AutoCrit vs ProWritingAid: Which tool is better?

Choosing the best writing tool can be a game changer for both aspiring novelists and seasoned authors striving to perfect their craft. ProWritingAid and AutoCrit are two top contenders, each offering distinct features designed to enhance your writing.

In this article, we’ll explore their key features, strengths, and use cases to help you determine which tool aligns best with your writing goals. Whether you need detailed writing reports, genre-specific insights, or a budget-friendly option, this article has you covered.

Overview

AutoCrit

AutoCrit is designed for fiction writers seeking feedback to refine their storytelling. It focuses on elements like pacing, dialogue, and POV consistency, helping authors strengthen their narratives and identify areas for improvement.

The tool includes features that evaluate plot, characters, and structure, while also offering assistance to generate short story segments or enhance descriptions. AutoCrit also provides book marketing tools to help authors prepare their work for self-publication and promotion. AutoCrit is an online, web-based application designed to be used within its own interface rather than providing continuous, real-time suggestions or deep integrations with tools like Scrivener, Word, or Google Docs.

ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is designed for writers who want both detailed line editing and broader feedback on their work. It focuses on grammar, style, readability, and consistency, while also providing big-picture insights into elements like pacing, structure, and character development.

The tool includes features that highlight overused words, sentence variety, dialogue balance, and readability issues. It also offers suggestions to improve clarity, strengthen descriptions, and refine transitions. ProWritingAid’s developmental reports support revision at every stage of the writing process, from assessing your plot outline to manuscript analysis and preparing your book for publication. ProWritingAid works across multiple platforms and integrates seamlessly with popular tools like Word, Google Docs, and Scrivener.

Key differences

AutoCrit and ProWritingAid are both designed for fiction authors and creative writers. While they share many features, there are some key differences:

• ProWritingAid works across platforms like Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and browsers via its browser extensions and desktop integrations. AutoCrit is primarily accessed through its online editor, keeping all analysis and feedback within its own cloud-based ecosystem. 

• ProWritingAid includes an advanced grammar checker, allowing you to see grammar, spelling, and readability corrections in real time. AutoCrit also offers grammar checking but places more emphasis on manuscript-level analysis rather than continuous, in-the-moment feedback. 

• AutoCrit allows writers to toggle between industry standard style guides for grammar checking. ProWritingAid also supports style customization but instead enables you to design your own custom guide, so you get suggestions tailored to your writing.

• ProWritingAid includes features to help creative writers rephrase text and overcome writer’s block with suggested alternatives. While AutoCrit can highlight errors, such as passive voice and repeated words, it doesn’t show you how you can fix them.

• While both prioritize your privacy and commit to never using your writing to train their tools, ProWritingAid undergoes regular external audits to reinforce this commitment.

Side-by-side feature comparison

Let’s compare some features of ProWritingAid and AutoCrit side by side.

Writing style analysis and feedback

A side-by-side comparison of AutoCrit and ProWritingAid reveals that many of their writing style reports share similar features. They analyze key elements like: 

• Sentence structure

• Pacing

• Dialogue

• Adverbs

• Sensory details

• Clichés

• Redundancies

• Word choice

• Readability

• Consistency

ProWritingAid and AutoCrit offer some unique reports that set them apart. For example, ProWritingAid includes alliteration, sensory language, and transitions reports, which AutoCrit lacks, while AutoCrit provides POV consistency and paragraph variation reports, which are exclusive to its platform.

See the full list of ProWritingAid’s reports here

Story analysis and feedback

Both ProWritingAid and AutoCrit analyze full manuscripts and individual chapters, providing feedback on key storytelling elements such as:

• Plot

• Characters

• Setting

• Pacing

• Dialogue

• Tension

• Strengths and areas for improvement

Both tools also offer features that simulate the beta reading process too, giving you a preview of how readers might react.

However, while AutoCrit offers big-picture story analysis, its feedback is often more high-level and may require writers to interpret how best to apply it. It also doesn’t currently save a history of Story Analyzer reports, which can make it harder to compare feedback across drafts. In contrast, ProWritingAid offers more detailed explanations, direct references, and prioritized improvement suggestions that help writers turn feedback into actionable improvements, along with a saved history for tracking progress over time.

Book marketing tools

Both ProWritingAid and AutoCrit offer features to help you market your book, including insights into your target audience and where it fits in the current landscape. Both tools provide suggestions for titles, covers, synopses, and promotional assets.

ProWritingAid’s Marketability Analysis uses your complete manuscript to create a detailed marketing blueprint for your book, with pathways for traditional publishing and self-publishing. It guides you through the process step-by-step with practical advice, tailored templates, and resource recommendations, with in-depth explanations for each suggestion.

