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Writing · Buying Guides
The Best AI Writing Tools
Claude is the best AI writing tool for most people: it's a capable drafting and editing partner, free to start, and keeps your chats out of training unless you allow it. ChatGPT is the runner-up, Wordtune is the budget pick, and Grammarly and Sudowrite are best for polishing and fiction.
Claude handles drafting, editing and long documents in one place, its free plan is generous, and Anthropic says it uses your chats for training only if you allow it.
The Research Score rates each product on its own merits. Our picks also weigh price and who the product is for, so a pick can rank above a higher-scoring product. How we score
AI can help at every stage of writing: brainstorming, outlining, drafting, rewriting a clumsy paragraph and catching typos. But the tools split into two camps. General chatbots such as Claude and ChatGPT can do almost anything with words, while dedicated tools such as Grammarly, Wordtune and Sudowrite do one job, like editing or fiction, inside a purpose-built interface.
For most people, Claude is the best AI for writing. Its free plan includes web search, memory and Projects for organizing a long piece, and Anthropic says your chats train its models only if you choose to allow it. ChatGPT is a close runner-up with an unlimited free tier for everyday text. Wordtune is the budget pick for rewriting sentences, Grammarly is best for polishing essays and work writing, and Sudowrite is the specialist for novels and stories.
Before you use any of these for school, check your instructor’s policy. OpenAI itself says AI detectors aren’t reliable, and that cuts both ways (more on that below). We based our picks on official pricing, help and privacy pages; we did not test these tools hands-on.
We considered 12 AI writing tools: general chatbots (Claude, ChatGPT and Google Gemini) and dedicated writing tools (Grammarly, Wordtune, QuillBot, ProWritingAid, Sudowrite, NovelAI, Jasper, Notion AI and Microsoft Copilot in Word). For each, we read the official pricing, help and privacy pages, and US App Store listings where web prices weren’t shown in dollars, all checked on the date of publication. We scored the picks we could judge on privacy with our published Research Score. We did not run hands-on tests for this guide.
Who this is for
This guide is for anyone who writes regularly and wants AI help: students working on essays, professionals writing emails and reports, and authors working on books and stories. It covers both “write with me” tools that draft and brainstorm, and “fix my writing” tools that edit what you’ve written. If you want a general assistant for more than writing, see The Best AI Chatbot.
How we picked
We looked for writing tools that:
Help with real writing tasks: drafting, restructuring, rewriting and editing, not just generating filler.
Keep you in control of your voice, with options to rewrite or give feedback rather than only generate.
Have a free plan or trial and clear, reasonably priced paid plans.
Respect your work: a clear statement on whether your writing trains AI models.
Fit the job: essays, books and stories need different features, so we picked specialists where they clearly beat a general chatbot.
A note on essays and AI detectors
Rules on AI vary by school, course and instructor, so check the policy before you use any of these tools for graded work. Using AI to brainstorm or get feedback may be allowed where submitting AI-written text is not.
AI detectors are not proof either way. OpenAI’s help center says its own research didn’t find detectors reliable enough for judgments with lasting consequences: a detector it trained labeled Shakespeare and the Declaration of Independence as AI-generated, and there were indications such tools could disproportionately affect students learning English as a second language. OpenAI also notes that ChatGPT itself can’t tell whether a text was AI-written; if you ask, its answer has “no basis in fact.” Grammarly Pro and QuillBot both include AI detectors, and QuillBot also sells an “AI Humanizer.” We don’t recommend using a humanizer to disguise AI use in work where it isn’t allowed. Keeping your drafts and notes is the simplest way to show your process.
Top pick · The best AI for writing for most people
C
Claude
8.3/10
Claude handles drafting, editing and long documents in one place, its free plan is generous, and Anthropic says it uses your chats for training only if you allow it.
