Grammarly Review: Is Premium Worth It? What Nobody Will Tell You

I’ve been using Grammarly since 2015. There are things I love and things I hate about it.

This review is a distilled journal of my personal experience of more than 5 years of using Grammarly Premium.

I believe that you won’t find a piece of better advice about deciding on investing in Grammarly from anyone else.

My motivation is to get you the solution you’re looking for and not selling you just another piece of software. Consider it an elder brother’s advice.

Don’t get me wrong. Grammarly is a good piece of software. But is it for you? Let’s find out!

What is Grammarly?

Grammarly is an automated, AI-powered grammar checking and proofreading software which checks your writing almost anywhere and everywhere that you type.

Grammarly’s robust AI engine claims to check for more than 250 types of common grammatical errors, enhancing vocabulary usage and suggesting citations.

Do You Even Need A Grammar Checker?

For natives with a good grasp over the grammar rules, especially prepositions and phrasal verbs; you can skip Premium version of such tools.

However, the free version here can save you from overlooking some embarrassing blunders. I’d say that the free version would be enough for you.

BUT, if you’re a non-native writer, like me, who keeps typing something or the other; I can’t recommend Grammarly enough. Premium, even better.

Being a non-native writer myself, I’ve invested a lot of my time in improving my written as well as spoken English skills. The suggestions Grammarly gives is gold.

NOTE: No grammar tool can help you if you don’t actively work on improving your language. I’ve personally read a lot and used apps like KnudgeMe, which has compounded to my rich stock of vocabulary and idioms.

I’ve come a long way with Grammarly, and with my consistent improvement, I’ve improved my grammar a lot. Yet, I feel that there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Even if you’re confident with your grasp over English and grammar, it’s easy to mistype something or overlook mistakes while you’re busy penning down your creative ideas.

Things I Love About Grammarly

Plagiarism Checker

From my essays to blog posts, I use Grammarly to ensure that the wordsmith in me produces the absolute unique content; while not missing mentions of any references of good resources.

How & Why Is Grammarly Better Than Microsoft Word?

Grammarly claims to find up to 10 times more errors than Word. That’s a talk they’ve walked.

Things I Hate

Grammarly Editor

I absolutely despise the Grammarly editor. It doesn’t allow me to format my articles properly. No bold, no italics, no header tags.

This might not concern you, but it’s always better to write content that the reader can quickly skim through. Bold, Italics, and headers allow the user to skim through the main topics and subtopics quickly.

This is why I don’t use the Grammarly editor, nor recommend using it.

Grammarly Pricing

Grammarly comes at a steep price of $29.95 if you opt for the monthly plan. However, the annual subscription provides the best value at only $11.66 per month.

Is Grammarly For You?

This answer is subjective; hence, I decided to break this down as per the different use cases.

 

Grammarly For Students

If you write occasionally, maybe once a semester, you might not want to hold on to the premium version. I’d suggest try the monthly plan first and see if you want to commit to a yearly or quarterly plan.

If you get lots of essays to write every semester, an extra $11 per month investment for A grades which you got by avoiding those silly errors is worth it.

I’d like to put it this way— if you get straight A’s with Grammarly premium and eventually land a good job, it’ll replay for itself several times over.

Moreover, being a non-native writer, Grammarly has consistently unveiled many blunders in my writing with its advanced suggestions(Premium Feature) to the point that I’ve internalized the art of expressing what I want to say with my writings.

How Does Grammarly Help Students?

When Students Shouldn’t Use Grammar Checker Tools

If you’re writing an essay for “that dream university,” hoping that a tool like Grammarly would be enough, I’d like to save you from the grave mistake.

Any automated tool can only help you correct errors. It doesn’t make you an inherently good writer in terms of writing style and the way you express yourself. I’d advise you to go for expert help.

Please don’t rely on any tools and get a professional proofreader/writer for your essay. You don’t get another shot every now and then to enter your dream university. Use the opportunity well.

Grammarly For Bloggers

I built my first blog back in 2013; as a 14-year-old. A little earlier, maybe. Being a non-native speaker, Grammarly has saved me from grave mistakes and pushed me forward by rectifying my mistakes, with reasons.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Grammarly is an AI after all; and not a human proofreader.

