Grammarly vs Scribbr

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Grammarly

The best-known grammar and tone checker, with AI drafting built into a browser extension and desktop apps.

Free plan + paid

Visit Grammarly Grammarly profile

Scribbr

Student writing service with a pay-per-check plagiarism checker, AI detector, citation generator and proofreading.

Free plan + paid

Visit Scribbr Scribbr profile

The short answer

Grammarly is an everyday writing assistant that checks grammar, clarity and tone wherever you type, with AI drafting, on a free plan or a Pro subscription. Scribbr is built for students finishing academic papers, best known for a pay-per-document plagiarism checker, citation generator and human proofreading. Pick Grammarly for ongoing writing help; pick Scribbr for checking a thesis or essay before submission.

Grammarly or Scribbr: our take

Both tools check writing, but they serve different moments. Grammarly works as you type, through a browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, desktop apps for Windows and Mac, and keyboards for iPhone and Android. It corrects spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity and tone, and adds generative AI for drafting and rewriting. Scribbr is web only and aimed at students: a plagiarism checker using the kind of database universities rely on, an AI detector, a grammar checker, a paraphraser, a summariser, an AI proofreader and a citation generator for APA, MLA, Chicago and other styles, plus human proofreading and editing priced per word and deadline.

The pricing models are opposite. Grammarly is a subscription. Its free plan costs $0 a month with 100 AI prompts, and Pro starts at $12 per member/month billed annually ($30 monthly), adding full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustments, plagiarism and AI-text detection, and more prompts. Scribbr charges per check with no subscription: a free check gives a risk overview, and a premium report costs $19.95 per document (up to 7,499 words), showing the exact similarity percentage, highlighted matches, side-by-side comparisons and a self-plagiarism check against your earlier work. Many of Scribbr's smaller tools are free with limits.

There are limits on both sides. Grammarly is English-first, and its text is processed in the cloud, which rules it out for some work. Scribbr focuses on academic writing in English and a few European languages, offers little for business copy, and its premium checks can cost more per paper than a subscription if you check often.

Choose Grammarly if you write every day, in email, documents or the browser, and want corrections and AI help everywhere. Choose Scribbr if you are a student with a few important papers and want a thorough plagiarism report, reliable citations or human proofreading without a subscription. Students can reasonably use both: Grammarly while drafting, Scribbr before submitting.

Choose Grammarly if…

English writers who want corrections and AI help everywhere they type, without changing apps
You need Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Browser extension, which Scribbr doesn't list
Works across browsers, desktop apps and phone keyboards
Free plan is genuinely useful for spelling and grammar

Choose Scribbr if…

Students checking a thesis or essay for plagiarism, citations and errors before submission
Pay once per document; no subscription needed
Plagiarism report includes self-plagiarism checks

What is Grammarly?

Grammarly checks spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity and tone as you type, and adds generative AI for drafting and rewriting. It works in most places people write: a browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, desktop apps for Windows and Mac that hook into other programs, and keyboards for iPhone and Android. The free plan covers basic corrections and a small monthly allowance of AI prompts; the paid Pro plan adds full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustments, plagiarism and AI-text detection, and a much larger prompt allowance. Teams and enterprises get style guides, brand tones and admin controls. The company behind it renamed itself Superhuman in 2025 after buying the Superhuman email client, and enterprise features are increasingly sold as part of that wider suite, though Grammarly remains the product name. It is English-first; other languages are limited. The main concern people raise is privacy, since text is processed in Grammarly's cloud.

What is Scribbr?

Scribbr is an academic writing helper built for students. It started with human proofreading and editing of theses and essays, and now offers a set of web tools around it: a plagiarism checker that uses the same kind of database universities rely on, an AI detector, a grammar checker, a paraphraser, a summariser, an AI proofreader and a citation generator for APA, MLA, Chicago and other styles. The plagiarism checker is unusual in charging per document rather than by subscription: a free check gives a risk overview, and a premium report shows the exact similarity percentage, highlighted matches, side-by-side comparisons and a self-plagiarism check against your own earlier work. Many of the smaller tools are free with limits, and the human editing service is priced per word and deadline. It is web-only and geared towards academic papers in English and a few European languages, rather than business or marketing writing.

Side by side

Attribute	Grammarly	Scribbr
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Browser extension	Web
Best for	English writers who want corrections and AI help everywhere they type, without changing apps	Students checking a thesis or essay for plagiarism, citations and errors before submission
Status	Active	Active