There’s no doubt that editing software can help you improve your documents. Your writing goal is to present your information clearly in the most accessible way for your reader. Whether you’re writing a paper, explaining products or services to customers, or expressing your opinion, you want your writing to have an impact.
Hemingway Editor and Grammarly are two powerful editing tools that can help you achieve your writing communication goals. We’ll look at them both in depth to help you decide which grammar checker is the best for you.
What Is Hemingway?
Hemingway Editor scans your document for readability improvements. It doesn’t offer suggestions to help you replace complex language or rephrase sentences, but it will show you where to focus on improvements.
It’s an easy-to-use online editing tool that also has a desktop version, which is available for a small fee. Hemingway Editor focuses on writing style rather than grammar and spelling mistakes.
What Is Grammarly?
Grammarly searches your document for correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery. You’ll see suggestions relating to each of these areas.
Grammarly is an AI-powered grammar checker that works online and in desktop apps, such as Microsoft Word.
Grammarly vs Hemingway Compared
Grammarly and Hemingway might be competitors, but there are some major differences between them. We’ll take a closer look at both the free version and premium version of these two editing programs.
However, the best tool between the two depends on your personal writing goals, language and grammar skills, and budget.
Reports in Hemingway vs Grammarly
The biggest difference between Grammarly vs Hemingway is grammar checking. Grammarly is primarily a grammar checker, while Hemingway Editor doesn’t check for any grammar errors or spelling mistakes.
This doesn’t mean Grammarly is better, however. For professional writers who have a solid grasp of the English language, or for creative writers who hire proofreaders, Hemingway can be a great choice.
Hemingway Editor focuses on writing style and readability. It looks at passive voice, adverb usage, complex words, and sentence structure. For sentence structure, the editing tool will point out hard-to-read and very hard-to-read sentences.
These five reports are great for cleaning up your writing and making it clear and concise. It will give you individual goals for each report based on your total word count.
Hemingway will also give you a readability score based on the Flesch-Kincaid metric. It uses the US public school grade system as your score. For example, the default text is Grade 6, meaning that anyone who can read at a sixth-grade level (ages 11-12) can easily read and comprehend the passage.
Grammarly will check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes, as well as capitalization and consistency errors. This is a great option for people who either don’t have a solid foundation in English mechanics or who make a lot of typos. (And let’s be honest—who doesn’t make typos?)
But Grammarly offers more feedback than just grammar. It will highlight wordy or confusing sentences, passive voice, and other sentence structure issues. You’ll also get limited rephrasing suggestions.
One report Grammarly offers that Hemingway doesn’t is tone detection. You can see whether your writing comes across as formal, happy, rude, and more.
Editing in Hemingway vs Grammarly
Another major difference between Hemingway vs Grammarly is where and how you edit. Hemingway Editor has only two options for their editing tool, while Grammarly has several software integrations.
Hemingway is very simple to understand. You can visit their website and immediately begin writing, or you can paste in existing text. The app will highlight issues in different colors, and there’s an easy-to-understand key on the right side. You can also switch to writing mode so the editing feedback doesn’t distract you.
However, there’s no login or other way to save your writing. If you close the tab, you’ll lose what you were working on. Also, if you make any edits, you’ll need to copy your updated writing and paste it into another software.
In order to save or export your work, you’ll need to purchase the premium version of Hemingway.
Grammarly, on the other hand, will work wherever you do. You can use both the free version and Premium version as a browser extension, desktop app, Google Docs add-on, or on the web. You can save your documents too.
Grammarly uses underlines to point out errors. In the online editing tool, you copy and paste or upload a document, or you can write directly in the app. Suggestions will pop up in a list on the left-hand side. Hover your mouse over suggestions when you’re using the browser extension.
Grammarly allows you to set goals based on your audience and the type of document you're writing. You’ll get more detailed feedback on tone than Hemingway, which is helpful if you write for, say, both fiction and business.
Free vs Premium Plans on Grammarly and Hemingway
The biggest difference between Grammarly vs Hemingway’s free and Premium versions is their editing capabilities. Grammarly keeps most of their editing reports behind a paywall, while Hemingway edits the same whether you purchase their paid version or not.
Hemingway’s paid version is a desktop app that allows you to work in offline mode, save your documents, and export to various file types. You can also publish directly to Medium and WordPress, which is handy for bloggers.
Plus, it only costs a one-time payment of $19.99—a real bargain. It’s available for both Mac and PC users.
