Is Grammarly Overrated? I Put These 8 Options to Check

A couple of years again, the thought of a software program catching my spelling errors, and structural points sounded ridiculous. So when Grammarly began main the AI writing assistant wave, and promised to chop down countless modifying cycles, I began utilizing it straightaway. 

Little question, Grammarly made my life as a content material marketer simpler. It was like having a tireless pair of eyes all the time by my aspect. But, I used to be looking for Grammarly options, considering if it was actually the perfect match for all my wants. 

The query turned much more urgent after I learn “The 22 Immutable Legal guidelines of Advertising” by Al Ries and Jack Trout. The thought of being first quite than being higher actually struck me. That’s precisely what Grammarly did. It merely conquered the thoughts first, regardless of not being the primary AI writing assistant. 

I requested myself: Are there different instruments on the market that outshine Grammarly? 

Being a medical graduate, I couldn’t accept a easy Google search. As a substitute, I took the lab-coat method and launched my very own mini trial of eight Grammarly options. I’ve compiled my sincere evaluations on this article, saving you time on the hunt for options. 

What to search for in a Grammarly various?

Grammarly is well-integrated into my writing workflows attributable to its ease of use and the newfound freemium options. I can entry it throughout a number of platforms as a browser extension, desktop app, and cellular app. 

Nonetheless, I didn’t really feel glad with it. It usually missed the mark on the tone I aimed for. Generally, it sounded too generic, stiff, and robotic. Seems, I wasn’t alone with these frustrations; G2 evaluations echo my woes.  

Listed below are the important thing points an efficient AI writing assistant ought to embody:

• Correct and contextually conscious recommendations to keep away from pointless flags.
• Offline performance, particularly for paid plan customers. I might wish to entry the software program anytime, anyplace, no matter my web connection.
• Superior options like paraphrasing, summarization, content material era, and translation.
• Higher efficiency that doesn’t decelerate different apps and working programs.
• Integrations with different net functions akin to electronic mail, Docs, or Notion. 
• Provide to enhance the tone of writing by offering clever phrase recommendations or vocabulary enhancements. 
• Capabilities to allow crew collaborations, together with in-app chat choices and approval chains.
• Plagiarism checkers or quotation mills. 
• Affordability for particular person creators and small companies.
• A transparent assertion on how software program processes and protects consumer knowledge.

The 8 greatest Grammarly options you want to strive now

After choosing the options primarily based on consumer evaluations on G2, I examined them to be used circumstances, options, pricing, and distilled their professionals and cons. Hold studying to seek out the perfect software on your wants.

I attempted Semrush’s prompts on every thing, starting from drafting chilly emails and newsletters to Amazon product descriptions. 

Should you’re somebody like me who values a easy but helpful consumer interface, then Semrush doesn’t disappoint. For each function, it particulars its capabilities and meant outcomes so that you’re not clueless whereas utilizing it. Being a web-based platform, it additionally integrates with Google Docs, Microsoft Phrase, and WordPress. 

The AI writing assistant software comes with a seven-day free trial (bank card required), after which it’s $25/month. Nevertheless, to make use of Semrush’s Search engine optimisation capabilities, you could additionally individually purchase the ContentShake AI software, priced at $60/month. 

I attempted the Search engine optimisation writing assistant software to boost the discoverability of certainly one of G2’s weblog on digital adoption platforms. After analysing the weblog, it created a chart alongside the parameters of readability, Search engine optimisation, originality, and tone of voice, displaying the place the strongest pull was. 

Whereas the software supplied a dependable measure of how search-optimized your weblog is, it didn’t clarify what the rating means or the way it was calculated. 

Even when the software flagged sentences suggesting enhancements, it solely made the recommendations regarding Search engine optimisation and readability, ignoring different points. It might take trials and errors to assist enhance the rating. 

The readability and Search engine optimisation suggestions have been particular and actionable. For example, Semrush mentioned it was greatest to shorten the article because it was longer than most greatest performing rivals. Subsequent, it advisable key phrases I might goal, together with “buyer journey”, “buyer retention”, and “consumer base” to enhance visibility.

What I dislike about Semrush:

• Not having offline entry to the writing assistant generally is a hurdle if you happen to’re travelling in areas of patchy connectivity. 
• The software doesn’t all the time counsel how you could possibly enhance originality and tone of voice, regardless of pointing to common scores for them. 

