Grammarly Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Grammarly alternatives: LanguageTool, Harper, ProWritingAid, Sapling and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Writing & AI Writing
Verdict:Grammarly's free plan covers spelling and grammar, tone suggestions and 100 AI prompts, and Pro is $12 a month with 2,000 prompts, plagiarism and AI text detection. So the case for switching is rarely the free tier; it is price, privacy or language. If privacy is the reason, Harper runs offline under Apache-2.0 and LanguageTool's core can be self-hosted under the LGPL, although Harper checks English only. If you write in several languages, LanguageTool is the clear first pick, with 25+ languages and a Premium plan under half of Pro's price. If you edit long documents, ProWritingAid's free tier handles 500 words at a time, so it works for chapters only after you upgrade to its $10 a month yearly plan. If rewriting is what you used Grammarly for, Wordtune's free plan has 10 rewrites a day with unlimited grammar checks. Sapling is the weakest value switch, since Pro costs the same $12. If you rely on plagiarism detection, check each vendor page for it. Try your finalist on three real documents and compare the suggestions you accept, not the count of flags. Prices come from each vendor's page on the checked date.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LanguageTool | Free (Free plan with 2,000 characters per text field and 3 AI sentence rephrasings a day); paid from $5.83 per month, billed annually ($24.90 billed monthly, Premium) | Web, Browser extension, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted | Writers in several languages and privacy-minded teams | Docs only |
| Harper | Free (open-source grammar checker that runs locally, no paid tier listed) | Browser extension, Editor plugins, Self-hosted | Developers and note-takers who write in English | Docs only |
| ProWritingAid | Free (suggestions for up to 500 words at a time with a few AI runs a day); paid from $10 per month, billed yearly ($120 a year; $30 billed monthly; lifetime $399) | Web, Browser extension | Authors editing long documents | Docs only |
| Sapling | Free (basic writing assistance and AI detector checks up to 2,000 characters per check); paid from $12 per month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly, Pro) | Web, Browser extension | Short messages and emails | Docs only |
| Wordtune | Free (Basic plan with 10 rewrites and AI suggestions a day, 3 AI summaries a month and unlimited spelling and grammar checks); paid from $4.89 per month, billed annually (Advanced) | Web, Browser extension | People who mainly want phrasing and tone help | Docs only |
| DeepL | Free (Free version: 50,000 characters per user per month and 1 file translation per month up to 5 MB); paid from EUR 7.49 per month, Individual plan billed annually (price shown for Germany, VAT included) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Translation | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- Writing in several languages (LanguageTool is the pick)
- Offline checking that never uploads text (Harper is the pick)
- Editing book-length documents (ProWritingAid is the pick)
- Rewriting for tone and phrasing (Wordtune is the pick)
- Short messages with an AI detector (Sapling is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Grammarly features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Grammarly today: Free (Free plan with spelling and grammar help, tone suggestions and 100 AI prompts); paid from $12 per month (Pro; check the pricing page for the billing term) (Grammarly pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Grammarly alternatives
Grammarly's free plan covers spelling and grammar correction and tone visibility, with 100 AI prompts a month. Full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, plagiarism detection and AI-generated text detection need Pro at $12 a month, which raises the allowance to 2,000 AI prompts per member per month. The plans page lists no billing term for that price and no Business or Enterprise price; Enterprise is by contact with sales.
LanguageTool
Compared with Grammarly: LanguageTool is the closest all-round swap and covers 25+ languages, where Grammarly's Pro page stresses English. Free allows 2,000 characters per text field; Premium is $5.83 a month billed annually, under half of Grammarly Pro's $12. The LGPL core can be self-hosted.
Price: Free (Free plan with 2,000 characters per text field and 3 AI sentence rephrasings a day); paid from $5.83 per month, billed annually ($24.90 billed monthly, Premium) (LanguageTool pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Browser extension, macOS, Windows, Self-hosted. LGPL-2.1 (open source).
Project activity: 15.2k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Writers in several languages and privacy-minded teams.
Worth knowing: The open-source core can be run as your own server for 25+ languages.
Harper
Compared with Grammarly: Harper suits people who do not want text leaving their machine: Apache-2.0, offline and built in Rust, with a browser extension and plugins for VS Code, Neovim, Helix, Emacs, Zed and Obsidian. It checks English only and has no paid tier.
Price: Free (open-source grammar checker that runs locally, no paid tier listed) (Harper pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Browser extension, Editor plugins, Self-hosted. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 17.2k GitHub stars · latest release v3.0.0 (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Developers and note-takers who write in English.
Worth knowing: English only; plugins cover VS Code, Neovim, Helix, Emacs, Zed and Obsidian.
ProWritingAid
Compared with Grammarly: ProWritingAid focuses on long-form editing reports. Free covers suggestions for 500 words at a time, so a long chapter needs pasting in pieces. Premium is $10 a month billed yearly, or $399 once as a lifetime payment.
Price: Free (suggestions for up to 500 words at a time with a few AI runs a day); paid from $10 per month, billed yearly ($120 a year; $30 billed monthly; lifetime $399) (ProWritingAid pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Browser extension. Proprietary.
Best for: Authors editing long documents.
Sapling
Compared with Grammarly: Sapling gives basic writing help and AI-detector checks up to 2,000 characters per check for free, which suits short texts. Pro is $12 a month billed annually, the same figure as Grammarly Pro, so choose it for its features, not the price.
Price: Free (basic writing assistance and AI detector checks up to 2,000 characters per check); paid from $12 per month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly, Pro) (Sapling pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Browser extension. Proprietary.
Best for: Short messages and emails.
Wordtune
Compared with Grammarly: Wordtune leans on rewriting rather than error checking: the free Basic plan has 10 rewrites a day but unlimited spelling and grammar checks, and Advanced is $4.89 a month billed annually, against Grammarly Pro's $12.
Price: Free (Basic plan with 10 rewrites and AI suggestions a day, 3 AI summaries a month and unlimited spelling and grammar checks); paid from $4.89 per month, billed annually (Advanced) (Wordtune pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Browser extension. Proprietary.
Best for: People who mainly want phrasing and tone help.
Other popular options (paid)
DeepL
Compared with Grammarly: Individual Pro is EUR 7.49 a month billed annually, but the Write Pro rewriting add-on costs EUR 6.99 per user monthly on Individual and Team plans and is included in Business. Grammarly Pro starts at $12.
Price: Free (Free version: 50,000 characters per user per month and 1 file translation per month up to 5 MB); paid from EUR 7.49 per month, Individual plan billed annually (price shown for Germany, VAT included) (DeepL pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Which one to pick
- Writing in several languages: LanguageTool
- Offline checking that never uploads text: Harper
- Editing book-length documents: ProWritingAid
- Rewriting for tone and phrasing: Wordtune
- Short messages with an AI detector: Sapling
Limits of this review
Docs-only for LanguageTool, Harper, ProWritingAid, Sapling, Wordtune: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Grammarly. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Grammarly, LanguageTool, Harper, ProWritingAid, Sapling, Wordtune, DeepL. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.