ProWritingAid vs. Grammarly: Which One’s Worth Paying For?

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Whether you’re writing a blog post, polishing an email, or wrangling a messy manuscript, having the right editing tool in your corner can save you hours.

But more than that, it can make you a better writer.

That’s why tools like Grammarly and ProWritingAid have become so popular. They go beyond spellcheck, offering feedback on clarity, tone, pacing, and more. And when used well, they can sharpen your writing without dulling your voice.

But which one’s right for you?

I’ve spent hundreds of hours with both ProWritingAid and Grammarly over the years, using them to clean up blog articles, sales pages, emails, and full-length books. I know their quirks. I know their strengths. And I know exactly where each one starts to fall apart.

So instead of throwing you a generic feature list or another AI-generated comparison that you see all over the web these days, I’m going to break things down for you (honestly, clearly, and from years of personal experience).

By the end, you’ll know exactly which tool fits your writing style, your workflow, and your goals.

Let’s get into it.

Here’s the Quick Take Before We Get into the Details

Grammarly is a great pick for short-form writing.

It’s fast, polished, and works almost everywhere, which is ideal for emails, shorter blog posts, and everyday copy that needs a quick cleanup. If you want smooth suggestions and minimal friction, Grammarly gets out of your way.

ProWritingAid is built for writers who want more than grammar.

It’s designed for long-form work (books, essays, content libraries) and it shows. With 25+ deep-dive reports, genre-specific tools, and feedback that actually teaches you something, it’s the better fit if you care about structure, pacing, and style.

The table below breaks things down:

Feature	ProWritingAid	Grammarly
Core Focus	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Deep editing and structure-focused feedback for long-form writing	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fast, real-time grammar and tone fixes for short-form writing
Grammar & Spelling	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent, but a little slower in real-time	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Instant, polished, and highly accurate
Style & Clarity	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Context-aware edits with useful explanations	⭐⭐⭐ Slick and fast, but often shallow
Fiction Tools	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Built-in pacing, dialogue, and repetition tools for authors	⭐ Lacks fiction awareness (treats novels like emails)
Reports & Analysis	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 25+ reports for structure, voice, and flow (a deep-dive editor’s dream)	⭐⭐ Minimal reporting (more spellcheck than insight)
AI Tools	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Solid rephrase tools; Manuscript Analysis can critique your entire book, not just individual chapters	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fast, polished AI rewrites with strong tone control
Integrations	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Works with Docs, Word, Atticus, Scrivener, and browser extensions	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ubiquitous (if you type into it, Grammarly likely works there)
Ease of Use	⭐⭐⭐ Takes some learning (no instant gratification)	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Zero learning curve. Just start typing.
Learning Support	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great for understanding and improving your writing over time	⭐⭐ No real learning, just fix it and move on
Best Use Cases	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Books, essays, content libraries, revisions	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Emails, blog posts, short-form copy
Free Plan	⭐⭐⭐ Basic grammar and limited reports	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Grammar and tone suggestions (generous for casual use)
Overall Verdict	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best for serious writers who care about growth and depth	⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best for fast, casual polish (not deep revision)

Grammarly’s Strengths (and What It Gets Right)

Grammarly is fast. You type, it reacts. No spinning wheel, no waiting. It just does its job.

That’s one of the big reasons people love it, especially for short-form writing.

Blog posts, emails, landing page blurbs, product descriptions. Anything that needs to be clear and polished without a big editing session, Grammarly can help tighten it up in seconds.

And it’s everywhere.

Gmail, Google Docs, WordPress, Notion. You don’t have to think about it. It’s just there, quietly cleaning things up while you write.

The AI tools are actually decent. You can highlight a sentence and ask for a rewrite, or shift the tone, or make something shorter. Sometimes it nails it. Sometimes it misses by a mile. But either way, it gives you a starting point, which is useful when your brain is done for the day but the copy still isn’t.

It also wins on interface. Everything’s clean, intuitive, and easy to use. You don’t have to dig through reports or settings. It just works the way you want it to.

So if you want something that’ll clean up your writing without slowing you down (and without asking you to think like an editor), Grammarly’s a solid pick.

