Grammarly

Online grammar checker, spellchecker, and plagiarism-detection service

Grammarly

Original author(s)| Alex Shevchenko, Max Lytvyn, and Dmytro Lider[1][2]
Developer(s)| Grammarly Inc.
Initial release| July 1, 2009; 14 years ago (2009-07-01)[3]
Operating system| Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, various web browsers
Available in|

* American English
* British English
* Canadian English
* Australian English

Type| Online text editor, browser extension, and mobile app with grammar checker, spell checker, and plagiarism detector
License| Proprietary software
Website| grammarly.com

Grammarly is a Ukraine-founded[4][5][6] cloud-based[7] typing assistant, headquartered in San Francisco.[6][8][9] It reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes in English texts, detects plagiarism, and suggests replacements for the identified errors.[10] It also allows users to customize their style, tone, and context-specific language.[11]

Grammarly was launched in 2009 by Alex Shevchenko [uk], Max Lytvyn [uk], and Dmytro Lider.[12] Grammarly is available as a standalone application for use with desktop programs, a browser extension optimized for Google Docs, and a smartphone keyboard.[12][13]

Grammarly is developed by Grammarly Inc., with hubs in San Francisco, California,[14] and offices in Kyiv,[15] New York City, Vancouver, and Berlin.[16][17]

## History[edit]

Grammarly was founded by Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, and Dmytro Lider,[12] the creators of My Dropbox, an app that checks essays for plagiarism.[18] Grammarly was initially designed as an educational app to help university students improve their English skills. It was later offered to the end customers who use English in everyday life.[18]

In early 2018, Tavis Ormandy, a security researcher at Google who was formerly part of Google's Project Zero team,[19] discovered a vulnerability in Grammarly's browser extension beta version, which exposed authentication tokens to websites and potentially allowed them to access the users' documents and other data.[20] Within a few hours, the company released a hotfix and reported that it found no evidence of compromised user data.[21] Later in December, Grammarly launched a bug bounty program on HackerOne, offering a US$100,000 reward to the first white hat hacker to access a specific document on the company's server.[22]

Grammarly effectively severed all business relations with users in Russia and Belarus in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company also announced that it would donate the net revenue earned in Russia and Belarus since 2014 to Ukraine. It also provided free access to Ukrainian media, which reported on the war in English.[23][24][25]

Former Logo

In April 2023, Grammarly launched a beta-stage product using generative AI called Grammarly GO, built on the GPT-3 large language models.[26] The software can generate and re-write content based on prompts.[27]

## Reception[edit]

Reviewers have praised Grammarly for its ease of use and helpful suggestions, considering it worthwhile despite its relatively high price and lack of offline functionality.[28] Josh Steimle of Forbes lauded it in 2013, saying "It's an online services [sic] that quickly and easily makes your writing better and makes you sound like a pro, or at least helps you avoid looking like a fool."[29] Conversely, some users have criticized Grammarly for incorrect suggestions, ignorance of tone and context, and reduction of writers' freedom of expression.[30][31]

The result of using Grammarly has occasionally been accused of being AI-generated by detection engines such as Turnitin.[32] Schools are struggling to develop rules about its use that are consistent and fair, with some teachers recommending Grammarly to all of their students and others rejecting it.[33][34]

