title: "10 Best Grammarly Alternatives in 2026 (Tested + Honest Review)" description: "Grammarly is fine. It checks grammar, catches typos, and works in Gmail. It's also $12–30/mo and does almost nothing else. Here are 10 alternatives — some free, some cheaper, several with capabilities Grammarly doesn't ship." date: "2026-05-19" updated: "2026-08-24" ogImage: "/assets/thumbnail.webp" keywords:
- "grammarly alternative"
- "best grammarly alternatives"
- "grammarly alternative free" related:
- "best-ai-paraphrasing-tools-in-2026-tested-honest-review"
- "10-best-quillbot-alternatives-in-2026-tested-honest-review"
- "9-best-wordtune-alternatives-in-2026-tested-honest-review" faq:
- q: "Is there a Grammarly alternative that's completely free?" a: "LanguageTool's free tier is the most generous in this list — solid grammar checking, multilingual, no expiration. It's an honest "free forever" tier, not a 14-day trial."
- q: "Which Grammarly alternative is cheapest?" a: "LanguageTool Premium at $5/mo is the cheapest paid plan on this list if you only need grammar. Whitesmoke is similar but feels dated. Ginger's annual ESL plan is $4.99/mo but has a narrower use case."
- q: "Do any of these work as a Chrome extension like Grammarly?" a: "ProWritingAid, QuillBot, Wordtune, LanguageTool, Ginger, and Linguix all ship Chrome extensions that work in Gmail, Google Docs, and Notion. Coverage varies — Wordtune has one of the smoothest integrations; Linguix is the most "Grammarly-shaped"."
- q: "Is Grammarly still worth $12–30/mo in 2026?" a: "If you only need grammar and clarity checking and you value Grammarly's track record and reputation — yes, it does that well. If you also want AI rewriting, custom prompts, or multilingual coverage, cheaper tools like LanguageTool, ProWritingAid, or QuillBot cover those with more room in the budget."
- q: "Can I keep Grammarly and add one of these alongside?" a: "Yes — most users do this during a transition week. Two Chrome extensions can coexist in the same tab. Disable one when you're sure of the other."
Grammarly is fine. It checks grammar, catches typos, and works in Gmail. It's also $12–30/mo and does almost nothing else. Here are 10 alternatives — some free, some cheaper, several with capabilities Grammarly doesn't ship.
Why writers are looking past Grammarly in 2026
Three things have changed:
- Price. Grammarly Premium is now $12/mo on the cheapest annual plan, $30/mo monthly, and $15+/user/mo for Grammarly Business. AI writing tools that do more have settled around $4–10/mo.
- Scope. Grammarly's core has always been grammar and clarity. AI writing assistants now bundle paraphrasing, summarization, custom prompts, and document chat into the same Chrome extension — Grammarly doesn't.
- Voice. Grammarly's suggestions push toward a single house style. Modern tools let you save your own voice profile and apply it across rewrites.
If any of those three matter to you, an alternative is probably the right call.
How we picked these 10
We looked for tools that meet at least one of these criteria:
- Cheaper than Grammarly Premium ($12/mo) at comparable quality.
- Does something Grammarly doesn't (paraphrasing, summaries, custom skills, multilingual checking).
- Has a usable free tier that doesn't expire.
- Works in Chrome across Gmail, Docs, Notion, and the sites people actually write in.
We dropped tools that exist mostly for keyword traffic and aren't actually maintained. The list below is what we'd actually recommend to a friend.
1. ProWritingAid — Best for long-form fiction and dissertations
Price: Free tier (limited) · Premium $10/mo · Premium Pro $12/mo
Best for: Novelists, dissertation writers, and anyone editing long manuscripts.
ProWritingAid's superpower is its 25+ specialized reports — overused words, sentence variety, sticky sentences, pacing, dialogue tags. For a 90,000-word novel, this is genuinely useful. For a 500-word email, it's overkill.
Weaknesses: the browser integration is laggy compared to Grammarly. The interface is dense. No AI rewriting in the cheaper tiers.
2. QuillBot — Best dedicated paraphraser
Price: Free (125 words/rewrite) · Premium $19.95/mo monthly, $8.33/mo billed annually
Best for: Students paraphrasing sources for essays.
QuillBot owns the paraphrasing keyword for a reason — its 9 rewrite modes are well-tuned. But the free tier caps each rewrite at 125 words, which is frustrating for long-form work. Grammar checking is included but secondary.
If paraphrasing is your only need, QuillBot is a solid pick.
3. Wordtune — Best for confident sentence-level rewrites
Price: Free (limited) · Advanced $6.99/mo (annual) · Unlimited $9.99/mo (annual, ~$19.98/mo billed monthly)
Best for: Non-native English writers polishing one sentence at a time.
