Grammarly Free vs Premium: Is the Upgrade Worth $12/Month?
Grammarly Premium costs $12/month (annual plan). The free version handles basic spelling and grammar. Is the upgrade justified? Here’s a practical comparison.
Free vs Premium Feature Breakdown
| Feature | Free | Premium ($12/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Spelling errors | ✅ | ✅ |
| Grammar errors | ✅ Basic | ✅ Advanced |
| Punctuation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Sentence structure | ❌ | ✅ |
| Word choice suggestions | ❌ | ✅ (vocabulary enhancement) |
| Clarity improvements | ❌ | ✅ |
| Conciseness suggestions | ❌ | ✅ |
| Tone detection | ✅ Basic | ✅ Detailed |
| Plagiarism checker | ❌ | ✅ (100M+ sources) |
| Rewrite suggestions | ❌ | ✅ |
| Formality adjustment | ❌ | ✅ |
| Performance statistics | Basic | Detailed |
What Premium Adds in Practice
The Big Upgrades
1. Rewrite Suggestions — The most valuable Premium feature. Highlights clunky sentences and offers complete rewrites. Saves significant editing time for heavy writers.
2. Clarity Improvements — Identifies vague, confusing, or verbose writing. Example: “The meeting that we had yesterday” → “Yesterday’s meeting.” These small improvements compound across a document.
3. Plagiarism Detection — Critical if you produce AI-assisted or heavily researched content. Checks against 100+ million sources.
4. Word Choice Enhancement — Suggests more precise, impactful words when you’re using overused vocabulary. Quietly improves your writing quality over time.
What’s Disappointing About Premium
- Still misses context — Doesn’t understand industry-specific writing conventions
- Sometimes over-suggests — Not every suggestion improves the text; you still need judgment
- The AI writing (Grammarly Go) is mediocre — Use Claude or ChatGPT for actual writing; Grammarly Go for editing only
Who Should Upgrade to Premium?
Worth every penny if you:
- Write professionally (blog posts, reports, client emails) more than 1 hour/day
- Are a non-native English speaker and need comprehensive grammar help
- Produce AI-assisted content that needs plagiarism checking
- Write for clients or executives where errors have real consequences
Stick with free if you:
- Write casually (personal emails, social media)
- Already have a strong editor or proofreader
- Only need basic spell-check (free covers this)
Better Value Option: Grammarly + Claude Combo
Instead of relying on Grammarly for AI writing, consider:
- Use Claude Pro ($20/mo) for first drafts — significantly better writing
- Use Grammarly Premium ($12/mo) for final polishing
- Total: $32/month for professional-grade writing workflow
Try Grammarly Premium Free →
Try Claude Pro →
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