GrammarBot vs Grammarly — free alternative compared
Grammarly is the market leader for grammar checking. GrammarBot is a free, privacy-first alternative that adds readability scoring and SEO analysis. Here’s how they actually compare.
Quick verdict
GrammarBot
$0 forever · No signup
- ✓ 5 readability formulas + grade level
- ✓ Tone, sentiment, vocabulary analysis
- ✓ SEO content scoring
- ✓ Privacy: runs in browser
- ✗ Less aggressive grammar suggestions
Grammarly
Free + $12-30/mo Pro
- ✓ Best-in-class grammar engine
- ✓ Browser, desktop & mobile apps
- ✓ Plagiarism check (paid)
- ✗ Premium features behind paywall
- ✗ Sends text to remote servers
- ✗ No readability scoring (basic only)
Feature-by-feature
Grammar & spelling
Grammarly wins.Their ML grammar engine is more mature, catches more nuanced errors (style, conciseness, clarity), and integrates with Word, Google Docs, Gmail. GrammarBot offers basic grammar via the open-source LanguageTool engine — solid for typical mistakes, less sophisticated than Grammarly Pro.
Readability scoring
GrammarBot wins.We compute five major readability formulas (Flesch, FK, SMOG, Coleman-Liau, ARI) plus aggregate grade level. Grammarly shows a single “readability score” that isn’t explained, and only on the paid tier.
Privacy
GrammarBot wins.All analysis runs in your browser. Your text never reaches our servers (except optional grammar checks via LanguageTool, which doesn’t store text). Grammarly sends every keystroke to their servers and persists data for ML training.
Tone & SEO
GrammarBot wins.We detect tone (formal / casual), sentiment, and provide SEO content scoring with keyword density analysis. Grammarly added tone detection in 2020 but doesn’t offer SEO features.
Integrations
Grammarly wins. Browser extensions, native apps for desktop and mobile, deep integration with Office, Google Docs, and most major writing platforms. GrammarBot is web-only for now (Chrome extension on roadmap).
Pricing
- GrammarBot— $0, forever, no feature-gating
- Grammarly Free— basic spelling and grammar
- Grammarly Premium— $12–30/month for advanced suggestions, plagiarism, tone, full readability
Which should you choose?
- Choose GrammarBot if:You care about readability scoring, SEO content optimization, or privacy. You don’t want to pay or sign up.
- Choose Grammarly if: You need the best grammar engine available, want to check writing across all your apps, and grammar quality matters more than readability metrics.
- Use both: Many writers run Grammarly for grammar and GrammarBot for readability and SEO scoring. They complement rather than duplicate.
Affiliate disclosure: this site may earn a commission if you sign up for Grammarly through partner links. We don’t use such links on this comparison page — the comparison is honest and our recommendation is GrammarBot (which we made).