Claude is our top pick because it’s the most well-rounded writing partner: you can paste in a rough draft and ask for a tighter version, request feedback on structure and argument, or work through a long manuscript chapter by chapter. Anthropic’s iPhone listing describes it as a writing assistant that helps with drafting and editing and refines tone, structure and clarity, and it can read PDFs and screenshots you upload.
The free plan goes further than most. Anthropic’s pricing page lists web search, memory across conversations, voice mode, Artifacts, file creation, connectors, Docs and up to five Projects, which are useful for keeping a book’s outline, character notes and style guide together, using the Sonnet and Haiku models. Pro costs $20 a month, or $17 a month if you pay $200 for a year, and adds the Opus model, Research, unlimited Projects, and Claude for Microsoft 365.
Privacy matters more for writers than for most users, since your drafts are your work. Anthropic’s privacy center says it uses your chats to improve Claude only if you choose to allow it (or if a conversation is flagged for safety review), and incognito chats are excluded.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Claude’s limits are less predictable than a word count. Anthropic says usage resets on a rolling five-hour window, and paid plans add weekly limits. It also works as a separate app or website: you paste text in and copy it back out, rather than getting suggestions inside every app as you type, which is where Grammarly is stronger.
Who it’s for
Students, professionals and authors who want a flexible writing partner for drafts, feedback and rewrites.
Who should skip it
You want suggestions inline in every app as you type, or a tool built specifically around fiction.
Pros
Free plan includes web search, memory, voice mode and up to five Projects
Pro adds the Opus model, Research and unlimited Projects
Training on your chats only if you choose to allow it
Pro is $17/month billed annually
Cons
No fixed message count; limits reset on a rolling five-hour window
Opus model and Research require a paid plan
No grammar underlines inside other apps, unlike Grammarly
Research Score
8.3/10
Features (30%)9
Value for money (25%)8
Privacy & security (20%)8
Compatibility (15%)8
Docs & support (10%)8
Free; Pro $20/month billed monthly or $17/month billed annually ($200 up front) (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Runner-up · The best free AI for writing
C
ChatGPT
8.2/10
ChatGPT’s free tier offers unlimited everyday text chats, which makes it the easiest way to brainstorm, outline and rewrite without paying.
If you don’t want to pay anything, ChatGPT is the strongest free option for writing. OpenAI’s help center says Free users have “unlimited everyday text chats,” subject to abuse-prevention safeguards, and can search the web and upload files and images. That’s enough for brainstorming topics, outlining an essay, rephrasing a paragraph or drafting an email, with no daily cap on ordinary text conversations.
ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month, billed monthly only. OpenAI lists priority access, higher model limits, advanced reasoning, voice conversations, image generation, file uploads and deep research tools. For writers, the reasoning and research tools are most useful for nonfiction: building an argument, checking a structure or summarizing sources you upload.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
OpenAI’s help center says data sharing for model training is enabled by default on personal Free, Plus and Pro accounts. You can switch off “Improve the model for everyone” under Settings > Data controls, and Temporary chats aren’t used for training, but you have to remember to do it. OpenAI also says file uploads, data analysis and image creation have separate limits on Free, and that ads may appear on the Free tier in certain countries.
Who it’s for
Anyone who wants a free, all-purpose writing helper, plus image creation and research in the same app.
Who should skip it
You don't want your drafts used for training and won't change the default setting.
Pros
Unlimited everyday text chats on the free tier
Free tier includes web search and file uploads
Plus adds higher limits, advanced reasoning and deep research
Cons
Training on your chats is on by default for personal accounts
No annual discount on Plus
Ads may appear on Free in some countries
Research Score
8.2/10
Features (30%)8
Value for money (25%)9
Privacy & security (20%)7
Compatibility (15%)9
Docs & support (10%)8
Free; Plus $20/month billed monthly (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Budget pick · The cheapest way to rewrite sentences with AI
W
Wordtune
Wordtune focuses on rewriting your own sentences rather than writing for you, with a free plan and an Unlimited plan at $6.99 a month billed annually.
