Visibility in this ranking can be paid for. Payment gives a vendor more visibility, higher up on the review pages; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review. The largest vendors in grammar checker and proofreading software
cannot hold places 1 to 3. Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category,
wherever the category has them; the established names follow from place 4 in their ranked order. How it works: placement disclosure ·
editorial process.
The 11 tools, reviewed
#1 LanguageTool
Open-core multilingual grammar and style checker · United States · languagetool.org
Open source core Multilingual Team style guide
LanguageTool earns first place on how much of it a buyer can inspect and how many places it runs. The core is published under the LGPL 2.1, the terms say user content is not used to train its AI models, and the Premium page lists more than 20,000 extra checks across English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese.
- Pricing: Free + paid tiers. A free tier exists; Premium and Teams are paid, with monthly, quarterly, annual and two-year billing and Teams priced by number of users. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Multilingual teams that edit in many apps
- Strengths: Grammar, punctuation and style checking; AI sentence paraphrasing; Custom style guide rules.
Where it falls short
The service is owned by Learneo, Inc., a Delaware company, so a buyer who wanted a German supplier should read the terms first. Its price figures failed to render on the page we fetched, which means a buyer must open a trial to see what Teams costs.
Wrong for
A company whose procurement rules require a European legal owner, or one that wants AI-generated first drafts.
Visit LanguageTool →
#2 Scribens
Free multilingual grammar checker from Montpellier · France · scribens.com
Free Stores no text 40 languages
Scribens sits second because it is the plainest answer to the question of where text goes. Its privacy policy says no text entered is stored on its servers, and the legal notice names a French limited liability company in Montpellier with a registered office, share capital and VAT number. The free edition corrects spelling and grammar and explains each mistake, and the site states it supports more than 40 languages.
- Pricing: Free + paid tiers. The free edition detects and corrects errors with explanations; Premium allows up to 5 million characters a month with a maximum of 100,000 per check. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Privacy-minded users who want a free checker
- Strengths: Grammar and spelling correction; Explanations of each mistake; Dictionaries with definitions and synonyms.
Where it falls short
The interface is an ad-supported web page first, and ads only disappear on Premium. We found no team features such as shared style guides or user management, and the Premium price was not on the pages we read.
Wrong for
A team of fifty that needs central administration, shared rules and single sign-on.
Visit Scribens →
#3 ProWritingAid
Line-editing reports and grammar checks for writers · United Kingdom · prowritingaid.com
Long-form reports Style guide UK vendor
ProWritingAid is third because it does the job of an editor rather than a spell checker. Premium includes more than 25 reports on readability, repeated words and structure, a custom style guide, and a custom dictionary into which a term base can be uploaded. The free plan lists grammar, spelling and punctuation, a thesaurus and 40 document types.
- Pricing: Free + paid tiers. Free tier; Premium is shown in euros at €30 billed monthly or about €10 a month billed yearly (€120), with a lifetime option, and Premium Pro at €36 monthly. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Authors, editors and long-document writers
- Strengths: Grammar, spelling and punctuation; 25+ writing analysis reports; Custom style guide.
Where it falls short
The product is built around fiction and long documents, so its story critique and Sparks credits are noise to a team that only wants to correct emails.
Wrong for
A support team that writes two-line replies in a help desk.
Visit ProWritingAid →
#4 DeepL Write
Correction and tone assistant from the DeepL translator team · Germany · deepl.com
German vendor Rewrites Translator add-on
DeepL Write sits fourth because it is a proofreader that offers a useful second opinion on phrasing. Its page lists corrections of spelling, grammar and punctuation, a choice of style and tone, and a Show changes view that makes edits visible. The company behind it, DeepL SE, is registered in Cologne, and its translator plan page lists no data training under the Individual tier.
- Pricing: Add-on per user / month. Write Pro is sold as an add-on to DeepL Translator Pro seats and is included in the business tiers; its price was not shown in the pricing text we read. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Non-native writers already using DeepL
- Strengths: Corrections only mode; Writing styles and tone selection; Word and sentence alternatives.
Where it falls short
Write Pro can only be bought for as many seats as a company holds on Translator Pro, so it is not a standalone purchase.
Wrong for
A team that only wants a checker and has no use for translation.
Visit DeepL Write →
#5 Hemingway Editor
Readability editor with grammar and tone checks · United States · hemingwayapp.com
Readability Word add-in No AI training
Hemingway comes fifth because its job is narrow and it is clear about data. The privacy policy treats writing, prompts and AI output as confidential and says neither Hemingway nor its AI providers train, fine-tune or improve models with that content. The editor itself works by color-coding sentences that are long, dense or passive, which suits a writer trimming a draft.
