Hello my wonderful website viewers, enthusiasts and followers, I hope that you have been thoroughly enjoying the weather!

Of late, I have not been out with my camera as much as I would love to; my partner had a change of jobs, and I have been in the middle of a couple of projects that I have been researching, so have been more writing focused. Also, editing. Editing, a lot. So decided to cheat a little and get an app called “Grammarly”.

I have used the free version for some time, then was sent a 55% off coupon to have a full version; considering, that I am doing my Creative Writing masters from mid-September, and I am the person that sometimes struggles with trying to edit 58k documents without eye strain, I thought that I would upgrade for this year and decide whether to keep it after then. After all, the price tag without a coupon is quite daunting, especially when you are a poor student. As a qualified editor too, I wanted something that would streamline my general workload, allowing for more creative-focused time.

So far, it has been invaluable; it’s on my work, home mobiles (Android, OS) and my Alienware and HP Envy laptops – Envy is my writing-focused machine due to portability and the Alienware is for everything else. The attachment to explorer and word has been overused. As has the keyboards on the phone. Actually easy to use, doesn’t force the changes – as a writer, voice and wording can easily be misconstrued as an error, but you seem to have to select it manually. Which, although good. I think that the word options should also have an option to mass disregard or mass change (in my case, for missing some commas). Another comment about the desktop app, it is limited to 60 pages, which it does need to improve as fiction can be 100 pages+

Apart from these minor niggles, this app has become invaluable for saving time and effort, leaving me open to working on more important things.

Would I recommend? Highly. Students, teachers (it checks for plagiarism), editors, business owners (great for accuracy – which is usually the problem with the human element in business, undermining professionalism) for the everyday Joe or Jody, the free app will suffice. For everyone else, upgrade.  

Example of errors picked up by the Microsoft Word add-in, just on this blog post.

Features:

PROS:

–          Apps across a range of devices; streamlining your productivity.

–          Works fast

–          Thorough

–          Saves a lot of time

–          Checks for plagiarism as well as the usual spelling, grammar etc

–          Actually backed by major institutions, including universities

–          Up to 96% of users see improvement

CONS:

–          Only checks 60 pages in the desktop app

–          Can’t see how to mass change a load of errors in the Word document add-in

–          Is pricy at full cost (especially for students and poor writers)

–          Needs to add for Mac Word (though I personally did not need it, others will)

My rating out of 10 – 9/10 – lacking a point for the niggly cons. Though I am sure, developers will address it.

To learn more, please visit the website: https://www.grammarly.com/about

K.A.TomDoc

Please note: this review HAS NOT been paid for, or curated. This is a wholly honest review based on real-time use.