I’m the biggest cheerleader for Grammarly because it’s an advanced writing aid tool that goes beyond traditional spell-checking. It analyzes your text for a wide range of issues, including grammar, punctuation, style, and tone, offering real-time suggestions for improvement.
Additionally, it includes an awesome plagiarism checker, so you can make sure everything you create is original.
Now, with the integration of AI in Grammarly, you can even use its helpful suggestions to improve your overall content.
Pros
Cons
- Real-Time Error Correction: Offers instant feedback on writing mistakes, helping you clean up your text as you write.
- Tone Detection: Analyze your text to provide feedback on the tone, making it easier to align your writing with the intended message.
- Plagiarism Checker: An essential feature for ensuring your content is unique and not inadvertently similar to existing published material.
- Comprehensive Writing Support: Covers a wide range of writing issues from basic to advanced, so it’s great for writers of any skill level.
- May Not Catch Every Error: I promise it’s highly effective, but Grammarly might not identify every single error or may occasionally misinterpret context. That’s why I always recommend running your work through multiple means of editing, like Word’s read-aloud and Google Doc’s built-in editor.
- Can Be Costly: The free version is useful but super basic. The advanced features, including plagiarism checking, require a paid subscription.
Cost of Grammarly Premium
You can get the free version with basic writing suggestions at any time and with no trial or obligation to upgrade. The premium plans, which include advanced checks for grammar, punctuation, style, plagiarism, and more, are available through monthly, quarterly, or annual subscriptions.
- Monthly plan: $30 per month
- Quarterly plan: $60 for three months ($20 per month)
- Annual plan: $144 for one year ($12 per month)
- Business plan: $15 per month per user (for teams of 3 or more)
Tips for Writers
- Final Check: Utilize Grammarly as a final review before submission to catch errors that may have been missed during manual edits.
- Customize Style Goals: Take advantage of Grammarly’s ability to set specific style goals (e.g., formality level, audience knowledge, tone) to tailor your writing to your project’s needs.
- Integrate with Your Workflow: Grammarly works across many platforms, including web browsers, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs. Use its browser extension or desktop app to have Grammarly’s assistance no matter where you write.
- Review Suggestions Critically: Not every suggestion will fit your intended meaning or style. Use Grammarly’s feedback to make informed decisions rather than accepting all changes automatically.
- Enhance Clarity and Engagement: Pay attention to Grammarly’s suggestions on clarity and engagement to make your writing more compelling and accessible to your audience. This is where it points out active versus passive voice, too, which we touched on in earlier chapters.
Using Grammarly with Other Tools
Grammarly can be easily integrated into Microsoft Word and Google Docs, providing its suite of writing enhancements directly within these platforms. This seamless integration allows you to receive Grammarly’s suggestions and make corrections while working on your documents without needing to switch between applications.
- For Microsoft Word, download the Grammarly add-on and enable it to receive suggestions in your Word documents.
- In Google Docs, use the Grammarly browser extension and ensure it’s turned on for Google Docs to see suggestions as you type.
- It also works on your smart devices, so you can make sure every email and social media post sounds professional.