best editing for essay

Free online proofreading and essay editor

A reliable proofreading tool and essay editor for any writer or student, a complete environment.

Typely is more than just a proofreading tool. It's a complete writing environment.

Thousands of checks

More than a thousand checks are being performed and we've only scratched the surface.

Inspired by the greatest writers

Gain access to humanity’s collective understanding about the craft of writing.

A proofreading tool that does not bark at every tree

Typely is precise. Existing tools for proofreading raise so many false alarms that their advice cannot be trusted. Instead, the writer must carefully consider whether to accept or reject each change.

We aim for a tool so precise that it becomes possible to unquestioningly adopt its recommendations and still come out ahead — with stronger, tighter prose. Better to be quiet and authoritative than loud and unreliable.

Relax, focus, write your next masterpiece...

Writing presumes more than simply laying out words on a paper. Typely helps you get in the mood and keeps you focused, immersed and ready to write your story.

Whether you need a distraction-free environment, some chill relaxing sounds or a pomodoro timer to manage your time we got you covered.

Got questions? We have answers.

No. Typely is completely free and we plan on keeping it that way. We are considering some advanced features however that might be available under a premium plan.

The only limit we have applied thus far is on the number of characters you can submit and that is being set at a maximum of 50,000.

In theory yes but that will require a lot of work and professionals dedicated for this job. We are considering a way of letting the community participate somehow.

Typely does not do grammar checking because it's hard and almost impossible to get right. The aim for Typely is to be precise and reliable.

11 Best Editing and Proofreading Services in 2024

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

As a writer, it's not always easy to find typos or spelling errors in your own work. 

However, online editing services make error-free writing easy so you can focus on writing, not editing.

Below, we've listed the top 11 best editing and proofreading services for 2024 while considering years of experience, turnaround times, pricing, and quality. 

What Is the Difference Between Editing and Proofreading? 

Many people will hire a proofreader when they are really looking for an editor, and vice versa. However, editing and proofreading have different functions, and you will need one or the other depending on the requirements of your document. 

With editing services , your editor will: 

• Focus on improving the flow of language
• Check the overall readability
• Verify the accuracy of language
• Ensure the content follows a logical order
• Make sure your transitions are clear
• Verify that every paragraph is relevant to the overall argument
• Determine whether the tone fits the audience
• Ensure gendered language is used properly

With proofreading services , your proofreader will: 

• Check for grammatical errors
• Point out mechanical mistakes, such as misspelled words
• Correct missing or incorrect punctuation
• Verify correct and consistent capitalization 
• Fix sentence structure errors, such as run-on sentences or fragments

If you want in-depth feedback and revisions to improve your writing, editing is what you need.

If you need a final check to ensure your document is error free, proofreading is what you need.

What to Look for When Hiring an Editing or Proofreading Service

When hiring an editing or proofreading service, there are a few things to keep in mind!

Editor Qualifications

Experience and education play a large role in selecting the right editor or proofreader. You want to work with someone who is qualified, who has expertise doing the type of editing you're looking for, and who has had satisfied customers in the past. 

Check each service's ratings on review sites to ensure their customer satisfaction levels match what the service promises.

An editing or proofreading sample can give you an excellent idea of what to expect from your editor. Samples may be free or paid and allow you to evaluate the quality of an editing or proofreading service.

Communication

Good communication is also crucial. Will you be able to ask your editor questions during or after the process? 

The goal of any editor is to help you develop your best work, so clear communication throughout the process is key.

You might be wondering what is a fair price to pay for proofreading. Professional proofreading rates vary, and so does quality. To get the best-value proofreading, you will need to find a reputable proofreading company.

Read More: How Much Does Proofreading Cost?

11 Best Editing and Proofreading Services for 2024

1. scribendi.

Since 1997, Scribendi has been providing high-quality editing and proofreading services to students, academics, and authors from around the world. 

An ISO-certified industry leader in editing and proofreading services, Scribendi has a global team of hand-picked editors, many of whom hold master's degrees and PhDs. The onboarding process for new editors at Scribendi is intentionally rigorous so that only the highest-quality editors are selected—around 5% of all applicants. 

