TL;DR verdict: Grammarly is the more polished English writing assistant — better tone and rewrite tools, plagiarism and AI-text detection, and an app everywhere you type. LanguageTool is the better value and the only real choice if you write in more than one language: it checks 30+ languages and its Premium plan costs $69.90 a year, roughly half of Grammarly Pro’s $144 a year on annual billing.
Prices checked November 4, 2026, against each vendor’s own pricing and premium pages. LanguageTool prices vary by country; US prices are used here. This is a research-based comparison — no hands-on testing claims, no affiliate links.
LanguageTool vs Grammarly at a glance
| Factor | LanguageTool | Grammarly | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Basic checks; 2,000 characters per text field; 3 AI rephrasings per day | Spelling, grammar and tone detection; 100 AI prompts per month | Tie — different caps |
| Paid plan (annual) | Premium $69.90/year (about $5.83/mo) | Pro $12/mo billed annually ($144/year) | LanguageTool |
| Paid plan (monthly) | Premium $24.90/month; $49.90 per quarter; $119.80 for 2 years | Pro $30/month; $60 per quarter | LanguageTool on annual; both punish monthly billing |
| Languages | 30+ languages and dialects | English-focused, with dialect variants | LanguageTool |
| Text limit on paid | 150,000 characters per text field | No comparable per-field cap advertised | LanguageTool for long documents |
| Standout paid features | 20,000+ additional checks, unlimited AI paraphrasing, personal style guide, Picky Mode | Full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, plagiarism and AI-generated text detection, 2,000 AI prompts/mo | Grammarly for English polish |
| Where it works | Browser add-ons, Word add-in, Windows / macOS / iOS apps | Browser extensions, desktop and mobile, inside most apps you type in | Grammarly on reach |
What the pricing pages don’t make obvious
Two details from LanguageTool’s own Premium page change the maths. First, the free Basic tier is capped at exactly 2,000 characters per text field and 3 AI sentence rephrasings per day — fine for an email, useless for a chapter. Premium raises that single limit to 150,000 characters and makes paraphrasing unlimited. Second, LanguageTool offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on all Premium packages, stated in its own FAQ — Grammarly’s plans page offers a 7-day Pro trial instead. Also note the billing trap both share: LanguageTool Premium is $24.90 if you pay monthly but works out to about $5.83 a month annually, and Grammarly Pro is $30 monthly versus $12 on annual billing. Never judge either tool by its monthly price.
How good is the actual checking?
For English-only professional writing, Grammarly goes further as an editor: one-click full-sentence rewrites, tone adjustment, fluency help, and built-in plagiarism and AI-text detection on Pro. It is the tool we keep recommending for everyday English polish in comparisons like our Grammarly vs Wordtune comparison. LanguageTool counters with breadth and strictness: more than 20,000 additional Premium checks for English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese, a Picky Mode for stricter style, and a personal style guide and dictionary. If your errors are English style errors, Grammarly catches the more useful ones; if your errors cross languages, it is not close.
What if you mainly paraphrase or study?
LanguageTool Premium’s unlimited AI paraphrasing makes it a quiet contender for students and non-native writers who rework sentences all day — a job many people buy a separate tool for, as our QuillBot vs Grammarly comparison shows. Grammarly’s 2,000 monthly AI prompts on Pro are generous for drafting help, but they are a metered allowance, not unlimited paraphrasing. For deep manuscript reports rather than daily checking, neither replaces a specialist — see our Grammarly vs ProWritingAid comparison.
Which should you pick?
Pick Grammarly if: you write only in English, you want the smoothest everywhere-you-type experience, and plagiarism / AI-text detection and tone rewrites matter. Pay annually — $144 a year, not $30 a month.
Pick LanguageTool if: you write in German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish or any mix of 30+ languages, you handle long documents, or you want a capable checker for about half of Grammarly’s annual price — $69.90 a year, with a 14-day money-back guarantee behind it.
Bottom line: English-only and polish-first: Grammarly. Multilingual, long-form, or budget-first: LanguageTool, and it is not particularly close.
Frequently asked questions
Is LanguageTool cheaper than Grammarly?
Yes, on annual billing. LanguageTool Premium is $69.90 a year (about $5.83 a month) in the US; Grammarly Pro is $144 a year ($12 a month billed annually). Both are much more expensive month-to-month.
How many languages does LanguageTool check?
More than 30 languages and dialects, per its Premium page, with its deepest additional checks in English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese. Grammarly focuses on English.
What are LanguageTool’s free limits?
Basic is free with checks capped at 2,000 characters per text field and 3 AI rephrasings per day. Premium raises the limit to 150,000 characters per field and makes paraphrasing unlimited.
Does Grammarly check plagiarism?
Yes — plagiarism and AI-generated text detection are Pro features, listed on Grammarly’s own plans page, alongside full-sentence rewrites and 2,000 AI prompts a month.