ProWritingAid

More Than a Grammar Checker

ProWritingAid sits in a unique spot between grammar checkers like Grammarly and professional editing software. Founded in Brighton in 2012, it's grown into the tool that serious writers recommend to each other. The free version checks grammar on short documents. Premium ($10/month) opens up everything: 20+ writing reports, full-length document analysis, and integrations with Scrivener, Word, and Google Docs.

What makes it different? It doesn't just find errors. It finds patterns. Your overreliance on adverbs. Your tendency toward passive voice. Your habit of starting sentences with "The." These are things a human editor would flag, and ProWritingAid automates that feedback loop.

The 20+ Writing Reports

This is where ProWritingAid earns its reputation. The Style Report highlights sticky sentences, hidden verbs, and redundant phrases. The Readability Report scores your text and identifies complex paragraphs. The Overused Words report catches your verbal crutches. There's even a Dialogue Report for fiction writers that analyzes speech tag usage.

Each report comes with explanations, not just flags. ProWritingAid tells you why something is a problem and how to fix it. Over time, you internalize these patterns and your first drafts get cleaner. I've seen writers improve measurably after three months of using the reports consistently.

Integrations and Workflow

ProWritingAid connects to everywhere writers actually work: Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Scrivener, Open Office, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and even desktop apps on Mac and Windows. The Scrivener integration is a big deal for novelists since Grammarly doesn't support it. The Word add-in processes documents up to 100,000 words without choking.

Pricing That Makes Sense

Premium costs $10/month, $79/year, or $399 for a lifetime license. That lifetime option is genuinely rare in SaaS and attractive for writers who know they'll use it long-term. Compare that to Grammarly at $12/month with no lifetime option. For what you get, ProWritingAid offers better value, especially for long-form writers.

The Trade-offs

The interface feels dated compared to Grammarly's polish. Real-time suggestions are slower. The mobile experience barely exists. And while the depth of analysis is a strength, it can overwhelm new users who just want basic grammar fixes. If you want simple, quick corrections, Grammarly's probably better. If you want to become a better writer, ProWritingAid is the move.