QWE AI Academy You write an email to a client. Grammarly flags six errors. ChatGPT rewrites the entire thing. DeepL translates your draft from French and polishes it. Which one actually helps?
For non-native English speakers, the answer isn’t “all of them.” It’s “which problem are you trying to solve right now?”
Decision tree: real-time editor vs conversational AI. Pricing for daily use. Three edge cases most tutorials skip.
The Two Paths: Real-Time Editor vs Conversational AI
Real-time editors like Grammarly sit in your browser. Underline mistakes. Click. Accept or reject. Done.
Conversational AI – ChatGPT, Claude – requires copy-paste. You ask for help. Full rewrite. No underlines, no granular control. Just a new version.
Method A teaches. Method B speeds things up. Which matters more today?
If you can’t explain why a correction is better, you’re not learning – you’re outsourcing. Fine for deadlines. Won’t improve your English long-term.
Grammarly: The Real-Time Safety Net (But Watch the Quota)
Grammarly Pro: $12/month (annual billing, or $30/month). 2,000 AI prompts per month, tone detection, plagiarism checking, full-sentence rewrites.
Why it works for non-native speakers: explanations. Click any suggestion → see the grammar rule, not just the fix.
2,000 prompts sounds generous. One catch: you burn 10-15 prompts every paragraph rewrite. Heavy users – email drafters – hit the cap in two weeks.
Grammarly works everywhere: Gmail, Google Docs, LinkedIn, Slack. Install the browser extension once. Forget about it. No copy-paste dance.
When Grammarly Wins
- Emails, reports, Slack messages all day
- You want to learn from corrections, not just fix them
- You need plagiarism detection (academic or professional work)
- 90% English writing
When It Doesn’t
- Multiple languages daily (LanguageTool handles 30+)
- Unlimited rewrites without quota anxiety
- Translating from another language first, then polishing – ChatGPT fits this workflow better
ChatGPT: Unlimited Rewrites, But You Need Prompting Skills
ChatGPT Plus: $20/month. ChatGPT Go: $8/month (launched January 2026). Free ChatGPT works, but daily message limits hit fast.
Unlimited rewrites. Paste draft, say “rewrite this to sound more professional.” Polished version in 10 seconds. No per-prompt quota. No complexity limits.
The disadvantage? You’re on your own. No underlines. Doesn’t show what changed or why. New version. Take it or don’t.
Study on arXiv (paper 2304.02625): non-native speakers struggle because “they face difficulties assessing paraphrased texts generated by AI writing assistants, largely due to the lack of explanations.”
If the tool doesn’t tell you why “I am agree” became “I agree,” you won’t retain it.
The Over-Correction Problem
ChatGPT over-corrects. Fixes things that weren’t broken. Sometimes erases your voice.
You write: “I think we should consider this approach.” ChatGPT: “It is recommended that this approach be thoroughly evaluated.” Correct. Now sounds like a legal document.
Fight this with better prompts – “rewrite but keep my informal tone.” Trial and error. Grammarly just underlines the error. You decide.
When ChatGPT Wins
- Long documents (reports, essays, articles) needing structural help
- Translating from native language first, then cleaning up English
- Brainstorming or expanding ideas, not just fixing grammar
- Comfortable with prompting, don’t need hand-holding
LanguageTool and DeepL Write: Budget and Multilingual Alternatives
LanguageTool Premium: $4.99/month (annual). 30+ languages. Grammar checking, AI paraphrasing, tone suggestions. Interface: simpler than Grammarly. Catches most errors native tools miss.
Fewer integrations. Works in browsers and Google Docs. Microsoft Word add-in? Less polished. Live in Word? Grammarly’s smoother.
DeepL Write: same team behind DeepL Translator. Translating German, French, Spanish, or other European languages into English? DeepL captures nuance better than Google Translate. Then Write polishes the result.
