Every blogger and writer knows that every piece of content requires proper editing. As a blogging enthusiast and writer myself, I have tried a variety of proofreading tools to check my posts and articles. One of the most common tools I use is known as Grammarly. I have been a premium subscriber for several years and have often used this proofreading tool when writing on different topics. But is Grammarly Premium worth it?
Read on to find out! In this Grammarly review, I will discuss its features and positive and negative sides and compare the free and the paid version.
Is Grammarly Premium Worth It?
Before discussing whether Grammarly Premium is worth the investment, let’s discuss the features you get with the free version and after you upgrade.
About Grammarly Premium
Grammarly is a cloud-based writing assistant that helps you edit and correct your grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
The tool helps you create easily readable content and find the right words to express yourself and communicate your ideas effectively.
A valuable thing about Grammarly is that it is a real-live editing tool that gives suggestions as you write your content.
You can use it when writing on various platforms, such as Google Docs, Word, LinkedIn, Twitter, Gmail, and many other apps and websites.
Grammarly was launched in 2009, and its headquarters are in San Francisco. The main goal of its founders was to help people communicate effectively.
Since then, Grammarly has helped millions of users to improve their writing, whether they are using the tool for professional or personal purposes.
The editing tool is suitable for content students, content writers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and many others.
The software company behind the editing tool also ensures the users of their privacy and safety.
There are many more alternative correction checkers, that you can use for the same purpose.
How you can use Grammarly
Grammarly is simple and convenient to use. All you need to do to begin editing is to create an account using an email and a password. Once this is settled, there are a few ways you can use the virtual writing assistant.
Browser extension
You can install Grammarly as a browser extension, meaning it can check the text you are writing in your browser and give you suggestions for improvement. The browser extension is convenient and easy to install.
Document editor
Another way to edit your content is to paste it or write it directly into the Grammarly document editor once you log into your account. You can also access your previously edited documents if you need to make changes.
Desktop app
The Grammarly desktop app allows you to use the editing tool on the Microsoft Office Suite or third-party apps.
After you download the Grammarly add-in for Microsoft, you will need to install it on your PC. Then, open Word or Outlook and click on the “Grammarly” icon to connect it to your account.
However, a significant thing to mention is that the desktop app doesn’t work offline as it is an online writing assistant.
Mobile app
Grammarly also has a mobile app accessible on both IOS and Android devices. It is easy to install but requires you to enable it on the keyboard.
When you enable it, it features tone detection as well as auto-correction, which you can disable if you find it bothersome.
The app also gives auto-capitalization suggestions, provides predictive text, suggests synonyms, and gives other grammar recommendations.
The type of propositions you will receive depends on the type of pricing plan that you are using.
Grammarly Free vs. Premium Plan
Free version
The main focus of this personal-writing assistant is to help you make error-free content that is simple to read.
If you have the free version, the tool will look for basic grammar mistakes, review your spelling and punctuation, offer suggestions and check the tone of your writing.
This is not a free trial but a long-term editing tool that gives you basic grammar suggestions without making any payment.
You can select the level of the audience you are writing for and the level of formality of your content to receive better suggestions.
The tool also makes sure the content is easy to understand for the audience and analyses the tone of the content to show you how it may sound to your audience.
It suggests that you shorten very long sentences, change sentences from passive to active voice, and avoid repetitiveness.
More about the free version
If Grammarly cannot detect words you commonly use, you can add them to your dictionary so they are not marked as errors.
One of the most important features of the writing tool is checking your document’s overall score.
Once you make the necessary edits, it shows you a percentage of up to 100% representing your content’s quality which I find very useful when writing.
Finally, the free version of Grammarly enables users to choose for which audience they are writing and select between four types of English such as British, American, Canadian, or Australian.
Grammarly Premium version
When you get the Premium version, you will receive advanced grammar suggestions and be able to check for plagiarism. It helps you change overused words with more suitable choices and words that can be difficult to understand with simpler ones to improve your readability.
