To make your writing clear and easy to read, you will likely need some professional help. Fortunately, there’s plenty of those around. And the best software to check your writing is Grammarly. With it by your side, you can avoid making all sorts of embarrassing mistakes and typos.
Grammarly is extremely popular, but is it worth your time and money?
Let’s find out.
What is Grammarly?
Grammarly is a software that edits your writing and checks for all sorts of mistakes. Here are some of the areas Grammarly covers:
- Grammar and spelling – As the very name of the software say, it will fix your grammar mistakes and of course, typos. This also includes punctuation mistakes and levels range from simple and basic to advanced. For example, the free version will fix all of your basic to intermediate mistakes in this area while the premium version fixes more advanced mistakes. The best part is that it offers explanations as to why you should change something, and it helps you learn.
- Plagiarism – For anyone posting content online or creating essays for school, having a plagiarism-free document is extremely important. It makes all the difference. So, with the Grammarly premium, you can rely on this software to check your file and make sure that it’s not plagiarism. Here’s why this software is important for businesses.
- Style – With Grammarly, you get an instant editor, since it will help you fix your style and make it more concise and flowing. Of course, you get a more advanced type of help with a premium but the free version works well for some simple corrections. It also helps you adapt your writing to the style you select.
Who Should Use Grammarly?
In essence, Grammarly is good for everyone. Whether you’re a native English speaker or not, whether you have a degree in creative writing or you’re a plumber writing blog posts for your web page – it works.
Here are some people who should definitely use it:
- Bloggers
- Professional writers
- Copywriters and content marketers
- Authors
- Academic professionals and their students
- Anyone who writes emails
- New writers
- People just learning English
You can change the settings of this software to support American or British English, as well as Canadian or Australian English. It makes any book, blog post or emails easy to read. For a premium version, you can choose to get a subscription for a month and then cancel it. There is also a free option. You can find some of the benefits of this software here: https://www.parentsinbiz.co.uk/5-benefits-of-using-grammarly-in-your-business/
How It Works
When you create your account, whether free or premium, you can start using your Grammarly editor.
There’s a dashboard that lets you adjust it to your own style and needs. If you need to write in a specific genre or style, you can set it up. You can also set a goal for your writing every time you start a new document.
It allows you to select:
- Audience
- Emotion
- Intent
- Style
- Domain
Based on these goals, you’ll get your insights.
You can use Grammarly in several different ways. For one, you can paste your entire article or piece of work into the web page editor or in the software that you download. You can import a document from your computer. You can use it as a writing app on its own and download the files when you’re done.
You can also get the Chrome extension or the extension for Word. Both will fix your mistakes as you go, and the Chrome extension will work in Gmail, Google docs and most other websites.
It underlines your mistakes while you write and offers better suggestions. When it comes to the premium version, you will get to see more advanced suggestions and it will cover a broader range of mistakes.
This version of Grammarly is useful for non-native writers, especially since you get a bunch of resources that allow you to learn. Of course, as with any software, you should stop and take a look before making a change they suggest – the software could be wrong sometimes. Use your own judgment with every suggestion.
You can get insights such as:
- Basic grammar and spelling check that includes passive voice, excess words and bad punctuation
- Spell-check
- Vocabulary tool and a readability score
- Reading time estimate
- Sentence structure improvement
- Flesch reading level analysis
- Plagiarism detector
Plagiarism detector is included with the premium offer and it’s very useful for most professional writers.
Ease of Use
Grammarly is extremely simple to use, most Grammarly review articles suggest. It has many versions and extensions which all make it even easier to work with. As explained, you can import files, write directly in it and it corrects you as you write. It takes moments to register and download. You could start using it within minutes without even knowing anything about it.
The Cost
Grammarly offers numerous pricing options, as you’ll be able to see on their site. For one, you can get a free version that has plenty of use and people love to have it with them on a daily basis.
Here are some other pricing options.
- Grammarly Premium Monthly: $29.95 every month
- Grammarly Premium Quarterly: $19.98 every month, billed all at once for $59.95
- Grammarly Premium Annual: $11.66 every month, billed all at once for $139.95
Of course, it’s best to try out the free version first and then see whether you need more.
Grammarly free has most features of the premium versions excluding an advanced grammar check, plagiarism tool, and vocabulary enhancement properties.
So, if your budget is low, this could still be a viable option.
This software offers many different discounts at various times, so you could get the benefits of that too.
There is a business version of Grammarly too which in addition to all of the other features offers:
- Admin controls for the privacy of the team’s work
- Centralized billing opportunity
- Priority to the support
- Monitoring tools for checking your engagement
It’s best for teams and it costs $15 per member per month.
Conclusion
Grammarly is an accurate, efficient tool for any type of writer. It offers good corrections and explanations for every mistake which is always a good thing.
