Grammarly Alternatives in 2026: 10 Options, Free and Paid

Grammarly is the best-known grammar checker, so the reasons for leaving are usually about its plans rather than its quality. Going by Grammarly’s own plans page on 8 October 2026:

• The billing gap is large. Pro is shown at $12/month. That’s the annual price ($144 a year). The page’s plan data lists $30 for one month and $60 for three.
• Free is capped. Free includes 100 AI prompts a month. Full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment and plagiarism and AI-text detection are Pro features.
• Pro has limits too. It covers 2,000 AI prompts per member per month, one style guide, one brand tone and two user groups. Unlimited versions are Enterprise, which means contacting sales.

If any of those is your reason, here’s what else is on offer. Most of these tools sit between two jobs: catching errors (grammar and spelling) and rewriting (changing how a sentence reads). Pick the one that matches your job. For tools that generate marketing copy, see best AI copywriting tools instead.

The alternatives

1. LanguageTool: the multilingual, low-cost checker

LanguageTool lists more than 30 languages and dialects on its homepage and runs as browser add-ons, in Word, Google Docs, Gmail, Apple Mail and as macOS and Windows apps. Premium adds stronger style checks, up to 150,000 characters per text field, unlimited AI paraphrasing and a Style Guide. Annual is $69.90 ($5.83/month); monthly is $24.90; two years is $119.80. Team plans add a shared style guide and dictionary. It’s a checker first, with less drafting help.

2. ProWritingAid: for long-form writing and deep reports

ProWritingAid is built for people writing books and long documents, with 25+ analysis reports, a custom style guide and tools for chapter critique. Free has daily limits (two line-editing reports and ten rephrases). Premium is $10/month billed yearly ($120), $30 billed monthly, or $399 for a lifetime license. Premium Pro is $12 yearly, $36 monthly, or $699 lifetime. Refunds apply to yearly and lifetime plans within three days, not monthly ones. Much of the paid feature set, such as chapter critique and manuscript credits, is aimed at fiction writers.

3. QuillBot: paraphrasing first, grammar second

QuillBot’s core is a paraphraser, with a grammar checker, plagiarism checker, summarizer and AI detector alongside. Free paraphrases up to 125 words in two modes. Premium is $8.33/month billed annually, and the page doesn’t show a monthly price by default. It adds unlimited paraphrase modes, grammar correction in six languages and a plagiarism check of 25,000 words a month. It suits students and rewriting-heavy work more than polishing a finished document.

4. Microsoft Editor: free if you’re already in Office

Editor’s grammar checker is free, with premium features coming through Microsoft 365. Microsoft says you can’t buy Editor premium on its own. Microsoft 365 Personal was $9.99/month or $99.99/year on 8 October 2026 and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Copilot features, plus 1 TB of storage. Editor gives basic guidance in more than 20 languages and spelling suggestions in more than 80. It’s a sensible add-on if you’d pay for Microsoft 365 anyway.

5. Hemingway Editor: clearer sentences, not a full grammar engine

Hemingway highlights wordy sentences, adverbs and passive voice, and its site offers free online tools. Editor Plus adds AI rewrites and grammar fixes with a two-week trial: the 5,000-sentence plan is $8.33/month billed annually ($100), or $25 monthly. A 10,000-sentence plan is $12.50 annually ($30 monthly). Hemingway Editor Classic, an offline desktop app, is $19.99 once and has no AI features. Think of it as an editor’s second pair of eyes, not a replacement for Grammarly’s checks.

6. Wordtune: rewrites and tone for English writers

Wordtune leans toward rewriting. Basic is free with 10 rewrites and AI suggestions a day, plus unlimited spelling and grammar checks. Advanced is $6.99/month billed annually ($13.99 monthly) with 30 rewrites a day. Unlimited is $9.99/month annually ($19.99 monthly). Paid plans have a three-day trial. Grammar is a secondary feature, so it fits people who want sentences rephrased more than errors flagged.

7. DeepL Write: if you already use DeepL

DeepL Write corrects grammar, spelling and punctuation and suggests alternative phrasing. DeepL’s help center lists 10 languages: Chinese, English (UK and US), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (European and Brazilian) and Spanish. Without an account, it handles 1,500 characters at a time. Write Pro removes the limit and costs €6.99 per user per month, billed annually (euros, VAT included, as the page displayed). It’s sold as an add-on to DeepL plans.

8. Trinka: for academic and technical writing

Trinka targets researchers. It checks against APA, AMA, ACS, AGU and IEEE style guides and has a Word app. Basic is free with 5,000 words a month. Premium was $48 a year (the page shows $80 crossed out) or $20 billed monthly. Plagiarism checks and AI detection run on credits. It isn’t aimed at marketing or business copy.

9. Ginger: cheap full-sentence fixes

Ginger Premium fixes whole sentences in context, offers rephrasing, and translates into 40+ languages. On 8 October 2026 a “50% off all plans” promo showed $45 for a year ($3.75/month) and $6.50 monthly, with list prices shown as $13 a month and $7.50 a month on annual billing. It has no free trial but does have a free version and a 7-day money-back guarantee. Check the price at checkout, since promos end. Office integration is Windows only.

10. Sapling: for support and sales teams

Sapling puts suggestions inside customer-facing tools. Its site lists integrations with Zendesk, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Amazon Connect and Twilio Flex. Free covers basic suggestions and a 2,000-character AI detector. Pro is $25/month, or $12/month annually. Enterprise starts at 10 seats at $15 per seat per month. It’s a business toolkit, so it’s less natural for an individual writing essays or books.

Quick comparison

How to choose

1. Start with free. LanguageTool, Microsoft Editor and DeepL Write cover the basics at no cost. Check the limits first, such as DeepL’s 1,500 characters per check.
2. Match the tool to the job. Books and long-form: ProWritingAid. Academic papers: Trinka. Readability: Hemingway. Rewrites: Wordtune or QuillBot. Support teams: Sapling.
3. Check languages. LanguageTool lists 30+, DeepL Write lists 10, QuillBot’s grammar checker covers six, and Microsoft Editor gives basic guidance in more than 20.
4. Compare billing, not just the headline price. Several show annual per-month prices: ProWritingAid is $10 annual and $30 monthly, and Hemingway is $8.33 annual and $25 monthly.
5. Check what you’d give up. If you rely on Grammarly’s style guide or brand tone, confirm the replacement has one: LanguageTool has a Style Guide (and a Team Style Guide), ProWritingAid a custom style guide, Trinka named academic style guides. For tone across a team, see our guide to AI writing tools that learn your brand voice.