Sustainable Substitutes for Grammarly

An assisting tool for writing with privacy issues and Big Tech ties.

Reasons to avoid Grammarly

Grammarly raises concerns due to its privacy risks, lack of transparency, reliance on Big Tech and AI bloat.

Choose a more ethical and transparent alternative for writing assistance.

Ethical and Sustainable Grammarly Alternatives

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  • Feasibility: How easily can the average user switch to this substitute? Higher feasibility results in a higher ranking.
  • Editor's Rating: How sustainable is the substitute? The more sustainability attributes it fulfils, the higher it is ranked.

LanguageTool

After the acquisition by Learneo, the product team remains in Germany and text processing still occurs on EU servers, the data controller is now a US-based corporation though. Learneo has faced past concerns about its handling of student data and potential plans to use acquired platforms (like QuillBot) for machine learning purposes, which could imply future data exploitation risks.Source: Inside Higher Ed: Balancing Student Privacy and Open Access (2022)

An open-source writing assistant without reliance on LLMs.

The core version of LanguageTool does not include ads.
LanguageTool’s core functionality is open-source, allowing users to access, modify, and distribute the code.
LanguageTool does not store user text by default, and its privacy policy emphasizes data protection, including GDPR compliance
Basic use of LanguageTool does not require sign-up or registration.
The core version of LanguageTool is free to use, with optional premium features available for a fee.
LanguageTool can be self-hosted on your own server, ensuring that all text processing happens locally and your data never leaves your infrastructure.
The core app can be downloaded and used offline, though some advanced features may require server-side processing.
Website

The 4 main issues with Grammarly

Reliance on Big Tech - Services relying on Big Tech for their infrastructure.

Grammarly is backed by major venture capital firms and operates within the broader ecosystem of Big Tech, leveraging large-scale data processing and AI-driven tools. Grammarly also relies on cloud infrastructure and AI technologies provided by major tech companies, reinforcing dependence on Big Tech ecosystems. Source: TechCrunch: Grammarly raises $200M at a $13B valuation to expand its AI-powered writing assistant (2021)

Privacy Concerns - User data is likely to be stored and used against users' best interest.

Grammarly has faced criticism for its data collection practices, including accessing and storing user writing data, which raises concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of sensitive information. Source: Wired: Grammarly’s Privacy Policy Is a Grammar Nightmare (2023)

Lack of Transparency - Opacity in operations, data handling, or supply chains, making it difficult for users to understand practices.

Grammarly's algorithms and data usage policies are not fully transparent, making it difficult for users to understand how their data is being processed or shared. Source: Wired: Grammarly’s Privacy Policy Is a Grammar Nightmare (2023)

AI Bloat - Service has unnecessary or harmful AI features.

Grammarly's AI-driven features often require significant computational resources, contributing to the broader issue of AI bloat, where excessive computational power is used for tasks that could be performed more efficiently. Source: Ars Technica: AI is becoming a bigger energy hog than Bitcoin (2023)

Suggestions and Feedback

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