Comparison
The Apple Writing Tools alternative for writing in a second language
Apple Writing Tools is built into macOS and handles typos and quick tone changes well. AI Grammatic solves a different problem: English that is correct but doesn't sound like a native speaker wrote it. Here is an honest look at both.
Updated October 24, 2026
If your Mac has Apple Intelligence turned on, you already have a writing assistant. Select some text, Control-click, choose Writing Tools, and macOS can proofread it, rewrite it, make it friendlier, more professional or more concise, or summarize it. It's free, it was designed with privacy first, and for a lot of people it's enough.
AI Grammatic is a small menu bar app that does one thing. You select text in any app, press ⌘⌥E, and about a second later the text is replaced with the version a native speaker would write. It was built for people who write at work in a language that isn't their first, and that focus is where the two tools differ.
The short answer
Stay with Apple Writing Tools if you mainly want spelling and grammar checked, your Mac is set to a language Apple supports, and keeping text on Apple's devices and servers matters most to you. Try AI Grammatic if you write in English (or German, or Spanish) as a second language and want each message to sound natural, if you want translation in the same step, or if you work in a language Apple Intelligence doesn't support yet, like Polish, Ukrainian or Russian.
| Feature | AI Grammatic | Apple Writing Tools |
|---|---|---|
| How you start it | One shortcut (⌘⌥E) | Control-click menu |
| Grammar and spelling | ||
| Rewrites phrasing that sounds translated | ||
| Tone | Casual, or formal with ⇧ | Friendly, Professional, Concise |
| Translates while rewriting | ||
| Languages | 30+ | 16 |
| Polish, Ukrainian, Russian | ||
| Works whatever language your Mac uses | ||
| Summaries, key points, drafts | ||
| Custom writing instructions | Up to 500 characters | Describe a change each time |
| Choose the AI model | ||
| Mac requirements | macOS 14 or later | M1 or later, Apple Intelligence on |
| Where your text is processed | Cloud AI provider | On device or Private Cloud Compute |
| Price | Free, or $29 to $69 a year | Included with macOS |
What Apple Writing Tools does well
Writing Tools arrived with Apple Intelligence in macOS Sequoia 15.1 and is still part of macOS 27. Apple says it works "in most places you write, including third-party apps and websites." The main options:
- Proofread checks grammar and spelling and underlines each change so you can review it.
- Rewrite gives you another version, with Friendly, Professional and Concise presets, or you can describe the change you want.
- Summarize and Key Points condense long text.
- Compose drafts new text through the optional ChatGPT extension.
Privacy is a real strength. Many Apple Intelligence requests run on the Mac itself. Heavier ones go to Private Cloud Compute, which Apple says doesn't store your data or make it accessible to Apple, and Apple has published tools that let outside researchers inspect that software. The ChatGPT extension is optional, and macOS asks before anything is sent to ChatGPT.
macOS 27 also adds Siri AI (in beta, English to start), which can proofread and rewrite selected text. Apple notes that usage limits may apply.
What it asks of your Mac
Apple Intelligence needs a Mac with an M1 chip or later (or the MacBook Neo) and several gigabytes of free storage for its models. There's one more condition that matters to non-native writers: your Mac's language and Siri's language have to be set to the same supported language. Apple currently lists 16: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese and Korean. It doesn't work on Macs bought in mainland China.
So if your Mac runs in Russian, Polish or Ukrainian, Writing Tools isn't available until you switch the whole system to another language. AI Grammatic doesn't depend on Apple Intelligence. It runs on macOS 14 or later, whatever language your Mac is set to, and rewrites into more than 30 languages.
Correct isn't the same as natural
A proofreader looks for mistakes. The hard part of writing in a second language is the sentence with no mistakes that still sounds translated: the wrong preposition, a missing article, a phrase that works in your language and sounds odd in English. AI Grammatic rewrites those by default, every time, without you picking a preset.
deleted: I will be glad ifinserted: Could you deleted: could review my PR deleted: untilinserted: by the end of the daydeleted: .inserted: ?
"Until" becomes "by," and a stiff opener becomes a plain request. Nothing here is misspelled.
We deleted: have discussed this deleted: question oninserted: issue at the last meeting.
Past tense instead of present perfect, "at" instead of "on," and "issue" instead of the literal "question".
Sorry for inserted: the late deleted: answerinserted: reply, I was on deleted: the vacation.
An article added where it belongs and removed where it does not.
Can you explain deleted: me how the new process works?
"Explain me" is a word-for-word habit from Spanish, Italian, Russian and many other languages.
Apple's Rewrite can change wording too. The difference is the goal: AI Grammatic is tuned to turn non-native phrasing into what a native speaker would say, while keeping your meaning, names, numbers, links, @mentions, emoji and line breaks, at about the same length.
Translation in the same step
Translation isn't one of the Writing Tools options. On a Mac it's a separate command: Control-click, choose Translate, then Replace with Translation, in apps that offer it. In AI Grammatic it's part of the rewrite. Each language has its own shortcut, so you can write a quick note in your own language and press the shortcut for English:
Ich schicke dir die Präsentation bis Freitag, sag Bescheid, falls noch was fehlt.
I'll send you the presentation by Friday. Let me know if anything's missing.
A word-for-word translation would turn "bis Freitag" into "until Friday." The rewrite says "by Friday," the way a native speaker would.
One shortcut instead of a menu
Writing Tools lives in the Control-click menu, so each use is a few clicks plus a choice of option. AI Grammatic is a global shortcut: select, press ⌘⌥E, done. Add ⇧ for a formal version, and give up to five more languages their own shortcuts. The new text goes in as a normal paste, so ⌘Z brings back your original.
deleted: sorryinserted: Sorry, deleted: i cant join todayinserted: I can't make today's calldeleted: , caninserted: . Can we do it tomorrow morning?
inserted: I'm sorry, deleted: i cant join today call, can we do itinserted: I won't be able to join today's call. Would tomorrow morning inserted: work for you?
Privacy, compared honestly
If keeping text on your own device is the deciding factor, Apple has the edge, because much of Apple Intelligence runs on the Mac. AI Grammatic uses cloud AI models. On Free and Premium your text passes through our server to the AI provider and is discarded once the rewrite comes back; we keep only daily usage counts. On Pro, it goes straight from your Mac to your own OpenAI, Claude, Gemini or DeepSeek account. The details are in how we handle your text.
Can you use both?
Yes. AI Grammatic only acts when you press its shortcut, so it stays out of the way of Writing Tools. Keep Apple's tools for summaries and use AI Grammatic for messages that need to sound right. Try a rewrite in the live demo first. The Free plan gives you 10 rewrites a day with no account, and paid plans start at $29 a year.