As a virtual assistant, spell check capabilities and proper grammar are important. From pitching to working with clients, you’ll need to know simple editing techniques, as well as be able to sound professional. And that’s where Grammarly comes in.
Here’s my Grammarly review and if it’s worth it as a tool for virtual assistants.
Summary
I personally use Grammarly and absolutely love it. I also know many other virtual assistants who use it in their business and love it as well. It’s especially helpful if you love to write but aren’t the best with grammar and punctuation. But in reality, anyone can find Grammarly useful.
What is Grammarly?
So first, what is Grammarly? Basically, Grammarly is a desktop app (formerly a Chrome extension) that is used to check for grammar, correct spelling, possible plagiarism, and more. And, it does it without you having to upload your work to the site directly.
It’s also known as your “free Grammar assistant” because most of its features are free, although they do have a paid option as well.
Grammarly works on so many different sites and platforms, including WordPress, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, Microsoft Word, and more. If you have the extension on your computer, it will automatically populate and check your work as you’re writing it.
There are a lot of different features and options when it comes to using Grammarly as a virtual assistant. Of course, we will get into more detail about Grammarly, but so far so good. Let’s take a look at everything they offer.
Grammarly Review: Features
While Grammarly does have free and different paid options, you can get quite a few features with their free option. However, if you want to take your writing and editing skills to the next level, I highly recommend going ahead and using their premium version.
Grammar & Spelling Checks
Of course, the free version checks for most grammar and spelling checks. The premium version checks thousands of different errors that your writing could possibly have, but the free version is great when you’re first starting out.
When Grammarly finds the potential mistakes, it will underline them in red. To fix the mistake, or mark it as correct, all you have to do is hover over it. It really is that easy.
If Grammarly tries to correct a mistake that’s not really a mistake, you can just ignore the correction. This is especially helpful if you use slang, don’t like using the oxford comma, and more.
Punctuations, Context, & Sentence Structure
The premium plan goes into more depth with your writing and evaluates all punctuations, context, and your sentence structure. It also makes sure that your sentences are easy to read and concise.
What’s so great about this? For one, your grammar could be great but even the best writers miss punctuations sometimes. And, context is important, especially when writing a professional piece. So this feature can really come in handy when writing.
Vocabulary Enhancement
Need to work on your vocabulary? Not to worry. Grammarly can help you with that. First, it will offer better word choices for you. For example, instead of saying “very happy”, it will replace that with ecstatic, excited, or delighted instead. This is available on the premium plan.
Grammarly will also try to liven up your sentences. For example, if it thinks a few sentences sound similar, it will suggest ways to switch them up and make them cohesive but not monotone.
Writing Style Checks
This is especially helpful if you’re freelance writing as part of your VA services. This allows you to keep the tone of your article, post, or email consistent. That means that your client will be able to have the ton that they want, and you don’t have to change your writing style too much. This is available on the premium plan.
Plagiarism Detector
Want to make sure what you wrote isn’t be plagiarised? Or, need to make sure your work doesn’t sound too similar to another piece of work? The premium plan on Grammarly checks for plagiarism on over 16 billion web pages.
Tone Check
One of my favorite free options from Grammarly is their tone check. You can connect Grammarly to your email account, and it will let you know if you sound happy, sad, or angry in your email. This is great if you don’t want to come across in a certain way.
Grammarly Review: How Much Does It Cost?
Grammarly does have a free option, but it also has a premium and business option as well. Let’s take a look at them.
Free Plan
The free plan has many features, which we talked about above. And, you can use the free plan on most sites. The free plan is, of course, free, and sign up is easy and takes about 2 minutes.
Premium Plan
If you want a few more features, you may want to upgrade to the premium plan. The premium plan is $30 a month, or if you want to pay for the whole year, the total is $144. By paying for the whole year, you’re saving over 60%.
Business Plan
While you most likely won’t need the business plan, it is an option. You have to have at least three members (or clients if you give them access) to use this plan, and it’s $12.50 per member per month.
Grammarly Review: The Pros And Cons
As with all tools, Grammarly has its set of pros and cons.
Pros
Luckily, the pros of Grammarly far outweigh the cons. So let’s start with those.
Free Grammar Correcting
Grammarly really does check your work for you, for free. And it will give you better wording options, let you know if you need to change up a sentence, and more. And the best part? You don’t have to use the app or extension itself to do that. All you have to do is install the extension on your web browser, and it will work with just about every website.
So, instead of drafting in Grammarly and then having to format everything to your site of choice, you get grammar checks in real-time and can make spelling and grammar updates quickly and easily.