Grammarly allows you to work anywhere for free, but you don’t get access to detailed readability metrics or comprehensive editing feedback. The only reports you get with a free Grammarly account are:
- Grammar, spelling, and punctuation
- Conciseness
- Tone detection
- Auto-citations
If you want access to reports like consistency, word choice, sentence variety, tone suggestions, or inclusive language, you must purchase the Premium version of Grammarly.
Grammarly is one of the priciest editing tools on the market. You’ll save some money if you purchase their annual plan for $144. Otherwise, it’s $60 a quarter or $30 a month.
Grammarly vs Hemingway for Business Users/Teams
For business users, there is a clear winner between Hemingway and Grammarly. Hemingway just isn’t designed for companies or people who write frequently at work. It’s meant more for creative writers and bloggers.
Grammarly has a premium Business version that starts at $15 a month per user. You can also purchase an Enterprise version.
The Business version gives you access to Grammarly Premium, along with some added features. You can build a company style guide and set brand tones, so everyone writes with your company’s voice. The Business plan also comes with text snippets and an analytics dashboard.
Hemingway vs Grammarly at a Glance
| Hemingway | Grammarly | |
|---|---|---|
| Spelling and Grammar | No | Yes |
| Free Editing Features | Readability score Passive voice Adverbs Complex words Hard-to-read sentences |
Grammar, spelling, punctuation Conciseness Tone detection Auto-citations |
| Integrations | Web editor (free) Desktop app (free) |
Web editor Desktop Google Docs Browser extensions |
| Business Option | No | Yes |
| Premium Cost | $19.99 one-time payment | $30/month $60/quarter $144/year |
Why ProWritingAid Is the Best Alternative to Hemingway and Grammarly
Of course, Grammarly and Hemingway aren’t the only options. ProWritingAid has all the best features of those two editing apps, plus many others that make it the clear winner.
ProWritingAid analyzes your writing based on 20+ reports—and all of them are available to both free and Premium users. Check for consistency, style (including adverb usage and sentence structure), jargon, repeated words, clichés, inclusive language, and more, in addition to a detailed spelling, grammar, and mechanics check.
You’ll also get customized writing goals and feedback based on your document type, so you can reach and engage your audience. Whereas Grammarly only has six broad document types, ProWritingAid has more than 40! Switch between things like sales emails, science fiction stories, academic essays, memos, and more.
The free version has several integrations besides the online editing tool. You can get a Google Docs add-on, a Chrome or other browser extension, and a Microsoft Word add-in.
Premium accounts get access to our desktop apps, which integrate with apps like Scrivener, Office, and Final Draft. ProWritingAid Everywhere will work on almost any app you have downloaded to your computer.
The free version of ProWritingAid has a word count limit of 500 words at a time, while Premium users enjoy unlimited word counts.
The Premium version has some great additional AI-powered features, as well. Create a custom style guide and use text snippets for information you type frequently. Combine your favorite ProWritingAid reports into one Combo Report to save time.
Fiction writers will enjoy comparing their writing skills and style against more than 90 famous authors.
You can get ProWritingAid's Premium version for $20 a month if you bill monthly. But you can also save 50% and get an annual license for $120 a year.
Want to stick around forever? Get a lifetime license for $399!
ProWritingAid doesn’t just want you to click suggestions. We want you to improve your writing skills while you write. Both free and Premium users will get access to in-tool explanations, videos, and quizzes about various aspects of the English language and writing.
We also offer many free webinars and conferences featuring bestselling authors, marketing experts, and other industry leaders. Plus, our in-depth blog provides engaging and educational articles about every aspect of the writing process.
ProWritingAid for Business Users and Teams
ProWritingAid is also a better choice than Grammarly for businesses. Pricing starts at around $12 per user per month, or you can get an enterprise quote.
Teams can build a company style guide with up to 1,000 rules, along with up to 1,000 term base items. You can also create team text snippets, which is great for canned responses for customer-facing teams.
ProWritingAid integrates with customer support platforms like Zendesk and Freshdesk, as well as sales engagement platforms like Salesforce, LinkedIn, and Zoho.
We are GDPR- and SOC2-compliant, so your data is always secure. Companies like Amazon, Equifax, and Bank of America trust ProWritingAid.
Conclusion on Hemingway vs Grammarly
If you’re trying to decide between Hemingway vs Grammarly, you’ll need to consider your writing needs, writing goals, and budget.
But if you want the best of all worlds, ProWritingAid is an affordable, secure, and comprehensive editing tool. We truly believe that everyone can become a great writer, whether they are writing 100s of emails per day or the next influential novel.
What are you waiting for? Give ProWritingAid a try today.
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