Grammarly offers a free basic version with limited features. On the contrary, Grammarly Premium comes at $12/month. Considering the price, what’s the difference between Grammarly Free vs Premium?
Is it even worth paying if the free version works just fine?
As a Grammarly user for the last 4 years, let me help you analyze the difference between the two based on my honest experience.
TL:DR: Grammarly Free is ideal for users who need basic grammatical editing and features to check their content. On the other hand, Grammarly Premium offers more accurate grammar checking with 400+ writing styles and a built-in plagiarism checker.
Grammarly Free vs Premium: What’s The Difference?
Grammarly Free and Premium have significant differences. Before I explain the differences in detail, here is a quick table of comparison to understand how Grammarly Premium is different than Grammarly Free.
| Features | Grammarly Free | Grammarly Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Spellings | Basic | Advanced |
| Punctuations | Basic | Advanced |
| Extensions | ✅ | ✅ |
| Citations | ✅ | ✅ |
| Vocabulary enhancement | ❌ | ✅ |
| Genre-specific writing style | ❌ | ✅ |
| Style Guide | ❌ | ✅ |
| Plagiarism Checker | ❌ | ✅ |
| Clarity | ❌ | ✅ |
| Tone adjustment settings | ❌ | ✅ |
| Premium support | ❌ | ✅ |
| Personalized suggestions | ❌ | ✅ |
| GrammarlyGO | ❌ | ✅ |
In terms of comparison, Grammarly Premium provides more benefits than Grammarly Free for obvious reasons since the standard version is free.
All the basic features like tone detection, error correction, enhanced readability, and punctuation are enabled with Grammarly Free.
In contrast, Grammarly Premium has advanced features like genre-specific suggestions and a plagiarism checker.
Although the two excelling features in Grammarly Premium might seem like average features, the result is game-changing.
Example:
Let’s give a practical example of the difference between Grammarly’s free and premium suggestions.
I checked my content through the Grammarly Free version. Here are the changes it recommended.
I checked the same content with Grammarly Premium, and here are the corrections it showed.
Clearly, the Premium version had more suggestions and corrections than the free version!
Best Suitability: Grammarly Free vs Grammarly Premium
Grammarly is easily accessible by anyone and is open to all users, but when it comes to making choices between the standard and premium versions, it can be segregated within certain groups.
Who is suitable for Grammarly free?
Since Grammarly Free is constrained with limited features and restrictions, it is suitable for:
- Students who might have trouble writing essays and assignments.
- Professionals who need basic editing features.
Who is suitable for Grammarly Premium?
Grammarly Premium is a big deal because it has got compelling features like style enhancement, advanced genre-specific suggestions, and a plagiarism checker.
Naturally, people who deal with writing content on a regular basis demand a writing assistant, and so Grammarly Premium can be suitable for:
- Authors, screenwriters, and publishers who require proofreaders/editors.
- Magazine writers and journalists who need to write compelling articles.
- Copywriters and content writers
- Anyone who wants an extra helping hand with proofreading their content.
What Do You Get With Grammarly Premium? (Value Added Features)
It is evident that Grammarly Premium is on the higher end with value-added benefits, so you can expect a smooth, butter-like experience with Grammarly Premium. We at DemandSage use Grammarly Premium for all our proofreading work.
If you are not aware of the best features in Grammarly Premium yet, let me take the honor of disclosing it all to you. In Grammarly Premium, you get:
Advanced Genre-Specific Suggestions
As the name suggests, it is pretty obvious what the role of the genre-specific suggestions features in Grammarly Premium is.
Say you have compiled a formal article, then Grammarly Premium will scan through the content fully and recommend words according to the desired genre.
For example, the formal article you have written will get suggestions with precise words that are professional and not-so-informal to enhance your content. What’s more, Grammarly Premium also integrates with Google Sheets, which helps you to make changes on the go.
Style Enhancement
The style enhancement in Grammarly Premium is a top feature that will improve the readability and choice of selective words in your content.
Factually, each writer has a unique and different writing style, so the AI can deduct and enhance it with better adjustments.
For me, I prefer writing with a blend of informal and formal ways. Grammarly allows me to tweak my style, so I can maintain the originality of my content without disrupting the grammar.
Performance Analysis Report
Wouldn’t it be great to receive direct feedback for the work that you have done? Well, Grammarly Premium does exactly that. In fact, you also get a specific score.
The analysis report laid down by Grammarly Premium is precisely accurate and highlights everything from readability to vocabulary to the usage of rare words.
Even time schedules like reading and speaking time are taken for the content you have written, making it easier for you to calculate the timings.
Plagiarism Checker
One of Grammarly Premium’s most outstanding features is the Plagiarism checker. The robust AI does its job perfectly.
In Grammarly Premium, you can detect any attempted or unintentional plagiarism within seconds. All you need to do is copy-paste your content, and it will scan against billions of web pages online.
