Grammarly Review: Is It Worth the Hype? (Honest Take)

Johnny Salib
Johnny Salib

It's been over a decade since I began my journey as a full-time blogger, and while I have enjoyed writing for sites like Pets Overload and Basically Average, I must admit that the process has always been a bit difficult for me.

Although I've always been the creative type, language isn't necessarily my forté. Being both ADHD and dyslexic, not only do I tend to lose focus while writing articles, but my syntax and spelling could be... better. 

Over the years, I've admittedly had hundreds of comments posted on the various blogs I've contributed to, stating how unprofessional posts were or how difficult it was to understand certain portions. So, I began my search for a tool that could help me out.

I've always been aware of Spell Check software, growing up in the Computer age where schools have Computer classes that taught typing, Microsoft Word and Excel; however, since my issues were beyond spelling, I had to find something that better suited me.

The first tool I ever tried was Grammarly, though I can't remember if I found it from a Google search or if it was already the day and age where YouTubers were pushing the software down viewers' throats. Nonetheless, I used Grammarly consistently for years to come, subscribing and unsubscribing as I needed, since it realistically didn't solve all of my problems. 

Today, I'm going to outline my experiences with Grammarly and cover both the paid and unpaid versions to help you decide which best suits you. 

What Is Grammarly?

 
Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that checks grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes. Founded in 2009, it offers both free and premium versions across web browsers, desktop apps, and mobile devices.

Grammarly Features Breakdown

 
Free Version Includes:
  • Basic grammar and spelling checks
  • Limited punctuation corrections
  • Browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge
  • Mobile keyboard app
  • Limited text generation with AI prompts
 
Premium Features:
  • Advanced grammar suggestions
  • Clarity and conciseness improvements
  • Tone detection and suggestions
  • The ability to rewrite full sentences
  • Check for citation consistency
  • Genre-specific writing style checks
  • Vocabulary enhancement suggestions
  • Plagiarism and AI Detection Checker
  • Limited text generation with AI prompts

My Experience Using Grammarly

 
As implied earlier, I've used Grammarly on and off for almost a decade. While a good portion of the time I used Grammarly Premium, I unsubscribed whenever I didn't need the premium features.
 
To me, the biggest benefit Grammarly provides is the fact that it directly integrates into your browser. This was important for me as I would write directly into WordPress and preferred to see suggestions in real-time.
 
Admittedly, there were a number of updates to Grammarly that would break the functionality it had on browsers. While it worked fluidly on the majority of websites, there were some where Grammarly would just "break."
 
For example, Grammarly would state that it had 100 suggestions, but when you clicked on the little button, nothing would appear, or it would [suggest making] a change to text that was already changed or bypassed. Or I would click the arrow to see the next suggestion and would be teleported to a random place on the post that had nothing to do with the suggestion.
 
One of the biggest issues I had during a number of the updates was that Grammarly would duplicate text instead of simply replacing it. For example, if it was changing the following sentence:
I went to the mall to gett some cheeze.
 
It would appear as
I went to the mall to gett some cheeze get some cheese.
 
This essentially created an extra step for me and greatly reduced the usefulness of the app as I was primarily using it for proofreading. 
 
Admittedly, bugs like these aren't completely Grammarly's fault. Grammarly is designed to read and edit as many websites as it can, but given websites contain different codes, some don't play as nicely with the app.
 
The duplication issue was never a problem when I used the native Grammarly editor, however, since a good portion of my work was ensuring I embedded images and links throughout my posts, using the native editor wasn't a compromise I wanted to make.

Grammarly Free

 
Grammarly is pretty powerful without subscribing to the premium version. Admittedly, it is a glorified spell checker for the most part, the biggest draw for me was that it helps with punctuation. 
 
I'll admit, I struggle to understand when to use commas, dashes, semi-colons and colons; even though I'm someone who struggles to read when punctuation isn't used properly. I know! The irony.
 
Grammarly Free will mostly make suggestions for comma placement. Occasionally it will throw in a semi-colon or two to break up run-on sentences. For the most part the punctuation suggestions are great, though some suggestions aren't organic or change the way the intent of the sentence. 
 
The free version will note where a pro suggestion is available, allowing you to get one free sample a day, though giving you a little nudge that you can make an improvement in that area. 
 
It is somewhat unclear what is considered a "pro suggestion" as Grammarly will sometimes suggest things like incorrect pronoun usage or tense, which I tend to find extremely useful.
 
Hopping back to the the spell check feature, given Grammarly uses AI it will often provide the correct capitalisation for company names such as Facebook or WordPress. That being said, the AI is better for certain topics and you may need to add your own words to the dictionary as I did. *cough* Gamers will relate.

