Independent desk-research guide

Free proofreading and grammar checkers

All eight tools list a no-cost plan, but the allowances range from broad everyday checking to a few thousand words a month. The practical choice depends on your language, document length and how often you edit.

Quick answer

For everyday English, start with Grammarly or QuillBot. LanguageTool is the better fit for multilingual checking; ProWritingAid, Trinka, Paperpal and Wordvice AI make more sense for academic or line-editing work within their free allowances. InstaText suits short daily edits, not long documents.

Free plans at a glance

Limits below are from official pages checked on 2026-10-30. “Not verified” means the official page did not publish the detail.

Free plan limits for proofreading and grammar checkers
Tool	Free plan	Grammar check	Other free limits	Signup	Languages
Grammarly	Free plan	Grammar, spelling, punctuation, conciseness and tone suggestions; no checking volume is published.	100 AI prompts/month; sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, plagiarism and AI detection are Pro features.	Required	English plus 23 other languages; support varies by language.
QuillBot	Free plan	Most grammar, spelling and punctuation checks; advanced recommendations require Premium.	Paraphrasing up to 125 words; summarizing up to 1,200 words; limited AI Chat queries/day; no cap published for grammar checking.	Not required	English, German, Spanish and French for the grammar checker.
LanguageTool	Free plan	Basic grammar checks in browsers and word processors; 2,000 characters per text field; Picky Mode is limited.	3 AI sentence rephrases/day; desktop and mobile apps require a free account; Premium raises the limit to 150,000 characters.	Not required	30+ languages.
ProWritingAid	Free plan	2 line-editing report runs/day on up to 500 words each; Grammar, Style and other reports share the allowance.	10 rephrases/day; 3 Creative Nudges/day; 3 Sparks/day; no Chapter Critique; suggestions are limited to 500 words at a time.	Required	English (US, UK, Australian and Canadian).
Trinka	Free plan	Grammar Check in Lite Mode only; 5,000 words per month of writing assistance.	4 files/month; 5 AI writing requests/month; 4 credits; standard paraphraser; no style guide or inclusive-language checks.	Required	English and Spanish are mentioned on the official site; a full grammar-language list is not published.
Paperpal	Free plan	200 grammar edits per month.	5 writing actions/day; 5 research questions/day; 5 paper chats/month; 300 MB library; limited AI agents; plan duration is not stated.	Required	Not verified for the free plan.
Wordvice AI	Free plan	AI Proofreader with 2 modes; 500 words per submission and 5,000 words/month.	1,000 monthly credits; 5 summaries/day; 15,000 AI-detector characters/month; no plagiarism checker; plan duration is not stated.	Required	Not verified for the free plan.
InstaText	Free plan	5 improvements/day; up to 1,500 characters at a time.	Daily improvement cap; no credit card required; plan duration is not stated.	Required	Not verified for the free plan.

Choose by writing task

Start with the job you need to finish, then check the free limit that would interrupt it.

Everyday English writing

For email, browser forms and short documents where speed matters more than a full style report.

Grammarly
QuillBot
LanguageTool

Academic and research writing

For manuscripts and technical text where terminology, citations and journal fit matter.

Trinka
Paperpal
Wordvice AI
ProWritingAid

Multilingual and non-native writing

For writers who switch languages or need feedback in more than one language.

LanguageTool
Grammarly
QuillBot

Short line-editing sessions

For a daily polish pass on a paragraph or a page, not a full manuscript.

ProWritingAid
InstaText

Tool notes

Use these notes to shortlist a tool; confirm the current limit on its official page before relying on it.

Grammarly

Free plan

Best for

Everyday English across email, documents and the browser, with tone and clarity suggestions.

Consider something else when

Non-English grammar or a free plan with unlimited AI rewriting and style changes.

Grammar check: Grammar, spelling, punctuation, conciseness and tone suggestions; no checking volume is published.
Other free limits: 100 AI prompts/month; sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, plagiarism and AI detection are Pro features.
Signup: Required
Languages: English plus 23 other languages; support varies by language.

Official sourcesGrammarly pricing Grammarly grammar checkerChecked 2026-10-30

QuillBot

Free plan

Best for

A free all-rounder for short grammar, paraphrasing and summarizing tasks.

Consider something else when

Long paraphrases, advanced style rewrites or a full document editor.

