Whether you’re a student writing an essay, a professional drafting an email, or a blogger reaching your audience, clear communication matters. AI writing tools like Grammarly and QuillBot aim to improve your writing and save time—but they do so in different ways. Which is better? That depends entirely on your needs.
What Are Grammarly and QuillBot?
Both are AI-powered writing assistants, but they serve distinct purposes.
Grammarly is a long-established tool focused on grammar, spelling, tone, and clarity. It’s used widely across professional and academic settings and integrates with platforms like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Slack, and more.
QuillBot began as a paraphrasing tool and remains strongest in that area. It’s especially popular among students needing to rephrase content for clarity or originality. Though it now includes features like grammar checking and summarising, its core strength lies in rewriting.
Key Features Compared
Grammar and Style
Grammarly is the gold standard in grammar correction. It detects a wide range of errors and offers detailed suggestions for clarity, conciseness, and tone—with explanations to help you learn.
QuillBot’s grammar checker is decent but less thorough and lacks in-depth explanations. It’s not as strong in stylistic refinement.
Paraphrasing
QuillBot shines here, offering multiple modes (Formal, Creative, Academic, etc.) and tools like synonym sliders and word freezing. It achieves high lexical diversity and semantic accuracy, making it ideal for academic rewriting.
Grammarly offers basic rewording suggestions but lacks QuillBot’s flexible paraphrasing tools.
Plagiarism Detection
Grammarly scans billions of web pages and offers unlimited checks with its premium version. It’s not perfect but is robust for everyday use.
QuillBot’s checker is functional but limited—premium plans only allow 20 pages per month. Its plagiarism detection isn’t as comprehensive, and it’s not a reliable Turnitin alternative.
AI Writing Tools
Grammarly includes a generative AI assistant for brainstorming, rewriting, and polishing content, capped at 1,000 prompts/month for premium users.
QuillBot’s AI review feature provides writing feedback, but its AI detector often mislabels human writing as AI-generated, making it unreliable.
Extra Tools
QuillBot includes a Citation Generator (APA, MLA, etc.), Summarizer, and basic Translator, making it valuable for academic work.
Grammarly offers a readability score and team-oriented tools like brand tone and style guides, making it better for business use.
Ease of Use & Integration
Grammarly offers broad integration—working seamlessly across apps, browsers, and devices—with an intuitive interface that color-codes suggestions.
QuillBot is easy to use but integrates with fewer platforms. Its interface is clean but less visually informative than Grammarly’s.
Accuracy & Reliability
- Grammar: Grammarly is more accurate and detailed.
- Paraphrasing: QuillBot leads in rewording flexibility and effectiveness.
- Plagiarism: Grammarly’s unlimited checks may suit frequent users better.
- AI Detection: QuillBot’s false positives can cause problems in academic settings.
Pricing
Grammarly Premium starts at ~$12/month (annual plan). It’s more expensive but offers broader functionality and unlimited plagiarism checks.
QuillBot Premium is more affordable (~$4.17/month annually), with a pause option and a 3-day refund policy. However, its plagiarism checker has strict limits.
Academic Ethics
The rise of AI tools has raised valid concerns in academia:
- Plagiarism Risks: Over-reliance or uncredited AI use can lead to unintended misconduct.
- Skill Misrepresentation: If AI tools rewrite your arguments, they may distort your message and hinder your skill development.
- Detection Issues: Some universities use tools that may flag Grammarly- or Google Docs-assisted content, leading to false positives.
AI tools should assist—not replace—your thinking. Grammarly refines grammar and tone, while QuillBot helps overcome language or structure barriers. But always review and ensure the final output reflects your original work.
Which Should You Choose?
Use Grammarly if you:
- Want high-accuracy grammar and style feedback.
- Need integration across various platforms.
- Rely on detailed tone and clarity suggestions.
- Need unlimited plagiarism checks.
- Work with teams and require brand consistency.
Use QuillBot if you:
- Primarily need paraphrasing and rewriting.
- Write in academic styles or need tone variation.
- Require a citation generator.
- Summarise large texts regularly.
- Translate or work in multiple languages.
- Want a more affordable option.
Many users find combining both tools effective—use QuillBot to rephrase, then Grammarly to polish.
Grammarly is your all-around grammar and style guide, ideal for polished, professional writing. QuillBot is unmatched for rephrasing and academic tasks. The best tool for you depends on your writing needs. Use them wisely, and they can significantly enhance your workflow and confidence in writing.
