Grammarly vs. Apple’s Writing Tools
Keep that background in mind when I say that my $144 annual subscription to Grammarly is one of my most worthwhile tech expenses. While Apple is just now getting into the game with its Writing Tools, Grammarly has been helping my writing since 2016. Its interface and capabilities have improved over time, and for what I need to write and edit in Google Docs, WordPress, Discourse, Mimestream, and now Lex, Grammarly has become an essential tool. For native Mac apps, you need the Grammarly Desktop app; for Web apps, Grammarly provides extensions for Safari, Chrome (and Chromium browsers like Arc), and Firefox.
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Although Grammarly lets you turn off numerous aspects of its checking, my gripes are not among them.
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However, thanks to the judicious addition of generative AI tools, I’m now happy to accept a few editing tics for the significant improvements that Grammarly makes to my drafts.
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Since late October, I’ve become hooked on a feature that allows you to select text and hover over a blue button to the left of the paragraph to see an improved version with changes clearly highlighted.
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While Grammarly integrates seamlessly into your text and clearly shows what will happen if you accept a change in nearly all situations, Apple’s Writing Tools require constant activation and provide significantly less feedback about their changes.
This week, the delightful Adam Engst of TidBITS joins us to talk about how he learned to write so well, what it’s like having an editor, and then moves into how he uses the AI tool Grammarly to improve his writing.
He says that Grammarly has gotten a lot better recently.
Previously:
- On the Undesign of Apple Intelligence Features
- Apple Intelligence in macOS 15.2 and iOS 18.2
- Apple Intelligence in macOS 15.1 and iOS 18.1
- GrammarlyGO Training on User Content With Questionable Opt Out
- Is Grammarly a Keylogger?
- Grammarly Disables Spell Checking Globally
Update (2025-03-03): Collin Donnell:
I’m back on Grammarly, at least until we see what improvements Apple has in a few months. I still like Proofread, but the UI is pretty lacking. There’s nothing between “add missing commas” and “rewrite this and completely change the tone.”
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Grammarly is not the only option. I use Antidote from https://www.antidote.info/en/ for these sorts of things and it does an amazing job in both French and English (and integrates into a bunch of apps macOS-wide).
Also has an AI-rewriting tool.
Apple Writing Tools is nice to have, but I don’t think it can replace the habits of using something professionally for years. That being said, I don’t think Apple Writing Tools are meant to replace any integrated pro app. They are an improvement over copy/pasting from the browser, and an improvement over A.I. chat UIs, which correct you without much visual cue and don't behave like Grammarly. The UI is why I love EditGPT for proofreading, but I’m willing to give Apple Writing Tools a chance for its integrated nature.
I have been using JAX and Shortcuts proof-reading writing aids for over a year (https://taoofmac.com/space/notes/2024/02/22/1900) and they were always better than Apple Intelligence. These days, with o1 or o3, the prompt is almost trivial:
Review {activeNote} and point out misspellings or structural errors.
Please ensure to highlight any grammatical issues.
Please carefully examine the text for clarity and coherence.
Additionally, check for punctuation errors and ensure proper sentence structure.
Do not mention double dashes (--) since they are post-processed into em dashes.
Check any inline HTML for accessibility attributes.
LanguageTool is cheaper, supports more languages, and can easily be self-hosted using homebrew, but my subjective impression is that the writing style input Grammarly provides is better.