Grammar check: Most grammar, spelling and punctuation checks; advanced recommendations require Premium.
Other free limits: Paraphrasing up to 125 words; summarizing up to 1,200 words; limited AI Chat queries/day; no cap published for grammar checking.
Signup: Not required
Languages: English, German, Spanish and French for the grammar checker.

Official sourcesQuillBot grammar checker limits QuillBot free account limits QuillBot language supportChecked 2026-10-30

LanguageTool

Free plan

Best for

Multilingual grammar checking in the browser or a word processor.

Consider something else when

Long texts over the free character limit or advanced AI rewriting.

Grammar check: Basic grammar checks in browsers and word processors; 2,000 characters per text field; Picky Mode is limited.
Other free limits: 3 AI sentence rephrases/day; desktop and mobile apps require a free account; Premium raises the limit to 150,000 characters.
Signup: Not required
Languages: 30+ languages.

Official sourcesLanguageTool plansChecked 2026-10-30

ProWritingAid

Free plan

Best for

English line editing and style reports for fiction and non-fiction drafts.

Consider something else when

Non-English text or repeated full-manuscript reports on the free plan.

Grammar check: 2 line-editing report runs/day on up to 500 words each; Grammar, Style and other reports share the allowance.
Other free limits: 10 rephrases/day; 3 Creative Nudges/day; 3 Sparks/day; no Chapter Critique; suggestions are limited to 500 words at a time.
Signup: Required
Languages: English (US, UK, Australian and Canadian).

Official sourcesProWritingAid pricingChecked 2026-10-30

Trinka

Free plan

Best for

Academic and technical writing in English or Spanish, with technical spelling and consistency checks.

Consider something else when

High-volume editing or free access to style-guide and inclusive-language checks.

Grammar check: Grammar Check in Lite Mode only; 5,000 words per month of writing assistance.
Other free limits: 4 files/month; 5 AI writing requests/month; 4 credits; standard paraphraser; no style guide or inclusive-language checks.
Signup: Required
Languages: English and Spanish are mentioned on the official site; a full grammar-language list is not published.

Official sourcesTrinka pricing Trinka productChecked 2026-10-30

Paperpal

Free plan

Best for

Academic manuscripts that need grammar, citation and journal-fit checks.

Consider something else when

General business writing or high-volume free editing.

Grammar check: 200 grammar edits per month.
Other free limits: 5 writing actions/day; 5 research questions/day; 5 paper chats/month; 300 MB library; limited AI agents; plan duration is not stated.
Signup: Required
Languages: Not verified for the free plan.

Official sourcesPaperpal pricingChecked 2026-10-30

Wordvice AI

Free plan

Best for

Short academic or business texts that need proofreading and paraphrasing.

Consider something else when

Long submissions over 500 words or free plagiarism checking.

Grammar check: AI Proofreader with 2 modes; 500 words per submission and 5,000 words/month.
Other free limits: 1,000 monthly credits; 5 summaries/day; 15,000 AI-detector characters/month; no plagiarism checker; plan duration is not stated.
Signup: Required
Languages: Not verified for the free plan.

Official sourcesWordvice AI plansChecked 2026-10-30

InstaText

Free plan

Best for

Quick daily improvements to short texts.

Consider something else when

Long documents or detailed grammar explanations.

Grammar check: 5 improvements/day; up to 1,500 characters at a time.
Other free limits: Daily improvement cap; no credit card required; plan duration is not stated.
Signup: Required
Languages: Not verified for the free plan.

Official sourcesInstaText pricingChecked 2026-10-30

Common questions

Are these tools really free?

Each tool lists a $0 plan, but the free allowances have limits. Some restrict words, characters or daily runs; others reserve advanced rewriting, plagiarism checks or style reports for paid plans. The linked official pages are the source of record.

Which free plan works for a long document?

None of the free plans is designed for unlimited long-document editing. LanguageTool limits a text field to 2,000 characters, ProWritingAid reports cover 500 words at a time and Wordvice AI allows 500 words per submission. Split the draft or compare the paid plans if you need a full manuscript pass.

Do I need an account?

Most of these tools ask you to create an account. QuillBot and LanguageTool let you start in the browser without one, although some apps and saved features require a free account.

Do the free plans support languages other than English?

LanguageTool lists 30+ languages, QuillBot supports English, German, Spanish and French in its grammar checker, and Grammarly lists 24 languages with varying support. Paperpal, Wordvice AI and InstaText do not publish a free-plan language list on the pages checked here, so treat those as unverified.