The 8 Best AI Writing Assistants of 2026, Compared

Quick answer: For most people, Grammarly is the AI writing assistant to install first: it checks and rewrites your text inside the browser, Google Docs, Office and your phone keyboard, and the free plan includes 100 AI prompts a month. If you want a tool that drafts with you rather than corrects you, Claude is the pick for prose that sounds like a person, and ChatGPT is the most versatile all-rounder. Novelists should look at ProWritingAid and Sudowrite instead.

"AI writing assistant" covers two different jobs, and most people need only one of them. Editors like Grammarly, ProWritingAid and QuillBot sit on top of text you already wrote and suggest fixes, rewrites and tone changes. Drafting tools like Claude, ChatGPT, Sudowrite and Jasper generate text from a prompt, and they are only as good as the instructions and examples you give them. Decide which job you are hiring for before you compare prices.

The second thing to check is what you already pay for. A Microsoft 365 Personal or Family plan already includes Copilot in Word, and some Google Workspace and Google AI plans include Gemini in Docs. If your writing is mostly meeting follow-ups and notes, our AI note-taking apps roundup covers tools that write those for you.

How they compare

Tool	Best for	Free tier	Paid from	Platforms
Grammarly	Everyday editing	Grammar and spelling, 100 AI prompts/mo	Pro $12/mo billed annually ($30 monthly)	Browser, Windows, Mac, Office, Google Docs, iOS, Android
Claude	Drafting in your own voice	Yes, Sonnet and Haiku models, 5 projects	Pro $17/mo billed annually ($20 monthly)	Web, iOS, Android
ChatGPT	All-purpose writing chatbot	Yes, with ads being tested in the US	Go $8/mo, Plus $19.99/mo (App Store)	Web, iOS, Android
Copilot in Word	People who already write in Word	None in Word	Microsoft 365 Personal $99.99/yr ($9.99 monthly)	Word for Windows, Mac and web
ProWritingAid	Editing long manuscripts	500 words at a time, 10 rephrases/day	Premium $10/mo billed yearly ($30 monthly, $399 lifetime)	Web, works with Scrivener
Sudowrite	Fiction drafting	Free trial, no card	Hobby & Student from $10/mo on its pricing page	Web, iOS
Jasper	Marketing teams	7-day trial	Pro $59/seat/mo billed yearly ($69 monthly)	Web
QuillBot	Free paraphrasing	Grammar checker, 2 paraphrase modes, AI detector	Premium $99.99/yr or $19.99/mo (App Store)	Web, iOS, Android

1. Grammarly: Best overall for everyday editing

• Developer: Superhuman Platform Inc (Grammarly is now part of Superhuman)
• Works in: Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, Windows and Mac apps, Microsoft Office, Google Docs, iPhone and Android keyboards
• App Store: 4.7/5 (225,921 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2017

Grammarly is still the default because it goes wherever you type. The browser extensions, desktop apps, Office and Google Docs add-ins and the phone keyboard all apply the same checks, so you don't change how you write to use it. Grammarly says 40 million people and 50,000 organizations use it. Zapier's grammar checker roundup names it the best for all-around editing and says it "covers all my criteria," and Zapier's head-to-head with ProWritingAid recommends it as the versatile pick for everyday use.

The free plan handles spelling and grammar and shows your tone, and it includes 100 AI prompts a month. Full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment and the plagiarism and AI-text checkers need Pro, which costs $144 a year (that's $12 a month) or $30 month to month, with 2,000 prompts per person a month. Grammarly is now part of Superhuman, and enterprise plans are delivered through Superhuman Go, so expect the branding to keep shifting. Zapier also notes it only supports English.

Video review: Grammarly Review 2026 | Is it worth it? by Gradehacker

2. Claude: Best for drafting in your own voice

• Developer: Anthropic PBC
• Context window: up to 1M tokens, depending on the model
• App Store: 4.7/5 (277,600 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2024

Claude is the chatbot writers tend to reach for when the words have to sound human. Zapier's 2026 chatbot roundup labels it the pick for writing and coding and says "it delivers engaging writing, with good logical flow and flashes of originality that make it sound oddly fresh." Its Styles feature is the reason it ranks here: you can upload or paste a sample of your own writing and Claude builds a custom style from it, or you can pick a preset like Concise or Formal. Tom's Guide has a walkthrough of the feature, and Projects let you keep a brief, a style guide and source files together for a long piece.

The free plan is real but small: up to 5 projects, the Sonnet and Haiku models, and usage limits that reset on a rolling five-hour window. Pro is $20 a month, or $17 a month if you pay $200 for the year, and it adds the Opus models, unlimited projects and at least 5 times the free usage. Heavy users still bump into caps. Zapier's main complaint is that it's "easy to hit token limits without careful context window management," and Max starts at $100 a month if you need more.