Why I liked Grammarly Premium

 
Grammarly Premium was something I appreciated more when I was writing more clinical blog posts for Pets Overload, however when I wrote for Basically Average it actually worked against me.
 
I tend to write extremely long run-on sentences and struggle to be concise. I'll admit, I sometimes struggle to read my own work... so... I appreciated those pro suggestions from Grammarly.
 
The majority of suggestions I would receive were to help improve clarity. Grammarly would either recommend to split up sentences or would help me see alternative ways to say the same thought with fewer words. 
 
Sometimes suggestions were as simple as using another tense that would cut a chunk of a sentence out, making it more fluid to read. 
 
One of the biggest reasons I loved Grammarly Premium was because it showed me just how much I relied on certain phrases. If you repeat a phrase too often, as I do, it will make you aware and suggest that you use other phrases. You can probably tell that I'm not currently using Grammarly to write this post because of how often I'm doing it. *cough* and I've had many complaints about it whenever I let my subscription expire.

Negatives about using Grammarly

As mentioned earlier, whenever I was writing gaming content using Grammarly I ran into a number of issues, simply because Grammarly didn't understand the topic. 

Over time I realised how much Grammarly was scrubbing "my voice" and effectively sterilising my content. At first, I wasn't too bothered by this as I lacked confidence in my writing; however, when I read back many of my posts I recognised how soulless they had become. Recognisably, sterilisation isn't going to be a concern for the majority of users, as Grammarly is often used for professional settings and not as often for creative ones.

Around the time that Grammarly launched their "tone" function, which was to help users discern whether their word choices best fit the content they were writing, I was trying to make my decision on whether I would continue subscribing to the platform.

I was extremely curious how the tone function could help me, especially when it came to understanding how my words could be perceived. I'm well aware that my issues with communication aren't only with being understood, but my intent often gets lost in the words that I choose. For example, I will often come off as brash or judgemental due to poor word choice. On the flip side, I will also appear as uneducated or novice speaking on topics I'm well educated on. 

So, was the tone function helpful? Somewhat.

It's a primitive function that gives a bit of insight on what emotion you convey and whether you sound professional or casual. Users can then request suggestions if they are unhappy with the tone; however, much like many of these don't sound organic or may alter the meaning of a sentence.

Out of curiosity, I began running my plays through Grammarly to see if it could help me with character development or tones, but I'll admit this was even worse. The majority of the time it suggest removing the words "filler words," essentially removing everything that made the characters sound human and conversational. 

While I understand that plays and conversations are not the primary demographic for Grammarly users, it was disappointing to see that even with the addition of tones the utility of Grammarly wasn't expanded. 

Is Grammarly Worth It?

 
I can't deny that I have a love-hate relationship with Grammarly. Do I think it is worth spending money on? Absolutely, but only for certain things. 
 
While the free version of Grammarly is great for small changes in punctuation and spelling, I do think I learned quite a bit from using the premium version. Now, is it worth the cost? Absolutely not if you are going to subscribe and unsubscribe regularly.
 
I genuinely think that it is abhorrent that paying monthly is more than double the cost of paying by the year and that's been the main reason I never resubscribed after my last subscription expired. 
 
While I don't mind paying for a yearly subscription if I know that the majority of my work is going to be spent blogging, the reality is that I don't always know what projects I'll be working on or whether Grammarly would be useful for it. 
 
For example, this year I've been predominantly composing and writing content that Grammarly wouldn't help me with; but I know that if I go back to writing for Pets Overload full time, I'll miss the darned thing.
 
To me only the yearly subscription is worth it and only if you primarily want it for grammar and struggle with sentence structure like I do. 
 
If you are planning on using Grammarly for anything creative, stick to the free version of it. I do wish I had software like Grammarly growing up though, since I think it would have made schoolwork a lot easier for me. I admittedly failed English one year in high school because of how many reports I did poorly on and I think Grammarly would have helped me immensely. 
 
In my opinion if these sound like things that can help you, I'd try Premium:
  • Assistance organising/rearranging sentences to create more coherency
  • Assistance understanding when certain punctuation should be used, especially in an academic setting
  • Alerts that let you know you've repeated phrases or words often in a piece
  • Word suggestions to keep a consistent tone or create more fluidity
  • Suggestions that change sentence structure
 
If these are all things that you feel would help you and you are planning to write for the majority of the year, then I absolutely think Grammarly is worth it. Of course it's not a professional proof-reader, but it can help you better understand the way you write and what mistakes you're making in real-time. 
 
To me, the real-time aspect was the most impactful as Grammarly was teaching me how to build better writing habits, though I'm not sure how many stuck. I think my ideal would be one year subscribed, one year unsubscribed to essentially train and teach myself to write better. 
 

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