Whether you’re writing for work, for a blog, or just for fun, proofreading tools can help you put your best foot forward. You don’t need more than one tool to get the job done, but with so many to choose from, how do you know which ones are the best?
Below are I’ve put together a list of the 15 best proofreading tools and who can benefit the most from these tools.
Table of Contents
Best paid proofreading tools
1. Grammarly
Most writers and editors hold Grammarly in high esteem. Compared to other proofreading tools on the market, Grammarly has the widest selection of applications and the best programming. Both their free and premium versions offer helpful proofreading tools to writers.
Grammarly has browser extensions, an online app, mobile apps, an MS Office add-on for Windows, and a Mac and Windows desktop app. This means that wherever you do your writing, Grammarly’s tools can be used to proofread your work.
This proofreading tool is so popular because testers have found that Grammarly’s AI catching errors more effectively than other programs. Their easy one-click suggestions make it easy to accept changes to your writing, and their tools are easy to use, so you won’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out how they work.
Price: $139.92 per year
2. ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid offers a powerful AI system to help you proofread your work. Like many editing tools, you need internet access to use ProWriting Aid to edit your writing. They offer both a free and a paid version, offering exclusive tools to their premium users.
This tool is especially helpful for bloggers creating content optimized for user intent (using longtail keywords).
This tool works with Chrome, Google Docs, MS Office (in Windows only), Scrivener, and on a desktop app. This proofreading tool offers reports to help you improve your spelling and grammar. While this proofreading tool has many of the same features as Grammarly, some feel like their system is less intuitive and their suggestions less useful.
Price: $79 per year
3. Ludwig
Ludwig is different than the other proofreading tools in this list because it is a search engine tool that allows you to search for phrases and how they’ve been used by online publications. This is a great tool to help you write, especially if English is not your first language or you’re unfamiliar with certain idioms and phrases.
When you search for a phrase or sentence with this tool, it provides you with results from trusted sources, allowing you to see how other people have used the phrase in their writing. This helps you write proper sentences in English and prevents you from using a phrase in ways a native English speaker wouldn’t.
This tool can be used to translate your writing into English. Ludwig’s database currently holds over 200 million English sentences, allowing you to find what you’re looking for with ease. Unlike other grammar checker tools, Ludwig can help you find missing words in your sentences to help you write clearly. It also helps you to properly paraphrase sentences, ensuring your understanding.
Price: $59.88 per year
4. Language Tool
Language Tool is a great proofreading tool if you’re writing in more than one language. It provides editing for English, French, German, and 20 other languages. This tool helps detect grammatical errors that a simple tool like MS Word might miss, helping you write great content free of errors.
This tool is available as a free browser extension, allowing you to edit text in word processing documents or on the web. Language Tool lets you check for grammar, spelling, and style errors in your text. Best of all, this tool is free to use! Although it doesn’t have as many features or as advanced AI as other tools (like Grammarly), it is a great option if you’re limited by budget.
Price: $59 per year
5. WordRake
WordRake is automated in-line editing software that can be used to edit your writing in MS Word and Outlook. It uses a bank of algorithmic rules to give you suggestions for editing your writing.
This proofreading software offers a free trial, although you need to purchase the software for continued use. On the surface, it does not offer as many features as other proofreading tools. However, their powerful algorithms provide feedback to help you catch high-level grammar and punctuation errors. The tool’s simple interface makes it easy for new users to make the most of this tool.
Price: $129 per year
6. Paper Rater
Have you ever used a correctly spelled word in the wrong context? Because simple spellchecking tools are only looking for correct spelling, it is easy for them to miss these contextual errors. Paper Rater is an advanced contextual spell checker that will help you catch your spelling and grammar mistakes.
This free proofreading software uses AI to help writers improve the quality of their writing. It has grammar and spelling check, a free proofreader, a plagiarism detection tool, and suggestions to help you edit your writing.
Because you copy and paste your content into Paper Rater’s page editor, you don’t need to download any software to use this proofreading tool. Since it offers more than basic spelling and grammar edits, this easy-to-use tool can be a great addition to your editing process.
Price: $95.40 per year
7. Ginger
Ginger is a proofreading tool that helps you improve your grammar without requiring you to be online. While most proofreading tools require Internet access, Ginger’s software allows you to make simple changes to your grammar no matter where you are. Ginger offers both a free and premium version of their proofreading tool.
This software is praised for its accurate English grammar corrections, its lightweight application, great design, a built-in dictionary, and more. Ginger can be used both in MS Office and web browsers. Their free Chrome extension can also help you edit your grammar when creating online content.
Price: $89.88 per year
Best free proofreading tools
8. Grammarly Free
I have to mention Grammarly again on this list. That’s because their free version is impressive enough that it’s perfectly fine for most users.
