Perhaps you just started blogging or worked in journalism for years, but you still forget where some commas go. You need a spellchecker and grammar checker that works while you write. The search for the perfect checker may seem endless, but a few choices present themselves and a couple you may not have known about, too. You can find many free options, but few that provide accurate results for text on their own.
Microsoft Word Editor
The most obvious place to look for a grammar checker resides in your word processor. Microsoft Word’s free grammar checker misses a few things, but if you pay the $6.99 per month for Microsoft 365, you get Microsoft Editor. Its editor program conducts a more careful spelling and grammatical check. It also checks as you write and will auto-correct mistakes. You can add your corrections, too. If Microsoft Word continually marks your name as misspelled, you can add it to the spelling dictionary. You can also set it to automatically correct your most common typos.
Grammarly Options
Perhaps you want to avoid spending $7 per month for the 365 services. You can download the Grammarly plug-in, which spellchecks everything you type across cloud programs and browsers. It identifies mistakes as you type. You click on them to reveal your options. Once you correct it, you move on. It comes as a browser plug-in for chrome. On mobile devices, you can download the Grammarly keyboard that spellchecks as you type. Some users have complained that the keyboard misses many grammar mistakes, but it picks up most misspelled words. The plug-in does as well as the free website. You can use the Grammarly website as a word processor since once you create an account, it saves all of your documents. You can type directly into the cloud app, and it will identify your mistakes as you type. It does not auto-correct as Microsoft’s option does.
Grammarly’s Entourage
JSpell, GrammarCheck, Scibens, and a few other sites are using Grammarly’s writing engine. They do not use their own program. Rather, they include a link to Grammarly, which you will find if you click the button for the “Deep Check” on GrammarCheck, for example. Most of the options you will find when you conduct an Internet search for a spellchecker or grammar checker include sites that are thinly veiled feeder sites for Grammarly. Each re-directs you to the site, so you can obtain “a full check.”
Paper Rater
Paper Rater stands alone as a separate program. It uses its own algorithms and programming to check each document. Like the free version of Grammarly, it does not pick up on all comma issues. Otherwise, it performs well. It also includes an option you can choose to have it “grade” the paper for you depending on the input you provide. You can set Paper Rater to check for readability at a specific grade level. It provides an estimated grade a teacher would give you.
Ginger
You can add the Ginger Software app to Microsoft Edge or download it to use in conjunction with Microsoft Office. Few people have had luck with this app. It talks a good game, but it cannot correct grammar as it says it does. It advertises that it corrects “5x more mistakes than Word can detect. 5x faster.” This assertion does not bear out though. It does not pick up comma splices and can’t tell where commas should go in between phrases.
Reverso
Ginger has its clones, too. Reverso is the best known. It offers a simple textbox interface. You paste your text into the box and can check its spelling and grammar in English or French. It does not turn up many mistakes and will offer you a more complete check in the Ginger app.
Screaming Frog
Unless you live in the United Kingdom or work in marketing, you probably have not heard of Screaming Frog. Digital marketers use this program to check their web copy, but you can use it to spellcheck your writing. This SEO tool lets you check a website by URL. You can check in 39 languages. It does require you to purchase a license, £149 ($207), so you can access all features. Once you correct the mistakes, you can spellcheck the site again without re-crawling it.
Problems with the Grammar Checkers
While some checkers let you adjust whether you’re writing for school, business, or casual, they do not let you set the checker for a specific style. That means you can not check a document against The AP Style Manual or The Chicago Style Manual, or Modern Language Association (MLA) style. Each checker typically uses the grammar of Strunk and White, which means that it misses many items that other writing styles consider incorrect. For example, AP style uses no Oxford commas. Chicago style does use commas. Many marketers must switch between writing styles, and academics must do so as well. Going from Turabian to Chicago style in a day creates confusion. No grammar checker on the market today addresses this issue.
Most spelling and grammar checkers do not let you train them. The Microsoft Word Editor does, and Grammarly will let you teach it new words for your personal dictionary, but you cannot customize the grammar. The other programs don’t let you add to the dictionary.
