ProWritingAid and Grammarly are two of the best grammar-proofing tools you can get. The services can figure out where your writing is lacking and then provide suggestions for fixing it or making it even better.
However, which of the two is best for you?
In this ProWritingAid vs. Grammarly article, we will pit the two tools against each other and determine their strengths and weaknesses.
By the end of this article, you should be able to make an informed decision about which tool to use.
What is ProWritingAid?
ProWritingAid is an online editing tool that focuses on checking the grammar and style of your document. It uses artificial intelligence to detect these problems when you write the article.
You can access their web editor and take advantage of its many features. You can download the free version as a Chrome extension to get the feel of its versatility. However, you have limited functionality on the free version. You should get one of their paid subscriptions if you require full-featured reports and corrections.
After you sign up for one of their plans, you can analyze and edit as many words as you want.
How to use ProWritingAid
You must log in to your ProWritingAid account and access the web editor. You can upload the document you want to edit or paste your content onto the blank page.
When finished, ProWritingAid will do the work for you.
As mentioned, the tool works as it detects the grammar errors in your article. It highlights each problem with a different color. Hovering over these words or phrases will show you suggestions for eliminating or fixing them. You decide to accept or ignore the suggestions.
You will also see why the tool labeled it as an error. It’s a great way to learn to write correctly.
ProWritingAid allows you to check your article’s score on a different writing aesthetics by clicking the Summary button. The average scores combine the score from the style, readability, grammar, and spelling.
High scores mean you have fewer grammar errors in your article. That said, strive for the highest rating with the tool!
If you’re leading a writing team, you can use the reports feature to create a PDF of the summary or email it to yourself before sending it to the author.
In this way, they better understand why their content could be better, the problems, and how to improve it.
Finally, you can leverage the score to ensure the authors submit the best possible content before handing it to customers.
You can use the score to provide customers with proof that your items are up to par. For Google Docs enthusiasts, you can download ProWritingAid as a Google add-on.
The tool works well as an editor after writing your article. You can decompose the content using the different checks proposed in the add-on.
For Microsoft Word users, you can install it as an add-on and work on your articles from the application.
Like the Google Docs add-on, it’s best to access ProWritingAid after you finish writing the content on MS Word. This way, you can put the finishing touches on before you save the article and submit it to customers.
Finally, you must purchase the Premium Plus plan instead to check if an author has plagiarised on the document.
As a result, they’re a little more expensive, but they’re worth every penny if you’re looking for plagiarism-checking software.
What is Grammarly?
Grammarly is an online editing tool that simplifies the writing process for you. Even if you’re not a strong writer, this application still supports the development of your ideas with AI-based tips to improve your grammar, style and sentence structure.
How to use Grammarly
Users can register for a free tier on Grammarly to try it out. You can then install any of its application or addons like Microsoft Office add-on, Firefox/Chrome extension or the Android keyboard.
And with over 10 million downloads and a rating of 4.5 from 38,000 users, you can’t go wrong with this tool!
Once activated, the Grammarly extension will show errors by underlining words or expressions in the questions. You can hover over these words to see the problem and suggestions for fixing it.
The free version is good if you write sparingly, like sending emails, posting messages on social media, etc. However, it does not go into depth on other writing factors. Professional writers need these details to provide the best content for their customers and brands.
If so, you must subscribe to Grammarly’s paid plans.
The Premium version is perfect if you create content for a living. The business plan is ideal for people who manage a writing team.
Once you’ve signed up for one of the paid plans, download the document file or paste the text you want to edit onto a blank document in the web editor. The tool will process the content and provide over 250 checks to help improve your content score.
When editing the content, you will also see its score as it increases each time you correct it. But before you edit your content using Grammarly Premium, you can define the article’s purpose.
By identifying the intention, the tone, and the target audience of the content, you get suggestions adapted to its aim.
If you manage a writing team, you can download a PDF file from the report and share it with your editor. They can follow the report’s suggestions to improve their content.
Besides the Grammarly web editor, you can also download the desktop application.
