There are many reasons you may be looking for a writing aid. They can boost your grades as a student, help you impress your peers in the workplace, or provide you insight as a professional writer.
The most well-known of these AI grammar and style tools is Grammarly. There are many competitors on the market, however, including ProWritingAid, WhiteSmoke, and Ginger. Does Ginger have what it takes to topple the king? Ginger vs. Grammarly: which is the best?
Ginger vs Grammarly: Pricing
Screenshot from GrammarlyBoth Ginger and Grammarly offer free versions that are perfect for quickly checking your writing. They also both have premium options that let users get more out of each service. Here’s a breakdown of the different plans they offer.
Free
Both Ginger and Grammarly let you do one-off spell checks on their website any time, with no charge or account setup. If you’re looking for a regular grammar checker, both sites also offer robust free versions of their software.
Grammarly’s free version has limited types of reports but includes all the versatility of their premium package. You can check up to 300 documents each month and use all Grammarly’s plugins, integrations, and apps.
Ginger has about the same variety as Grammarly, with web, desktop, and mobile apps as well as extensions. Its free version is more limited, however, in terms of how much you can check. For the web app, desktop app, and browser extension, you can only check up to 600 characters of text at a time.
Premium
Screenshot from GingerBoth Ginger and Grammarly use the same freemium pricing model. You can use the limited free version or get a single premium plan. They also offer tailored solutions for customers in business and education.
Grammarly’s premium plan costs $12/mo billed annually, $20/mo quarterly, and $30/mo monthly. Their business plan starts at $12.50/mo per person.
Ginger’s business plan is cheaper at $9.99/mo per person. Their premium options are also less expensive: $7.49/mo annually, $11.19/mo quarterly, $13.99/mo monthly. Unlike Grammarly, they also have a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Ginger vs Grammarly: Features
Like I said, there are a ton of ways to use Ginger and Grammarly. Both services offer online versions, desktop and mobile apps, browser integrations, and in-app plugins. Let’s take a look at what you can do with each feature.
Web app
Grammarly has a free space for one-time grammar checking, but they also have a web app where users who sign up can keep track of their documents. Ginger, on the other hand, just has the former, with an increased character count when you sign up.
Grammarly’s web app is a convenient cloud resource for users. In fact, it’s how I most often use the service. While Ginger’s online grammar checker is simple to use, its lack of storage features gives Grammarly the advantage.
Desktop app
Comparing Ginger vs. Grammarly in terms of desktop apps, we again find a big difference in how they function. Ginger’s app is a facsimile for the online grammar checker. This time, you can do up to 900 characters at a time. Grammarly’s app, on the other hand, will take you directly to the web app.
While even the desktop version of Ginger lacks storage, Grammarly has another advantage: built-in integration. While specific apps like Google Docs may have trouble, Grammarly’s desktop app also lets you check your grammar on any site or app.
Again, Grammarly winds up on top. While Ginger offers what it says on the tin (spelling and grammar checks), Grammarly always seems to be a few steps ahead.
Integrations
Where Grammarly’s desktop app lets you check your grammar just about anywhere, they also offer browser integrations. These plugins are available for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Edge. Ginger has a similar range of extensions, but they don’t support Firefox.
Ginger’s Windows desktop app also includes Microsoft Word support. Grammarly has a separate plugin for Word, as well as Google Docs, which Ginger doesn’t support.
Ginger and Grammarly also both have apps available for iPhone and Android. Grammarly’s app has two functions: an in-app text editor and an AI keyboard. When you activate the keyboard, you can get live suggestions on your writing in any app. Ginger’s app has a text editor, but its keyboard is only available for Android.
All told, Grammarly once again offers just a bit more.
Ginger vs Grammarly: Accuracy
Which is more accurate, Ginger or Grammarly? In a way, it can depend on what you’re looking for. With my sample text, I found that Grammarly offered more suggestions, but they were more likely to offer subjective suggestions I didn’t find necessary. Ginger will give you spelling and grammar, but Grammarly offers much more in terms of style suggestions.
Ginger does have a specific tool for style suggestions: the Rephrase tool, available only with the desktop version. This will give you a selection of rewrites you can use to rephrase your work. It’s a unique and helpful tool, maybe more so than Grammarly’s style suggestions, but it’s a lot less convenient.
In terms of suggestions, Grammarly seems like a somewhat more robust software. If you just want help with spelling and grammar, however, Ginger gets the job done.
Ginger vs Grammarly: Conclusion
If you’re looking for a free, reliable grammar checker, Grammarly is the odds-out favorite. When you look at paid options, it’s not so simple. Ginger is quite a bit cheaper than Grammarly; their monthly plan is closest to Grammarly’s annual plan. If you want a spelling and grammar checker, Ginger’s premium plan is a cheap and user-friendly option.
Ginger’s Rephrase tool is also more useful than Grammarly’s style suggestions. However, Grammarly offers more suggestions than Ginger, and all in the same place.
This is a persistent issue: wherever Ginger does well, Grammarly does just a bit better. Their free version is more free, their suggestions are more robust, and they have more integration options.
Ginger or Grammarly? Ginger may suit some writers well, but when you look at the big picture, Grammarly is the clear winner.