Wordtune is built around improving what you’ve already written. Its plan page lists a free Basic plan with 10 rewrites and AI suggestions per day, three AI summaries a month and unlimited spelling and grammar checks. Advanced ($4.89 a month, billed annually) raises that to 30 rewrites a day and 15 summaries a month, and Unlimited ($6.99 a month, billed annually) removes the rewrite and summary caps and adds vocabulary, clarity and fluency suggestions plus premium support. Both paid plans come with a three-day free trial.
That approach makes it a good fit for students and professionals who want to keep their own voice: you stay the author, and the tool offers alternatives.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Wordtune’s prices are shown as billed annually; the page didn’t clearly list monthly-billing prices, and it says refunds are not offered. It’s also narrower than a chatbot: it won’t plan a novel or argue a thesis with you. We couldn’t find clear information on whether it trains on your text, so we didn’t score it.
Who it’s for
People who write their own drafts and want quick alternatives for awkward sentences.
Who should skip it
You want an AI to draft whole essays or chapters, or you need a refund policy; Wordtune says it doesn't offer refunds.
Pros
Free plan includes 10 rewrites and AI suggestions per day
Unlimited rewrites for $6.99/month billed annually
Three-day free trial on paid plans
Cons
Free plan allows only three AI summaries a month
Refunds are not offered
Research Score
Not scored – not enough reliable information yet.
Free; Advanced $4.89/month and Unlimited $6.99/month, billed annually (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Also great · For polishing essays and work writing
G
Grammarly
Grammarly checks and rewrites text inside the apps you already use, and its Pro plan adds a plagiarism checker and an AI detector.
Grammarly is the best tool here for cleaning up writing you’ve already done, especially if you write in many places. Its iPhone keyboard gives real-time writing feedback inside other apps, and its document editor includes plagiarism and AI detection, according to the App Store listing. Grammarly’s plan page lists 100 AI prompts a month on the free plan and 2,000 per member per month on Pro, which also adds the plagiarism checker and AI detector.
For essays, those extras are the draw: you can check that you’ve cited what you borrowed before you hand something in.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Grammarly’s web plan page showed us prices in euros only, so we couldn’t confirm US web pricing. In the US App Store, its in-app plans are listed at $29.99 a month, $59.99 a quarter or $139.99 a year, with cheaper mobile-only plans at $17.99 a month or $83.99 a year. Paying monthly costs more than twice as much per year as the annual plan. And like any AI detector, Grammarly’s should be treated as a hint, not proof (see “A note on essays and AI detectors” below). We didn’t score it because we couldn’t verify its data-use terms.
Who it’s for
Students and professionals who want grammar, clarity and tone suggestions everywhere they type.
Who should skip it
You want an AI to brainstorm or draft long pieces; the free plan caps AI prompts at 100 a month.
Pros
Free plan includes 100 AI prompts a month; Pro includes 2,000
Pro adds a plagiarism checker and an AI detector
iPhone keyboard gives suggestions inside other apps
Cons
Paid plans are expensive if billed monthly
Web pricing varies by region; we could only confirm US prices in the App Store
Research Score
Not scored – not enough reliable information yet.
Free; in the iPhone app, paid plans are $29.99/month, $59.99/quarter or $139.99/year (at the time of research)
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Also great · For novels and short stories
S
Sudowrite
Sudowrite is built for fiction, with tools to continue a scene in your voice, add description and keep continuity across a series.
If you’re writing a book, especially a novel, Sudowrite is the specialist to consider. Its pricing page lists Write, Rewrite, Describe and Expand tools, a chat for brainstorming and editing, matching your writing style and keeping continuity across a series. It runs on Muse, which Sudowrite describes as its in-house model made for fiction, alongside more than 30 other models. The Professional and Max plans add developmental edits, line edits and beta reads.