## See also[edit]

* Google Docs § History
* LanguageTool

## References[edit]

1. ^ Krasnikov, Denys (July 6, 2018). "Grammarly opens new Kyiv office as demand rises for help with English". Kyiv Post. Businessgroup LLC. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
2. ^ Wiggers, Kyle (September 12, 2018). "Grammarly brings its AI-powered proofreading tools to Google Docs". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
3. ^ "Grammarly.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
4. ^ "How Grammarly Is Honoring Our Commitment to Ukraine". How Grammarly Is Honoring Our Commitment to Ukraine | Grammarly Blog. April 26, 2022. Archived from the original on December 14, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
5. ^ "Grammarly Stands With Ukraine". Grammarly Supports and Stands With Ukraine | Grammarly. February 20, 2023. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
6. ^ a b "Grammarly". Forbes. n.d. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
7. ^ Doyle, Alison (October 3, 2020). "What Is Grammarly?". The Balance Careers. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
8. ^ "Grammarly Inc". Bloomberg. n.d. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
9. ^ "Contact Us | Grammarly". www.grammarly.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
10. ^ Moore, Ben (July 16, 2020). "Grammarly Review". PCMag. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
11. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (July 16, 2019). "Grammarly goes beyond grammar". Techcrunch. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
12. ^ a b c "Grammarly brings its AI-powered proofreading tools to Google Docs". VentureBeat. September 12, 2018. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
13. ^ Coberly, Cohen (September 12, 2018). "You can finally use Grammarly within Google Docs". TechSpot. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
14. ^ "Grammarly · 548 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104". Grammarly · 548 Market St, San Francisco, CA 94104. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
15. ^ "Grammarly opens new Kyiv office as demand rises for help with English | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. July 6, 2018. Archived from the original on April 7, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
16. ^ McCracken, Harry (April 1, 2019). "On its 10th anniversary, Grammarly looks way beyond grammar". Fast Company. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
17. ^ "AI-powered writing assistant Grammarly opens new office in downtown Vancouver | Venture". dailyhive.com. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
18. ^ a b Rahman, Tameem (June 5, 2020). "How Grammarly Grew to 7 Million Daily Users". Medium. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
19. ^ Greenberg, Andy (July 15, 2014). "Meet 'Project Zero,' Google's Secret Team of Bug-Hunting Hackers". Wired.com. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
20. ^ Ormandy, Tavis (February 2, 2018). "Issue 1527: Grammarly: auth tokens are accessible to all websites". project-zero. Google. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
21. ^ Couts, Andrew (February 5, 2018). "Grammarly Bug Let Snoops Read What You Wrote, Typos and All (Updated)". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on January 13, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
22. ^ "Grammarly - Bug Bounty Program". HackerOne. March 2022. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
23. ^ MacLellan, Lila (March 5, 2022). "Ukrainian-founded Grammarly is donating all the money it made in Russia since 2014". Quartz. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
24. ^ Renbarger, Madeline. "'We feel frustrated': Startup CEOs with teams in Ukraine struggle to help their employees in any way they can". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
25. ^ Lila MacLellan (March 4, 2022). "Ukrainian-founded Grammarly is donating all the money it made in Russia since 2014". Quartz. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
26. ^ Hamish Hector (March 9, 2023). "Grammarly's ChatGPT upgrade won't just improve your writing, it'll do it for you". TechRadar. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
27. ^ Akuchie, Michael (March 16, 2023). "GrammarlyGo: Everything You Need To Know About The AI Writing Assistant". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on May 7, 2023. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
28. ^ Moore, Ben (July 6, 2020). "Grammarly Review: A slick writing assistant for all your documents". PCMag. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
29. ^ Steimle, Josh (November 19, 2013). "Top 5 Writing Tips For Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
30. ^ Mayne, Dorothy (January 26, 2021). "Revisiting Grammarly: An Imperfect Tool for Final Editing". another word. Archived from the original on February 19, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
31. ^ Brogan, Jacob (February 7, 2018). "Grammarly Fixed a Security Vulnerability, but It Still Can't Fix Our Writing". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
32. ^ Young, Jeffrey R. (April 4, 2024). "What happened after this college student's paper was falsely flagged for AI use after using Grammarly". Fast Company. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
33. ^ Menezes, Damita (March 4, 2024). "Student fights academic probation for using Grammarly". The Hill. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
34. ^ Tang, William. "She used Grammarly to proofread her paper. Now she's accused of 'unintentionally cheating.'". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on April 25, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2024.

## External links[edit]

* Official website