Whether you’re crafting a professional email, penning an academic essay, or even composing a witty social media post, perfect grammar is the cornerstone of effective communication. But with the vast array of free grammar checkers available online, how do you know which ones can truly be relied upon?
To find out, we tested and compared three popular free grammar checkers, assessing their ability to fix errors in sample text. All these tools claim to assist writers like students, bloggers, and social media users in writing error-free content.
Now, let’s find the perfect grammar checker for you!
Free Grammar Checkers: Analyzing Key Factors for Ratings
While testing and comparing these free grammar checkers, we have considered listing their pros and cons along with some key features, to make the competition fair:
- Ease of Use: How user-friendly is the tool? Is the results easy to understand, or does it take time to figure out? Is signing up for an account straightforward, or does it complicate things?
- Accuracy: How reliable are the grammar checker’s suggestions? A reliable tool provides accurate feedback consistently, addressing various concerns in your writing.
- Additional Features: What extra functionalities does the grammar checker offer apart from checking grammar? Sometimes, it’s the extra features that make a grammar checker more appealing.
- Cost: Lastly, does the grammar checker provide good value for money?
1: QuillBot
Quillbot is a grammar checker and paraphrasing tool that makes writing easier. It offers different writing modes to fit various styles and needs, like Standard, Fluency, Creative, and Formal. One cool feature is “Freeze Words,” where users can keep specific words unchanged. During our tests, Quillbot found and fixed all 12errors we gave it.
Disclaimer: Skyline Academic’s free grammar checker is also powered by QuillBot, but all tools were tested objectively and unbiasedly without any unfair advantages.
Ease of Use:
- Quillbot is easy to use, with a user-friendly interface.
- You don’t need to sign up, making it quick to start editing.
- There’s a button to fix all errors at once, which saves time.
- It has a browser extension for added convenience.
- Fixing individual errors is easy with just one click.
- Quillbot has a shortcut to its other tools.
- It offers different formatting options and buttons for exporting and copying text.
- You can use it on the Quillbot site or Skylinr Academic for free, without signing up.
- You can even paste text or upload files to use it.
Accuracy:
- Quillbot accurately found and fixed all 12 errors we tested it with.
- It also suggested the right words to use, improving the quality of the writing.
Cost:
- Quillbot has a free version with some limits.
- You can get all its features with a premium subscription for $20 per month.
2: Grammarly
Grammarly offers a seamless user experience with its intuitive interface and straightforward navigation. Users can easily access Grammarly through its web interface, browser extension, mobile app, or desktop app, ensuring accessibility across various platforms. However, while the interface is user-friendly, some minor inconveniences were noted, such as the absence of a “Fix all errors” button and the requirement for two clicks to rectify an error.
During our testing, Grammarly rectified only 11/12 errors with suggestions that can only be applied if you have a premium version.
Ease of Use:
- The absence of a “Fix all errors” button and the requirement for two clicks to rectify an error may slow down the editing process.
- Grammarly offers a browser extension for added convenience, allowing users to access the tool directly within their browser.
- Users can enjoy different formatting options and buttons for exporting and copying text, ensuring versatility in editing.
- While signing up is required to use Grammarly, the process is quick and straightforward.
- Also, Grammarly adds unnecessary suggestions like adding the articles “the”, and “a/an” before some words.
Accuracy:
- While Grammarly’s free version offers basic grammar-checking capabilities, many issues can only be addressed with a premium membership.
- During testing, the free version of Grammarly was able to fix 11 out of 12 errors, indicating limitations in error detection and correction.
- Based on the highlighted text, it is evident that the premium version of Grammarly could detect more errors compared to the free version.
- Also, during our test, Grammarly failed to replace the word “impotent” according to the context.
Cost:
- Grammarly offers a free version that covers basic grammar-checking needs, including grammar mistakes, spelling, and punctuation.
- Users seeking advanced features such as plagiarism checks and vocabulary enhancement may opt for the premium version.
- The premium subscription is priced between $12 to $30 per month, depending on the billing cycle.
3: Virtual Writing Tutor
With its user-friendly interface and robust grammar checker, Virtual Writing Tutor simplifies the process of detecting and correcting grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and contextual spelling errors. Moreover, its advanced capabilities, including vocabulary analysis, essay checking, and paraphrase detection, empower users to refine their writing skills effectively.
However, it was able to rectify the 12/12 errors during our testing, yet it is not easy to change the errors with one click.
Ease of Use:
- Virtual Writing Tutor offers a minimal and user-friendly interface, enhancing ease of navigation.
- However, users may encounter registration and verification processes that are slightly buggy, particularly with multiple tabs open.
- Logging into the Virtual Writing Tutor account can sometimes be cumbersome due to occasional server errors.
Accuracy:
- Virtual Writing Tutor effectively rectifies all 12 mistakes identified during testing, ensuring high accuracy in error detection and correction.
- The grammar checker efficiently fixes grammatical errors, such as double negatives, missing auxiliaries, and tense shifts, enhancing overall writing quality.
- Additionally, the tool provides contextual spelling corrections, vocabulary analysis, and suggestions for improving cohesion and tone.
Cost:
- Virtual Writing Tutor is entirely free of charge, making it accessible to all users without any premium or subscription-based plans.
- Users can utilize all features of the platform without any limitations or costs, making it a valuable resource for writers, educators, and students alike.
