Grammarly

LOTLOF · Feb 13, 2014

grammarly.com

Friend of mine has told me about this website. It is a paid service that provides automated grammar checks, like using a spell check. It costs $29.90 for one month's service. Before I pay I just want to know if anyone else here has used it and would recommend it.

amergina · Feb 13, 2014

Bewares, Recommendations, and Background Check thread: <snipped because the thread moved to BR&BC>

I know about them because they spammed me about mentioning their site on my blog.

lauralam · Feb 14, 2014

They spammed me, too.

Kricket · Feb 14, 2014

Got a follow up email the other day. This was my response:

"To be perfectly honest, I feel my blog space is worth more than $10. That amount can't get you much on Amazon anyway.

So thanks, but no thanks.

"

popgun62 · Feb 14, 2014

They gave me a password to get a free download of Grammarly if I wrote a blog for them inviting people to use it, which I did. I've used it a few times - it works pretty well, like spellcheck on steroids.

Filigree · Feb 14, 2014

$30 a month is rather pricey.

Googling 'Grammerly + complaints' yielded some eye-opening results that include multiple allegations of charging credit cards even after the client has discontinued the 'free' trial, up to multiple times. Unresponsive customer service. Ineffective service that when tested upon known literary classics, apparently provided wrong or text changing suggestions.

Looking at the 'testimonials' made me wonder if the service was commonly used by students who might also use term paper mills.

The website itself is slick but rather uninformative, and appears designed to get clients to sign up and offer CC info.

It's been called a scam by angry customers. Given the number of those responses, I would not use the service nor advertise for it.

Filigree · Feb 14, 2014

www.grammarist.com has a more in-depth review that points out the service's shortcomings. I can't patch the link right now, but it should come up in search.

Jim Williams · Mar 23, 2014

LOTLOF said:
Friend of mine has told me about this website. It is a paid service that provides automated grammar checks, like using a spell check. It costs $29.90 for one month's service. Before I pay I just want to know if anyone else here has used it and would recommend it.

I've been using Grammarly for about 1 1/2 years now. I was living on the street when I decided I wanted to write about the experience. Finding my grammar was horrible, I signed up for a year's worth of Grammarly. My experience is that my writing is easier to read after I've run it through a check. It took me awhile to get use to it. Microsoft Word and Grammarly sometimes have differing opinions on the same question.

My guess is that if you are good at grammar, Grammarly won't help, but if you are like me, it can be a comfort. By the way, when I initially declined to buy it after the free test period, they came back and offered it to me at half price, so I got a year's worth for around $70. I don't know if they are still doing that.

EMaree · Sep 29, 2014

Just got a very "chummy" but obviously template e-mail in my spam box from these guys:

Hi Emma,

This may be somewhat random, but I thought you might be interested. Grammarly conducted a study with 3,000+ participants to settle an existential question that has been plaguing mankind for centuries: “Which gender has the better writers?” We published the results in an infographic that was picked up by The Daily Beast. It’s a start, but we need your help to reach a more targeted audience.

Could you envision yourself using our infographic in a relevant upcoming post on your blog? As a small thank-you for your support, Grammarly would donate $50 in your name to one of the three charities below (your pick) that promote literacy. You’ll receive an email confirmation of the donation directly from the charity.

Reading Is Fundamental
Reach Out and Read
ProLiteracy

Let me know if you’re interested! I’d be happy to send you the original image file of the infographic, as well as some additional information.

Cheers,
Nick

Looks like they've tried to clean up a bit, by bribing you with charity donations instead of gift vouchers, but they're still playing the same old bribes-for-blogs shtick.

Google Mail now flags their stuff as spam right off the bat. Good job, GMail.

Grammarly

LOTLOF

amergina

Pittsburgh Strong

lauralam

Moonshade

Kricket

Chirp! Chirp!

popgun62

Keeper of the pace.

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

Jim Williams

make up reality

EMaree

a demon for tea