What G2 customers dislike about Semrush:

“Among the extra superior options can really feel overwhelming at first, particularly for learners. It additionally will get a bit dear as you scale up or want extra customers. A extra versatile pricing mannequin would make it even higher.”

– Semrush Evaluation, Hemant A., Search engine optimisation head at a small enterprise.

The interface of ProWritingAid feels intuitive, making it straightforward to work with a number of options. I like how stories can be found in a single place. Few options, like real-time construction evaluation and the fashion of doing grammar checks, have been much like Grammarly’s. 

I liked how I might simply combine the software with many different functions like Docs or Phrase, together with browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).

One other factor that impressed me was ProWritingAid’s offline performance. For somebody like me who likes to journey, usually to distant places, this supplies what most different AI writing assistants lack. 

Now for the check! I started with a easy paragraph concerning the “significance of sleep for well being” for a analysis paper, and it did a good job of setting the suitable tone by rephrasing and analysing my targets. Nevertheless, to my disappointment, I seen it lagged in producing informational content material. 

From a analysis standpoint, the software doesn’t have a quotation software. But its plagiarism checker flags weaker areas that want citations. You’ll need to browse for credible sources, which may be time-taking. 

After utilizing this software program extensively, I skilled a slowdown of the applying I used to be engaged on. Many different G2 reviewers reported the identical points. 

Whereas their free plan supplies plenty of options, the 500-word depend restrict makes it much less helpful. To jot down an extended piece, I’ll need to shell out $30/month for a plan.

What I dislike about ProWritingAid:

• The fixed popping of recommendations whereas utilizing the applying may be distracting. It might be higher if recommendations confirmed solely after I hovered over marked sections. 
• The software is just an support. It doesn’t assist generative capabilities to provide content material primarily based on particular prompts.

What G2 customers dislike about ProWritingAid:

“Being a synthetic intelligence, it might probably’t substitute the human eye fully. Among the recommendations or corrections are merely fallacious, and this system will not all the time get the small nuances of what you’ve got written. You continue to want your personal judgment and data for an excellent variety of recommendations.”

– Professional Writing Support Evaluation, Elli C, E book Coach.

Writesonic caters to each learners and skilled writers. The dashboard provides a wide range of templates and instruments. 

The software helps the usage of a constant model voice throughout content material varieties. Its potential to counsel various phrase selections that higher match the context actually stood out to me. 

What’s extra, the summarization function permits you to glean info from a prolonged content material piece rapidly.

That mentioned, after I tried the punctuation software for a weblog on well being tech, it supplied fundamental corrections, however they weren’t as complete as a devoted grammar examine software.

What I dislike about Writesonic:

• Lack of clean transitions and movement whereas creating long-form content material. This will create a jerky studying expertise and make the content material sound extra robotic.
• The punctuation software supplied fundamental grammatical corrections however was not as complete as a devoted software like Grammarly. 

What G2 customers dislike about Writesonic:

“I’m not a fan of their level system. Granted, you get it without cost within the first month, however you possibly can solely create one article without cost, then need to pay. I additionally suppose that they need to reload their factors each month like Leonardo does for the free plan. Most of those Search engine optimisation writers do not try this.”

– Writesonic Evaluation, Ruve A., CEO of a small enterprise.

Jasper boasts a pleasant tone, like a companion for brainstorming concepts.

Getting began didn’t really feel like interacting with a machine in any respect. The bot is cordial — it requested my identify, the sector I labored in, the dimensions of my firm, and a hyperlink to my top-performing web page to personalize the tone.

I attempted the seven-day free trial of their creator plan, which promised a model voice, entry to Jasper Chat and Search engine optimisation mode, all priced at $39/month in any other case. Jasper additionally has a Professional possibility ($59/seat/month) and a Marketing strategy (customized pricing), which supplies crew administration, enhanced safety controls, and limitless AI-generated content material.

I used Jasper to brainstorm weblog publish concepts. It felt like ChatGPT, however with a friendlier tone. 

I additionally examined it on making a weblog define, drafting an introduction, and writing a conclusion, and it carried out nicely on all fronts. Exploring its accuracy for different languages other than English revealed grammatical errors throughout translation. 

I’ll admit, Jasper’s pleasant contact makes it helpful to create personalised emails in a extra inventive approach than different AI instruments.

