Grammarly vs Hemingway
As a writer, you might be familiar with the struggle of proofreading and editing your own work. Fortunately, there are cloud-based writing tools that can help simplify the process. Two popular options are Grammarly and Hemingway. But which one is better? Let's compare them and find out!
Getting Started
When it comes to signing up and starting to use either of these tools, the process is relatively straightforward. In terms of pricing, Grammarly offers a free version with limited features and a premium version with more advanced features, including contextual recommendatios. Hemingway has a one-time fee of $19.99 for Windows or Mac (and a free web editor for occasional use).
Features
Both Grammarly and Hemingway offer different features to their users. Grammarly's standout feature is its analysis of writing style, vocabulary, tone, and clarity, making suggestions based on context around what you are writing. Hemingway, on the other hand, gives a readability score, highlighting hard-to-read sentences, passive voice and overused adverbs while also offering word alternatives. Hemingway doesn't have a plagiarism checker, but Grammarly does have one for premium users.
Accuracy and Effectiveness
While both tools come with some degree of subjective analysis, some users believe that Grammarly's analysis is slightly more detailed than Hemingway’s. Grammarly manages to handle complex sentences with the right punctuation, and it's tailored to cater to various contexts like academic writing, business writing, and creative writing, something Hemingway doesn't offer. Hemingway, on the other hand, does better for readability improving and fixing readability issues. However, the ultimate test still comes down to your unique needs such that Hemingway may be more useful to a journalist or blogger, while Grammarly might be to a more technical user writing, for instance, business reports.
Compatibility and Integration
Grammarly has a desktop app that is compatible with Microsoft Office, Google Chrome, Safari or Firefox, which makes it accessible in various writing environments. Hemingway takes the form a desktop application, which one can download and install on MacBook and Windows computers, while the free web editor can be accessed anytime on any device.
Conclusion
Both Grammarly and Hemingway offer a range of features that can help improve your writing. However, in the end, choosing the best option comes down to your unique needs and preferences. Grammarly offers more robust grammar analysis and contextual recommendations, which can be helpful for complex writing, while Hemingway excels in sentence-level readability and organization analysis.
If you're still unsure of which tool to pick, try out their free versions and see which one works best for you!