Comparison guide
AI writing tools compared: free tiers, entry prices and what you actually buy
Four AI writing tools side by side: what the entry plan costs, what 'free' means on each, and the unit you are actually buying. Every figure was read from official vendor pages on 2026-10-27, with the exact source linked per tool.
- Tools compared4
- Standing free tier confirmed2 of 4
- Confirmed month-to-month entryQuillBot, US$19.95 per month
- Pricing checked2026-10-27
How we compare: the ten checks
Every figure in this guide comes from the vendor's own pages, read against the same ten checks. The matrix below fills each check from those pages; where a page does not state something, the cell says so rather than guessing.
- Entry priceThe lowest paid tier, as the vendor displays it.
- Billing cycle labelA per-month figure can be monthly-billed or annual-billed; the label decides which.
- Billing unitPer member, per seat or flat. Per-member pricing multiplies with team size.
- Free tier meaningA standing US$0 tier, a limited free tier, or a trial. A trial ends; a free tier does not.
- QuotasThe words, articles or audits included, in the vendor's own unit.
- Product typeA writing assistant and an SEO content platform are not the same purchase.
- Feature tierWhich plan actually carries the full AI feature set.
- Where sources differPrices and limits here follow each vendor's current pricing page.
- Public figures onlyA plan with no public price stays without one here.
- Checked dateEvery figure carries the day it was read from the source.
The matrix: four tools, the same checks
| Tool | Entry price as displayed | Billing cycle captured | Free tier | What you are buying | Pricing checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grammarly | US$12 per month shown for Pro | Cycle label not captured | Standing US$0 tier | Writing assistance | 2026-10-27 |
| Notion AI | US$10 per member per month (Plus) | Monthly | Trial of Notion AI, not a standing AI tier | Full AI features sit on Business (US$20 per member per month) | 2026-10-27 |
| QuillBot | US$19.95 per month | Monthly (US$8.33 when billed annually) | Standing tier with page-listed limits | Premium writing tools | 2026-10-27 |
| Writesonic | US$79 per month | Annual-billed view only | Not stated | AI search-visibility and SEO platform; 15 AI articles per month at entry | 2026-10-27 |
Alphabetical, not a ranking. Figures as displayed on each vendor's page on 2026-10-27; annual-billed equivalents are never substituted for monthly-billed prices.
Free tiers: three different meanings of free
- Grammarly Free: a standing US$0 tier.
- QuillBot Free: a standing US$0 tier with page-listed limits - paraphrase up to 100 words, 2 modes, humanize up to 100 words, AI Detector limited.
- Notion AI: the Free and Plus plans carry a trial of Notion AI, not a standing free AI tier; the full AI feature set sits on Business.
- Writesonic: the record does not settle whether a free tier exists.
You are not buying the same unit
- Notion AI bills per member: a team of five multiplies the price by five.
- QuillBot's free limits are counted in words and modes; the Premium page lists features rather than metered quotas.
- Writesonic is an AI search-visibility and SEO platform: its plans meter AI articles per month (15 at the entry plan) and site audits, not general writing.
- Grammarly's record does not settle whether pricing is per seat.
- QuillBot's Team Plan has no public price, so none is shown.
Writesonic quotas
- Writesonic's help docs list 100 articles and 40 audits for Basic. Its current pricing page lists 25 articles and 20 audits. This guide uses the pricing page.
Common questions
Which writing tool has a real free tier?
Grammarly has a standing US$0 tier, and QuillBot has a standing US$0 tier with page-listed limits (paraphrase up to 100 words, 2 modes, humanize up to 100 words, AI Detector limited). Notion AI comes as a trial inside Notion's Free and Plus plans rather than a standing AI tier. The record does not settle whether Writesonic has a free tier. All checked 2026-10-27.
What is the cheapest month-to-month option?
QuillBot Premium at US$19.95 billed monthly is the only confirmed month-to-month figure captured on 2026-10-27. Grammarly shows US$12 per month for Pro but the page's billing-period label was not captured, and Writesonic displayed only annual-billed prices (from US$79 per month billed annually).
Is Notion AI a separate product?
Notion AI rides on Notion plans. Plus at US$10 per member per month carries a trial of Notion AI, while the full AI feature set sits on Business at US$20 per member per month. Per-member billing means a team of five multiplies the price by five.
Is Writesonic a general writing tool?
No. Writesonic is an AI search-visibility and SEO platform. Its plans meter AI articles per month (15 at the entry plan) and site audits rather than general writing, so it answers a different need from Grammarly or QuillBot.
When were these prices checked?
All figures were read from official pages on 2026-10-27, linked in Sources below.
Sources
- Grammarly plans (accessed 2026-10-27)
- Notion pricing (accessed 2026-10-27)
- QuillBot Premium (accessed 2026-10-27)
- Writesonic pricing (accessed 2026-10-27)
Figures carry the date they were read from the vendor's own page. Listing a tool is not a recommendation, and no ratings or rankings are asserted.
Tools in this guide
Full records, with per-field sources and check dates, on each tool page.