Video review: This New Claude Update is a Big One! (Custom Writing Styles) by Ryan Doser

3. ChatGPT: Best all-purpose writing chatbot

• Developer: OpenAI OpCo, LLC
• App Store: 4.8/5 (11,178,273 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2023

ChatGPT is the generalist. It drafts, outlines, rewrites, translates and researches, and its canvas view opens your draft beside the chat so you can ask for edits to one paragraph instead of regenerating the whole thing. Zapier's 2026 roundup calls it "the best general-purpose chatbot," and its iPhone app holds 4.8 out of 5 from more than 11 million ratings, which no other tool here comes close to. If you only want to pay for one AI subscription and writing is one of several jobs, this is the safe choice.

The catch on the cheap tiers is ads. OpenAI began testing ads for logged-in US users on Free and Go in early 2026, and Plus and Pro are not part of that test. Through the App Store, Go is $8 a month and Plus is $19.99; Pro plans run $100, $200 or $500 a month. Zapier flags "uneven reliability when citing or sourcing information from the internet," so check any facts, quotes or statistics it adds to your draft before you publish.

Video: Writing with canvas in ChatGPT by OpenAI

4. Copilot in Microsoft Word: Best if you already write in Word

• Developer: Microsoft Corporation
• Included with: Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium (not Basic)
• App Store: 4.7/5 (3,009,329 ratings) (Microsoft Word app)

If your documents already live in Word, the assistant you need may be on your toolbar. Microsoft's help pages say Copilot in Word can start a draft from a prompt, an outline, notes or a referenced file, rewrite selected text and change its tone or length, and summarize or answer questions about a long document. You can type a slash in the chat pane to pull in another document, an email or a meeting as a source, and edits land in the original file as reviewable changes. Zapier's chatbot roundup names Microsoft Copilot the pick for people who live in Microsoft's apps.

Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month, and its AI usage is listed only as "higher than free." Premium, at $199.99 a year, gets "extensive" usage. On a Family plan, Microsoft says AI benefits belong to the subscription owner and can't be shared, so the rest of the household doesn't get Copilot. Microsoft 365 Basic has no AI features at all. Because the allowance is a monthly credit pool rather than a published number, heavy drafters may run out mid-month.

Video tutorial: How to use COPILOT in Microsoft Word by Reza Dorrani

5. ProWritingAid: Best for editing long manuscripts

• Reports: 25+ writing analysis reports
• Works with: Scrivener, per Zapier
• Lifetime option: Premium $399, Premium Pro $699

ProWritingAid is the editor for people writing books, not emails. Instead of only flagging errors as you go, it runs more than 25 reports on a chapter, covering things like pacing, readability, repetition, overused words and clichés. Zapier's grammar checker roundup picks it for creative writing, says it "really shines when you use it for creative writing and storytelling," and notes "it did highlight errors that Grammarly missed." It also works with Scrivener, which matters if that's where your manuscript lives.

The free plan only checks 500 words at a time and allows 10 rephrases a day, so it's a demo for long work. Premium is $120 a year ($10 a month) or $30 month to month, and it's one of the few tools here with a lifetime license, at $399. Premium Pro adds up to 30 chapter critiques a day plus live workshops for $144 a year or $699 lifetime. Zapier warns the interface "can be a little distracting initially," and refunds on yearly and lifetime plans are limited to a 3-day money-back window.

Video review: ProWritingAid Review [in 2025] by Kindlepreneur

6. Sudowrite: Best for fiction drafting

• Developer: Human Plus Plus, Inc.
• Models: its own Muse and Ballad fiction models plus 30+ others
• App Store: 4.4/5 (388 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2025

Sudowrite is built only for fiction. Its tools are named after what novelists actually do (Write, Rewrite, Describe, Expand), it can match your writing style and track continuity across a series, and it runs its own fiction-tuned models called Muse and Ballad alongside more than 30 others. The Professional plan adds developmental edits, line edits and beta reads on your manuscript. Zapier's AI writing generator roundup, last reviewed in September 2026, names it the best for fiction and calls it "fun, functional, and can genuinely help with writing a work of fiction."

Zapier is also blunt about the weak spots: it can produce nonsensical metaphors and clichéd plots, and it's controversial among fiction writers. Pricing is credit-based. The pricing page lists Hobby & Student at $10 a month with 225,000 credits, Professional at $22 with 1,000,000 and Max at $44 with 2,000,000, with a toggle advertising up to 50% off for yearly billing. Zapier quotes Hobby & Student at $19 a month, and buying through the iPhone app costs more ($24.99 a month), so check the web checkout before you subscribe. There's a free trial with no credit card.