It works the same way as the web version. But the difference is that you cannot create reports from the desktop application.
If you write your articles using Google Docs, you can edit your content from the installed Chrome extension or the Firefox add-on.
However, Grammarly integration with Google Docs is still iffy. Therefore, it does not offer the depth of modification in the web version.
Finally, Microsoft Word users will have their hands full with the Grammarly add-on. It works the same way as the desktop version.
How are they similar?
From their use cases detailed above, the main features of Grammarly and ProWritingAid are practically identical. The tool identifies problems with its powerful AI so you can change them as you write.
How are they different?
We can compare them and work our way down to the smallest details that make one unique. However, the real test comes from how they treat items based on their AI engines. From there, you will see how different one is from the other.
To do this, I let Grammarly and ProWritingAid analyze the same text and examine the problems encountered in the article.
Here is the score Grammarly gave to the article:
Here’s what ProWritingAid thought of the same article:
Interestingly, Grammarly Premium identified 83 issues (9 critical, 73 advanced), while the other saw 67 problems with the item.
So how can one tool that spots fewer errors than the other give a much lower score?
Let’s check some errors identified by the two applications.
By looking at the writing style check, ProWritingAid is determined to keep your use of words as simple as possible.
For example, most of his suggestions recommend eliminating adverbs to improve the article’s readability.
However, deleting the adverb in the sentence’s context in some cases.
From here, you see that, as sophisticated as these grammar-checking tools are, they do not always make the right suggestions. This ambiguity is why it is essential to recheck and see if the recommendations are correct before making the change. ProWritingAids style checker is very rigid.
The problem is not incorrect in the screenshot above, although the application thinks otherwise.
To be clear, this does not mean that the sentence is false. It just thinks there is a better way to put it.
Now, this is probably true. But it forces writers to rethink their style and comply with the applications’ will.
Some authors may find this correct, but others prefer a certain writing style, which ProWritingAid may not allow. In Grammarly Premium, you will not see this problem.
It does not detect some of the style issues seen by ProWritingAid. Instead, it identified more complex issues that ProWritingAid did not see:
Instead, it picked up on some more complex issues that ProWritingAid didn’t see:
In addition, Grammarly does its best to help diversify the vocabulary of your article by suggesting synonyms for overused or general words.
Compared to ProWritingAid, Grammarly is not strict regarding its suggestions. Even if you don’t apply the most advanced tips, your article can still score over 90.
A high rating for your article does not mean it is excellent. It shows an article with little or no grammar errors, which is all you could ask for in a grammar checker.
And when you’re not too keen to rearrange your article to meet the requirements of an editing tool, Grammarly is a better choice for you.
So lies the difference: ProWritingAid has a heavier approach to editing and classifying a document, while Grammarly is the more forgiving.
This rating does not mean that one is better than the other. It just shows how different everyone is.
From there, you will get ideas for which of the best grammar-checking tool is right for you.
What’s better about ProWritingAid?
If you Judge these two products by the comparison above, ProWritingAid may only be for some. But there is still much to love.
Here are some things people will enjoy the most about this grammar checker software.
Stabler integrations
If you frequently use Microsoft Word and Google Docs, you will find ProWritingAid more useful.
It is much easier to edit your articles from both applications with this tool as an add-on.
Start by choosing the factor you want to check; the tool will identify grammar issues for you in seconds.
You can make the changes as you see fit. Ensure you only implement the suggestions after wondering if the advice is correct.
Apply the changes to save the revised version of the document when finished.
Again, running the application in real-time is much more convenient so that you can correct yourself while writing.
But in this situation, ProWritingAid is much superior grammar checking software.
It integrates perfectly with other tools such as Microsoft Word, Scrivener, OpenOffice.
Detailed Reports
If you like to crunch data and numbers, you will love the ProWritingAid summary report.
Some may think the reports are excessive, and you need to focus on several factors to improve your article.
Following statistics can be true in most cases, but you can’t deny that analyzing your writing style and habits is much easier with this app.
