Best Grammarly Alternatives for Mac in 2026

The best Grammarly alternative for Mac is Charm: a native menu bar app that corrects spelling, grammar, and predicts words across every Mac application for a one-time $9.99 payment. Unlike Grammarly - which is browser-only on Mac and costs $144 per year - Charm works in Mail, Slack, Notes, VS Code, and any other app where you type, entirely on-device.

Why do Mac users look for Grammarly alternatives?

Grammarly is well-known, but its Mac implementation has a fundamental limitation: it is a browser extension. On Mac, Grammarly works only inside Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. The moment you open Apple Mail, the Slack desktop app, Notion, VS Code, Obsidian, Pages, or any other native application, Grammarly goes silent.

For most Mac users, that limitation rules out the majority of their daily writing. Research consistently shows that knowledge workers spend roughly 60% of their typing time in native desktop applications - not browser tabs. A tool that only covers browsers covers less than half of where you actually write.

Cost is the other driver. Grammarly Premium runs $144 per year, billed annually. Over three years, that is $432 - for a tool that still misses most of your Mac workflow. Many users are looking for something that does more, costs less, or ideally both.

What are the best Grammarly alternatives for Mac?

1. Charm - $9.99 once (Best overall)

Charm is a native macOS menu bar app built specifically for system-wide writing assistance on Mac. It has three core features: Spells (real-time spelling correction), Polish (grammar correction), and Oracle (word prediction). All three work in every text field across every Mac application simultaneously.

The key technical difference is how Charm integrates with macOS. Rather than hooking into a browser, it uses Apple's accessibility APIs to monitor and correct text at the operating system level. That means the same engine that fixes a typo in a Slack message also fixes one in Apple Mail, a Terminal command, a Notion document, or a PDF form. There is no configuration per-app - you set it up once.

Charm also processes everything on-device. Your keystrokes never leave your Mac. For anyone handling confidential content - legal documents, medical notes, client communications - this is a meaningful advantage over cloud-based tools. See our Charm vs Grammarly comparison for a deeper head-to-head breakdown.

Charm requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later and costs $9.99 as a one-time purchase. One licence covers up to 3 Macs.

2. LanguageTool - ~$60/year

LanguageTool is Grammarly's closest direct competitor and is particularly strong for multilingual writers. It supports over 30 languages with grammar and style checking, which Grammarly does not match. The browser extension works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge - the same browser-only coverage as Grammarly on Mac.

LanguageTool also offers a desktop app for macOS, but it functions as a standalone editor rather than a system-wide assistant. You paste text in, check it, then copy back. For real-time correction across all apps, it does not replace what Charm offers.

LanguageTool Premium costs around $60 per year. A free tier covers basic grammar with a character limit per check. If you write in multiple languages and primarily work in browser-based tools, it is the strongest alternative to Grammarly in that specific use case.

3. Hemingway App - $19.99 once

Hemingway is a post-editing tool, not a real-time writing assistant. You write your text, paste it into the Hemingway editor, and it highlights hard-to-read sentences, passive voice, adverbs, and complexity. It grades your text by readability level and flags structural issues Grammarly does not cover.

The desktop app costs $19.99 as a one-time purchase, which is a fair price. The limitation is workflow: Hemingway only works on text you deliberately bring to it. It does not monitor your typing in Mail or Slack or any other app. Think of it as an editorial review tool rather than a live spelling-and-grammar layer.

Hemingway is best suited to writers who want to review a finished draft for clarity and concision - blog posts, long emails, reports - rather than users who want continuous correction while they type.

4. ProWritingAid - ~$60/year

ProWritingAid sits between Grammarly and a full editorial tool. It offers grammar checking plus more than 20 writing reports covering style, pacing, repetition, sentence length variation, and overused words. The depth of analysis is impressive, particularly for long-form writers working on manuscripts or detailed reports.

Like Grammarly and LanguageTool, ProWritingAid's Mac presence is primarily a browser extension. It also has a desktop app for macOS that integrates with Word and Scrivener, which extends its reach beyond the browser for those specific applications. System-wide coverage across all Mac apps is not available.

ProWritingAid Premium costs around $60 per year, comparable to LanguageTool. A lifetime licence is available periodically at a higher price point. It is the best option for writers who want detailed style coaching beyond correctness, particularly those working in Word or Scrivener.

