The Best Writing Correction Software for Desktop and Phone Use

Many common mistakes in writing can be avoided—or rectified—with the assistance of writing correction software. Of course, like all of the software available today, there are several platforms to choose from. Writing is a challenge, at best, and although it’s something that is largely automated in terms of editing and proofing, it’s not something that you can set aside and forget. 

People expect you to be professional. That includes creating professional content that’s error-free and grammatically correct, that flows properly, and that avoids all of the major writing mistakes. What mistakes are we referring to? We’ll get to those in a minute. First, let’s talk a little more about editing and the tools you can use to get the job done. 

There are two major areas of focus here: macro editing and micro editing:

Macro Edits: Deal with the story’s content, the tone, the flow, and so forth—does the content make sense and flow properly?

Micro Edits: These edits are details of mechanics, language issues, context, and more. These edits focus on language issues and require detailed attention. 

Fortunately, like most things today, it’s easy to find a host of tools that can help improve your skills and give you a better outcome. Writing correction software is evolving today and becoming a much more integral part of everyone’s day-to-day life. Several people use tools like Grammarly and even the standard editing features in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, but there is more to writing than using the built-in correction and editing tools. 

In addition to the standard features, there is a host of writing correction software tools and apps that can enhance your editing and take things one step further. Each of these tools has its own pros and cons to consider and you’ll want to compare apples to apples before you make a decision. However, you can trust when you choose any of the software listed here, you are getting some of the best resources on the market today. 

Common writing mistakes to avoid

Before we dive into the list of the best correction tools available today, let’s talk about some of the mistakes that hold businesses back from producing and publishing the best content. Some mistakes happen at the macro level, while some happen at the micro-level. Regardless of where they originate, though, or the category they fall into, they’re all on the shortlist of mistakes to avoid at all costs. 

• Overdoing it on the Intro: The introduction is where most content is going to lead people into the discussion and show them what the topic is about. It's your chance to introduce the topic and provide just enough information to keep people reading. If you’ve got more than a couple of paragraphs, you’re probably doing too much here and should condense and be concise. 

• Unfounded Explanations: Just as a magician waves their hand to draw attention away from the details, these explanations are often showy and not based in fact. It is important to stick to the facts and provide readers with the right information, rather than trying to impress them with big generalizations or not providing a full explanation. 

• Passive Writing: One of the biggest mistakes that people can make when it comes to writing is not using an active voice. Today’s online content needs to be succinct and to the point. With passive voices, it can tend to get wordy and complicated and make content harder to follow. Use an active voice at all times. 

• Too Wordy: Nobody tells a short story anymore. Today's readers aren’t looking for the next novella or big, flowy content piece that looks more like prose than a useful article on the topic of their choosing. The intro isn’t the only place where you need to keep it brief. Avoid excessive adjectives and adverbs to increase the persuasiveness and be more concise. 

• Relying on the Correction Software: Grammarly, standard spell-check tools, and other writing correction software is a failsafe. It's a backup plan. It's an automated way to improve your writing that should be used after you have taken the time to proofread and edit your work manually. Relying on software doesn’t account for the human element of writing and nothing will ever replace a good set of human eyes when it comes to proofing. 

• Not Using the Software at All: The reason that these tools exist is that they are designed to help. Brands that aren’t using writing correction tools could be missing out on valuable improvements to their content, even for basic email communications and other needs. This is a tool that can come in handy in several ways, and it should be in everyone’s tool kit. 

The biggest micro errors

No one is perfect, and the English language is difficult. In the world of micro editing, things like punctuation, context, and other issues are often overlooked or incorrectly applied. The biggest errors here can be easily avoided with the right writing correction tools:

• Apostrophe usage
• Comma and semicolon misuse or confusion
• Homonyms (there, their, they’re, etc.)
• Repetition 
• Misused words

In addition to checking for basic spelling errors, modern writing correction software can address all of these issues and ensure that your content flows properly. Of course, as the majority of professionals will tell you, the best way to avoid common mistakes is to read your content aloud. If you do this, you’ll often beat the software to several of the issues that you find along the way. 

Now that you know more, let’s take a look at the best tools to help improve your writing. (And, speaking of tools, consider the services and solutions at Smith.ai, including our team of virtual receptionists that can help automate and streamline your marketing efforts, improve customer service, and more.)

Grammarly

Grammarly is a web-based app that will check content for all kinds of basic spelling errors, major typos, and grammatical errors. Even errors that Google Docs and MS Word have already called out will be highlighted, along with others that point to issues with context, content, and more. Grammarly offers suggestions, just like a spell-check tool, but the suggestions may not always be correct. That's where the human element comes in.

