ProWritingAid has been a common name in grammar checking for years, emerging as one of the earliest and most widely preferred tools in the writing assistance space. With its comprehensive features aimed at improving grammar, style, and readability, it became the go-to choice for many writers seeking to perfect their work.
However, when it comes to academic and research writing, not all tools are created equal. While ProWritingAid is well-regarded for its broad set of features and often compared to Grammarly, the question arises: Does it go far enough for academic needs?
On the other hand, Paperpal is specifically designed with academics in mind. Before deciding which tool is right for you, let’s break it down. In this blog, we’ll explore:
Ultimately, the question isn’t just which tool helps with grammar, but which one truly understands the nature of your writing. This detailed comparison will guide you through the strengths and differences of both tools, helping you make an informed decision based on your unique writing needs.
| Feature | Paperpal | ProWritingAid |
| Grammar, Spelling and Style Checks (real-time, consistency, numbering) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Paraphrasing, Trimming and Tone Adjustment (without changing meaning) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Academic Writing Enhancements (tone, formality, synonyms, structure) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Generative AI Writing and Research-focused Rewriting | ✅ | ❌ |
| Multilingual Support and PDF Chat (50+ language translation, AI PDF reader) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Comprehensive Pre-submission Review (structure, language, compliance) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Plagiarism Detection | ✅ | ✔️ (premium only) |
| Citation Generation, Management and Literature Search Discovery (DOI/title lookup, 10,000+ citation styles) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Writing Assistance Toolkit (custom prompts, notes, AI review tips) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Integrations (Google Docs, MS Word, Overleaf) | ✅ | ✔️ |
| Human Editing Access | ✅ | ❌ |
| Data Privacy (GDPR-compliant, no AI training usage | ✅ | ❌ (used anonymously) |
ProWritingAid is a comprehensive AI writing assistant designed to enhance the quality of your writing. It combines grammar checking, style editing, and AI-powered suggestions to help writers produce clear and engaging content. ProWritingAid offers tools to refine your writing and caters to a diverse range of writers, including:
ProWritingAid functions as an all-in-one writing coach, offering real-time feedback to elevate your writing and storytelling skills. It not only corrects errors but also educates users on writing best practices. By analyzing your text, it provides actionable suggestions to enhance clarity, coherence, and overall quality. The tool’s AI capabilities, referred to as ProWritingAid AI, enable it to understand context and offer nuanced recommendations. This feature is particularly beneficial for writers seeking to maintain a consistent tone and storytelling style throughout their work.
| ProWritingAid Pros | ProWritingAid Cons |
| In-depth Style and Grammar Reports: 20+ reports help improve passive voice, clarity, and structure. | Lacks Academic Tone Calibration: Suggestions aren’t optimized for formal research writing or publications. |
| Real-Time Feedback: Instant grammar and style suggestions during writing. | No Journal Formatting or Reference Checks: Doesn’t support citation formats or bibliography validation. |
| Contextual Rephrasing with AI: Tools like Rephrase and Sparks improve sentence clarity and tone. | Limited for STEM Fields: Can’t interpret LaTeX, formulas, or technical figure/table content. |
| Genre-Based Modes: Feedback adjusts for academic, business, fiction, and more. | Plagiarism Checker is Premium Only: Not available in ProWritingAid free version. |
| Broad Integrations: Works with MS Word, Google Docs, and offers a ProWritingAid Chrome Extension. | Surface-Level AI Suggestions: Lacks depth for domain-specific or complex academic language. |
The free plan includes grammar, spelling, and basic style checks with a 500-word limit per session. ProWritingAid Premium, priced at $10/month, unlocks additional features like unlimited report runs, 25+ writing analysis reports, citation generation and management, and more.
Paperpal is an AI-powered writing assistant built specifically for PhD students, researchers, and academics. Trained on millions of scholarly articles and over 23 years of experience in academic publishing, it helps users write clear, formal, and journal-ready manuscripts that adhere to the highest academic writing standards. Unlike general AI writing tools, Paperpal understands the context, structure, tone, and technicality required in scientific writing, making it the perfect go-to AI writing tool for academics.
Paperpal’s comprehensive toolkit has won the trust of over 2 million users and leading universities and publishers in more than 125 countries. Optimized to support and enhance academic writing, Paperpal is ideal for:
Free: In the free plan, Paperpal allows access to 200 language suggestions, unlimited citation generation in over 10,000 styles, 7,000 words per month of plagiarism checks, unlimited Chat PDF interactions, free journal submission check summary reports, and 5 daily uses of its generative AI features, including paraphrasing, text trimming, academic text formatting, AI reference finder, custom text suggestions, translation and AI writing templates
Prime: Users can upgrade to a Prime plan, which unlocks unlimited access to all its features, up to 10,000 words of plagiarism checks, access to Human Editor Review, and more. Prime plans start at $25 a month, with the annual plan being the most cost-effective (it will cost you $12 a month); Paperpal also offers special pricing for students and larger teams.
Both ProWritingAid and Paperpal are strong AI writing tools, but they serve very different purposes.
If you’re a blogger, novelist, or content creator, ProWritingAid offers solid grammar and style checks, helpful writing reports, and affordable long-term plans. It’s built for creative and general writing needs.
But if you’re a PhD student, researcher, educator, or working on academic content, the choice is clear: Paperpal is built for you. From academic tone enhancement, AI rewriting, and instant PDF summarization to citation generation, journal submission checks, and translation support, Paperpal offers everything you need to write, revise, and submit with confidence. It’s not just a writing tool—it’s your all-in-one academic writing assistant.
Start using Paperpal for free today and experience the difference trusted by over 2 million academics across 125+ countries.
Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 23+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.
Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$25 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.
Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!
With the increase in the number of digital sources and their convenient access for readers,…
Understanding the basics of Harvard referencing and Harvard citation style, especially as outlined in the…
“How to write a cover letter” is one of the most searched career-related questions on…
Writing a synthesis essay is often considered challenging, as it requires not only the ability…
A research hypothesis is a concise statement that aims to investigate the relationship between specific…
Plagiarism is one of the most common, and often unintentional, pitfalls in academic writing. Even…