Nevertheless, a lot of Jasper’s options are free elsewhere, making me query the price of its premium model. The unsubscription expertise was not clean because it hinted at suspending my account, swiping clear chats and knowledge therein.

What I dislike about Jasper:

• There’s no quotation or fact-checking assist, which makes it dangerous for analysis writing.
• Fundamental grammar and spell checks go away you with plenty of room for heavy modifying. This software is good for producing a primary draft, however not for churning out a sophisticated finish product.

What G2 customers dislike about Jasper:

“There’s a fairly steep studying curve relating to getting probably the most out of AI. Studying arrange the perfect prompts will generate the perfect outcomes.”

– Jasper Evaluation, Jawad E., Head of Advertising at a small enterprise.

Reviewers of Rytr rave about its content-creation options for writing emails, messages, and blogs. So I gave it a shot. The interface is clear, minimalistic, and easy. 

It has two elements, one for writing help and the opposite for generative AI functions. The weblog writing expertise was straightforward as I might customise responses by means of the number of language, tone, use case, matter, key phrases, and the extent of creativity.

On selecting between tone choices like assertive, informal, or inspirational, I might sense a marked distinction within the outputs. One easy but efficient function is that you just get to decide on the variety of output variants. 

You may also choose use circumstances starting from LinkedIn posts to YouTube video descriptions. What’s extra, its potential to generate and save content material in the identical doc helped me unify content material creation.

To get began, I examined the use case for writing a LinkedIn publish about necessary dental well being ideas. In distinction to different writing assistants, Rytr began by asking my goal, key message, and audience earlier than producing a response. This helped me generate extra exact responses. 

Subsequent, I performed between “informative” and “inspirational” tones, and the outcomes have been passable. The function that generates meta titles and descriptions additionally did a good job. 

As for the credit score restrict, the ten,000 characters/month restrict shouldn’t be perfect for an everyday author like me. To confess, I exhausted them inside 20 minutes of my trial. Many G2 customers additionally complained concerning the inaccurate monitoring of credit, a declare I couldn’t corroborate, owing to correct monitoring in my case. 

As well as, though the software shifts the tone of the content material when prompted, most variations nonetheless sound robotic and unapproachable. The assertive model of the textual content I created began with “In at this time’s digital panorama…”, suggesting the trite generative AI tone that mechanically diminishes its credibility. 

What I dislike about Rytr:

• Shorter-than-expected size of responses means it’s not that nice for long-form content material. After I requested it to develop on sure sections of my LinkedIn publish, it took a number of prompts to generate one thing significant.
• It has restricted SERP evaluation options in comparison with rivals like Semrush. The evaluation and key phrase analysis lack depth and don’t match nicely with the content material creation processes. 

What G2 customers dislike about Rytr:

“One notable side that could be missing is the absence of a presentation era function. Implementing this performance might considerably improve the consumer expertise, significantly for professionals who require seamless integration of written content material into presentation codecs. ”

– Rytr Evaluation, Prasanna V., Deputy Supervisor, Taxation and Inner Management.

Proper off the bat, the annoying half about Pepper Content material is that you would be able to register solely utilizing your organization electronic mail ID, even for a trial. It doesn’t cease there. The following window asks for firm and position particulars, and get in touch with quantity. It’s a transparent signal that the platform shouldn’t be primed for particular person customers. 

I used its AI content material studio to create a LinkedIn publish on the significance of dental hygiene. The preliminary outcome, although stacked with info, was not structured like a LinkedIn publish. Subsequent prompts yielded repetitive info. 

The AI Content material Studio function I used is named “Brainstorming with Pepper AI”. Maybe that’s why the preliminary outcomes are rudimentary and unfinished in nature.

That mentioned, Pepper Content material provides a wide range of options starting from Search engine optimisation, weblog writing and advertising companies. Its AI author assistant, known as Peppertype.ai is suited extra for companies and groups, quite than particular person creators. The quotation generator and plagiarism checker options might help refine research-based articles.

The consumer interface, although easy, appears just a little bland and outdated. But that doesn’t restrict its capabilities as an built-in software empowering you to generate concepts, conduct an internet site audit, and run analytics. 

The platform carried out satisfactorily when requested to edit a weblog. With long-form content material, the platform is dependable with its structured Search engine optimisation formatting.

Some G2 customers felt that it had restricted Search engine optimisation capabilities, a declare I examined. True to the evaluations, it prompt key phrases I already ranked nicely for quite than pointing to alternatives. 

