Top 4 Grammarly Alternatives Students Use for Essays and Assignments
When it comes to crafting polished essays and assignments, students around the globe often turn to Grammarly for grammar checking, style improvement, and plagiarism detection. However, not every student finds Grammarly to be the perfect fit—some seek different features, fewer limitations in the free versions, or alternative grammar engines. As a result, a number of high-quality Grammarly alternatives have emerged, offering comparable or even superior experiences for writing assistance. If you’re a student looking to elevate your writing using different tools, this guide will introduce you to the top four alternatives that students commonly rely on.
TLDR: Top Grammarly Alternatives for Students
Grammarly is popular, but not the only high-quality writing assistant available. Students use alternatives like Hemingway Editor, ProWritingAid, QuillBot, and LanguageTool for various reasons, including better UI, lower costs, and stronger contextual analysis. Each tool comes with its own unique strengths, from analyzing tone to simplifying wordy text or integrating multi-language support. Choosing the right tool depends on the student’s writing style, preferred features, and academic needs.
1. Hemingway Editor – Simplifying Complexity
The Hemingway Editor is known for one thing above all: clarity. Named after the famously concise writer Ernest Hemingway, this platform focuses on improving the readability of your work.
- Best for: Making complex sentences simpler and more direct.
- Platforms: Web-based and Desktop App
- Pricing: Free for online use, $19.99 one-time purchase for Desktop
Unlike Grammarly, which scans for grammatical correctness and offers advanced suggestions based on context, Hemingway identifies lengthy, hard-to-read sentences, passive voice, and overuse of adverbs. This is especially helpful for students who struggle with clear communication or want to reduce filler content in their essays.
The color-coded interface highlights issues such as sentence density and use of passive voice, making revisions intuitive and focused. Another key benefit: Hemingway works offline if you buy the desktop version. That makes it a great companion for students working in low-connectivity environments.
2. ProWritingAid – A Comprehensive Writing Platform
Next on the list is ProWritingAid, a tool often spoken of in the same breath as Grammarly, particularly for academic writing. This platform offers in-depth reports that extend beyond grammar to cover readability, sentence variety, consistency, and transitions.
- Best for: Detailed writing feedback and academic analysis
- Platforms: Web-based, Browser Extensions, Desktop App, Word Add-in
- Pricing: Free version available; Premium from $10/month
ProWritingAid stands out for its holistic approach, analyzing up to 20 writing reports in a single analysis. It’s a great fit for students working on long-form assignments like dissertations or research papers that need more than just surface-level grammar checks.
Some of the features that students particularly like include:
- In-depth contextual spell checking
- Sticky sentence identification
- Inconsistencies in spelling and terminology
- Integration with Microsoft Word and Google Docs
The downside? It may be overwhelming to beginners because of its comprehensive interface. But for more serious writers, it’s one of the most powerful tools available.
3. QuillBot – Advanced Paraphraser with Grammar Checking
QuillBot started primarily as a paraphrasing and summarizing tool, but it has grown to include grammar checking, citation generation, and writing modes tailored for different tones and styles.
- Best for: Paraphrasing text and rewriting sentences for clarity
- Platforms: Web-based, Browser Extensions, Word Integrations
- Pricing: Free basic version, Premium starts at $9.95/month
Students often use QuillBot when they need to avoid plagiarism while maintaining the original meaning of their sources. Its AI-powered paraphrasing tool offers up to seven unique writing modes—like Fluency, Formal, and Creative—that help craft assignments in various tones based on your academic or expressive need.
The Grammar Checker is continuously improving and aims to provide real-time suggestions similar to Grammarly, although it may still lack some of the nuanced grammar corrections found in more established tools. Still, if rewriting is a bigger concern than punctuation errors, QuillBot becomes an extremely competitive choice.
4. LanguageTool – Multilingual Grammar and Style Checker
Rounding out the list is LanguageTool, an open-source writing assistant that offers one key advantage over nearly every other tool on this list—support for multiple languages.
- Best for: Multilingual grammar checking and advanced syntax suggestions
- Platforms: Web editor, Browser Extensions, Google Docs, Microsoft Word
- Pricing: Free basic plan, Premium starts at $4.99/month
Students who write in languages such as French, Spanish, German, or even Polish find LanguageTool indispensable. Much like Grammarly, it flags grammatical errors, punctuation mistakes, and style suggestions, but across over 20 languages—a feature practically unmatched among writing assistants.
Another bonus is the tone detection and style customization, allowing students to match writing with formal academic expectations or more conversational tones. The interface is clean, fast, and user-friendly, ideal for those who want robust functionality without overwhelming visuals.
Choosing the Right Grammarly Alternative
Selecting the best Grammarly alternative ultimately depends on what matters most to you as a student:
- Want better clarity and simplicity? Go for Hemingway Editor.
- Need a deep dive into writing mechanics? Choose ProWritingAid.
- Looking to paraphrase and avoid plagiarism? Use QuillBot.
- Writing in more than one language? Try LanguageTool.
If budget constraints are a concern, it’s worth noting that each tool has a fairly generous free tier, allowing you to test their strengths before committing to a paid version. Remember, no tool is perfect—but finding the right match can make writing faster, easier, and more academically sound.
Conclusion
While Grammarly remains a kingpin in the world of writing tools, students don’t have to rely on it exclusively. The writing assistant ecosystem is evolving rapidly, with specialized platforms that cater to different academic styles, languages, and levels of writing expertise. Whether you’re under pressure to submit a flawless essay, polish a thesis, or simply want to improve your writing systematically over time, adopting the right tool can significantly enhance both quality and efficiency.
Take stock of what features matter most to you and give these powerful Grammarly alternatives a try—you may find they fit your writing habits even better.
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