LanguageTool vs Scribens (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, LanguageTool and Scribens share a 2.8 GPA, both have a free plan, and LanguageTool starts cheaper, at $4.99 a month against about $5.57 a month.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
LanguageTool grades higher on features. Scribens grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LanguageTool
Grammar and style checker for more than 30 languages
Scribens
Free grammar checker with explanations, in over 40 languages
Which one is for you
Pick LanguageTool if
- Fits if you write in several languages and not only English
- Works for people who write in LibreOffice, Thunderbird or Apple Pages and want a checker inside them
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $24.90 against $69.90 for the whole year
- Tight if you're staying free, as it checks 2,000 characters per text field and allows 3 AI rephrasings a day
- Watch out: there's no Premium trial, only a 14-day money-back guarantee, and Teams is sold from 2 users
- Skip it if you want an app on an Android phone, as none appears on the site
- Too light for plagiarism checks, AI-text checks or summarising, which some rivals include
Pick Scribens if
- Fits if you check short texts and want to learn why each correction was made
- Works for people writing in a language other than English
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you check long documents, as Free stops at 8,000 characters a day
- Tight if ads bother you, since Free shows them and removing them needs Premium
- Pricey if you pay monthly: €9.90 against €4.99 on the one-year term
- Watch out: prices were read in euros and sit on the app page, and the homepage footer carries a 2020 copyright
How we grade them
| 2.8GPALanguageToolGood | 2.8GPAScribensGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPremium is $69.90 billed annually, about $5.83 a month, dropping to $4.99 a month if you commit to two years, which is inside this category's cheaper quarter at $5.00. Pay by the month and it's $24.90, more than four times the annual rate, so don't. | B€59.90 for a year, about €4.99 a month, which is in the cheapest quarter. The one-month price is €9.90. |
| Free plan and trial | CBasic is free for as long as you like and checks grammar, punctuation and spelling across 30-plus languages. But it stops at 2,000 characters per text field, which any real document walks past, Picky Mode is limited and AI rephrasing is 3 a day. No trial of Premium either. | BFree checking of up to 8,000 characters a day, with ads. One person can get through short documents on that. |
| Features | BIt covers the checking job in full: grammar, spelling, punctuation and style in 30-plus languages, 20,000 extra checks on Premium, texts to 150,000 characters, AI paraphrasing and a style guide. What it hasn't got is the extras its rivals carry, like Grammarly's plagiarism and AI-text checks or QuillBot's summarising. | CGrammar, paraphrasing in tones, 40 languages, extensions and a mobile app. The listing notes extensions appear under Premium, so what Free includes is unclear. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record, but there's nothing to set up: add it to your browser, Word, Google Docs or mail client, or install the app, and it underlines things where you already type. Hosting your own server is an option, not a requirement. | BNo store rating on record, but it's paste-and-check on the web with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BAdd-ons for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and Opera, plugins for Google Docs, Word, Apple Pages and LibreOffice, email add-ons, apps for Windows, macOS and iOS, and a proofreading API. The hole is Android: no app for it appears on the site, so no A. | BWeb, Chrome extension, Office and Google add-ins, plus iPhone and Android. No desktop app. |
| Best for | grammar checking in more than one language | a free grammar check that explains each mistake |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: LanguageTool and Scribens. How we grade
Price against what you get
LanguageTool starts at $4.99 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Scribens starts at about $5.57 a month and scores 2.7.
LanguageTool scores higher and starts $0.58 a month lower. Of the other writing tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than LanguageTool for less, and 6 score higher than Scribens for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- LanguageTool is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| LanguageTool | Scribens | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 per month on a 2-year plan ($119.80); $69.90 billed annually | €4.99 per month on the 1-year term (€59.90 per year) |
| Free plan | Basic plan: grammar, punctuation and spelling checks in 30+ languages on up to 2,000 characters per text field, with limited Picky Mode and 3 AI rephrasings a day. | Grammar checking with explanations, dictionaries and 40 languages, limited to 8,000 characters per day and shown with ads. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | LanguageTooler GmbH | Scribens |
| Price read from | languagetool.org | scribens.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
LanguageTool
- The free Basic plan checks 2,000 characters per text field and allows 3 AI rephrasings a day.
- There is no free trial of Premium; LanguageTool offers a 14-day money-back guarantee instead.
- Monthly billing is $24.90, more than four times the per-month cost of the annual plan.
- Apps are listed for Windows, macOS and iOS; no Android app appears on the site.