For many authors, the most important line is in the FAQ: Sudowrite says “we do not use your writing to train Sudowrite or OpenAI’s AI models,” and that it claims no rights over what you write or generate.
Flaws but not dealbreakers
Plans are metered in credits: 225,000 a month on Hobby & Student ($10) and 2,000,000 on Max ($44), where unused credits roll over for 12 months. Heavy drafting can use them up. The page advertises yearly billing at “up to 50% off” without listing the yearly prices, and it doesn’t say how long the free trial lasts.
Who it’s for
Novelists and short-story writers who want an AI tool made specifically for fiction.
Who should skip it
You write essays, reports or marketing copy; a general chatbot is better value.
Pros
Write, Rewrite, Describe and Expand tools built for fiction
Its own fiction model, Muse, plus 30+ other models
Says it doesn't train on your writing
Free trial with no credit card
Cons
Credit-based plans can run out on long projects
Yearly prices not listed on the pricing page
Research Score
Not scored – not enough reliable information yet.
Hobby & Student $10/month; Professional $22/month; Max $44/month (at the time of research); yearly billing advertised at up to 50% off
Affiliate link · price at the time of research, may have changed
Other good options
ProWritingAid: A strong alternative to Grammarly for fiction writers. Its pricing page lists a free plan with line-editing reports on up to 500 words, ten rephrases a day and grammar checks, and paid plans that add an Outline Crafter, Chapter Critiques and more than 25 writing-analysis reports. Paid add-on Story Credits cover manuscript analysis, plot analysis and a virtual beta reader. It showed us prices only in euros, so check current US pricing.
Google Gemini: A capable free alternative to ChatGPT and Claude for everyday writing; see our chatbot guide for its plans and limits.
The competition
QuillBot: Its free plan paraphrases up to 100 words at a time in two modes, and Premium unlocks full paraphrasing in nine built-in modes plus custom ones, advanced grammar suggestions, a plagiarism checker (25,000 words a month) and an AI humanizer. It’s useful for rephrasing, but it’s built around rewording existing text, which is exactly what many academic-integrity policies restrict.
Jasper: Jasper describes itself as “the AI purpose-built for marketing.” Pro costs $69 per seat per month billed monthly or $59 billed annually, with a seven-day free trial. That’s a lot for personal writing; it makes sense only for marketing teams.
NovelAI: NovelAI’s subscriptions start at $10 a month and include both a text generator and an anime-style image generator, and the company says prompts are encrypted. Sudowrite offers more fiction-specific tools and a clearer statement on training, so we picked it instead.
Notion AI and Copilot in Word: Both are best if you already work in Notion or Microsoft 365. Neither is a better standalone writing tool than Claude or ChatGPT.
What to look forward to
Writing tools change plans and limits often, and several of the companies here showed us prices only in euros. We’ll update this guide with confirmed US prices and new features as they’re announced.
FAQ
What is the best AI for writing essays?
Claude or ChatGPT for brainstorming, outlining and feedback, and Grammarly for polishing and checking citations with its plagiarism checker. Check your school’s AI policy first, and don’t submit AI-written text as your own where it isn’t allowed.
What is the best AI for writing a book?
Sudowrite is built specifically for fiction, with tools for continuing scenes and keeping continuity across a series. Claude is the best general-purpose option, with Projects to keep outlines and notes together.
What is the best free AI for writing stories?
ChatGPT’s free tier offers unlimited everyday text chats, and Claude’s free plan includes Projects and memory. Sudowrite offers a free trial without a credit card.
Can teachers tell if you used AI?
Not reliably with detectors alone. OpenAI says its research didn’t find AI detectors reliable enough, and that they sometimes flag human writing as AI-generated. Schools may still use other evidence, such as your drafts and writing history.
Is Grammarly considered AI?
Yes. Grammarly includes generative AI prompts (100 a month on the free plan and 2,000 on Pro) in addition to grammar and clarity checks, so check whether your instructor allows it.
