Cover Image for What is Grammarly? Everything We Know About the Best AI Writing Assistant.
Wed Feb 12 2025

What is Grammarly? Everything We Know About the Best AI Writing Assistant.

Grammarly has become an indispensable writing assistant.

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that aims to improve aspects such as grammar, spelling, clarity, and tone, providing real-time suggestions in emails, documents, and online platforms. Whether composing an academic essay, a business email, or perfecting a social media post, Grammarly helps enhance readability and ensure polished, professional communication.

Over the years, the service has incorporated numerous AI features to make its suggestions more accurate and even generate content, beyond simply correcting errors. After extensive testing, GrammarlyGO has been rated as the best AI writing assistant currently available, surpassing competitors like Anyword. It is important to note that certain features may have changed since the reference article, as AI tools are regularly updated.

Founded in 2009 by Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider, Grammarly started as a tool for academic writing before evolving into a comprehensive AI-powered assistant. Its core functionality is based on machine learning and natural language processing, which improve grammar, punctuation, and clarity. In addition to correcting errors, the tool assists users in refining their writing by suggesting rephrasings for greater conciseness and better readability, as well as tone adjustments to align messages with the desired intent.

Grammarly offers a plagiarism checker for academic and professional users and integrates with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Gmail, Slack, and various browsers, making it a widely accessible tool. Its AI-driven capabilities continue to evolve, providing more sophisticated writing analysis comparable to Google's AI assistants.

The tool is used in both professional and personal contexts, helping students perfect essays, professionals draft clear emails, and content creators enhance engagement. Grammarly detects grammar and spelling errors, suggests rephrasings to improve conciseness, and highlights readability issues. More advanced users benefit from sentence rewrites and vocabulary improvements, ensuring that their writing is polished and effective.

However, Grammarly does not replace human review or professional editing. While it is a powerful tool, it lacks deep contextual understanding, which can lead to misunderstandings or rigid suggestions. Additionally, although its plagiarism checker is useful, it does not guarantee thorough detection. The tool also struggles with technical and creative writing that requires structural changes or unique stylistic choices, which may make its recommendations too generic for some users in highly specialized fields.

In terms of costs, Grammarly has a free plan that offers basic checks for grammar, spelling, and punctuation. On the other hand, Grammarly Premium provides advanced suggestions for style, clarity, and tone, as well as a plagiarism checker, at a price of $12 per month (billed annually at $144) or £10 per month in the UK. Grammarly Business, aimed at teams, adds administrative controls and brand tone consistency, costing $15 per user per month (or approximately £12 in the UK). Additionally, Grammarly offers GrammarlyGO, an AI-powered writing assistant available in paid plans to generate and rewrite content.

The tool is accessible through multiple platforms, including desktop apps for Windows and macOS, browser extensions for Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox, and a mobile keyboard for iOS and Android. Grammarly seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Gmail, LinkedIn, Slack, and other productivity tools, allowing users to improve their writing in real-time.

Grammarly is highly valued for its user-friendly interface, precise grammatical suggestions, and real-time editing capabilities. Users appreciate its ability to enhance the clarity and conciseness of writing. Grammarly Premium is particularly valuable for professionals and students, as it offers AI-powered sentence rewrites and detailed tone analysis. However, some users find its suggestions too rigid, especially in creative writing, and criticize its pricing structure, as the free plan has limited functionalities. Despite these drawbacks, Grammarly remains one of the most widely used AI writing assistants.