Grammarly
Writing assistant that corrects spelling and grammar, improves tone and suggests AI rewrites in most apps.
LanguageTool, free software, already does the bulk of the correction and can run at your place. Around it, a page to paste text into, an LLM rewrite button and a personal dictionary is a day's work. What you lose: the suggestions directly in Gmail, Docs or Slack via the extension, which are the real reason to use Grammarly every day. If you mostly write in a text editor, replaceable. If you write emails all day, no.
What you lose
- Suggestions directly in your apps (Gmail, Docs, Slack).
- Integration in documents and emails.
- Brand tone and style settings.
- Administration for a team.
- Careful handling of false positives.
Existing alternatives to Grammarly
- LanguageToolOpen source
Open-source grammar and style checker, the main free reference alongside Grammarly.
- HarperOpen source
Fast grammar checker for English that runs on the device without sending the text elsewhere.
- Writing ToolsOpen source
GPL-3.0 tool to fix, rewrite or summarise selected text with a keyboard shortcut, through an online or local model.
The prompt to build it yourself
Build me a personal writing checker to replace Grammarly. Stack: LanguageTool run locally with its official Docker image (corrections never leave my machine), a Node + Express page on localhost. To do: - A page where I paste text, with problems underlined and explanations on hover, and a click on a suggestion to apply it. - An LLM rewrite panel (key in .env) with three buttons: tighten, friendlier, more formal. Show the differences with my text before I accept. - A dictionary.txt file of names and jargon never to flag, passed to LanguageTool on every check. - A `check <file.md>` command that prints the problems with their line number and exits with an error code if there are any, usable as a pre-commit git hook. - Everything stays local, except the optional call to the LLM. No accounts, no telemetry. Out of scope: browser extension, suggestions in Gmail, Docs or Slack. It is a page where I paste my text, which is the accepted trade-off. README: launching LanguageTool with Docker, about 1 GB of RAM needed, where to put the LLM key.
Frequently asked questions
- Can Grammarly be replaced by a custom-built tool?
- casevibecode verdict: Partly replaceable. LanguageTool, free software, already does the bulk of the correction and can run at your place. Around it, a page to paste text into, an LLM rewrite button and a personal dictionary is a day's work. What you lose: the suggestions directly in Gmail, Docs or Slack via the extension, which are the real reason to use Grammarly every day. If you mostly write in a text editor, replaceable. If you write emails all day, no.
- What is Grammarly used for?
- Writing assistant that corrects spelling and grammar, improves tone and suggests AI rewrites in most apps.
- What alternatives to Grammarly already exist?
- LanguageTool (open source), Harper (open source), Writing Tools (open source). Options to compare before committing to a custom build.
Community feedback
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