"Ok, so it’s like Grammarly for brands." This is one of the most frequently uttered phrases after a Writitude demo session with a potential client.
In fact, this is a good way to describe what Writitude does. However, where and how is Writitude different from Grammarly, and what makes it uniquely suited for business use?
What Is Grammarly And Who Is It For?
Grammarly was established in 2009 by Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider. It is a digital writing assistant that helps users improve their writing by offering suggestions for grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style.
It uses AI algorithms to analyze text and provide real-time feedback, and is used a lot by students, bloggers, casual writers and non-native English speakers.
It is wildly popular and, by Grammarly’s own estimates, is used by 30 million people.
While the ratio between free and paid users is not officially provided, it is generally understood that the majority of Grammarly users are on the free plan.
Since Writitude also offers a free tier called Basic, we wrote this review to help you navigate your choice.
First, I must say, Grammarly is a great app! I used it myself until I stopped because, frankly, it was too intrusive and annoying.
But that's not the only concern about Grammarly, let's look at the both apps more closely.
Personal Writing Vs Brand Copywriting
The difference in slogans already says a lot. While Grammarly’s promise is that “Everyone can be a great writer”, Writitude’s slogan is “Write your way”, which is much more focused on professionalism and know-how.
Private individuals and brands have very different needs when it comes to writing.
While private individuals usually need their texts to be just ‘good’ — meaning they have a clear meaning and a nice flow — companies view texts as a tool for competition.
Effective writing helps them stand out from other brands.
For private individuals, writing is often a means of personal expression or communication.
They may write emails, social media posts, or even personal blogs. The primary goal is to convey their thoughts, emotions, or information in a way that is understandable and engaging to their intended audience.
The stakes are generally lower, and the focus is on clarity and relatability rather than strategic impact.
On the other hand, brands use writing as a strategic tool to build their identity and influence their audience.
Every piece of content, from advertisements to press releases, is crafted with the intention of reinforcing the brand's image, values, and message.
The writing must not only be clear and engaging but also persuasive and aligned with the brand's overall tone of voice.
And the tone of voice is exactly where Grammarly ceases to be that profoundly useful for companies, as it is in correcting grammar.
How Does Free Grammarly Manage Tone Of Voice?
Well, in short, the free version doesn’t. Users cannot choose or define the desired tone of their writing.
When providing feedback, Free Grammarly account includes feedback on the tone, but only in one of its dimensions — formality.
While formality is super important, and we have written extensively on getting it right, it is far from the only aspect of text tone.
Here are other dimensions of tone, just to name a few:
- Complexity: some brands in some contexts want to sound complex and sophisticated, while others put accessibility above all.
- Warmth: is your brand persona engaging or slightly detached?
- Pace: are your texts like quick punches or like a slowly evolving story?
- Assertiveness: how bold and self-confident do you want to sound?
- Empathy: do you need to convey that you care about other people’s emotions?
Grammarly's feedback with its free version is based on general language rules. It does not know (and does not care) about your brand’s specific requirements of style and tone.
Marketing texts require specific tone, creativity, and nuance that Grammarly's generalized suggestions overlook or can sometimes even undermine, leading to content that is generic and, therefore, not effective for branding purposes.
How Does Writitude Manage Tone Of Voice?
At Writitude, even in our free version, we take care of ALL of these brand tone of voice dimensions.
From our 10+ year practice as copywriters, we know that all of them, not just formality, is super important to create a unique tone of voice that distinguishes your brand from the others.
A complex tone can position a brand as expert and authoritative, appealing to audiences who appreciate depth and intellectual engagement.
Conversely, a simpler tone can make a brand more approachable and relatable, broadening its appeal to a wider audience that values clarity and ease of understanding.
A warm, engaging tone fosters a sense of friendliness and approachability, making customers feel valued and understood.
This can be particularly effective in industries like hospitality or healthcare, where trust and personal connection are paramount.
On the other hand, a slightly detached tone might be more appropriate for brands that want to maintain a sense of professionalism or exclusivity, such as luxury goods or financial services.
A quick, punchy pace can inject energy into the brand’s communications, making it feel dynamic and exciting—perfect for industries like technology or fashion where trends move fast.
Alternatively, a slower, more deliberate pace can lend a sense of thoughtfulness and depth, suitable for brands that emphasize tradition, care, or detailed craftsmanship.
A highly assertive tone might be used by brands that lead their market or want to make a strong statement, projecting confidence and decisiveness.
Less assertive brands might adopt a more tentative or cautious tone, focusing on collaboration or inclusivity instead of dominance.