7. Jasper: Best for marketing teams

• Brand Voices: 2 on Pro, unlimited on Business
• Trial: 7 days on Pro
• Platform: Web

Jasper is aimed at marketing teams who need many pieces of copy to sound like one brand. You set up Brand Voices, knowledge assets (product facts, positioning docs) and audiences once, and its Canvas workspace and marketing agents use them when drafting. Zapier's AI writing generator roundup picks it as the best for businesses and calls it one of the most feature-filled AI content generators, with strong customization and quality controls.

It's the most expensive pick here. Pro is $69 per seat a month, or $59 billed yearly, and it covers one seat, 2 Brand Voices, 5 knowledge assets and 3 audiences. Adding teammates, an API or SSO means the Business plan, which is custom-priced and starts with a 12-month commitment. Zapier's main criticism is cost, given that these apps run on similar underlying language models. A solo writer will get most of the same drafting out of Claude or ChatGPT for a third of the price.

8. QuillBot: Best free paraphraser

• Developer: QuillBot, a Learneo Inc. business
• Free tools: grammar checker, 2 paraphrase modes, translator, AI detector
• App Store: 4.7/5 (3,043 ratings)
• iOS app released: 2023

QuillBot does one thing especially well: rewording a sentence or paragraph you already have. Paste text in and it rephrases it in the mode you pick, and the free version also includes a grammar checker, a translator and an AI-content detector, which is more than most free plans here. That makes it popular with students and anyone who needs to say the same thing a different way. The iPhone app, which works as a keyboard, holds 4.7 out of 5 from more than 3,000 ratings.

The free plan gives you 2 paraphrase modes, and Premium unlocks 8 more. Reviews from eesel and Dupple report a 125-word limit per paraphrase on the free plan, which makes long documents tedious. QuillBot blocks automated access to its pricing page, so the prices we could confirm are the App Store's: $19.99 a month or $99.99 a year. A paraphraser isn't a drafting tool, and schools may treat paraphrased text the way they treat any other AI help, so check the rules first.

Also worth a look

• Gemini in Google Docs: the Google Docs equivalent of Copilot in Word. It can create and draft documents inside Docs, but Google's help page says you need an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan.
• Wordtune: a rewriting tool from AI21 Labs that Zapier calls "the perfect companion to Grammarly" for shortening, expanding and rephrasing sentences.
• Hemingway Editor: the readability-focused editor, with a free online readability checker on its site. Hemingway Editor Plus adds AI fixes for highlighted issues, grammar and tone, with a free 2-week trial and no credit card.
• LanguageTool: the multilingual alternative to Grammarly, covering 30+ languages. Its free plan checks up to 2,000 characters per text field and allows 3 AI rephrasings a day.

How we picked

We ranked these from desk research, not hands-on use. We read Zapier's 2026 roundups of AI writing generators and AI chatbots and its grammar checker comparisons, Tom's Guide's coverage of Claude's styles, vendor help documentation, App Store ratings pulled from Apple's own data, and prices read off each vendor's live pricing page or App Store in-app purchase list on October 11, 2026. Where a vendor blocked us from reading its pricing page (ChatGPT and QuillBot), we quoted App Store prices and said so. We don't score writing quality ourselves.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI writing assistant for free?

Grammarly's free plan is the most useful for everyday writing: it checks spelling and grammar wherever you type and includes 100 AI prompts a month. For drafting, the free versions of Claude and ChatGPT both work, though ChatGPT's free tier is part of an ad test in the US. QuillBot's free plan is best if you mainly need to reword text.

Is Claude or ChatGPT better for writing?

It depends on the writing. Zapier's 2026 chatbot roundup picks Claude for writing, praising its flow and originality, and Claude can learn a custom style from samples of your own writing. ChatGPT is Zapier's pick for general-purpose use and handles research, drafting and rewrites in one place. Both cost about $20 a month for their main paid plan.

Is Grammarly Pro worth paying for?

It's worth it if you want full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, plagiarism checks or more than 100 AI prompts a month. Pro costs $144 a year, which works out to $12 a month, but $30 if you pay month to month, so pay annually if you're sure. If you only want typo and grammar fixes, the free plan covers that.

What is the best AI writing tool for novelists?

Sudowrite for drafting and ProWritingAid for revising. Sudowrite is built around fiction tasks like describing a scene or keeping a series consistent, and Zapier names it the best AI writer for fiction. ProWritingAid runs more than 25 reports on pacing, repetition and style, works with Scrivener and sells a $399 lifetime license.

Does Microsoft Word have a built-in AI writing assistant?

Yes. Copilot in Word is included with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium, and it can draft from a prompt or your files, rewrite selected text and summarize documents. Personal costs $99.99 a year. On a Family plan only the subscription owner gets the AI features, and Microsoft 365 Basic has none.

Disclosure: none of the links in this post are affiliate links, we don't earn a commission from any of the apps in it, and nobody paid to be included. Prices are what each vendor's pricing page or App Store listing showed on October 11, 2026, and they change.