GrammarlyBest overall
Edits and rewrites in more than 1 million apps, with plagiarism and AI-text checks on Pro at $12 a month billed yearly. Turn off its training setting, which is on by default for individuals.
AI writing tools
An AI writing tool is software that uses a large language model to draft, rewrite or edit text. These AI writing tool reviews compare eight of them, from Rytr at $90 a year to Jasper at $59 a seat a month, on editing depth, brand voice, price, integrations, privacy and originality checks.
ProWritingAidBest for books and long-form editing
More than 25 style reports and AI chapter critiques, a promise never to train on your text, and Premium at $120 a year or $399 for life. Plagiarism checks cost extra.
JasperBest for marketing teams
The deepest brand controls we found, with brand voices, product facts and governance applied by 100+ marketing agents. $59 per seat a month billed yearly and no plagiarism checker.
QuillBotBest for students and paraphrasing
Paraphraser, summarizer, plagiarism checker and AI detector for $99.95 a year. Uses inputs for training by default, with only a partial opt-out.
ChatGPTBest general-purpose drafting assistant
The most capable drafter for any kind of writing, from $20 a month on Plus, with a free tier. No originality checks, and individual chats can train OpenAI's models unless you opt out.
SudowriteBest for drafting fiction
A Story Bible, scene tools and its own fiction-trained Muse 1.5 model, with a no-training promise, from $10 a month billed yearly. Web app only.
AnywordBest for performance marketing copy
Scores ad and email variations for predicted performance, with unlimited words from $39 a month billed yearly. The 82% accuracy claim is Anyword's own.
RytrBest budget AI writer
A free plan and unlimited short-form generation for $7.50 a month billed yearly, with plagiarism checks. Basic long-form drafts and no stated AI training policy.
Compare side by side
Every score and price in one table. Select a column to sort. Prices are US list prices; hover a price for the full terms.
| Grammarly | 8.3 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.6 | 7.0 | 8.0 | $12/member/mo | Yes | – |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProWritingAid | 7.6 | 8.0 | 6.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 5.0 | $10/mo | Yes | 3 days |
| Jasper | 7.5 | 8.6 | 9.5 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 | $59/seat/mo | – | – |
| QuillBot | 7.4 | 8.0 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 5.5 | 7.5 | $8.33/mo | Yes | 3 days |
| ChatGPT | 7.3 | 9.0 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 4.0 | Free plan | Yes | – |
| Sudowrite | 7.2 | 8.8 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 9.0 | 4.5 | $10/mo | – | – |
| Anyword | 7.0 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 | $39/mo | – | – |
| Rytr | 6.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 6.5 | $7.50/mo | Yes | – |
What does an AI writing tool actually do?
An AI writing tool drafts, rewrites or corrects text inside the place where you already write. That is the real split from a chatbot. Grammarly edits in more than 1 million apps and websites, while ChatGPT makes you copy a paragraph into a chat window, wait for the rewrite and paste it back into the email or document you started in.
Eight tools, four jobs. Grammarly and ProWritingAid fix prose you wrote. QuillBot paraphrases and summarizes. Jasper and Anyword turn out marketing copy in a brand voice. Sudowrite drafts fiction. Rytr is the cheap generalist.
Which AI writing tool fits you?
Pick by job, not by the top score. The default is Grammarly, because it edits in place and even its free plan includes 100 AI prompts a month. Switch when one of these is true:
- If you write books or long reports, choose ProWritingAid. It runs more than 25 style reports, and the $399 lifetime licence never renews.
- If a marketing team must sound like one brand, choose Jasper. Its brand controls go deepest. It also costs $59 a seat and ships without a plagiarism checker.
- If you are a student who paraphrases and summarizes, QuillBot Premium costs $99.95 a year. Check its training setting first.
- If you write fiction, Sudowrite wins. Its Story Bible keeps characters and plot notes in one place, and its own fiction-trained Muse 1.5 model drafts scenes in a way a general grammar editor was never built to do.
- If you run ad and email tests, Anyword predicts which variant performs better. Treat its 82% accuracy figure as a vendor claim, since no independent check has confirmed it.
- If the budget is under $10 a month, Rytr Unlimited costs $90 a year with 50 plagiarism checks included.
| Your main job | Look at | Billed yearly | Billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editing everywhere you type | Grammarly Pro | $12/member/mo | $30/mo |
| Books and long-form | ProWritingAid Premium | $120/yr ($399 lifetime) | $30/mo |
| Brand-voice marketing | Jasper Pro | $59/seat/mo | $69/seat/mo |
| Paraphrasing for school | QuillBot Premium | $99.95/yr | $19.95/mo |
| Fiction drafts | Sudowrite Hobby & Student | $10/mo | $19/mo |
| Budget all-rounder | Rytr Unlimited | $90/yr | $9/mo |
When should you skip a paid AI writing tool?
