Best Grammarly Alternatives for Mac (2026)

Why look beyond Grammarly?

Grammarly is the best-known writing assistant in the world, and its inline suggestions are genuinely polished. But three things send Mac users looking for alternatives:

• Price. Premium runs about $12/month, and the free tier keeps the best features locked away.
• Privacy. Your text is processed on Grammarly's servers - a real concern for legal, medical, or confidential writing.
• Scope. Grammarly checks grammar and tone. It does not translate, dictate, summarize, or work with code.

Here are the alternatives worth considering in 2026, and who each one actually fits.

1. Echoo - system-wide AI writing in every Mac app

Echoo (opens in new tab) takes a different approach from browser-bound checkers: select text in any Mac app - Mail, Notion, Slack, a code editor - press a shortcut, and the fix lands in place. Grammar correction runs on modern models like GPT-5.2 and Claude, and the same shortcut workflow covers translation, rewriting, summarization, and voice dictation in 25 languages.

• Price: Your first 10 AI commands are free - no API key, no card. Pro is $6.99/month for 400 tokens (about 18 commands per working day), Max is $9.99/month for 800. Power users can bring their own API key in the free BYOK mode. Curious how tokens work? See what an AI token is (opens in new tab).
• Privacy: Use local models via Ollama and your text never leaves your Mac.
• Best for: Anyone who writes across many apps and wants grammar, translation, and dictation in one tool - at roughly half of Grammarly Premium's price.

See the full Echoo vs Grammarly comparison (opens in new tab) for a feature-by-feature table.

2. LanguageTool - open-source grammar checking

LanguageTool (opens in new tab) is the strongest open-source option, with support for 30+ languages and a self-hosting option for maximum privacy. Its rule-based engine plus AI additions catch most everyday errors, though style rewriting is weaker than LLM-based tools. Premium is around $4.99/month.

• Best for: Multilingual users and privacy-focused teams who want an established, self-hostable checker.

3. ProWritingAid - deep reports for long-form writers

ProWritingAid (opens in new tab) generates 20+ analysis reports covering style, repetition, pacing, and readability. It is built for editing sessions on manuscripts rather than quick fixes - novelists love it, email writers find it heavy. Premium is about $30/month billed monthly or $120/year.

• Best for: Fiction authors and long-form writers who want deep, report-driven editing.

4. QuillBot - paraphrasing first

QuillBot (opens in new tab) is the go-to web paraphraser, with nine rewriting modes and a plagiarism checker in Premium ($19.95/month billed monthly). The free tier caps paraphrases at 125 words. It lives in the browser, so native Mac apps are out of reach.

• Best for: Students who mostly paraphrase in the browser and want plagiarism checking.

5. Wordtune - lightweight sentence rewriting

Wordtune (opens in new tab) suggests alternative phrasings for selected sentences via a browser extension. Advanced is $6.99/month with 30 rewrites per day. Like QuillBot, it is browser-centric.

• Best for: Casual writers who want quick rephrasing suggestions while writing on the web.

6. Hemingway Editor - readability grading

Hemingway (opens in new tab) highlights complex sentences, passive voice, and adverbs, and grades your reading level. The classic desktop app is a $19.99 one-time purchase; AI-powered fixes require the Plus subscription (from about $8.33/month annually). It flags problems rather than fixing them.

• Best for: Writers who want a readability coach and prefer a one-time purchase.

The comparison at a glance

• Cheapest full replacement: Echoo Pro at $6.99/month vs Grammarly Premium at $12/month
• Most private: Echoo with local models, or self-hosted LanguageTool
• Best for long-form editing: ProWritingAid
• Best browser paraphraser: QuillBot
• Best one-time purchase: Hemingway Editor classic

Making the switch

If you mainly want inline grammar suggestions as you type in a browser, Grammarly remains polished at that job. If you want AI writing help everywhere on your Mac - grammar, tone, translation, dictation - for less money and with real privacy options, try Echoo free (opens in new tab): your first 10 commands need no API key and no card.