The Grammarly keyboard fails abysmally. It cannot detect a missing period from a sentence. None of the available options handle comma use effectively. They cannot address clauses nor when the Oxford comma is unneeded.
No one program can effectively check for all grammatical issues. Each grammar issue consists of what could be addressed by a simple “if, then” statement or machine learning. If the clause is of one type, the comma goes in a specific place. To obtain a grammatically correct document, you need to use multiple checkers.
Few people have the money to hire a proofreader for each paper or website and the time to wait for a human with a large workload. Having a single grammar checker that can provide one percent accuracy and let the user choose from a selection of style manuals makes sense but has yet to hit the market.
For now, you will need to combine the checkers to obtain the most accurate results.
Since you often need to combine programs, first determine which program you can most effectively combine to check spelling and grammatical checkers and obtain a genuinely well proofread and edited document.
So far, the best combination I’ve found is writing in Microsoft Word with Editor, then checking it in Grammarly. If you need to test web copy, write it in Microsoft Word with Editor, then check it in Screaming Frog.
Microsoft Word seems to do it for me, and I definitely incorporated Grammarly to use since it was free. All these tools help you look more professional in your delivery of emails, and posts. There’s nothing like misspelling something and seeing it later when its a professional email and you just cringe.
The one I have tried on this list that I absolutely love is Grammarly. Who knew I made so many mistakes. They actually recommended this app when I was going to college to correct papers. I believe it actually checks plagiarism also if I’m not mistaken. It makes you sound more professional and even corrects words with better word choices. I really liked the fact that it comes with a browser extension so literally everything you type can be checked for grammar. It helps if you want to stay classy. I’ll have to check some of these other ones out that you mentioned. They look like good options also.
Hi Taylor,
I didn’t even know Microsoft Word Editor was a thing until I read your blog. Thanks for the suggestion! I am very interested in how it can be trained! This would be very helpful to me and many of my friends.
You would think that programmers would have figured out a way for grammar checkers to have the ability to toggle between different styles, so that it would check grammar in the correct styles now.
Why are there so many different styles? Why not just make a universal style so that it is less confusing for everyone?
I love Grammarly. I have used it faithfully for six years. I do use it in combination with Microsoft Word. I find if I pay for the year subscription for both, it works best for me. Many times things Grammarly misses Word will find and vice versa. When I searched for grammar checkers, most of them led me back to Grammarly. At first, it annoyed me, but then I figured I would start using it. I do find that I have to be careful about changing everything it suggests. Now I always read the sentence before deciding if I should change it. I have both the Safari and Chrome plug-ins.
PaperRater is more common with academic writers hence, it provides plagiarism checking options too. It still got some comma issues. There is a grading option too for the inputs provided.
Grammarly is an incredibly helpful tool for writers and content producers. It is an intuitive tool that catches mistakes before you make them. I appreciate the ability to correct my errors in real time rather than running it through a system of spell check. I also like how the software provides analytics on your progress. It provides valuable insight into your error tendencies.
Hey, I love seeing other Grammarly fans on this post. Grammarly has an easy-to-use plugin that has helped me hone in my writing skills.
The Grammarly plugin works well with Yoast SEO plugin. This combination creates grammar perfect content with high readability. Not only is proper punctuation important, but also active voice to engage readers. Grammarly does not correct the passive voice in the way that Yoast does.
Thank you,
Sarah
Being the most widely used text editor around the world, Microsoft Word has an inbuilt feature of checking both spelling and grammar. The best part of the program is its add-to dictionary option. However, the free grammar checker misses a few things at times. Microsoft 365 has a paid editor for addressing the issue.
Grammarly is the best editor to have I use it for every article that I write. Grammarly has features that other editors do not have. Especially, the plagiarizing part of Grammarly. Having this feature will help your paper be 100% copy-free. And Grammarly also gives your documents a professional look free of errors. Grammarly is pretty pricey but it is well worth it.
Being a new blogger, Grammarly saved my day! It is probably the second most widely used spelling and grammar checking tool around the globe.