But: no integrations. Copy-paste between email and DeepL editor. That friction adds up – 20 emails a day.
| Tool | Price (Annual) | Best For | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grammarly Pro | $12/month | English-only, daily use | 2,000 AI prompt cap |
| ChatGPT Plus | $20/month | Unlimited rewrites | No explanations, prompt-dependent |
| LanguageTool | $4.99/month | Multilingual budget option | Fewer integrations |
| DeepL Write | $10.49/month | European languages → English | Copy-paste workflow |
Three Edge Cases Tutorials Won’t Tell You
Here’s the reality when you use these tools daily as a non-native speaker.
AI Detectors Are Biased Against You
Stanford research: AI detectors flag non-native writing patterns as AI-generated content. Even 100% human-written text. Turnitin: 4% false positive rate. 1 in 25 sentences wrongly flagged.
Detection models train on native English patterns. Simpler sentence structure (common for non-native writers)? Detector sees “too predictable.” Flags it.
The fix? Use tools for learning, not generation. Grammarly corrections won’t trigger detectors – you’re editing your own writing. ChatGPT rewrites might if you copy verbatim.
The Explainability Gap
Study with 15 non-native English speakers: they couldn’t assess AI suggestions confidently. Tools don’t explain the grammar rule.
Grammarly changes “less mistakes” to “fewer mistakes.” Tells you why: countable vs uncountable nouns. You learn. Next time? Get it right without the tool. ChatGPT just gives you “fewer mistakes” in the rewrite. No explanation. Accept it, move on. Same error tomorrow.
The Over-Reliance Trap
Non-native speakers relying solely on AI tools report a paradox: writing output improves, but writing skill stagnates. You’re outsourcing the learning process.
The balance? AI for speed when under deadline pressure. Explanatory tools (Grammarly, LanguageTool) when you have time to learn. Track the patterns – keep making the same mistake? Drill it separately.
What Works Right Now
Start with Grammarly free. Install the browser extension. Write for a week. Watch what it flags.
Hit the limits or need more power? Grammarly Pro ($12/month). Email, documents, quick drafts.
Add ChatGPT free tier for brainstorming and long-form rewrites. Draft a report or translate thoughts from another language? Paste into ChatGPT. Use output as starting point, not final version. Run it through Grammarly.
Write in multiple languages daily? Swap Grammarly for LanguageTool Premium ($4.99/month). Save money. Broader language coverage.
Two-tool stack: one real-time editor (learning + daily fixes), one conversational AI (structure + speed). Use both deliberately. Track what improves. Adjust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ChatGPT for grammar checking instead of Grammarly?
Yes. Slower, less precise. Paste text. Prompt for corrections. Review output. Manually compare changes. Grammarly does this in real-time with explanations.
Will using AI writing tools get me flagged for plagiarism or AI-generated content?
Grammar checkers like Grammarly won’t trigger AI detectors – you’re editing your own writing. ChatGPT generating full paragraphs might, especially for non-native speakers. Detectors are biased against simpler sentence structures. Safest approach: AI for drafting and brainstorming, then rewrite in your own words. Stanford found Turnitin has a 4% false positive rate on human-written text from non-native speakers – 1 in 25 sentences flagged wrongly. If you’re in academia, document your drafting process (save versions, show iterations). Some institutions now require process documentation, not just final output. Always run a final human review.
Which tool is best if I’m learning English and want to improve, not just fix mistakes?
Grammarly or LanguageTool. Both explain why corrections are needed – grammar rule visible, not just the fix. ChatGPT gives polished output but doesn’t teach the underlying pattern. Long-term improvement? Pick a tool that shows its work. One catch: explanations only help if you actually read them. Most users (native and non-native) click “accept all” without learning. Force yourself to read 3-5 explanations per writing session. Track recurring errors in a notebook. After two weeks, you’ll see patterns. That’s when improvement happens – not from the tool, but from deliberate practice with the tool as a coach. ChatGPT only when you need speed and already understand the rules.