What is Grammarly?
Grammarly is an app or extension for your browser that checks your grammar, spelling, plagiarism, and more in real-time on a number of different platforms, including Microsoft Word, WordPress, Facebook, and more.
This grammar app is actually coined as being your “Free Grammar Assistant.”
Getting Started and Security
Grammarly checks your writing against its database of content and style errors as well as anonymously collected data from its daily active users. The downside of this real-time model is that Grammarly requires an internet connection to work. In use, Grammarly underlines critical mistakes in red (spelling and basic grammar), and advanced errors in yellow (style and best practices), though the latter capability is limited to premium users. Hovering over any of the indicated words or phrases brings up the option to fix the error directly or read a more detailed explanation of the mistake.
I appreciate the descriptions’ clear language and use of sample sentences to illustrate mistakes. It’s more detailed than what you get with the built-in grammar checkers of both Google Docs and Office 365. I also find the error count that Grammarly adds at the bottom of every document to be an efficient way of showing how much editing work I have left.
Improving Grammar (Almost) Everywhere
Grammarly costs $29.95 per month, $59.95 per quarter, or $139.95 per year. If this price seems high, know that Grammarly frequently offers subscription discounts. For the price of entry, you get customized checks for different document types, a plagiarism filter, and a function to help diversify your vocabulary, among other extras. The latest feature for premium subscribers is a consistency check in the Grammarly Editor desktop application, which we discuss in a later section. Grammarly also offers a limited free version that checks for critical spelling and grammar errors. Grammarly’s Business tier costs $15 per member per month and is billed on an annual basis.
Grammarly works on Chrome, Safari and Firefox. One of the factors that make Grammarly the best choice for an online grammar checker is how easy it is to use on different web apps and even in Microsoft Word. Unlike other grammar checkers, the application isn’t intrusive, and it appears in texts boxes online. Many of the other programs I evaluated made it hard to accurately identify the problem text, but Grammarly’s red underlining is easy to see and clearly marks where the error is.
When you’re in a text box, you need to click an icon at the bottom to get Grammarly to pop up so you can see details about corrections that need to be made. The site then redirects you to a suite where you can read the text in your email or message with more details and helpful input from the checker. There’s a short lag while the software analyzes your content, and it adds a few extra steps to your writing process. However, Grammarly’s helpful and correct suggestions trump the slight delay.
Who is Grammarly Good For?
Grammarly is useful for both native English speakers and those who don’t write in the English language that often. People who use Grammarly include:
Bloggers
Content marketers and copywriters
Authors
Any business professional who wants to draft an accurate report, presentation, email or social media post.
Students