I seriously don’t know what I did before these spelling and grammar checkers, they have been such game changers.
The one I use the most is the Microsoft editor at work, and one my favorite features is how it lets you know if you are writing in a passive voice, rather than active. I’ve also used Grammarly at home when doing occasional freelance work, and absolutely love it. The built in plagiarism checker is especially helpful. But Grammarly is so expensive. I got the subscription I have now at a promotional price, and am on the fence about whether or not I am going to renew at full price.
These are very helpful, and I hadn’t seen some of them before. I’m excited to put them on the check. There’s little to be said about being an expert at fixing one’s grammar and vocabulary, but these are also useful tools for a skilled writer. I would love to check Grammarly first. I’ve heard many good things about it!
Taylor,
I use Grammarly every day. It honestly changed my life and I think everyone should use it whenever they’re online. Texting and the internet have ruined our grammar and spelling, so it’s important to have one of these programs assisting you whenever you get online. No matter how good of a writer you think you are, we all make mistakes. It happens and Grammarly is there to catch if you mess up. If anyone wants to get into journalism or blogging, any of these tools that Taylor mentioned is a must-have.
To date, Grammarly is the best option for both spelling and grammar checks unless you want to spend some bucks out of your pocket. Grammarly’s writing engine is used by many other sites for spelling and grammar checks.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Grammarly, and I didn’t realize that it had so many features. The plagiarism check is a nice addition. I didn’t realize there are so many auto-editors out now, either, or that they can be used to check formatting for technical and research papers. I certainly could have used one of those to double-check my APA in college!
I am curious how in-depth these programs get, though. Do they simply highlight mistakes and offer correction options, or do they give explanations as to why a particular issue was marked for correction in the first place? I would think that effective grammar editing software would endeavour to teach the user how to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
I’m not sure these are tools I would ever use for novel-writing, since they can only take into account technicality and not personal writing style, but they’re definitely a nice secondary resource to have for non-fiction work.
~Cory S.
For day-to-day, write-up you don’t need to be a spelling bee champion. Whether you are writing for a blog, academic, or webpage, there are several tools available for spelling check now. Yet there is no single solution to address the grammatical issues. So far my experience, Grammarly provides a comprehensive solution for both.
I use Grammarly for all my writing needs, and I love it. However, you are absolutely correct about the commas, and sometimes they want to hyphen words that just don’t need to be hyphened. I did use the free version for a while but then switched to the paid version since I do a lot of content writing. It also has a feature to choose the tone you want to write in, which is nice when you are writing professionally.
However, there isn’t one service out there that is 100% accurate, and you still need to proofread whatever you write if you want to be error-free!
I like to use Microsoft Word also, but I prefer Grammarly. They honestly have updated a lot of their website and I love their Business premium option. I manage a large group of ghostwriters who send me their work to be reviewed daily. When I need a quick overview to make sure there are no plagiarism and/or errors, I use Grammarly and make the necessary changes. I also like to go over it with my own eyes without the help of the assistant but I found that Grammarly is my go-to. The free version is honestly great for smaller articles or smaller projects.
I was unaware of the various spelling and grammar correction programs available. I have been a loyal fan of Microsoft since high school and my favorite feature is the ability to add words to the dictionary as you mentioned. I went beyond adding my name and added the names of other things like brand names and fictional names (I like to write short fantasy stories). Doing this allowed me to continue to work without concern that unrecognized names would not be auto-corrected.
I recall seeing a commercial for grammarly, however the commercial made it seem like it was a virtual assistant that made the corrections. It is impressive that despite the complaints, Grammarly is used by other sites to make the corrections. If it is so good that sites are adopting it, it must be a good program to have available.
The most surprising thing mentioned in your post is the fact that many of the programs have issues detecting proper comma placements. The biggest issue in writing and the various sites and programs can barely handle it.
Grammarly is my favorite writing software. I am always using it while I am writing. Sometimes while I am writing I may overlook a mistake but Grammarly always catches it. And when using Grammarly you don’t need an editor to look at your work. Grammarly is my favorite writing software I would recommend Grammarly to everyone.