
What is the best grammar checker for academic writing?
Trinka is built for academic and technical writing. It has a free plan, and Premium is about $48 a year.
Is ChatGPT better than Grammarly?
ChatGPT is better for rewriting whole drafts. Grammarly is better for checking errors as you type in your email and browser.
Is ProWritingAid better than Grammarly?
ProWritingAid is better for long-form and fiction writers who want detailed reports. Grammarly is simpler and works in more places.