5. Apple Intelligence Writing Tools - Free (macOS 15+ only)

Apple Intelligence Writing Tools arrived with macOS 15 Sequoia and are available system-wide across all apps - genuinely. They can proofread, rewrite, and summarise text in any text field on compatible Apple Silicon Macs. The coverage is comparable to Charm in terms of reach.

The limitations are real, though. Apple Intelligence requires macOS 15 and a compatible Apple Silicon chip (M1 or later). The proofread feature catches some errors but is less consistent than dedicated grammar tools. Word prediction and real-time spelling correction are not part of the Writing Tools feature set - they are separate from the autocorrect layer. And because everything runs on a shared on-device model, the response can be slower than a focused tool.

If you are already on macOS 15 and want a free baseline, Apple Intelligence Writing Tools are worth using. For users on macOS 14, or anyone who wants faster and more consistent correction, a dedicated tool is still the better choice.

6. macOS built-in autocorrect - Free

macOS has had autocorrect built in for years, accessible via System Settings under Keyboard. It works system-wide and requires no installation, but it is limited to basic spelling substitutions. There is no grammar checking, no word prediction beyond basic text replacement, and the correction logic is notoriously unreliable - autocorrecting correctly-spelled words and missing genuine errors. See our guide on best autocorrect apps for Mac for a full breakdown of what the built-in option misses.

How do all the options compare?

Which alternative is right for you?

The answer depends on two factors: where you write on Mac, and what kind of correction you need.

If you write across multiple Mac apps - Mail, Slack, Notes, VS Code, and others - the only real-time alternatives that cover all of them are Charm (macOS 14+, $9.99), Apple Intelligence Writing Tools (macOS 15+, free), and macOS built-in autocorrect (free, spelling only). Of those three, Charm is the most capable and the only one that includes grammar correction and word prediction.

If you primarily write in browser-based tools - Google Docs, Notion web, Gmail in browser, web-based CMS platforms - then LanguageTool or ProWritingAid are reasonable alternatives to Grammarly. LanguageTool is better if you write in multiple languages. ProWritingAid is better if you want editorial depth beyond correctness.

If you need a post-edit review tool for clarity and readability, not real-time correction, Hemingway App is excellent and worth the $19.99 one-time cost.

For the majority of Mac users who want real-time correction everywhere they type, Charm is the strongest option. It covers more of the Mac than any browser-based tool, keeps all text on-device, and costs $9.99 once. The complete guide to autocorrect on Mac covers the technical differences in more detail if you want to go deeper. If privacy is a concern alongside coverage, the Is Grammarly safe on Mac article is also worth reading before deciding.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free Grammarly alternative for Mac?

The best free options are macOS built-in autocorrect (available in System Settings under Keyboard) and Apple Intelligence Writing Tools (macOS 15+ only). Both are free and system-wide, but coverage is limited to basic spelling fixes. For grammar and word prediction, a paid tool like Charm at $9.99 once is a far better value.

Does Grammarly work in every Mac app?

No. Grammarly on Mac is a browser extension only. It works inside Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge - and nowhere else. Native Mac apps like Mail, Slack, Notes, Pages, VS Code, and Obsidian are all outside Grammarly's reach. For system-wide coverage, you need a tool like Charm.

Is there a one-time payment alternative to Grammarly?

Yes. Charm costs $9.99 as a single one-time purchase - no subscription, no renewal. Hemingway App is also available for a one-time fee of $19.99, though it is a desktop editor for post-edit review rather than a real-time writing assistant. Charm is the only one-time option that works system-wide in real time.

Which Grammarly alternative works in Slack and Mail on Mac?

Charm is the only tool in this comparison that works in both the Slack desktop app and Apple Mail on Mac. It uses macOS accessibility APIs to cover every text field system-wide. LanguageTool, ProWritingAid, and Grammarly itself are all browser-based on Mac and do not reach native desktop applications.

Is Charm better than Grammarly for Mac?

For most Mac users, yes. Charm works in every Mac app (Grammarly works only in browsers), processes everything on-device (Grammarly sends text to the cloud), and costs $9.99 once (Grammarly Premium costs $144 per year). Grammarly has an edge on deep style analysis and cross-platform coverage if you also write on Windows or mobile.