Where Grammarly Starts to Fall Short

Grammarly is great at fixing the obvious: spelling slips, grammar mistakes, overly long sentences.

But that’s also its ceiling.

The suggestions rarely go deeper than clarity or tone. It might flag a sentence as “unclear” or “wordy,” but it won’t tell you why. And it won’t help you fix it in a way that actually fits your voice. You’re just left guessing.

It also tends to overwrite. If you’re writing something with rhythm or personality, Grammarly has a habit of sanding off the edges. That's great for business memos, but not so great for storytelling.

And when it comes to long-form writing? Forget it. Grammarly can check your grammar, but it can’t tell you anything useful about structure, pacing, flow, or variation. It treats your novel the same way it treats your email to HR.

In short: It’s helpful but shallow. And if you’re writing anything of significant length, you’ll hit its limits fast.

Why ProWritingAid is Built for Serious Writers

Grammarly is great if you want clean. ProWritingAid is what you use when you want to get better at your craft.

It goes beyond surface fixes. Rather than simply telling you a sentence is too long or a word is vague, it shows you where your pacing slips, where your dialogue drags, where your paragraphs all start to look the same. It’s built for writers who want to sharpen the structure, not just the sentences.

And that’s what makes it such a different experience.

Instead of grammar suggestions alone, you get access to 25+ reports on pacing, repetition, readability, sentence variety, sticky words, dialogue tags, and more.

You can pop open the “Readability” report and spot the bloated sections in your article. Or use the “Echoes” tool to see where you’ve repeated the same phrase five times in three pages. No other tool does this at this level.

It’s especially powerful for long-form work. A blog post? Sure. A 60,000-word nonfiction manuscript? Even better. Fiction? That’s where it really shines. There are tools inside ProWritingAid specifically designed to catch the kind of issues fiction writers wrestle with (like slow pacing, weak verbs, and overused descriptions).

You can even customize it. If you're writing a how-to article, you’ll get different recommendations than if you're working on a fantasy novel.

It’s not the fastest, and it’s not the prettiest. But if you're looking for a tool that helps you think like an editor while you write, ProWritingAid is in a category of its own.

Where ProWritingAid Can Improve

ProWritingAid gives you depth, but you have to earn it.

The interface isn’t as slick as Grammarly’s. You’ll probably spend a few extra seconds clicking around, toggling reports, and learning what each one actually means. At first, it feels like a lot. Because it is.

And while it handles long-form content well, it’s not always the fastest. If you’re working on a full-length manuscript, don’t be surprised if it takes a few beats to load all the data. It’s doing heavy lifting, but the tradeoff is time.

The AI tools are improving, but still a step behind Grammarly in terms of speed and polish. You’ll get solid rewrites, but not the same slick experience Grammarly offers for quick-turn copy.

Bottom line?

ProWritingAid isn’t for people who want instant results. It’s for people who want to see what’s working and fix what’s not.

But it asks more of you in return.

What About AI Rewrites and Smart Suggestions?

Both Grammarly and ProWritingAid now offer AI-powered tools, and depending on what you write, they can be surprisingly helpful (or… just another button you never click).

Grammarly’s AI (GrammarlyGO) is focused on speed and polish.

You can click a sentence and tell it to rewrite, shorten, rephrase, or change the tone. It’s fast, it’s smooth, and when it gets things right, it can save you a lot of time, especially when you’re trying to make something sound a little more human (or a little more professional).

But it’s built for efficiency, not depth. You won’t get options. You won’t get explanations. It’s designed for quick fixes, not thoughtful revisions.

ProWritingAid’s AI, on the other hand, leans less into flashy rewrites and more into structure.

The real power isn’t in rephrasing a sentence, but in seeing what’s wrong with the entire piece, section by section (or chapter by chapter). That’s where the Manuscript Analysis feature excels.

Instead of fixing grammar line-by-line, it gives you a big-picture overview: pacing issues, paragraph variety, dialogue density, repeated sentence starts, emotional distance… the stuff that actually affects how your writing feels.

You’re not just guessing where the weak spots are in your piece. The tool shows you.

Then, once you know what needs work, you can use the AI tools (or just your own instincts) to tighten things up.