Wordtune's strength is the speed of sentence-level suggestions. Highlight a sentence in Gmail, see five rewrites instantly, pick one. It's well-designed.
Limitations: rewrite styles are locked — you can't edit what "Casual" or "Shorter" means. Wordtune Read (their summarizer) is a separate paid add-on.
4. LanguageTool — Best free, multilingual grammar checker
Price: Free (substantial) · Premium $5/mo
Best for: Multilingual writers who need solid grammar checking in 25+ languages.
LanguageTool's free tier is the best in this list. It supports 25+ languages, including Vietnamese and Chinese, and the open-source core is genuinely good. Premium adds AI rewriting, style suggestions, and longer text limits.
What it lacks: a real AI writing assistant. The rewriting is conservative. But for $5/mo with multilingual coverage, hard to beat for pure grammar.
5. Hemingway Editor — Best for tightening overwritten prose
Price: Free (web) · Hemingway Editor Plus $10/mo (with AI)
Best for: Writers prone to long sentences and passive voice.
Hemingway doesn't check grammar like Grammarly does. It checks readability — flags long sentences, passive voice, adverbs, complex words. The free web version is enough for most users; the AI version adds rewriting suggestions.
Use it as a complement, not a replacement, for a grammar checker.
6. Ginger — Best for ESL learners
Price: Free (limited) · Premium $13.99/mo (monthly) · $4.99/mo (annual, ESL-focused)
Best for: English learners who want explanations of why a correction matters.
Ginger leans into the ESL audience. Beyond correction, it explains the rule and offers translation support. The Chrome extension is decent. UI feels dated; AI features are basic compared to newer tools.
7. Linguix — Best Grammarly clone at lower price
Price: Free (limited) · Premium $5.75/mo (annual)
Best for: Teams that liked Grammarly's interface but want to spend half as much.
Linguix is unapologetically Grammarly-shaped. Same look, same in-line corrections, same Gmail/Docs integration — at roughly half the price. The AI features are weaker than QuillBot or Wordtune, but for pure grammar at low cost, it's a fair pick.
8. Whitesmoke — Best for enterprise-style document polish
Price: Premium ~$5/mo (annual)
Best for: Business writers who still draft in Word and want a one-shot polish before sending.
Whitesmoke targets the older "fix my Word doc" use case. It works, but feels like 2018. Skip if you write primarily in the browser.
9. WordRake — Best for legal and corporate editing
Price: $129/year (annual only, no monthly)
Best for: Lawyers, consultants, and academics editing dense prose.
WordRake doesn't generate text. It only edits — and it edits aggressively, ripping out filler and tightening sentences. If your job is making 50-page legal memos readable, this is a power tool. For everyone else, overkill.
10. TextCortex — Best for teams that also need content templates
Price: Free tier · paid plans (check the current pricing on their site)
Best for: Marketing teams that want AI rewriting bundled with drafting templates and personas.
TextCortex behaves more like a writing assistant than a pure grammar checker — templates for social posts, emails, blog outlines, plus persona-based rewriting. Heavier than Grammarly, but useful if you also need drafting help.
Honest comparison table
| Tool | Free tier | Paid (annual) | AI rewriting | Custom prompts | PDF summary | Multilingual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grammarly | Yes — limited | $12/mo | Limited (Premium) | No | No | No |
| ProWritingAid | Yes — limited | $10/mo | Yes (higher tier) | No | No | Limited |
| QuillBot | Yes — 125-word cap | $8.33/mo (annual), $19.95 monthly | 9 fixed modes | No | Yes (basic) | Yes |
| Wordtune | Yes — 10 rewrites/day | $6.99–9.99/mo (annual) | Locked styles | No | Read (paid add-on) | Limited |
| LanguageTool | Yes — solid | $5/mo | Limited | No | No | 25+ languages |
| Hemingway | Yes — web | $10/mo (AI) | Basic | No | No | No |
| Ginger | Yes — limited | $4.99/mo (ESL) | Basic | No | No | 40+ translation |
| Linguix | Yes — limited | $5.75/mo | Limited | No | No | Partial |
| Whitesmoke | No | $5/mo | No | No | No | Limited |
| WordRake | No | $10.75/mo | Edit-only | No | No | No |
| TextCortex | Yes — limited | See site | Yes + personas | Partial | No | Partial |
Which to pick, by use case
- You're editing a novel or dissertation: ProWritingAid. The 25+ reports earn the price.
- You paraphrase sources daily: QuillBot (if you can live with the 125-word free cap).
- You want fast sentence-level variations in Gmail: Wordtune.
- You write in multiple languages: LanguageTool — 25+ language support at $5/mo.
- You're an ESL learner: Ginger or LanguageTool.
- You want Grammarly's UI for less: Linguix.
- You're a lawyer or consultant editing dense prose: WordRake.
- You need rewriting plus content templates for a team: TextCortex.