But for us bloggers, it’s an investment one must make.

You see, we write tens of thousands of words per month or hire writers who do so. Manually proofreading all the text that goes live on your site isn’t what we as growth-hackers should be doing.

Like me, you’re probably exposed to a mind-numbing amount of content every day. Grammarly saves you from the ordeal of manual proofreading for a productive workflow.

Grammarly For Copywriters & Content Marketers

If you’re a professional copywriter like me, you might already be using Grammarly.

You can’t afford an embarrassing grammatical error just because you overlooked it last night.

If you’re already using the free version of Grammarly, you know how effortless it becomes skim through thousands of words quickly.

Premium saves the day; every day!

Grammarly For Freelance Content Writers

I hire many freelance writers for my websites’ content. I always advise them to use Grammarly (at least the free version).

Writing is your bread and butter. Investing a small portion of it back to your business is something I can’t underemphasize.

If you’re someone who’s just starting out, I’d recommend you to use the free version of Grammarly. If you don’t have money to invest, don’t worry.

As you progress and make more money, you can invest in the paid version.

Grammarly For Lawyers

My maternal sister is a lawyer. I’m still discussing how beneficial Grammarly can be for her. I’ll let her use it for a month and update accordingly.

Grammarly For Journalists

Journalists need to be as crisp with their words as possible. A sentence by a journalist summarizes a paragraph that’d be written by a common man.

Moreover, journalists can’t afford to make mistakes in their writing. The world reads what you write.

For senior editors in journalism, Grammarly can significantly ease the task of proofreading the columns written by your juniors.

Moreover, in today’s race of who covers a piece of news first, it’s easy to overlook grammatical errors. Grammarly is something I’d recommend anytime for you.

Where You Shouldn’t Use Grammarly

How Is Grammarly Proofreading?

It’s an automated, AI-based software. So I’d recommend you to keep your expectations low. However, when compared to the other software offerings, Grammarly is better in my honest opinion.

Grammarly Premium VS Free

Grammarly VS Human Proofreader

I would any time, give it to the human proofreader. Grammarly is after all an AI, and can’t match the accuracy of the human counterpart.

However, human proofreaders can quickly become expensive when you’re writing a good volume of essays or articles. Grammarly is an affordable life-saver in this scenario.

Is Grammarly Premium Worth It? (My Personal Experience)

Here’s how Rachael, a student describes it.

It just depends on what you do with it. I look at it in terms of how much I spend at Starbucks or other coffee shops. If I would be willing to give up two caramel macchiatos a month for the service, then it’s worth it to me.

In my personal opinion, Grammarly Premium has been well worth the amount I paid for it. The yearly plan is what I go for, and it costs a couple of premium coffees against the huge ordeal it saves me from.

How To Get Grammarly Premium For Free

I won’t tell you some weird illegal hack to get it. Grammarly ties up with universities and other educational organizations for subsidized rates for students, or free subscriptions.

Ask your institution for getting the best offer for you.

Alternative Proofreading Solutions To Grammarly

• ProWriting Aid
• WhiteSmoke
• Ginger
• JetPack
• PaperRater

Why I Use Grammarly

Being a non-native writer, I make mistakes. I am not ashamed to admit it.

Grammarly helps me improve by giving me reasons for the suggested edits, preventing overuse of words in the article, and suggesting better phrases for expressing myself better.

I’m a writer. I write to persuade. I write to sell.

Not that I’m selling you Grammarly in this post. I’m not one of those “GURUs” who earn by teaching how to make money.

Although I don’t need Grammarly as frequently as I did in the past (as my English has significantly improved), I still use it as it makes the work of writing and proofreading very effortless.

My Verdict: Should You Get Grammarly Premium?

The short answer? Yes. The long answer? It depends.

Some FAQs

How Safe Is Grammarly?

How To Check Plagiarism In Grammarly?

How Does Grammarly Check For Plagiarism?

How To Add Grammarly To Word?

What Are Advanced Issues On Grammarly?

What’s A Good Readability Score On Grammarly?

How Much Does Grammarly Cost?

Do students Get Grammarly For Free?

Why Is Grammarly Free?

Why Is Grammarly Premium So Expensive?