Grammarly vs QuillBot: Which Writing Tool Should You Use in 2026?
A detailed comparison of Grammarly and QuillBot across grammar correction, paraphrasing, plagiarism checking, and which tool fits your writing workflow.
Grammarly and QuillBot are the two most popular AI writing assistants for students and content professionals. They look similar from a distance but serve fundamentally different purposes. Grammarly corrects and improves the writing you produce; QuillBot rewrites existing text into different phrasing. Many writers use both.
The One-Line Answer
Choose Grammarly if you want real-time grammar, clarity, and tone feedback everywhere you type. Choose QuillBot if you need to rephrase, paraphrase, or rewrite existing text while preserving the meaning.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Criteria | Grammarly | QuillBot |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar correction | Best in class | Good |
| Paraphrasing | Limited | Best in class |
| Plagiarism checker | Premium | Premium (Turnitin-powered) |
| Where it works | Everywhere (browser, Word, Docs) | Web app |
| Tone detection | Yes | No |
| Summarizer | No | Yes |
| Citation generator | No | Yes |
| Free tier | Full grammar checking | 125 words/attempt |
| Premium pricing | $12/month | $9.95/month |
| Best for | Correcting your writing | Rewriting existing text |
Grammar and Style Correction
Grammarly is the category leader in grammar correction. It catches not just spelling and punctuation errors but clarity issues, passive voice overuse, wordiness, and tone mismatches. The explanations for each suggestion are educational, not just “change this to that.”
QuillBot has a grammar checker, but it is secondary to its paraphrasing function. For real-time inline correction as you write, Grammarly is the stronger tool by a significant margin.
Winner: Grammarly
Paraphrasing
QuillBot is the best paraphrasing tool available. Its 8 rewriting modes (Standard, Fluency, Formal, Simple, Creative, Expand, Shorten, Academic) give precise control over how text is transformed. The Academic mode, available on Premium, produces scholarly-appropriate rewrites that maintain citation integrity.
Grammarly has no meaningful paraphrasing capability. It improves your writing; it does not rewrite it.
Winner: QuillBot
Where It Works
Grammarly’s browser extension, desktop app, and integrations with Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Outlook mean it works inline wherever you actually type. You never interrupt your workflow to paste text somewhere else.
QuillBot works primarily through its web app. You paste text in, get a rewrite, paste it back. This copy-paste workflow adds friction compared to inline tools.
Winner: Grammarly
Plagiarism Checker
Both offer plagiarism checking on paid plans. QuillBot’s plagiarism checker is powered by Turnitin, the most trusted tool in academic plagiarism detection. This matters specifically for students and academics who need results that will hold up under institutional scrutiny.
Grammarly’s plagiarism checker uses its own database and is solid but not as academically credible as Turnitin.
Winner: QuillBot (academic context)
Free Tier
Grammarly’s free tier provides full grammar and spelling correction with no character limits. It is one of the most generous free tiers in any writing tool category.
QuillBot’s free tier limits paraphrasing to 125 words per attempt, which is frustrating for longer texts. The free grammar checker is unrestricted.
Winner: Grammarly
Pricing
QuillBot Premium at $9.95/month is slightly cheaper than Grammarly Premium at $12/month. Annual billing on QuillBot drops to around $5/month, making it one of the lowest-cost premium writing tools available.
Winner: QuillBot (price)
Who Should Use Both?
Many writers use Grammarly for real-time correction as they draft, and QuillBot when they need to rephrase a section they are stuck on, vary their language, or adapt text for a different audience. They solve different problems.
If you write in English daily and care about quality, using both at $22/month combined is cheaper than most single B2B software subscriptions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grammarly better than QuillBot? They serve different purposes. Grammarly is better for correcting and improving writing you produce. QuillBot is better for paraphrasing and rewriting existing text. Neither is strictly “better” because they do different things.
Can QuillBot replace Grammarly? Not fully. QuillBot’s grammar checker works but lacks Grammarly’s depth of style and clarity feedback, tone detection, and ubiquitous integration. Grammarly is the stronger day-to-day correction tool.
Is using QuillBot considered cheating? Paraphrasing properly cited source material is standard academic practice. Using QuillBot to disguise AI-generated or plagiarized content as original work may violate academic policies. Check your institution’s guidelines before using it in academic submissions.
Does Grammarly work in Google Docs? Yes, Grammarly integrates directly with Google Docs via its Chrome extension, providing inline suggestions as you write without interrupting your workflow.