Scribens
- The free version is limited to 8,000 characters a day and shows ads.
- Prices were read in euros; no dollar price was displayed.
- Extensions are listed under Premium on the homepage comparison, so check what the free version includes.
- The homepage footer carries a 2020 copyright and the pricing sits on the mobile app page, not a dedicated pricing page.
Key features
LanguageTool
- Grammar, spelling and style checks
- Checks grammar, punctuation, spelling, casing and style. Premium adds more than 20,000 extra checks for English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Portuguese.
- AI paraphrasing
- Rephrases a sentence to be more formal, more fluid or shorter. Basic accounts get 3 rephrasings a day and Premium removes the limit.
- Long-text checking
- Premium checks up to 150,000 characters per text field, against 2,000 on the Basic plan.
- Style guide and dictionaries
- Custom rules enforce consistent wording. Teams share a style guide and a dictionary of approved terms, with admins deciding who can add to them.
- Add-ons and apps
- Browser add-ons for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and Opera, plugins for Google Docs, Word, Apple Pages and LibreOffice, email add-ons, and apps for Windows, macOS and iOS.
- Open-source core and API
- The core checker is open source, with code on GitHub, and users can set up their own LanguageTool server. A hosted Proofreading API accepts up to 60,000 characters per request.
Scribens
- Grammar and spelling checks
- Covers conjugation, agreement, prepositions, homonyms and punctuation, with an explanation attached to each mistake.
- Rewriting and paraphrasing
- Rewrites text in 20 possible tones. Unlimited paraphrasing is a Premium feature.
- Over 40 languages
- The checker works in more than 40 languages, including English, French and Spanish, with dictionaries for definitions and synonyms.
- Extensions and add-ins
- A Chrome extension and add-ins for Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Google Docs and Sheets, per the homepage.
- Mobile app
- A keyboard on iOS and an accessibility-based overlay on Android offer correction, rephrasing and translation in other apps.
Plans
LanguageTool
Basic$0
Grammar, punctuation and spelling checks on up to 2,000 characters per text field, with 3 AI sentence rephrasings a day.
Premium$5.83
per month, billed annually ($69.90); $24.90 billed monthly
Up to 150,000 characters per text field, 20,000+ extra checks, unlimited AI paraphrasing and a personal style guide. Also $49.90 a quarter or $119.80 for 2 years.
Teams$66.40
per user / year, for a team of 2 users
Every Premium feature plus user management, a team style guide and a team dictionary. Sold from 2 users, with a lower per-user price for larger teams.
Scribens
Free$0
Grammar and spelling checks with explanations, up to 8,000 characters per day, with ads.
Premium 1 month€9.90
per month, billed monthly
Up to 5 million characters a month, 100,000 per check, unlimited paraphrasing and no ads.
Premium 3 months€24.90
per 3 months (€8.30 a month)
Same Premium features. The page marks this term as 16% off the monthly rate.
Premium 1 year€59.90
per year (€4.99 a month)
Same Premium features. The page marks this term as 50% off the monthly rate.
Ways to pay less
LanguageTool
- Annual discount
Longer billing terms cost less per month
Premium is $24.90 billed monthly, $49.90 a quarter, $69.90 a year or $119.80 for two years, which works out to about $5.83 and $4.99 a month on the two longest terms.
- Education
Up to 20% off for students and educators
Students, teachers and professors can claim an educational discount of up to 20% off a Premium subscription.
- Other savings
Team seats priced below individual plans
On Teams, each seat costs less than the $69.90 individual annual price: $66.40 per user for 2 users and $62.91 per user from 10 users.
- Other savings
Limited-time 20% discount on Premium
The pricing page was advertising a limited-time 20% discount on Premium, with a countdown, when it was checked on 2026-10-05.
Scribens
- Annual discount
50% off the yearly term
The mobile app page shows the 1-year Premium term at €59.90, marked 50% off the monthly rate, against €9.90 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LanguageTool or Scribens?
As of Nov 12, 2026, LanguageTool is cheaper to start with: $4.99 a month, against about $5.57 a month for Scribens. LanguageTool starts at $4.99 per month on a 2-year plan ($119.80); $69.90 billed annually, and Scribens starts at €4.99 per month on the 1-year term (€59.90 per year).
Which has a free plan, LanguageTool or Scribens?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both LanguageTool and Scribens have a free plan.
Which platforms do LanguageTool and Scribens run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only LanguageTool lists macOS and Windows apps and only Scribens lists an Android app. Both list a web app, an iOS app and a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.