The Best AI-Powered Writing and Editing Tools (2026 Review)

Writing a book is hard. Editing it? Even harder. The right AI-powered writing and editing tool can shave hours off your revision process, catch mistakes you’d miss, and even help you break through creative blocks.

But not all tools are created equal. Some excel at grammar checking. Others are designed specifically for fiction writers. And some try to do everything and end up doing nothing well.

I’ve spent dozens of hours testing ProWritingAid, Grammarly, Sudowrite, and AutoCrit in real manuscript scenarios. Here’s what actually works in 2026.

ProWritingAid: The All-Rounder

ProWritingAid has evolved from a simple grammar checker into a comprehensive writing assistant that covers style, structure, readability, and even genre-specific feedback.

Key Features:

• 20+ detailed reports covering style, grammar, readability, and structure
• Genre-specific reports for fiction, non-fiction, and academic writing
• Thesaurus integration and contextual synonym suggestions
• Plagiarism checker (separate subscription)
• Integrates with Word, Google Docs, Scrivener, and Chrome
• AI-powered suggestions for sentence restructuring

Pricing (2026):

• Free tier: 500 words per report
• Premium: $79/year (or $20/month)
• Premium Plus: $139/year with unlimited reports and plagiarism checker

Best For: Authors who want deep structural feedback alongside grammar correction. The style reports help identify passive voice, repeated words, and sentence length issues that impact reader engagement.

Weakness: The interface can feel overwhelming for beginners. The AI suggestions sometimes push toward homogenized writing rather than respecting individual voice.

Grammarly: The Grammar Giant

Grammarly remains the most widely recognized writing assistant, with over 30 million users. Its recent AI upgrades have made it significantly more capable for longer-form content.

Key Features:

• Real-time grammar, spelling, and punctuation checking
• Tone detection and suggestions
• Generative AI features for rewriting, expanding, and summarizing text
• Goals setting (audience, formality, intent)
• Browser extension works everywhere
• Business/team features for collaborative projects

Pricing (2026):

• Free: Basic grammar and spelling
• Premium: $12/month (or $144/year)
• Business: $15/user/month with admin features

Best For: Authors who want seamless, invisible correction as they type. The tone detector helps ensure your query letters and marketing copy hit the right notes.

Weakness: Limited structural feedback. Grammarly tells you what’s wrong but doesn’t analyze pacing, character development, or scene structure like dedicated fiction tools.

Sudowrite: The Fiction Writer’s Secret Weapon

Sudowrite is the only tool on this list designed specifically for fiction writers. It uses a different approach than grammar checkers—it’s built to help you draft, expand, and refine creative work.

Key Features:

• Write mode with AI-powered suggestions for continuing your story
• Describe feature: expands sensory descriptions
• Brainstorm mode: helps develop characters, plot points, and world-building
• Rewrite options: simplify, elaborate, or change tone
• Visual character and plot mapping tools
• Built specifically for novels, short stories, and screenplays

Pricing (2026):

• Free trial: 5,000 words per month
• Starter: $10/month (unlimited writing)
• Professional: $25/month with advanced features

Best For: Novelists and fiction writers who want AI assistance during drafting. The Describe feature is exceptional for breaking through “purple prose” or adding detail to sparse scenes.

Weakness: Not a grammar checker. Sudowrite assumes you’re already editing for mechanics and focuses entirely on creative enhancement.

AutoCrit: The Manuscript Doctor

AutoCrit positions itself as a self-editing platform that helps authors identify and fix issues in their manuscripts before sending them to professional editors.

Key Features:

• Pacing and rhythm analysis
• Dialogue analysis (including dialogue tags and beat frequency)
• Repeated word and phrase detection
• Adverb and filler word identification
• Compare your writing against published authors in your genre
• Chapter-by-chapter feedback reports

Pricing (2026):

• 7-day free trial
• Monthly: $10/month
• Annual: $95/year

Best For: Fiction writers who want objective data about their manuscript’s rhythm and pacing. The genre comparison feature provides concrete benchmarks.

Weakness: No AI generation capabilities. It’s purely analytical, which means you still need a separate tool for rewriting suggestions.

Feature Comparison Matrix

Feature	ProWritingAid	Grammarly	Sudowrite	AutoCrit
Grammar Checking	✓	✓	✗	✓
Style Reports	✓	Limited	✗	✓
AI Writing Assistance	✓	✓	✓	✗
Genre-Specific	✓	✗	✓	✓
Pacing Analysis	✓	✗	✗	✓
Integrations	✓	✓	Limited	✓
Starting Price	Free	Free	Free	Free Trial

Which Tool Should You Choose?

Choose ProWritingAid if: You write both fiction and non-fiction, want detailed structural reports, and prefer having one tool that does almost everything.

Choose Grammarly if: You value seamless integration, write lots of business correspondence alongside your book, and want reliable real-time correction.

Choose Sudowrite if: You’re a fiction writer who struggles with description, needs help developing scenes, or wants an AI brainstorming partner.

Choose AutoCrit if: You’re focused on self-editing before professional editing, want concrete pacing data, and appreciate genre-specific benchmarks.

The Bottom Line

No single tool replaces good writing habits, a solid understanding of craft, and eventually, a professional editor. But these tools can dramatically accelerate your revision process and catch issues that slip past manual proofreading.

For most indie authors, a combination works best: Sudowrite or AutoCrit for creative development and structural feedback, with Grammarly or ProWritingAid for final polish.

The good news? All of these tools offer free trials or free tiers. Test them with a chapter of your actual manuscript before committing. What works for another author may not work for your process.