Grammarly Premium costs $12/month billed annually ($144/year). But the AI writing landscape has shifted dramatically β here's what you actually get vs. what free tools now offer.
Annual billing required for discounted rates. Monthly billing is significantly more expensive ($30/mo vs $12/mo for Premium β 150% premium for monthly flexibility). Data verified from Grammarly pricing page, May 2026.
Grammarly has been relatively measured with price increases but has restructured plans to limit the free tier while adding AI features to justify Premium costs.
Grammarly is expanding its AI features and facing pricing pressure from free AI tools. The next move could be a premium tier price hike or free tier restrictions. Know before it hits your renewal.
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This is the honest question most people are asking. The answer depends heavily on your use case:
| Tool | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Editor | Free with M365 (or free browser extension) | Office 365 users, basic grammar |
| Claude.ai | Free tier available | Full document rewrites, complex edits |
| ChatGPT | Free tier available | Proofreading, rewriting, tone adjustment |
| Google Docs built-in | Free with Google account | Basic spelling/grammar in Docs workflow |
| DeepL Write | Free (limited), $8.74/mo for Pro | Clarity rewrites, non-English languages |
| Hemingway Editor | Free online / $19.99 one-time desktop | Readability and sentence simplicity |
The honest verdict: if your workflow naturally routes through a browser or Word, Grammarly's integration is seamless in a way that generic AI tools aren't. That integration convenience may be worth $12/month to heavy users. For casual writers, the free alternatives are more than sufficient.