It’s not a magic button, but if you’re willing to engage with the feedback, it’s one of the best revision companions out there.

The Bottom Line:

Grammarly’s AI is better for speed and simplicity.

ProWritingAid’s AI is better for context and craft.

If you want a fast rewrite of your sales email, GrammarlyGO will probably get you there.

If you want to tackle big-picture context, ProWritingAid’s tools are a better fit.

What About Pricing?

Both tools offer free versions, and both have paid plans with more features.

Here's how they compare if you're paying annually:

Main Plans (Annual Pricing)

Plan	Key Features	Pricing
Grammarly Free	– Grammar & spelling checks – Basic clarity suggestions – Works across most platforms	Free (learn more)
Grammarly Pro	– Full grammar, tone, and clarity suggestions – Rewrite options (GrammarlyGO) – Tone adjustments	$12/month (learn more)
ProWritingAid Free	– Grammar and style checks – Basic reports – 500-word limit per document	Free (learn more)
ProWritingAid Premium	– Unlimited word count – 25+ reports (style, pacing, repetition, etc.) – Document goals, structure insights	$8/month with 20% Kindlepreneur discount (learn more)
ProWritingAid Premium Pro	– Everything in Premium – 50 daily AI rewrites – Ask Anything, Autocomplete, Templates	$9.60/month with 20% Kindlepreneur discount (learn more)

Lifetime Access Options

Plan	Lifetime Access	Pricing
Grammarly Pro	❌ No lifetime option	–
ProWritingAid Premium	✅ Available	One-time $359.10 payment with 10% Kindlepreneur discount (learn more)
ProWritingAid Premium Pro	✅ Available	One-time $629.10 payment with 10% Kindlepreneur discount (learn more)

Which One’s Right for You?

If you're still not sure which tool fits your writing style, let’s make it simple. Not with features, but with real situations.

Say you’re writing a blog post.

You want it to be clear, conversational, and typo-free. You’re not worried about pacing or sentence variety, you just want to hit publish without missing something obvious. That’s a Grammarly sweet spot.

Now say you’re editing a book.

You’re trying to spot repetition. You’re checking for sentence rhythm. You’re tightening a chapter that feels too slow, but you’re not sure why. This is where Grammarly stalls out, and where ProWritingAid starts to shine.

Writing sales copy?

You want something that catches the overkill adjectives and smooths out the stiff lines. Grammarly will do that. But if you want to see whether all your paragraphs are shaped the same… or if your CTA is buried under too much fluff… ProWritingAid can help dig deeper.

Working on your second draft?

You already know the story’s working. Now you need to make sure the voice and pacing land the way you intended. Grammarly might flag a few surface-level issues, but it won’t catch what’s missing underneath. That’s the stuff ProWritingAid was made to find.

So, the quick version:

Use Grammarly if:

You write short-form content (emails, blog posts, business copy)
You want fast, polished suggestions and an interface that gets out of the way
You care more about tone and clarity than structure or style

Use ProWritingAid if:

You write books, essays, or long-form content
You want real feedback on pacing, repetition, and flow
You’re trying to grow as a writer, not just clean things up

Still unsure?

We have other articles on Kindlepreneur that can help:

The TL;DR:

Grammarly is great for speed.

ProWritingAid is great for substance.

The tool you choose should match the kind of writing you actually do.

Final Verdict: Grammarly’s Polished, but ProWritingAid Digs Deeper

Grammarly does what it promises.

It checks your grammar, smooths out your tone, and gives you fast, helpful suggestions. For everyday writing (emails, blog posts, short-form content), it’s a solid choice. No learning curve. No overthinking. Just clean copy, faster.

But once you start getting serious about the craft…

Once you’re writing chapters, building out courses, drafting your second (or fifth) book…

Grammarly can start to feel shallow. That’s where ProWritingAid pulls ahead.

It helps you revise with intention, spot real issues, and understand the why behind what’s not working. It’s not always the fastest or prettiest tool, but if you care about getting better with each draft, there’s no better pick.

At Kindlepreneur, we’ve tested both. We’ve used both. We still respect both.

But if you’re serious about your writing and you want feedback that doesn’t just clean things up, but helps you build real momentum, ProWritingAid is the better choice.

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