Two different jobs hide under "AI writing": drafting new text from a prompt, and polishing text you wrote yourself. The best tool for one is rarely the best for the other.
For drafting, Claude ($20/mo) reads tone best and handles long documents; ChatGPT is the cheaper all-rounder from $8/mo. For polishing your own text as you type, Grammarly is the tool to beat, and its free tier covers grammar and tone checks.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude | Yes | $20/mo | $100–200/mo | Document analysis, research papers, nuanced writing, software engineering |
| ChatGPT | Yes | $8/mo | $500/mo | Everyday writing, brainstorming, image generation, casual coding |
| Grammarly | Yes | $30/mo | $30/mo | Non-native and casual writers who want real-time grammar, tone, and clarity fixes everywhere they type |
| Gemini | Yes | $4.99/mo | $99.99–199.99/mo | Google ecosystem users, video generation, very long documents (1M tokens) |
| Jasper | No | $69/mo | $69/mo | Marketing teams needing brand-consistent content at scale, SEO content ops, multi-channel campaigns |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
Claude is tuned for nuanced writing and document analysis, so it holds a voice across long pieces and can work from a whole report you paste in. The trade-offs: no image generation, and you'll hit usage limits sooner than on ChatGPT.
Pick it if: you write long-form pieces, reports or anything where tone matters.
Full Claude pricing →Strong at everyday writing and brainstorming, with image generation and voice in the same app. ChatGPT Go at $8/mo already includes unlimited text chats, memory and projects.
Pick it if: you write a bit of everything and want images too.
Full ChatGPT pricing →Fixes grammar and spelling as you type, wherever you write, and flags your tone, all on the free plan. Pro adds full-sentence rewrites and plagiarism checks, but its AI rewrites are more generic than a real chat model's.
Pick it if: you write the words yourself and want them cleaner, especially in a second language.
Full Grammarly pricing →AI Pro puts Gemini into Gmail and Docs, and the free tier is generous for plain chat. For writing that needs hard reasoning, Claude and ChatGPT do better.
Pick it if: your drafts live in Google Docs and your email in Gmail.
Full Gemini pricing →Brand Voices, Knowledge assets and campaign agents keep a team's copy on-message. At $69/mo per seat with no free tier, it is hard to justify for one person.
Pick it if: several people produce marketing copy that must sound like one brand.
Full Jasper pricing →A chat model can proofread if you paste text in, and Grammarly's free tier already handles grammar and tone. Pay for one drafting tool, add Grammarly Pro only if you need live rewrites or plagiarism checks across every app.
Claude for tone, nuance and long documents; ChatGPT for breadth, images and a cheaper entry plan. Both have free tiers worth trying on your own writing first.
ChatGPT Free now has unlimited text chats, and Claude's free tier gives limited daily use of Sonnet 5.5. Pair either with Grammarly Free for live grammar checks.
Not for drafting. Grammarly earns its place when you want corrections as you type in email, docs and forms, without pasting text into a chat window.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.