For example, there should be variations in your sentence length to engage readers further. ProWritingAid visualizes the data in your first 100 sentences to give you an idea of how you write.
Also, I like the app compares you to ProWritingAid users with each factor.
It gives you a sense of responsibility to improve your writing and pride every time you score higher than the rest.
More affordable
Compared to Grammarly, ProWritingAid is relatively cheaper but just as effective if used correctly. For $30 a month, you can use almost all its premium features to produce better content for your customers and websites.
The price becomes even better if you decide to buy the annual plan because you benefit from a 67% discount compared to the monthly payment of the tool.
You can purchase ProWritingAid for life with just a onetime payment. This way, you don’t have to worry about recurring expenses—you have to focus on writing the best content possible using this grammar checker.
What is better in Grammarly?
As well as a grammar checker ProWritingAid is, Grammarly is a powerhouse. There are things that Grammarly does better than its competitor.
Here are some benefits of using the Grammarly Premium:
Simpler and more intuitive
My gripe about ProWritingAid is how awkward it can get. Aside from its extension and add-on, getting it to work properly is like a chore.
As mentioned, there are many factors that you can check on your document. From a writer’s point of view, the options can be powerful.
This aspect is where Grammarly shines. It provides the most vital data about your content in easily digestible information.
Using its premium version, you can find the problems organized in four sections:
And whenever you correct problems in the document, like the passive voice and others, it shows here if the content is unclear or just, for example.
Compared to that, you can apply the changes by clicking on the suggestion—no need to connect to another button to confirm!
With my experience using Grammarly, I prefer most of its suggestions to ProWritingAid.
I like how it can analyze words, phrases and sentences and offer ways to improve them.
Faster extension and add-ons
Grammar triumphs over ProWritingAid for its browser extensions.
If you use the ProWritingAid Chrome extension or the Firefox add-on, the computer slows down because the tool processes your text to provide suggestions.
The more words in your document, the longer it will take for the tool to give you suggestions.
The Grammarly extension and add-on do the same. The only difference is that it does it faster and more efficiently.
That way, you don’t have to worry about your computer freezing when writing online using Grammarly.
Flexible
Another feature I like about Grammarly is that it doesn’t remove the character from your writing. It focuses on cleaning up your grammar and provides suggestions for making your article tighter and more concise. Thanks to its Tone Detector; the tool adapts to the writing style you want for your document.
The same is not true of ProWritingAid, as it analyzes all articles with the same standards without considering the article’s objective.
Who should get ProWritingAid (and why)?
ProWritingAid is best suited for book and newspaper editors. ProWritingAid is more than just a grammar checker, given its wide range of checks. It also breaks down your article into tone, readability, diction, alliteration, namesake, and others!
For freelance writers who only need so much content data, ProWritingAid might need to be more convenient to manage.
However, if you are serious about your craft and want to deepen your writing habits, then ProWritingAid is as good as a grammar and writing tool can get.
Who should get Grammarly (and why)?
Writers online will have much more use for Grammarly than for any other tool. Grammarly’s point of sale is its simplicity and convenience. You can change your written work on the fly using its extension and add-on.
For example, if you’re composing a tweet or status update so your audience can see it, you must ensure it’s grammatically correct before pressing Send.
And Grammarly does just that.
Although ProWritingAid also has both, it slows down your computer and makes the tool useless unnecessarily.
You will not have this problem using Grammarly.
ProWritingAid vs. Grammarly: who wins?
Grammar and Help with professional writing are two of the best grammar tools on the market, without exception.
We discussed their respective strengths and the type of writer who will appreciate one or the other.
You can go right with both tools if you play with what they do well.
Therefore, I don’t mean this as an indirect answer, but everyone wins!
Conclusion
For writers who need a quick and easy application to help them spot errors in their content, Grammarly is their tool.
For serious and academic writers who want a tool to deepen their writing, then ProWritingAid is their best bet.
There is something that writers will love in both apps—it’s just about finding out what works best for you.
