Grammarly, a helpful tool for writers everywhere

Grammarly, a helpful tool for writers everywhere

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Disclosure: The following is a review of the Grammarly proofreading tool. All opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by Grammarly. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.

I love to write, and I have been writing a good portion of my life in various forms. In college, I worked at my university’s tutoring center and one of my jobs was to review and edit students’ work: everything from essays to research papers. For many years I felt that I did not need any writing aids.

A few weeks ago, after re-reading an article that I wrote and published recently in the early morning hours after days of little sleep thanks to an almost five-month-old beginning to teethe, I realized that I needed an editor or, at the very least, a proofreader. I immediately thought of Grammarly and decided to give it a try.

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Grammarly, the free tool

Right off the bat, I love that Grammarly has a powerful free version. I am not made of money. We are a family of four currently on a single income that barely classifies us as middle class (according to the national average). Our budget is already tight without much wiggle room, especially in the summer with soaring electric bills.

Grammarly provides real, useful proofreading tools at no cost to the user. Have a research paper? A resume? A professional email? A blog post? A social media post? Grammarly will help check spelling and grammar.

The best part is featured in their tagline: “Grammarly works where you work”, and it is true.

They have browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox so you can use Grammarly on your blog, social media, and email. Correct critical mistakes with a simple click of your mouse. There is also a desktop app for Macs and Windows that syncs with your online account, where you can create new or upload existing documents to be checked. And you can also get Grammarly’s Mobile Keyboard for your Android or iOS phone.

Screenshot of Grammarly, the free app that helps improve your writing.

Get more with Grammarly Premium

For those who need even more features, there is Grammarly Premium. The best deal is $11.66/month if you pay one single payment of $139.95 (for a full year), and you get access to:

  • Advanced checks for punctuation, grammar, context, and sentence structure,
  • Vocabulary enhancement suggestions,
  • Genre-specific writing style checks,
  • Plagiarism detector that checks more than 16 billion web pages,
  • And much more.

How it works

As for the tool itself, I have found it very useful in catching those minor errors: misspellings, too many commas, not enough commas, incorrect verb tense, incorrect voice, etc. What is nice is that it scans your writing and underlines potential errors in red. Hovering over the underlined word allows you to view their suggestion and then decide to either correct the error or, if it is not really an error, ignore it.

Screenshot of how Grammarly finds errors and makes recommendations.

As a mom with two kids under the age of two and working full time outside the home, I often write my blog articles at odd times scattered throughout the day (and night!) and in a hurry. Grammarly is just the tool I need to help catch those silly little mistakes that any writer, no matter how proficient you may be, can make when rushed and tired.

I also have begun using Grammarly at work to catch those pesky little errors that happen to everyone now and then when composing emails and writing documentation. Before I would proofread anything I wrote a few times, but with this tool, I have the confidence to proofread once. Though I have only been using it for a few weeks now, both personally and professionally, it has already saved me a lot of time and energy.

Using @grammarly both professionally and personally has saved me time and energy! Looking for a tool to proofread your writing? Check it out today! Click To Tweet

Reports

Another Grammarly feature that I love is the weekly progress reports. These reports are emailed to you and allow you to get a quick overview of your usage. It is broken down into three main areas: productivity, mastery, and vocabulary. Not only does it provide your statistics, but it also shares how you compare to other Grammarly users.

At the bottom, the report includes the number of advanced mistakes not corrected by the free version and allows you an easy way to upgrade to Grammarly Premium if you would like.

Screenshot of Grammarly's weekly report.

My final thoughts

If you write anything, anywhere, and for any reason, I highly recommend installing the Grammarly browser extension at the very least. For the casual bloggers, writers, and students, downloading the desktop app to be able to quickly check documents is the way to go.

For professionals (including writers and college students), Grammarly Premium with its extra features — especially the plagiarism check — would be worth the investment.

Do you use Grammarly? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Share below!

Disclosure: The links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I may receive a commission for purchases. Learn more. Thank you for supporting the brands that support this blog.

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