If the words you use don’t match your content’s tone or domain, it gives you suggestions for a replacement. I like this tool as it helps me find the right words to deliver the content and improve my vocabulary.
Even though it is AI-powered, the tool tries to imitate a human editor and review sentence structure, flow, and more. If you decide to accept a suggestion, you will be able to make a change with a single click.
It can save you time looking for easily missed errors, especially if you are writing longer content.
Let’s get into more details.
Features
Correctness
Grammarly’s main feature, the correctness tool, gives grammar and spelling suggestions. It also gives you punctuation suggestions and tells you if you have inconsistent punctuation throughout your content.
Content clarity
While the free version helps you make the text easily readable and compelling, the Premium plan gives you more advanced suggestions for content clarity.
Grammarly’s content clarity recommendations are underlined in blue, and their goal is to improve the flow.
The personal writing assistant not only helps you improve your writing skills but also gives you a reason behind the suggestions it gives.
If you are still not confident about your content, you can also take advantage of the expert writing service and submit your document to be reviewed by experts.
Engagement suggestions
The engagement function from Grammarly analyzes your text as a whole and gives you recommendations for improvement based on your work.
It can also detect monotonous passages and help you avoid repetition, and make a correction to replace wordy phrases. I find this feature very helpful, especially when I am writing long articles.
Delivery
The delivery feature refers to the tone of the writing. This feature helps you maintain a consistent tone and style for better delivery.
Based on the choice of words tells you whether you sound uncertain or confident. It also detects whether some people may find the words offensive or non-inclusive.
Grammarly works as a contextual spell checker that searches for incorrect sentence structures and usage of the modifier, checks the uses of articles, and addresses other spelling and grammatical concerns.
Plagiarism
As a professional writer, avoiding plagiarism in content is extremely important. Hence, the plagiarism checker is one of the most valuable Grammarly tools.
Once you run a test, it shows you what percentage of your content is plagiarised and gives you the site’s source with similar content to analyze.
I find that the plagiarism checker could improve as it doesn’t perform a deep search. Throughout my career, I have used multiple plagiarism detectors; compared to them, Grammarly’s checker is average.
An essential thing to mention is that there is a limit on how many words you can check monthly. Grammarly enables you to check up to 150k words each month.
Writing goals
Grammarly allows you to choose the domain for your writing and your intent, whether you are writing to inform, describe, write a story, etc. You can also choose whether you are writing for a general, knowledgeable, or expert audience.
Another thing you can choose is whether your text is informal, neutral, or formal, which will help Grammarly give you suitable style and delivery suggestions.
When you upgrade to a Premium plan, you can choose the domain referring to academic, business, casual, creative writing, etc. In the same way as the free version, when you get the Premium plan, you can select the intent of your writing.
Grammarly also helps you keep track of your writing and create goals in the form of a weekly writing streak.
While it cannot completely replace a human editor, it does a good job helping online writers. High-quality content is informative, easily readable, and free of any grammar and spelling mistakes.
The editing tool can also foster productivity by enabling individuals to write within a specific time frame without worrying about punctuation marks, spelling, and other mistakes. Besides productivity, Grammarly can also help you with creativity.
When I often pay too much attention to grammar when writing, I experience difficulties with my creative side. However, I can produce content much more time-efficiently with Grammarly, knowing that the tool goes through the content and detects writing mistakes.
Grammarly metrics
Grammarly’s metrics are accessible via its document editor. As you address the suggestions Grammarly provides, you can increase the overall performance score of your content.
The metrics also include word count and the number of characters and sentences your text has. Additionally, they provide you with data such as reading and speaking time.
Other metrics Grammarly provides when you check your text are word and sentence length and readability score. The tool also measures the use of unique and rare words and lets you download the report in a PDF format.
That said, if your score is imperfect, it doesn’t mean your content is not ready to be published. However, if the performance score is very low, it indicates that you should probably make changes.
What Can You Use Grammarly For?
