Not long ago, a writer friend talked about having to quit publishing because she could no longer afford to hire editors. I thought that was sad and asked if she had tried editing software? She scoffed at the idea of using a machine to replace a flesh and blood human being. I explained that she wasn’t replacing anyone, editing software can help cut the costs of the editing process. These days most software can help with things like punctuation, typos and repetition. I don’t know if she’s going to take the advice but in case she doesn’t, I’m spilling the beans here about the best software for writers.
Before I go on, I have to give the disclaimer that I am in no way affiliated or sponsored by any of the products or services mentioned in this post.
Grammarly is by far the most well-known editing software out there. It’s free for the basic service, and you can add their app either to your browser, or on your desktop. You only have to opt in with your email for the basic service however, their premium service will run you between $29.95 per month to $139.95 for a yearly subscription.
Analysis: Grammarly is easy to use and guides you through the process, by asking you important questions like the purpose of your work and when I uploaded my content, I was impressed by the analysis; it noticed commas that were out of place and offered suggestions for stronger adverbs.
The Hemingway app is similar to Grammarly and can also be downloaded for your desktop. The cost for the desktop app is $19.99. You can also go to the website and copy and paste your work into the editor for free. There is no opt in as with Grammarly, so it’s better for people who are concerned about privacy.
Analysis: Hemingway made more suggestions than Grammarly and even pointed out sentences that were difficult to read. This is ideal for an author writing to young adults and children.
Typely is a 100% free editor but unlike Grammarly and Hemingway, it has a limit of 50,000 words. Also Typely doesn’t focus on grammar and instead focuses on usage such as redundancy and misspellings.
Analysis: I was disappointed by this software, it only pointed out the double spaces after sentences and offered on a suggestion for a redundant adverb. Yes it may be free but it’s not the best, not by a long shot.
Slick Write is 100% free but you can donate or at the very least, turn off your ad blocker so they can make a little money. Their software evaluates content based on flow, and statistics and can even help you with writer’s block with their association feature.
Analysis: It was simple and easy to use, but much better than Typely for a free editor. It gave many suggestions for stronger adverbs and pointed out the redundant verbiage in my work.
Pro Writing Aid was editing software that I discovered while researching Grammarly. Their limitations are the most restrictive of all, only allowing 500 words at a time in their free version of the product. They also cost the most around $50 for a year subscription to their premium service and $285 for a lifetime subscription to their premium+ service.
Analysis: Pro Writing Aid’s free service offered an easy experience and was the most comprehensive of most of the software I tested. If I were going to put money down on any sort of editing software, this would be it.
Has software that can be added to Word or can be uploaded to your browser. You can use it to listen to your work and also translate from other languages. However, it does have an annoying feature where it suggests alternative sentences if it finds yours incorrect or too wordy. Also, its logo is also very similar to Grammarly’s, which can be confusing if you have them both downloaded on your computer like I did.
Analysis: It was easy to install and use, but found its sentence correcting annoying as I was writing. Also where Grammarly was asking me to take out redundant commas, Ginger was actually telling me to put them back in. Interesting, eh? This seems to be a software for non native English speakers because it focuses heavily on sentence structure as well as punctuation. Not bad, but not exactly what I need either.
*On the flip-side* This software was difficult to uninstall from my desktop since it was an add-on to Microsoft Word. Using the traditional uninstall features in Windows wasn’t enough. I had to go in and find where the software had rooted itself and delete the contents of the Word template folder. This alone, downgrades the app in my opinion. No software should be that complicated to uninstall.
Editors That I Wanted To Test But Couldn’t
- White Smoke (no free trial)
- Language Tool (no free trial)
- Smart Edit (Need 2016 version of Word)
- Ulysses (For Mac Users Only)
The Verdict:
I really didn’t like Typely so I’m not recommending it for authors, if you have a teenager who is writing an essay, then Typely might help them.
Here are my choices in order:
- Pro Writing Aid
- Grammarly
- Hemingway
- Ginger
A Final Word
Now before you kick your editor to the curb remember, nothing can replace the human touch. There is a reason why editors are so heavily used in the publishing industry, it’s because good editors offer real value to a writing project. They can see what most writers can’t and can tell you if a story is going off the rails whereas a machine simply cannot. If you want to clean up a manuscript so that you don’t have pay for so much editing, this is a legitimate route to go. It saves a little money and helps writers see where their basic weaknesses are.
So there you have it, if you know of any other editing software that is useful for authors, please let me know in the comment section.