You can download a browser extension for Grammarly that will allow it to automatically check any copy from form fields or pages that are displayed in the browser. It can be used with Google Docs as an integrated tool, although it’s still working out the kinks in Beta for this part of the platform.

Grammarly is free to use and you don’t even need to sign up or create an account because you can simply let the tool do the work, or you can go to the www.grammarly.com website and copy and paste your content into the field, have it checked, and then paste it back into your docs, emails, or other tools used for communication. 

The free platform includes basic assistance for spelling, punctuation, and grammar. There are also premium plans available for solo users and businesses that also get more into advanced suggestions like fluency, formality, tone, clarity, and more details like that. 

• Checks for grammatical correctness, fluency, and consistency
• Premium plan available for upgraded features 
• Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and others
• Word and Outlook add-ins
• Native apps for macOS and Windows
• Keyboards for Android and iOS
• Priority email support
• Paid plans start at $12 per month for individuals, $12.50 for businesses
  

Hemingway App

Less of a correction tool for minor edits and more of a reformatting tool, Hemingway is an app for Mac, PC, and web-based use that converts rich, detailed text into much simpler, leaner sentences to create bold, direct content and “Write like Hemingway”, according to the brand’s tagline. The app includes separate colors and labels to help identify reading issues and errors that need to be resolved. The yellow sentences mean they need to be shortened, while the red highlight means that the sentence is far too complicated and needs completely reworked.

Weakening phrases and passive voices are highlighted by blue and green, and there’s even a formatting tool in the toolbar so that you can format right in the editor. You can paste in any content and get an instant answer on what needs editing, make changes right in the app’s content form, and more. Plus, it gives a readability level, word count, and other insights. 

Hemingway is a basic tool that doesn’t even offer paid plans or memberships. Going to the website simply brings up the editing tool and allows users to copy and paste in their content with ease. Plus, the tool can check for things like:

• Complexity
• Formality
• Passive voice
• Formatting
• Basic spelling and grammar
• Adverbs and phrases that weaken the content
• Long words that could be replaced with shorter ones

If you want a simple, basic editing tool, this could deliver what you need. However, it’s limited in its features and doesn’t offer more than the editing interface, so if you want to know the entire life story of a tool before using it, this one might not be for you. 

ProWritingAid

This unique tool is less about grammar and spelling and more about creating better writers. The ProWritingAid tool includes the option of more than 20 reports that can generate insights about your writing and abilities. It also has a “goals” feature that helps people focus on making the biggest improvements and most impactful differences. There are even training videos short clips with tips and explanations that can help you learn as you go. 

This software doesn’t just correct writing—it teaches you how to write professionally and correctly so that your default content is much better from the beginning. There is a free trial of the program, which was established in 2012, along with a personal writing coach to ensure that you can improve your skills in several ways. 

This app integrates with Google Docs, MS Word and Outlook, and tons of other word processors and writing apps and software. It is also available as a browser plugin or a direct plugin for the software (MS Word and Google Docs plugins available). It can also check writing on social media, email, and any other website that you access through the browser. You can also paste content or upload content for proofing to the app. 

• Virtual writing coach, not just correction tool
• Includes features to check for context and conciseness
• Free trial for those who want to test the platform
• Spelling and grammar checking
• Advanced editing
• Browser extensions for all major browsers
• Integrations for several writing software apps
• Starts at $20 per month for paid memberships
  

The value of automation for mission critical services in the modern business: Smith.ai can help

Automating workflows and capitalizing on technology tools is helping people get a lot more out of their day-to-day business operations. In addition to the writing correction software listed here, there are tons of tools and apps people are using to automate, streamline, and otherwise improve their business image and online presence. 

If you’re looking to further bolster that business image and free up your time to focus on your clients, you need to take advantage of all of the automation tools and workflow resources that are offered today. Any of the tools on this list will be great for assisting with improving your writing, but you can also find tools for things like:

• Automated billing and payments
• Automated marketing campaigns
• Scheduling and appointments 
• Automated content production and posting
• Virtual receptionists for streamlined customer service and support

At Smith.ai, our dedicated virtual receptionists understand the importance of giving dedicated attention to these mission-critical areas of your business. It might just be a correction software app to you, but to us, it’s a tool that changes the way that you do business. And so are the dedicated receptionists at Smith.ai-- while these tools are correcting your writing, we can help course-correct your automation and other areas of business so that you can get back to focusing on your customers, which is where your attention should be. 

Schedule your Live Chat consultation to discuss solutions like lead intake and appointment scheduling, outbound and inbound calling, payment collection, 24/7 live website chat, and more. Our team can course-correct your automation and get your business on a good flow so that you have less work on your hands. You can also reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.