You can use the Grammarly editing tool whenever you want to improve your written communication. If you are a blogger, you can use the grammar-checking tool to elevate your writing to another level and make it engaging and creative.
Grammarly is a useful tool for marketers as it can help you sound more professional when making ads and posts on social media or communicating with your audience.
If you often send emails, this editing app can also be a good option for you, helping you avoid grammatical errors. Grammarly is also suitable for people in the copywriting business as well as students writing academic papers, journalists, creative writers, and more.
If you are an author of a book, getting an editing tool such as Grammarly can greatly help you edit and proofread your work. Regardless of your experience, professional writers require grammar and spelling checkers to help them out.
Grammarly Pricing Plans
What I like about Grammarly’s pricing plans is that a seven-day free trial allows you to check its features and determine whether you would like to use them before paying.
You can choose between annual, monthly, and quarterly plans, each with a different price rate. While you must enter your card’s data, the amount is not deducted before the trial ends. If you don’t find it worth it, you can choose not to upgrade to Premium.
Aside from the Premium plan, Grammarly also offers a Business plan. It includes all the features from the Premium plan and additional features such as a style guide, analytics dashboards, snippets, brand tones, and others.
The prices for Grammarly premium are the following:
- $12 a month billed annually.
- $20 a month billed quarterly.
- $30 billed monthly.
If you opt for a business plan, you will be charged $15 – per member/month.
Grammarly Free plan vs. Premium plan – Comparison table
| Features | Free Plan | Premium Plan |
| Grammar, spelling, and punctuation check | Basic | Advanced |
| Rewriting and formatting suggestions | No | Yes |
| Detecting tone | Yes | Yes |
| Suggestions about tone | No | Yes |
| Plagiarism detection | No | Yes |
Grammarly – Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
- Simple and easy-to-navigate interface
- Easily accessible on multiple platforms
- Provides API support
- Checks grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- Detects content tone and provides logical suggestions
- Grammarly has a customer support team
Disadvantages
- The plagiarism checker doesn’t perform a deep search
- Some suggestions change the meaning of the content
- The monthly Premium plan can be expensive for some users
- The extension of web browsers doesn’t work offline
- Not all of the suggestions it provides are accurate
Verdict – Is Grammarly Premium Worth It?
Whether Grammarly’s Premium plan is worth investing in depends on your professional needs and preferences and what you use the tool for.
The editing tool has advanced features designed to improve writing skills and create easily readable and error-free content for the readers.
While the Free plan can be helpful and a good start, the premium features can contribute greatly to your content’s quality.
As a result, it is a tool worth having for individuals whose profession includes writing. This includes content writers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
I have opened older documents that I wrote before using Grammarly Premium, and it showed suggestions for errors that the default spelling checker didn’t catch.
Whether writing articles, blog posts, product descriptions, or emails, Grammarly will help you detect mistakes to improve your writing.
However, the virtual writing assistant also has disadvantages and could use improvements. In some cases, it will catch specific errors, and other times it won’t. Sometimes, the tool can also give recommendations that don’t make sense.
For this reason, I make sure to check the suggestions it gives before I accept them. It can also stop working after a network outage, even if you are connected to the Internet, so you will have to refresh the page to receive suggestions again.
When using Grammarly, I also experienced some unexpected bugs. For instance, the tool doesn’t accept the suggestions as I click on them.
In some cases, the grammar-checking tool changes the suggestion it gives several times or gives suggestions that change the context of the sentence.
Also, Grammarly only supports English, so the AI-powered tool cannot proofread your work if you are writing in another language.
Summary
In this Grammarly review, I have discussed the writing tool’s features and compared the differences between the free and the premium pricing plan.
Its tools are designed to help you express your ideas and convey messages to the audience the right way without grammar and spelling mistakes.
So, is Grammarly Premium worth it? If your job includes writing content, Grammarly Premium can be a good option and can help you elevate your posts and articles.
However, if you are looking for a more budget-friendly option with additional features and a more advanced plagiarism checker, you can look at other alternatives.