Empathy is a also critical dimension for brands that need to convey care and emotional sensitivity.
This is particularly important in industries like wellness, customer service, or any sector where emotional connection is key to the brand's value proposition.
An empathetic tone in brand communication shows that the brand understands and cares about the customer’s feelings and experiences, which can build trust and loyalty.
However, over-emphasizing empathy in contexts where it might seem out of place can dilute the brand’s effectiveness, making it appear insincere or overly sentimental. Balancing empathy with other tone dimensions ensures that a brand remains both relatable and credible.
Writitude’s Basic account allows you to create one custom tone of voice guide that can be built from over 100 parameters across all of these tone of voice dimensions.
Hey Grammarly, We Don’t Use That Word
Almost every company we’ve talked to, even those without a brand book or a defined tone of voice, has a clear understanding of the words they want to avoid in their writing.
These are words they prefer not to be associated with for specific reasons, even though they are generally acceptable and not inherently offensive.
While generic writing assistants would not flag these words as problematic, they may be as inappropriate for a brand’s image as some racist insult.
Some brands steer clear of impersonal terms like “customer” or “product,” while others avoid like the plague words that might make their brand seem cheap.
Grammarly does not account for these individual preferences in their free version.
At Writitude, we address this with customizable dictionaries we call glossaries, allowing brands to define words they never want to see in their texts and words that need to be included (such as keywords for specific channels).
Because this level of customization is crucial for maintaining a brand’s distinct identity, we offer up to two custom glossaries even in our free Basic plan.
Is It A Mistake? Or A Slogan?
Last, but not least, brands often brake language rules on purpose.
Grammarly's suggestions are designed to standardize writing. And that is exactly the thing that brands DO NOT want — sounding standard.
Brands often break grammar rules intentionally to create a distinct voice and leave a lasting impression on their audience.
In fact, some of the most memorable slogans of all time have been created by bending or outright ignoring conventional grammar.
For example, Apple's famous slogan "Think Different" deliberately flouts grammatical norms — technically, it should be "Think Differently."
However, it is exactly the incorrect usage that works in the brand's favor by emphasizing simplicity and originality, aligning perfectly with Apple's identity as an innovator in the tech world.
Another well-known example is Nike's "Just Do It" slogan.
This phrase is a sentence fragment, lacking a subject, yet it has become one of the most recognized and impactful brand messages globally.
The brevity and directness of the phrase capture the essence of Nike's brand—action-oriented, motivating, and empowering.
For these brands and many others, breaking a grammar rule is not a bug; it’s a feature of their communication. Correcting these “mistakes” would definitely not serve them well.
Should You Be Using Grammarly If You Care About Privacy?
Concerns about Grammarly's free version's privacy practices have been a topic of discussion among users and privacy advocates for a long time now.
The main issue revolves around the extensive data Grammarly collects to function as a writing assistant.
This includes everything (I mean, everything!) you type when using the tool, such as emails, documents, and other text inputs, which is sent to Grammarly's servers for processing.
Another concern is the extent of data sharing with third parties. Grammarly's privacy policy allows for sharing personal information with third-party service providers and, in certain situations, with government agencies.
This raises red flags for users who are particularly cautious about where their data goes and how it might be used.
While Grammarly states that it blocks access to sensitive fields like password inputs and financial data, the tool still gathers a significant amount of user data and usage patterns, which could be a privacy concern for some users.
Of course, people and different in their privacy-sensitivity. Very different.
Some users never think about it, as companies access their data to improve user-experience and their service, but for others it’s a deal-breaker.
For those who prioritize privacy, the sheer volume of data collected, coupled with the potential for third-party sharing, continues to fuel ongoing discussions about whether the benefits of using Grammarly outweigh the privacy risks.
To sum up, use Grammarly's free version, if:
- You are a student, blogger, or a casual writer, or non-native English speaker needing help with grammar, spelling, punctuation, and general writing style.
- Your main concern is improving clarity and readability of your texts.
- You are writing personal emails, social media posts, or personal blogs.
- You need a grammar check tool working in your writing environment (Word, Google Docs, etc), as Writitude doesn't have this functionality yet.
Choose Writitude's Basic account, if:
- You are a professional copywriter working for a brand or several brands, or a brand or marketing manager.
- You need customized feedback that goes beyond general language rules and helps your brand maintain a specific tone of voice across all written content.
- You have specific words or phrases that you want to avoid or include in your brand's writing.
- You intentionally break grammar rules to create a distinct brand voice and do not want these "mistakes" corrected.