AutoCrit’s Market Fuel works on both concepts and full manuscripts, meaning you could think about your potential audience before you start drafting. It offers you a range of suggestions based on the different ways you could position your book, making it useful for identifying possibilities and brainstorming approaches. 

Author comparison

Both tools offer a writing comparison feature, allowing writers to analyze their style against bestselling authors like J.R.R. Tolkien and Stephen King. This helps authors identify stylistic patterns, refine their voice, and enhance their writing to align with literary greats.

Genre-specific suggestions

Both ProWritingAid and AutoCrit provide feedback tailored to your specific genre—such as romance, thriller, mystery, and science fiction—allowing writers to fine-tune their work to meet the unique expectations of their chosen genre.

Grammar checking

ProWritingAid offers advanced grammar-checking features. As well as effectively catching grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, it also provides a range of advanced suggestions like identifying sentence-level improvements to increase readability or fix awkward phrasing, which you can apply with a click. 

You can also toggle real-time mode on and off whenever you want to write without distractions, choosing whether or not to see suggestions as you work or to wait until you’re ready to edit. The free version offers a solid range of features, while a Premium subscription unlocks more advanced tools and removes word count limits.

AutoCrit has recently introduced a more basic grammar checker. It can identify errors like wrongly used words, tense issues, and sentence fragments, with suggested fixes. It doesn’t currently offer the option to view corrections in real time. 

While AutoCrit allows you to choose between industry standard style guides like CMOS and MLA, ProWritingAid goes further and allows you to set up your own style guide, so the suggestions you get suit your style as a writer.

Paraphrasing

ProWritingAid’s Rephrase feature provides alternative ways to rewrite sentences, such as incorporating sensory details to create more vivid and engaging descriptions. Meanwhile, the Sparks feature helps polish longer pieces of text by improving readability and ensuring seamless transitions between ideas. ProWritingAid inspires creativity by suggesting improvements that refine style while staying true to the writer’s unique voice.

AutoCrit does not currently have a built-in paraphrasing tool.

Tools to inspire and overcome writers block

ProWritingAid’s Sparks feature aids brainstorming by proposing sentences that help overcome writer’s block and inspire fresh ideas. It acts as a tool to enhance—not replace—creativity with insightful suggestions that align with your unique style.

AutoCrit also offers features through its Inspiration Studio that help expand stories in different ways. It can generate the next part of a scene, introducing unexpected twists or continuing the narrative. Additionally, it can enhance descriptive depth by coming up with emotional cues, physical sensations, environmental details, and internal dialogue, helping writers craft more immersive scenes.

Communities, events, and challenges

Both ProWritingAid and AutoCrit offer community spaces, events, and writing challenges designed to support writers throughout their creative journey.

The ProWritingAid community is a welcoming space for free and paid users. Members can ask and answer questions, chat about all things writing, and request features. Premium Pro members also gain access to exclusive community areas.

You can join writing sprints for extra accountability and motivation, with two sprints per week for free and Premium members and daily sprints for Premium Pro members. ProWritingAid also hosts free webinars featuring successful writers and industry experts, along with exclusive workshops for Premium Pro members.

In addition, ProWritingAid runs writing challenges to help writers build momentum, like Novel November, which challenges writers to draft a novel in a month with advice from experts and support from fellow writers.

AutoCrit also has a community space, limited to users on the Pro plan. Pro members can join conversations on a wide range of writing topics and create private groups with other writers.

AutoCrit also hosts exclusive events for Pro members, including drop-in clinics where writers can get advice and feedback. These are separate from their paid Academy courses and workshops, which aren’t included in Pro membership.

Like ProWritingAid, AutoCrit offers a range of writing challenges throughout the year that are open to all members, including ones to help with particular aspects of writing, like character development.

Text reader

Unlike ProWritingAid, AutoCrit features a built-in Text Reader, enabling writers to hear their manuscript read aloud. This can help catch awkward phrasing, unnatural dialogue, and overlooked errors. 

Privacy

ProWritingAid clearly states that it does not use user-submitted content to train its AI, ensuring full privacy. It also has a SOC2 certification, which is an externally verified assurance that means the company meets strict criteria for data security and privacy. While AutoCrit also commits to not using its users’ work for AI training, it doesn’t currently have a SOC2 certification.

For writers prioritizing data security and content ownership, ProWritingAid offers stronger assurances.

Integrations

ProWritingAid stands out in terms of accessibility compared to AutoCrit. It offers an online editor, browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Edge), and a desktop app for both Mac and Windows. 

