Self-Editing Software vs Professional Editors
Before we rank the tools, let's be clear about what they can and can't do.
What Each One Handles
Software catches:
- Grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors
- Overused words and clichés
- Passive voice and weak verbs
- Readability and sentence length issues
- Consistency (spelling variations, hyphenation)
- Pacing analysis (dialogue-to-narration ratio)
A human editor handles:
- Story structure and plot holes
- Character development and motivation
- Voice and tone consistency
- Scene pacing and tension
- Thematic depth
- Market positioning advice
The ideal workflow: use self-editing software for your first pass, then send the cleaned-up manuscript to a professional editor. This saves your editor time on surface-level issues so they can focus on the structural and creative work that software can't touch. It also saves you money — a cleaner manuscript means a faster (cheaper) edit.
The Editing Software Tiers (and Where Each Tool Fits)
Editing software prices range from $0 to $400+, and the marketing copy from each tool will tell you it's the only one you need. They're not all equivalent. Sort them by tier and the picture clears up:
If I were starting today with $0, I'd run my manuscript through Hemingway (free) for sentence cleanup and use the free tier of ProWritingAid for the manuscript reports it lets you see, then save aggressively for a copy editor. If I had $120, I'd buy a year of ProWritingAid Premium and skip the rest — it covers what Grammarly does plus the fiction-specific work Grammarly doesn't. Two tools is plenty. Most authors stack four and edit none of them well.
#1. ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is built for long-form writing. Where Grammarly focuses on sentences, ProWritingAid analyzes your entire manuscript. It runs 20+ reports: readability, pacing, overused words, sentence variety, dialogue tag analysis, consistency, clichés, and more. The fiction-specific reports — pacing, dialogue, sensory language — are genuinely useful for novelists.
The Scrivener, Word, and Google Docs integrations work well. The desktop app lets you load an entire book manuscript and get a holistic view of your writing patterns. It's slower than Grammarly at real-time suggestions, but the depth of analysis makes up for it.
Strengths
- 20+ detailed manuscript reports
- Fiction-specific analysis (pacing, dialogue)
- Scrivener and Word integration
- Lifetime purchase option ($399)
- Handles full-length manuscripts
Limitations
- Slower real-time suggestions than Grammarly
- Interface is more complex
- Some reports are overwhelming for beginners
#2. Grammarly
Grammarly is the most polished editing tool on the market. The real-time suggestions are fast and accurate. The browser extension catches errors everywhere you write — email, social media, documents. For sentence-level grammar, spelling, and punctuation, nothing beats it.
But Grammarly was built for professional communication, not fiction. It doesn't understand that sentence fragments can be intentional. It doesn't analyze pacing, overused words across a manuscript, or dialogue patterns. It flags things that are "errors" in business writing but perfectly fine in a novel. For book-length work, ProWritingAid is the better choice.
Strengths
- Best-in-class real-time corrections
- Clean, intuitive interface
- Excellent browser extension
- Strong tone detection
Limitations
- No manuscript-level analysis
- Flags intentional style choices in fiction
- $144/year with no lifetime option
- Word count limits on free tier
#3. AutoCrit
AutoCrit is specifically designed for fiction writers. It compares your manuscript against published fiction in your genre and identifies areas where your writing diverges from professional standards. The "compare to published fiction" feature is unique and genuinely insightful — it shows you how your pacing, word choice, and sentence structure stack up against books in your genre.
The downside: it's more expensive than ProWritingAid for similar (and in some ways less comprehensive) analysis. The interface is dated compared to Grammarly and ProWritingAid. And the genre comparison feature, while interesting, can push you toward generic rather than distinctive writing if followed too literally.
#4. Hemingway Editor
Hemingway does one thing: highlight readability issues. Complex sentences get yellow. Very hard sentences get red. Passive voice, adverbs, and weak phrases are flagged. You get a readability grade level. That's it.
Its simplicity is both its strength and limitation. Paste in a chapter and you instantly see where your writing is hard to read. The color coding makes problem areas jump out visually. But it doesn't check grammar, spelling, or any of the deeper manuscript analysis that ProWritingAid offers. Use it as a quick readability check, not as your primary editing tool.
#5. LanguageTool
LanguageTool is the best option for authors writing in languages other than English. It supports 30+ languages with genuine grammar and style checking — not just spell-check. For English, it's competent but not as deep as Grammarly or ProWritingAid. The open-source foundation means it's privacy-friendly — your text isn't stored on company servers.
The pricing is the lowest of any premium tool. At $60/year, it's half the cost of ProWritingAid and less than half of Grammarly. For non-English authors or budget-conscious writers who want basic grammar checking, it's a solid choice.
Recommended Self-Editing Workflow
- Finish your draft. Don't edit while writing — complete the manuscript first.
- Let it rest. Put it away for at least a week. Fresh eyes catch more.
- Read it aloud. Your ear catches what your eye skips. Record yourself and listen back.
- Run ProWritingAid reports. Start with the overused words and readability reports. Fix the patterns, not just individual instances.
- Use Hemingway for readability. Quick pass on any chapters that feel sluggish.
- Run Grammarly for final polish. Catch remaining grammar and punctuation issues.
- Send to a professional editor. Your manuscript is now clean enough that they can focus on story and structure, not typos.
Frequently Asked Questions
ProWritingAid. It analyzes manuscripts at a level Grammarly doesn't — pacing, overused words, dialogue, readability, and 20+ other reports. At $120/year or $399 lifetime, it's built for book-length work.
For catching grammar and spelling, yes. For manuscript-level analysis (pacing, overused words, dialogue patterns), no. Use Grammarly for sentence-level polish, but pair it with ProWritingAid or AutoCrit for deeper analysis.
No. Software catches mechanical errors and style issues. Human editors evaluate story structure, character development, voice, and market positioning. Use software for your first pass, then send to a human editor for the work that matters most.
Grammarly: best for real-time sentence-level corrections. ProWritingAid: best for manuscript-level analysis with 20+ reports. Grammarly is better for emails and short writing. ProWritingAid is better for books.
Developmental editing: $2,400–$6,400 for an 80k-word novel. Copy editing: $1,600–$3,200. Proofreading: $800–$1,600. Self-editing software first can reduce these costs by delivering a cleaner manuscript.