Moreover, Grammarly’s plagiarism checker in Grammarly Premium will highlight the sources from which the content was plagiarized, along with the links to the desired sites.
This feature is missing in the free version, which only shows if your content contains plagiarism. The free version doesn’t show which part is plagiarized or the source.
Grammarly AI Detector
Grammarly recently launched its AI detector which is a part of its plagiarism checker feature. The AI detector works together with the plagiarism checker to check for duplicates as well as the AI content. This feature is only available for Grammarly Premium users.
When I tested the tool, it didn’t point to any AI-written content for the ones that were actually written by me.
On the contrary, it was able to catch the content that I pasted from ChatGPT, Gemini, and even Claude.
Although the results were impressive, I would not say Grammarly’s AI detector is 100% reliable. Instead, you can use it for a quick check to understand if the content sounds too robotic.
Expert Writing Help
Although Grammarly is a personalized writing assistant that improves and enhances your writing, for some reason, if you feel like you require extra help, Grammarly Premium has got you covered with expert writing help from humans.
The expert writing help in Grammarly Premium is handled by humans who can help you fix any problematic issues with your writing and make it better for you.
Basically, expert writing help is like hiring a freelance proofreader/editor for your content, which means it comes with a cost of anywhere from $45-$117.
Grammarly Generative AI Features in Grammarly Free and Premium
Grammarly Generative AI is the new AI writing tool, in addition to its amazing feature bundle. With AI tools taking over, Grammarly didn’t hold itself back. With the help of this feature, you can create new content within a few seconds.
Similarly, you can use it in various niches and work, such as generating captions, blog outlines, asking for improvements in your existing content, etc.
While both -Grammarly free and premium users can enjoy the perks of Generative AI , the premium version gives access to more prompts.
- Premium –1,000 prompts per month.
- Free -100 prompts per month.
I have done a detailed Grammarly generative AI Review, tested its capabilities, and shared my experience. You can dive into the review to learn more about the new feature and how you can leverage the power of this amazing AI feature!
What’s The Cost Of Grammarly Premium?
Regarding the cost of Grammarly Premium, AI-powered software is expensive.
You can take a look at all the pricing plans in Grammarly Premium that I covered in detail separately. Besides, here is a quick overview of all the plans of Grammarly Premium.
You can purchase Grammarly Premium as:
- Monthly Subscription for $30/- per month
- Quarterly Subscription for $60/– per three months
- Annual Subscription for $144/– per year
Note: We have an exclusive Grammarly Premium discount that will save you up to 20% on the plans. Check out our Grammarly discount to grab yours today!
That’s it. Zero hidden fees come with the plans. Plus, your purchase with Grammarly is considered in your local currency, and Grammarly itself adjusts any price fluctuation in the conversion rate.
Is Upgrading to Grammarly Premium Worth it? (My Experience)
Upgrading to Grammarly Premium is worth it!
Initially, I began with the free version to assist me with quick checks and simple edits. However, I upgraded to the Premium version after three months. One thing I love about upgrading to the premium version is that I don’t have to spend time using multiple tools. I get a plagiarism checker, grammar checker, and AI content generator in one.
Previously, I had to juggle between multiple tools for the end result. Fortunately, the Premium version allows me to have the perks of multiple tools under one roof.
Moreover, I love the detailed explanation of each of my mistakes. The Premium version catches more of my mistakes, allowing me to understand what to avoid next time.
I have shared my experience with Grammarly in detail, which you can read. It will give you a complete idea of how the Premium version works.
More Grammarly Resources
Final Thoughts: Grammarly Premium Is Better Than Free
Although Grammarly Free offered the same benefits that Grammarly Premium offered, the added advantage of other excelling features in Grammarly Premium exceeded
Grammarly Premium wins the battle with its robust features like a plagiarism checker, performance analysis report, and advanced genre-specific suggestions to wrap up the comparison.
On the other hand, the free version can help you with basic grammar checking and editing.
As someone who has been using Grammarly Premium for the last four years, I recommend upgrading to the premium plan!
FAQs
If you are creating content on a regular basis, then you will need the features of the Grammarly premium plan to help you improve your writing. It is definitely worth upgrading to Grammarly Premium.
Yes, the Grammarly Chrome Extension checks for grammatical errors on Google Docs, WordPress editor, and whenever you are writing something online. So, it would be best to install the Grammarly Chrome Extension.
Some of the best alternatives to Grammarly are WhiteSmoke, Quillbot, ProWrtitingAid, Wordtune, and Ginger.
Yes, the Grammarly premium plan provides in-depth suggestions to help you improve your writing, including punctuation.
No, there is no free trial available for the Grammarly premium plan, but they used to offer a 7-day free trial. However, they discontinued their subscription in 2021, and now they offer a 7-day money-back guarantee to all their subscribers.
Grammarly is free to use with its basic (free) plan. You can upgrade to the premium version at $12/month.