AutoCrit is limited to an online editor, requiring users to copy and paste text between their preferred writing apps, which can be less convenient.

Pricing breakdown: AutoCrit vs ProWritingAid

Both ProWritingAid and AutoCrit offer limited free versions and flexible monthly plans, but their annual subscriptions provide the best value for long-term users.

For those prioritizing affordability, ProWritingAid stands out as the more budget-friendly option. You also have the option to purchase a lifetime plan that eliminates the need for ongoing payments, making it an excellent choice for those seeking a long-term, hassle-free solution.

Find out more about ProWritingAid’s plans and pricing

What users are saying: Reviews of AutoCrit and ProWritingAid

Providing an objective review of AutoCrit is challenging due to the limited number of user reviews available on major platforms, which signals a lack of widespread adoption or awareness of the tool. 

On the other hand, ProWritingAid has established a strong reputation on leading review sites, such as the Chrome Store with a rating of 4.8 out of 5 from over 7,000 ratings and Capterra with a rating of 4.7 out of 5 with over 400 ratings, highlighting its reliability and effectiveness.

While user experiences vary, we’d also like to highlight the endorsements from three USA Today Bestselling authors who have found significant value in ProWritingAid.

• Leeanna Morgan (59 novels published): “ProWritingAid makes my writing better. Having ProWritingAid has allowed me to bridge the gap between my knowledge as a reader and my ability as a writer.”

• Siera London (22 novels published): “ProWritingAid has been a resource in my writer toolkit for many years. The program helps me to craft and clarify my stories for a better reader experience. Your editor will thank you for making their job easier.”

• Melle Amade (76 books published): “No manuscript comes off my computer without it going through ProWritingAid. That alone has saved me $2,000 per manuscript. I rely on ProWritingAid to produce my polished, finished books that I can then publish.”

Pros and cons of AutoCrit and ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid

Pros

• Comprehensive editing tool for both line and developmental editing

• Writing reports covering grammar, style, readability, and storytelling elements

• Advanced grammar checker and paraphrasing tools included in the Premium version, with the option to toggle real-time suggestions on and off 

• Customizable style guide

• More detailed and actionable story analysis, including explanations and improvement suggestions

• Tools to help you market and promote your book, with tailored support for both self-publishing and traditional publishing

• Many integrations, including browser extensions and an online editor

• SOC2 certification for privacy and security

• More budget-friendly and includes a lifetime plan option

• Established reputation, with strong reviews from users and bestselling authors

Cons

• Advanced grammar and style checks require a Premium subscription

• Limited use of paraphrasing tools in the free version

• Full manuscript analysis checks are not included in the Premium subscription

• Lacks a text reader feature to hear your story aloud

AutoCrit

Pros

• Designed for fiction and nonfiction writers with genre-specific feedback

• Developmental editing tools analyzing pacing, dialogue, POV consistency, and structure

• Grammar checking with contextual suggestions

• Inspiration Studio helps generate story continuations and enhance descriptions

• Genre-based suggestions to refine writing based on industry expectations

• Insights into plot and character development for storytelling refinement

• Tools to help you market and promote your book

• Built-in text reader allows you to listen to your manuscript aloud, helping you catch awkward phrasing and dialogue issues

Cons

• No paraphrasing tool (requires subscription to another paid tool)

• No advanced suggestions like readability improvements, real-time mode, or customizable style guide for grammar checking

• Limited to an online editor

• Story analyzer feature doesn’t save your history

• Paid subscription is more expensive than ProWritingAid

• Has no integrations to common word processors, so you have to cut and paste or import into their editor, which may result in loss of formatting

Final verdict: Which software should you choose?

Choosing between ProWritingAid and AutoCrit depends on your writing needs.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive writing toolkit that combines line editing, developmental feedback, and help to market your book, ProWritingAid is the better choice. It provides detailed analysis, actionable suggestions, and integrations across multiple platforms, making it ideal for writers of all genres who want sentence-level refinement and big-picture insights in one tool. 

On the other hand, AutoCrit is tailored for fiction writers who want developmental editing and storytelling feedback. It offers genre-specific insights, story analysis, and AI-powered tools like the Inspiration Studio, making it great for authors focused on narrative structure, pacing, and character development. However, it doesn’t integrate with popular writing apps, limiting people to its own web editor. Its grammar checker is also more basic, lacking advanced suggestions, a real-time mode, and a customizable style guide—all things that can enhance the line-editing experience.

Ultimately, if you need an all-in-one editing tool that works where you write, ProWritingAid is the more versatile and cost-effective option. But if you’re a fiction writer prioritizing story development and happy to work across multiple tools, AutoCrit may be worth exploring.

Happy writing.