Skip it when you write only a few emails a week. If you’ve already paid for ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month, it drafts and rewrites any kind of text, so a second subscription mostly buys convenience: edits inside Gmail or Word instead of a round trip through a chat window. Banned at school or work? A paraphraser changes nothing there. And don’t bother paying just for spelling, because Grammarly Free and QuillBot’s free 125-word paraphraser handle light use.
What do most buyers miss?
Most people miss at least one of these three costs.
- Monthly billing costs far more. Grammarly Pro is $30 billed monthly against $12 billed yearly. Skip the monthly plan once you know you’ll keep a tool, since ProWritingAid charges three times its yearly rate month to month.
- Training is often switched on. Grammarly trains on text from individual accounts, and QuillBot uses your inputs with only a partial opt-out. ProWritingAid promises to “never access your text or use it to train our algorithms” in its responsible AI policy.
- AI detectors guess. OpenAI withdrew its own AI text classifier on July 20, 2023, after it caught only 26% of AI-written text and wrongly flagged 9% of human text. Don’t trust a detector score as proof.
How should you read our AI writing tool reviews?
Each score is a research score. We apply the weights listed below to pricing pages, help-center articles, privacy terms and vendor statements, and we do not run our own writing tests. When you compare two tools, read the per-criterion lines rather than the total. Jasper scores 9.5 for brand voice but 5.0 for price. In practice, price explains its third place.
Cross-listed tools get this page’s rubric. ChatGPT shows 7.3 here because it has no plagiarism checker or AI detector and makes you copy text in and out. Its own ChatGPT review scores it 8.5 as an assistant, and you can switch off training under Data controls. Compare chatbots in AI assistants, or browse the wider AI tools section.
How we score AI writing tools
Every product here is scored 0 to 10 on the same criteria, using published evidence. The overall score is the weighted average.
Writing & editing toolsDepth of drafting, rewriting and editing tools for the job the product is built for (marketing copy, long-form, editing, paraphrasing or fiction), document-level feedback, and which language models the vendor says it uses.weight25%
Brand voice & controlCustom voices and tones, style guides, stored brand and product knowledge, team roles and governance, and how many of each the entry plan includes.weight15%
Price & valueMonthly and yearly prices per seat, word, credit or prompt limits, free plans and trials, refund windows, recent price rises, and what the cheapest useful plan includes.weight20%
Integrations & workflowBrowser extensions, Google Docs and Word add-ins, desktop and mobile apps, APIs and CMS connections: whether the tool works where you already write.weight15%
Privacy & data useWhether customer content trains the vendor's or third-party models, the default setting and how to opt out, retention, and security certifications such as SOC 2 and ISO 27001.weight15%
Originality & accuracy checksPlagiarism checking, AI-text detection and authorship records, how vendors describe detector accuracy (treated as claims), citation support, and trust incidents.weight10%
Questions people ask
Do I need an AI writing tool if I already pay for ChatGPT?
Usually not for occasional writing. If you've already paid for ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month, it drafts and edits any text. An AI writing tool earns its price when you want edits inside email, Docs and Word without copying text back and forth, or when you need a plagiarism checker, which ChatGPT does not include.
Do AI writing tools train on my text?
Some do by default. Grammarly trains on text from individual accounts unless you opt out, and QuillBot uses inputs with only a partial opt-out. ProWritingAid and Sudowrite say they never train on your writing, and Jasper says customer data never trains third-party models. Check the setting before you paste client work.
Can AI detectors prove that text was written by AI?
No. Detectors only estimate a probability. They err in both directions. OpenAI withdrew its own classifier in July 2023 after it caught 26% of AI-written text and flagged 9% of human writing as AI. Don't use a detector result as proof in a grade or a dispute; treat it as one signal among several.
How much does an AI writing tool cost?
Most cost $7.50 to $12 a month on yearly billing for one person. Rytr Unlimited is $90 a year, QuillBot Premium $99.95 a year and Grammarly Pro $12 a month billed yearly. Team tools cost more. Jasper Pro is $59 a seat a month, and paying month to month can cost up to three times the yearly rate, as it does with ProWritingAid's $30 monthly Premium plan.