- Pricing: Subscription. Editor Plus has a free two-week trial with no credit card; the paid price was not shown on the pages we fetched. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Bloggers and report writers who cut clutter
- Strengths: Highlighting of hard-to-read sentences; Grammar check; Tone adjustment.
Where it falls short
It is not a browser-wide checker, so text in Gmail or a CRM needs a different tool. The legacy desktop editor sits outside the current privacy policy. The policy says its commitments apply from the effective date and not to earlier practice.
Wrong for
A company that needs one checker across every web app, with administration.
Visit Hemingway Editor →
#6 Sapling
Writing assistant for sales and support teams · United States · sapling.ai
Self-hosted option Enterprise SSO AI detector
Sapling takes sixth because it is the only vendor here that publishes seat prices through to enterprise terms and lists a self-hosted deployment. Its pricing page gives a free plan, Pro at $12 a month on annual billing and Enterprise from 10 seats at $15 per seat per month. Enterprise adds domain administration, team analytics, bulk user provisioning, single sign-on, SCIM and custom integrations.
- Pricing: Per seat / month. Free; Pro $25 a month or $12 a month billed annually; Enterprise from 10 seats at $15 per seat per month; a usage-based API with a $5 minimum. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Customer-facing teams that want admin controls
- Strengths: Grammar and style suggestions; Snippets; Autocomplete everywhere.
Where it falls short
Its privacy policy says services are hosted in the United States and that EU users transfer their data there. We could not find a street address or city for the company, and no clear statement on training with customer text.
Wrong for
A European organization that needs processing inside the EU, or a writer who wants long-form reports.
Visit Sapling →
#7 Linguix
Browser grammar checker with typing shortcuts · United States · linguix.com
Typing shortcuts Six languages Chrome extension
Linguix is seventh because it is cheap and focused rather than broad. The free plan covers grammar, spelling and a browser extension, and Pro, at $140 a year, adds advanced style, clarity and tone suggestions, advanced paraphrasing and unlimited typing shortcuts. The About page says it works in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French and Polish and lets teams build a style guide and save documents.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free forever; Linguix Pro is $11.67 a month, billed $140 annually. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Individuals and small teams wanting a cheap Pro tier
- Strengths: Grammar and spelling checks; Style, clarity and tone suggestions; Paraphrasing and rewriting.
Where it falls short
The company page describes ten or more team members, and the notice address in its terms is a suite number in Charlotte, which gives little to judge support capacity by.
Wrong for
A regulated company that needs signed security documents, audit logs and SSO.
Visit Linguix →
#8 Outwrite
Grammar, style and plagiarism checker from Sydney · Australia · outwrite.com
Plagiarism checks Australian vendor Teams plan
Outwrite is eighth because it covers the common surfaces and includes plagiarism checks in the same plan. The pricing page lists spelling and grammar, a thesaurus, style and structural suggestions, rewriting, 50 plagiarism checks a month, and platforms for Google Docs, Word, browser extensions and a web app. A teams plan offers group discount, team access management and consolidated billing.
- Pricing: Per user / month. A free tier, plus paid tiers in euros: about €8.95 a month and €7.95 per user a month for teams on the monthly view we read. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Students and freelancers wanting plagiarism checks
- Strengths: Spelling and grammar checking; Thesaurus; Style improvements.
Where it falls short
Its Terms of Service carry a last-updated date of 11 February 2019, which is old for a product that now uses AI. We found no statement on training with customer text, no enterprise controls and no list of supported languages.
Wrong for
A company that needs a recent data processing agreement and an EU processing location.
Visit Outwrite →
#9 Wordtune
Sentence rewriting and paraphrasing assistant · Israel · wordtune.com
Rewrite suggestions Summaries Israeli vendor
Wordtune is ninth because it answers a slightly different need. Instead of marking errors it offers a list of alternative rewrites for a selected sentence, with formal and casual options, and adds a grammar checker, summaries and translation into 10 languages. Paid plans are published under $10 a month on monthly billing, with a three-day trial.
- Pricing: Per user / month. A free tier with limited daily use. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Non-native English writers polishing phrasing
- Strengths: Rewrite suggestions with tone choice; Paraphrasing; Grammar and spelling checker.
Where it falls short
It is better at proposing new wording than at flagging every error, so it is a second tool next to a checker.
Wrong for
A team that wants a quiet checker that leaves its wording alone and keeps text out of product development.