What I dislike about Pepper Content material:

• The pricing hurts for particular person creators or small companies with restricted budgets. Its content material concept labs is pegged at as a lot as $398.98 for 5 customers a month. 
• It has restricted inventive capabilities with a higher emphasis on informational content material. After I requested Pepper Content material to make a LinkedIn publish extra approachable but authoritative, it leaned an excessive amount of towards an institutional tone.

What G2 customers dislike about Pepper Content material:

“I believe I dislike pepper since their inner communication shouldn’t be that good.

There’s plenty of backwards and forwards occurring in between the venture, which may be improved simply.”

– Pepper Content material Evaluation, Vedant D., Intern in analytics and advertising. 

What stands out is copy.ai’s supply to construct your personal workflow earlier than producing content material, which lends a private contact. I additionally appreciated the choice to browse immediate examples — it made it simpler to make use of the software for the suitable sorts of content material. 

I might entry and decide between inbuilt ChatGPT 3.5 and Claude 3 Haiku to generate content material. Builders can even recognize the API entry for app integration.

Within the free model, I might get simply 2,000 phrases in chat, which felt a decrease allowance than different related instruments. But the trial model didn’t ask for my bank card particulars, obviating the necessity for dedication. 

The worth could also be a sticking level. The starter plan comes with no phrase limits and personal group entry, which could be dear in comparison with different instruments that supply extra options at a less expensive value. 

The superior plan, at $249/month, provides extra choices for custom-made workflows, though G2 evaluations counsel that the workflow builder function may need a studying curve. 

What I dislike about copy.ai:

• Whereas making an attempt the advertising electronic mail software, I seen that a number of prompts generated impersonal electronic mail copies. Other than asking for demographic particulars, copy.ai should think about asking customers’ ache factors for extra focused messaging. 
• The free options on the web site are usually not built-in on a single platform, precluding a unified consumer expertise.  They’re talked about as “free instruments” on the web site. Every of those instruments, like define or paragraph mills,  launches in a separate window, which creates a disjointed expertise. 

What G2 customers dislike about copy.ai:

“Buyer Help is nonexistent. There’s a chat, however nobody replies to that – I’ve messages which are marked “learn” and unanswered. I’ve despatched additionally few e-mails that went with out a solution too. I’ve tried becoming a member of their official group on fb, however it appears nobody manages that both and my invite remains to be pending.”

– Copy.ai Evaluation, Mateusz L., E-commerce Specialist.

Anyword’s consumer interface resembles Pepper Content material’s. In different phrases, it’s easy but outdated. I examined its distinctive content material improver function to boost the introduction of a G2 article.  

The development directions had totally different choices, together with “make longer,” “make shorter,” and “change tone of voice”.  You may even add your personal directions. Utilizing the “improve-more participating” choices, I bought a number of variations of the introduction, which have been solely barely totally different from the unique model — one thing even ChatGPT might handle. 

What stood out was how Anyword handles model consistency. Clients and prospects all the time wish to speak to firms and never particular person personalities. Anyword will get that. You may apply the “model vocabulary” and even choose a audience on your content material. 

I educated it to make use of the model tone of a particular firm by feeding best-performing articles, and it roughly creates equally sounding content material. The software’s modifying function is correct and helped me generate a number of recommendations primarily based on my tone desire.  

That mentioned, after I tried the weblog creation function to generate a bit on the position of AI in cybersecurity, it fell flat. The outcome started with an overused phrase, “The digital panorama is evolving at an unprecedented tempo…” making it appear generic and robotic. 

Anyword merely offered paragraphs with out structuring the content material alongside bullet factors, headers, transition sentences — mainly, not one of the parts that assist with readability or Search engine optimisation. 

What I dislike about Anyword:

• The interface is comparatively much less intuitive and has a studying curve. 
• Its pricing, beginning with $49 a month, could also be unsuitable for people or smaller companies.

What G2 customers dislike about Anyword:

“Anyword typically generates the fallacious factor, and I’ve to repair up the immediate so it might probably generate it extra precisely. It additionally has a phrase restrict, which makes utilizing it for giant blogs very tough.”

– Anyword Evaluation, Yousif S., Small-Enterprise.

AI video mills have touched a UX plateau and are struggling to scale past simplicity. Be taught why in our current article primarily based on an evaluation of 1,200+ consumer evaluations.