I went for the paid subscription to Grammarly when the price dropped to $80, but I still consider it one of my worst decisions in software in recent years.
First, it doesn’t work so well with Scrivener; It often underlines much further down in the document, so you never know where the Grammarly correction has been tagged.
I often use the pop-up to tell me what needs correcting, but I do a lot of ‘seat of the pants’ writing, and like to write very informally - like a teenager would when he’s not in class - or I write technical stuff. I don’t need or want Grammarly checking my grammar with every sentence I write. It has only impeded my writing, not improved it as I thought it might.
I have canceled auto-renew, so in March 2025 I will no longer have Grammarly ‘pro’ but will revert to the free version. That’s fine with me.
I have never published anything - except on my own blogs - but if and when I do, I will use an online one-time fee editor to check my writing before I self-publish.
Anyone else with comments about Grammarly in Scrivener?
I only experience the highlights in the wrong place with Tables.
I also mock-mimic the way certain characters speak, here and there. It’s not Grammarly’s fault that it thinks the writer is a nitwit (not throwing shade) in such circumstances. Simply turn it off for an hour or teach it the strange words.
I like it. It also thinks I’m great, scoring me in the high 90s every week.
The latest version integrates far better with Scrivener than earlier versions although I’ve only given it a cursory trial. YMMV of course…
Since there’s a free trial you may find it worth a punt. Mind you, much of this may become moot once Apple releases MacOS Sequoia with the AI enhancements.
I used Grammarly a few years back, but found its suggestions either far too simple, or inappropriate in context—and when writing creative fiction it often got in the way more than it helped. A couple of years ago I switched to Antidote as its features fit better with my work, and it supports both English and French.
I’m also very interested to see how well macOS Sequoia’s AI tools perform, and how they handle multiple languages. I suspect, at least for the next few years, that I will still be relying on Antidote.
It’s so much more than that.
Already discounted at an annual fee I got it for a further 60% off @ USD67.
There are ways and there are ways—all legal, not pirated.
Lat time I checked it was £10 a month if you bought an annual subscription. £12 per month if you had the full bells and whistles version. Not cheap, but certainly less than £30
I think the Apple offering will eventually be much the same as Grammarly and PWA. Initially though it will most likely be confined to the straightforward. We’ll have to see
I’ve just rechecked and yes there is a £30 subscriptioin for a single month, so I’ve obviously misunderstood your comment. Apologies for that.
Yes I take your point about the jump from £10 to £30 per month. However, if they made it £10 as a single standalone fee then if you used it twice per year they would only get £20 instead of the £120 which would reduce profitablity as well as having two lots of transaction costs.
That’s a purely business decison which is obviously trying to drive you to the £10/month annual subscription.
Leaving aside whether anyone has £120 lying around, it’s down to the individual whether they think that’s worth it or not.
FWIW when I tried PWA some time ago despite it being set to use British English, it offered ‘center’ as the correct spelling for the UK ‘centre’. That put me off using either PWA or Grammarly.
Unfortunately, I’m on Windows 11, not a Mac. Maybe it would be worthwhile to buy a copy of the latest Mac OS and install it as a VM in Windows? But then I would have to purchase a license for Scrivener 3.x Mac, wouldn’t I?
Grammarly seems to ignore when I hit the ‘dismiss’ button; it just comes back next time to remind me of the same ‘mistake.’ Maybe I don’t have it set up properly.
I do not write with Grammarly turned on. I find it very distracting. Unless it is for work, I am writing in my own voice and I write the way I want. It is like having a constant editor over your shoulder. When I need a cursory check for some basic errors, I turn it back on. My ideal would be if it had a GTFO button!
I find grammarly to be a net positive. It’s best to ignore or turn off when you’re not in editor mode. I’ve tested sequoia’s grammar AI and it actually does a better job and seems better with context and also not as heavy handed. It’s buggy obviously cause it’s beta but promising. Probably won’t renew Grammarly once Apple’s version is free.
