Grammarly vs QuillBot (2026)
One polishes your writing. The other rewrites it entirely. Here's which one you actually need.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Choose Grammarly if you want a comprehensive writing assistant that catches errors, improves tone, and works everywhere you type.
Choose QuillBot if you primarily need to paraphrase, rewrite, or rephrase existing text — especially on a budget.
They solve different problems. Grammarly is a writing coach; QuillBot is a rewriting engine.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Feature | Grammarly | QuillBot |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar & Spelling | ★ Best-in-class | Good |
| Paraphrasing | Sentence-level rewrites | ★ Core strength (9 modes) |
| AI Writing / Generation | ★ 2,000 prompts/mo (Pro) | Limited |
| Tone Detection | ★ Real-time tone adjustment | Not available |
| Plagiarism Checker | Pro only | Premium only |
| AI Detection | Pro only | ★ AI Humanizer included |
| Integrations | ★ 500+ apps, desktop, mobile | Browser extension, Word, macOS |
| Summarizer | Not a focus | ★ Built-in summarizer |
| Premium Price | $12/mo (annual) | ★ $8.33/mo (annual) |
Grammar Checking: Not Even Close
Grammarly built its entire brand on grammar checking, and it shows. The suggestions are contextual, the explanations are clear, and it catches things most tools miss — comma splices in complex sentences, subtle verb tense shifts, misplaced modifiers. It works inline as you type with virtually no lag.
QuillBot has a grammar checker, and it's decent for common errors. But it's clearly a secondary feature, not the main event. If grammar correction is your primary need, Grammarly wins by a wide margin.
Paraphrasing: QuillBot's Whole Identity
QuillBot was born as a paraphrasing tool, and it's still the best at it. Nine rewriting modes — Standard, Fluency, Formal, Academic, Creative, Expand, Shorten, and more — let you reshape text for any context. The word-level synonym slider is genuinely clever: drag it to control how aggressively the text gets rewritten.
Grammarly added sentence-level rewrites in 2024, and they work fine for individual sentences. But it can't process entire paragraphs in multiple modes like QuillBot can. For students reworking research notes into original prose, or content creators repurposing existing material, QuillBot is the tool.
AI Humanizer: QuillBot's Secret Weapon
Here's where it gets interesting. QuillBot ships an AI Humanizer that rewrites AI-generated text to sound more natural and pass AI detection tools. Whether you think this is useful or ethically gray depends on your use case — but it's a feature a LOT of people are searching for right now.
Grammarly takes the opposite approach: it has an AI detector (Pro only) but no humanizer. Grammarly wants to help you write better; QuillBot wants to help you rewrite everything.
Integrations & Ecosystem
Grammarly is everywhere. Browser extension, desktop app, mobile keyboard, Microsoft Office, Google Docs, Slack, Discord — it's embedded in 500+ apps. Once you install it, you essentially forget it's there until it catches something.
QuillBot's integrations are more limited. There's a browser extension, a Word add-in, and a macOS app, but the experience is more "go to QuillBot to rewrite something" than "QuillBot is always there." For people who live in Google Docs or Slack, Grammarly's omnipresence is hard to beat.
The Bottom Line
- Professionals who write daily: Grammarly (always-on corrections + tone)
- Students paraphrasing research: QuillBot (rewriting is its core)
- Content creators repurposing material: QuillBot (multi-mode paraphrasing)
- Non-native English speakers: Grammarly (fluency suggestions + tone)
- Budget-conscious users: QuillBot ($8.33/mo vs $12/mo)
- Want both grammar + rewriting: Honestly, use both free tiers
Try Both Free
Grammarly's free tier covers basic grammar. QuillBot's free tier gives you 125-word paraphrasing in 2 modes.