The free version of Grammarly checks for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. These basic writing suggestions will catch any errors and instantly improve your writing. To use Grammarly to help you with emails or writing blog posts, install the free Grammarly add-on for Chrome/Firefox.
While Grammarly free is pretty powerful, if you’re a blogger or a freelance writer, I recommend upgrading to their premium version.
Price: Free
9. Google Docs
One of the best reasons to use Google Docs as a proofreading tool is that you may already be using it for word processing. Google Docs offers built-in tools and easy-to-integrate add-ons to help you present high-quality work.
Google Docs offers browser and mobile tools that allow you to edit on the go. Add-ons like Thesaurus, Lucidchart diagrams, and a template gallery can help you as you create written and visual content.
Although Google Docs uses an Internet connection, you can edit and save documents if you are offline or lose your Internet connection. Google Docs offers 15GB of free space to all Gmail users, along with their editing tools. If you already have a Gmail account, using the tools in Google Docs won’t require you to sign up for another service.
Price: Free
10. Hemingway App
The Hemingway app is another online tool that allows you to copy and paste your text into their editor and receive instant feedback on your spelling and grammar. The online version of Hemingway is completely free to use. Its clean and simple interface makes it easy for you to use this tool to edit your work.
One great feature of the Hemingway App is that it tells you when your sentences are too complex to understand. This allows you to break up wordy sentences into more manageable pieces. Additionally, Hemingway’s reading grade helps you determine how readable your writing is and what you can do to improve readability. Using Hemingway is a quick and easy way to do more than just a basic check for your writing.
For a free proofreading tool, this is a great option. It allows you to quickly look for common errors and gives you simple tips for improving your writing. While other tools with premium features offer more options, this tool offers a lot for a free resource.
Price: Free
11. StackEdit
StackEdit is a Markdown editor that can help bloggers and other web content creators edit text for Markdown content. In addition to checking your work’s spelling, their live preview function allows the writer to see how their writing will look in real-time.
This proofreading tool is free to use. After checking for spelling errors, you can use the tool to upload your work directly to your blog, Google Drive, Dropbox, or other online storage. You can either write in the app or paste your content for editing, making its use more versatile. If you want to insert inline comments into your file, you can do that within this tool.
While you may need other tools to check for grammar and punctuation errors, this is a great tool if you’re working specifically with Markdown.
Price: Free
12. Grammark
Grammark is another simple browser tool that you can use to edit your work by copying and pasting it into the page’s editor. This tool helps catch the most commonly occurring problems in writing: passive voice, sentence structure, basic punctuation, and more.
This proofreading tool is an open-source project, meaning users can add code for other users to use or for their own projects. Tools on Grammark can help you with academic style, passive voice, wordiness, transitions, sentence variety, run-on sentences, grammar traps, and more.
Unfortunately, this program is fairly limited in its overall ability to edit your writing. However, their tool is simple and quick to use, making it a great way to do a quick edit of your work.
Price: Free
13. GrammarCheck
GrammarCheck is a proofreading tool that quickly checks for grammatical errors in your writing. This easy-to-use web tool has you copy and paste your work into their editor’s box. After submitting your work for editing, the screen will show change suggestions for your writing. For each underlined error, you can click more options to see suggestions on how to change it.
This tool is free and quick to use. It quickly finds basic grammar mistakes to help you clean up your writing. GrammarCheck is easy to use and does not require any downloads or logins to use. It can help you find spelling and grammar errors while also providing you with style suggestions.
Price: Free
14. Reverso
Reverso is a great tool to help you translate and improve your writing in English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, and Japanese. In addition to helping you translate text, this proofreading tool can help you edit your writing for spelling and grammar mistakes.
Not all writers will work with multiple languages, but those who do need special proofreading tools. Reverso offers additional feedback to help you make the best translation choices.
Not only will it help you catch grammar and spelling errors, but Reverso will also help you find optimal translations of common idioms between languages. You can also use dictionaries provided by Reverso to understand the meanings of certain words better.
Best of all, Reverso is free! That makes this a must-have proofreading tool for writers using multiple languages.
Price: Free
15. SpellCheckPlus
When you paste your content into the editor on SpellCheckPlus, their service provides you with a quick report of spelling errors with a list of suggestions. This tool provides a limited amount of grammar editing, with suggestions on how your grammar can be improved.
This tool is very limited, but it does not require you to sign up and has no fee attached to it. This can be an easy first step before using other tools. It can also be used as a final check before sharing your work. SpellCheckPlus offers quick editing to give you easy-to-implement feedback about your writing.
Price: Free
Best proofreading tools: The bottom line
If you’re a blogger or a freelance writer, it’s important to use the best proofreading tools to make sure your writing is impeccable. After all, content is king!
Personally, I use and recommend Grammarly. I like it because it works in the background as I write blog posts in the default Gutenberg editor on WordPress.
Anyways, I hope this list of the best proofreading tools has helped you find the perfect tool to help you become a better writer.