Visit Wordtune →
#10 Grammarly
Widely used checker with AI prompts and enterprise tier · United States · grammarly.com
Market incumbent AI prompts Enterprise SSO
Grammarly is the product most people have heard of, which is why a reviewer meets it first and a buyer meets it in every vendor comparison. The plans page lists a free tier, Pro at €12 with sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, plagiarism and AI text detection, and 2,000 prompts per member a month, and an Enterprise tier with roles, data loss prevention and bring-your-own-key encryption.
- Pricing: Per user / month. Free at €0 with 100 prompts a month; Pro listed at €12 with 2,000 prompts per member a month; Enterprise by quote. Free plan: free plan.
- Best for: Organizations that want a familiar default
- Strengths: Spelling and grammar correction; Tone detection and adjustment; Full-sentence rewrites.
Where it falls short
The terms let the company use user content to operate and improve the service, with the example that accepted and rejected suggestions may help train its suggestion engine. Prompts are metered, so AI use is capped even on Pro.
Wrong for
A firm that wants a written no-training promise on text, or a small team counting every euro.
Visit Grammarly →
#11 Writer
Enterprise AI agent platform with brand style controls · United States · writer.com
Brand voice Enterprise No training
Writer is last because the question it answers is governance of AI output, not proofreading. The Starter plan offers one team personality profile and up to five users, while Enterprise lists departmental brand and voice profiles, approvals, observability and auditability. Its terms say it will not use customer materials to train its models, and its pricing page says it takes a zero data retention approach.
- Pricing: Quote only. Starter is a per-seat plan for up to 5 users with a 14-day trial and fixed credit limits; Enterprise is by quote. Free plan: free trial.
- Best for: Large organizations governing brand voice at scale
- Strengths: Agent for chat and automation; Playbooks; Personality and brand profiles.
Where it falls short
Prices are not published, and Starter is capped at five users. It is an agent platform; a person who wants only a spell check will find it heavy.
Wrong for
A small business or individual who wants an extension that corrects typos.
Visit Writer →
Questions and answers
What is the best grammar checker software in 2026?
LanguageTool ranks first of 11, best for multilingual teams that edit in many apps. Scribens is second (privacy-minded users who want a free checker) and ProWritingAid third (authors, editors and long-document writers). Places 1 to 3 go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands, wherever the category has them.
Is a free grammar checker good enough for business writing?
For short emails and chat messages, usually yes. The free plans on LanguageTool, Scribens, Sapling and Linguix catch spelling and common grammar errors.
Do grammar checkers store or train on what I type?
It depends on the vendor, and the wording differs. LanguageTool's terms say it does not use user content to train its AI models. Hemingway says its providers do not train on writing sent to its AI features.
Which grammar checkers can be self-hosted?
Two of the eleven mention it. LanguageTool publishes its core under the LGPL 2.1 and its vendor says anyone can run their own server, though the polished hosted features are separate.
What is the difference between a grammar checker and an AI writing tool?
A grammar checker works on text you wrote and proposes corrections; an AI writing tool produces text from a prompt. The line is blurring, since Wordtune, DeepL Write and Grammarly all rewrite sentences and Grammarly sells AI prompts.
Which grammar checker is best for languages other than English?
LanguageTool lists Premium checks for English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese and describes the service as multilingual. Scribens states that it is available in over 40 languages, with grammar explanations in English.
Does a grammar checker work inside Word, Google Docs and Gmail?
Mostly, with gaps. LanguageTool lists Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, LibreOffice, Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail. Scribens covers Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Google Docs and Google Sheets. Sapling works in Google Docs, Outlook and Word.
What does it cost to give a team of 25 a paid grammar checker?
It varies from a few hundred to a few thousand euros a year. Linguix Pro at $140 a year per person comes to $3,500 for 25 seats before any volume terms.
Can a grammar checker detect AI-written text or plagiarism?
Some can, as an add-on rather than the core job. Grammarly Pro lists plagiarism and AI-generated text detection. Outwrite lists plagiarism checks at 50 a month in its tiers.
Is Hemingway Editor a real grammar checker?
Partly. Its long-standing purpose is readability: highlighting hard sentences and passive voice. Hemingway Editor Plus now describes grammar checking and tone adjustment, with a two-week trial that does not need a credit card.
Should we choose a grammar checker owned by a European company?
Only if your own policy requires it, and check the entity, not the address. Scribens (France), DeepL (Germany) and ProWritingAid's operator Orpheus Technology (United Kingdom) are published by companies based in Europe.
