What is LanguageTool?
LanguageTool is a grammar, spelling, punctuation and style checker developed by LanguageTooler GmbH, a German company based in Hamburg. It works with more than 30 languages and dialects; the most developed ones are English, Spanish, German, French, Dutch and Portuguese, and for English you can choose between six varieties, from American to South African. Italian, Polish and many other European languages are supported too.
What sets it apart from Grammarly and other commercial checkers is its open source origin: the checking engine is public, and anyone with the technical skills can run it on their own server. The online service then adds more advanced checks, a personal dictionary and an AI-powered rephrasing feature.
Main Features
- Multilingual checking: grammar, spelling and punctuation in more than 30 languages, with automatic language detection
- Style suggestions: flags repetition, wordiness, overused words and informal register
- AI rephrasing: rewrites whole sentences to simplify them, shorten them or make them more formal
- Picky Mode: extra checks on style, punctuation and spelling
- Personal dictionary and style guide: your own words and rules, synced across devices
- Integrations: extensions for the main browsers, Word, Google Docs and apps for Windows, macOS and iOS; the browser extensions and apps are for Premium subscribers only
How Does LanguageTool Work?
On the free plan you use the editor on the LanguageTool website: you paste or type your text and the checker underlines mistakes and suggests a fix. The browser extension, which checks your text as you type in an email, a document or a social network, now only works with a Premium subscription, as do the desktop and iPhone apps.
On the free plan, using the website, you can check up to 2,000 characters per text field and get 3 AI rephrasings per day. The Premium plan raises the limit to 150,000 characters and unlocks all advanced checks and rephrasings. According to the company, texts written through the browser extension are generally not stored.
Who is LanguageTool for?
- People who want a more thorough check than the one built into Word
- Professionals who often write in English, German or French
- Students and teachers
- Small teams that want shared style rules
- Developers and companies that prefer an engine they can host themselves
Use Cases
- Correcting emails and messages directly in the browser (with Premium)
- Reviewing a thesis or a report before handing it in
- Checking a text written in a foreign language
- Making an article or a post read more smoothly
- Keeping terminology consistent with the personal dictionary
Pricing
LanguageTool has a free plan that only works on the website, with 2,000 characters per field and 3 rephrasings per day: the browser extension is for paying users only. Premium, priced in euros with VAT included, costs €19.90 per month, €39.90 per quarter, €59.89 per year (€4.99 per month) or €99.90 every two years (€4.16 per month). All packages come with a 14-day money-back guarantee, and students and teachers can get up to 20% off. For teams of up to 20 users, the help centre lists an annual plan at €56.90 per user.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- More than 30 languages, Italian included, in a single tool
- Free online editor and an open source engine you can host yourself
- Affordable Premium with annual or two-year billing
Cons:
- The free plan only works on the website, with no browser extension, stops at 2,000 characters and only catches simpler mistakes
- Only 3 AI rephrasings per day without Premium
- The monthly subscription costs four times as much as the annual one
Final Verdict
LanguageTool is one of the most complete checkers for anyone who writes in several European languages, or who needs a language that tools like Grammarly do not cover. The free version, which only works on the website, is fine for checking emails and short messages; anyone writing long texts every day should go for the annual or two-year Premium plan and avoid the far more expensive monthly option.