As I said before, Grammarly will check your work and when it notices a mistake, it will underline it in red. So you can make changes as you write, or go back and change everything when you’re finished. But the choice is up to you and Grammarly makes it super simple.
You Can Customize It
Did you know that you could actually customize parts of your Grammarly account? For example, you can add your own words (super helpful if you like saying things like y’all!).
And you can also choose where you see Grammarly. As an example, Google Docs has a great grammar check system, so you may not need Grammarly on there as well. So, you can turn Grammarly off on Google Docs, or any other website you don’t want it to show up.
It’s Highly Accurate
Compared to other editing software, and at a fraction of the cost of an editor, Grammarly does a great job of catching grammar mistakes. Sometimes it will make a mistake and try to correct something that doesn’t need to be corrected. However, all you have to do is dismiss that option and it won’t show it as a mistake anymore.
Overall, Grammarly is highly accurate and will catch mistakes you didn’t even realize you were making.
It Tells You Why It’s Correcting You
I don’t know about you, but I love learning why I’m wrong, not just being told I’m wrong. And Grammarly does that really well. It won’t just tell you when something is wrong. It will explain why and how to not make that mistake in the future. It truly is an amazing tool to help you upgrade your writing.
If you’re writing on a certain site, Grammarly will typically just give you a quick explanation on why your mistake is wrong. But, if you want more information, all you have to do is click view more and it will go more in-depth for you.
It’s User-Friendly
You can get started on Grammarly in less than 5 minutes, and it won’t take you any time at all to get used to it. All you really have to do is download the app or install the extension, and you’re ready to roll.
Grammarly is incredibly intuitive and makes it easy to check your grammar, even for the most tech-unsavvy people.
Cons
Of course, with some pros come a few cons. Let’s talk about them.
It Isn’t Always Compatible
Unless you use the premium portion of Grammarly, there may be some sites and tools that you can’t use Grammarly with. Of course, depending on what you use, this may not even be a con. But if you find yourself not being able to access Grammarly on certain sites, it can be frustrating.
Lots of Emails
Here’s the thing, Grammarly is a business. And that’s okay. However, if you’re on their free plan, expect to be bombarded with emails and popups asking you to upgrade to the premium version. You can always unsubscribe from their emails, but you may still get notifications from the extension.
Should You Go With Grammarly Premium?
While the free plan is great if you’re just getting started as a VA, you may be wondering if it’s better to pay for Grammarly Premium.
If you will need to write quite a bit, or if freelance writing is part of the services you offer as a VA, I can’t recommend Grammarly Premium enough. It’s one of the best tools you’ll ever invest in and can save you a ton of time and headache on editing.
Plus, Grammarly Premium will be able to identify more spelling and grammar issues than the free option, plus offers a few more features that can really help.
Grammarly Review: Are There Any Grammarly Alternatives?
Yes, there are a few alternatives you can use instead of Grammarly.
Scrivener
Scrivener is the go-to app for writers and is a great option if you plan on offering freelance writing as a virtual assistant. However, it is an app, so it won’t work on different sites like Grammarly does. You can get it for $49 in total.
Google Docs
If you like writing with Google Docs (which is a part of GSuite), you can use this as a free alternative to Grammarly. Again, you won’t be able to use it on multiple sites, but you can always write a draft in Google Docs, and then copy and paste what you wrote to whatever platform you’re using.
Hemingway App
You can get the Hemingway App for free. It works similarly to Grammarly, but you do have to be in the app itself to use it.
Open Office
If you’re a Mac user, you can also download Open Office for free. It’s basically a knockoff Microsoft Office. It is completely free but you’ll have to use it on your Mac and then transfer your writing or download the documents to send them.
Grammarly Review: Is Grammarly Worth It?
I would say absolutely! I personally use Grammarly and absolutely love it. I also know many other virtual assistants who use it in their business and love it as well. It’s especially helpful if you love to write but aren’t the best with grammar and punctuation. But in reality, anyone can find Grammarly useful.
The best part about Grammarly is that you can get started for free. So if it doesn’t work for you, no harm done. It’s risk-free and if you don’t like it, you can just delete it from your browser. But if you do like it, and want to take your writing to the next level, you can upgrade to the premium version.
The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you can write and what you can do with Grammarly. And, it may just inspire you to write more for your clients too.
Grammarly Review Summary
Overall, as I wrap up my Grammarly review, I just want to say how much I love the Grammarly app. I also highly recommend that all virtual assistants at least try them out. Whether you’re a new VA, experienced VA, or a VA looking to offer writing services, you can find quite a bit of value in Grammarly.
And again, it’s completely free to get started. So what are you waiting for?