With Scribendi, you can expect affordable services and turnarounds in as little as 2 hours. The type of content Scribendi edits ranges from websites and blogs to essays and personal documents, with many other document types in between. Scribendi offers extensive feedback to its clients to help them develop their best work.

On the Scribendi website, you can also find case studies and reviews , along with a breakdown of how Scribendi customizes each service to specific clients. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 2 hours

Number of years in business: 25+

Free sample: Yes, 1,000-word free sample for editing or proofreading

ISO certified: Yes

Account deposit feature: Yes

Competitive Advantages

When it comes to fast turnaround times, affordable services, and professional, high-quality revisions, Scribendi has a competitive advantage over many other editing services.

With 25+ years' experience, their 480+ editors are available to proofread academic essays, novels, business materials, personal documents, or student essays 24/7, 365 days a year. 

Polish Your Writing with Our Book Proofreading Service

2. proof-reading-service.com.

Proof-Reading-Service.com offers high-quality English editing and proofreading services exclusively for professionals in science and academia. 

An England-based company, the proofreaders at Proof-Reading-Service.com are native English speakers with experience in various academic disciplines. Each proofreader on their team is personally selected and holds at least a master's degree, so their academic clients are fully supported.

The types of editing they help with range from journal and scientific editing to PhD thesis and manuscript editing. Since their specialty is in science and academia, this service would be most helpful to professors, lecturers, post-doctoral researchers, and research students.

Proof-Reading-Service.com offers a flat rate per 1,000 words. This rate does not change based on the type of content, so you always know how much proofreading will cost you.  

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: No instant quote

Number of years in business: 16

Free sample: No

ISO certified: No

An affordable option for academics and scientists, Proof-Reading-Services.com offers highly educated editors with expertise in many fields. 

Fiverr is a marketplace for digital services that allows buyers and sellers to work with each other through Fiverr's transactional platform. 

Through Fiverr, many freelance proofreaders offer their services at different rates and turnaround times. Within the platform, editing services can be filtered by budget, delivery time, and content type.

You can also sift through the profiles of freelance editors, read their reviews, and learn about their history with editing and with Fiverr itself. Each editor offers different rates depending on their experience and turnaround time.

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: N/A

Number of years in business: 12

Account deposit feature: Yes (for Fiverr Business users)

With Fiverr, you have the flexibility to choose a specific editor, and many niche options are available. The process is simple and easy, and each transaction is made through the Fiverr platform.

4. True Editors

True Editors offers professional editing services for academics, business owners, authors, and job applicants.

Their editing team is composed of engineers, research scholars, postgraduates, physicians, and even journal peer reviewers. Each editor on the True Editors team receives specialized training in academic editing and must take a language proficiency exam to qualify for their editing team.

To use True Editors' services, you can upload a file or enter your word count and choose your turnaround time. Their pricing varies by word count, and their website provides editing samples so you can get a feel for their editing style. If you're ever unhappy with their work, they also offer a free revision of your document.   

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 4 hours

Number of years in business: 10+

Free sample: 300 words or less for editing

True Editors has editors with specific subject-matter expertise.

5. ProofreadingPal

Operating out of Iowa City, IA, ProofreadingPal is an editing service that utilizes a two-proofreader model. This means that two proofreaders work on every piece of content ordered through their service.

ProofreadingPal offers editing services for students, professionals, and authors, including academic editing for writing styles such as APA, Chicago, MLA, or CSE. Their services are available 24/7, 365 days per year, with turnaround times ranging from 30 minutes to 7 days.

What also makes this service unique is that they accept orders both online and by phone, and their customer service team is available every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT. They offer free sample edits of up to 400 words, and they don't have a minimum word requirement if you'd like to submit a small document for review.  

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 1.5 hours

Free sample: 400 words or less for editing

With ProofreadingPal, you get two proofreaders reviewing every submission instead of one and quick turnaround times. 

6. PaperTrue

PaperTrue started in 2014 as an editing service but has since expanded its services to include essay writing, formatting, and plagiarism checking for students, as well as cover design, typesetting, and online distribution for authors.

Operating with the belief that language shouldn't be a barrier to success, PaperTrue helps a global audience of businesses, authors, and researchers edit their writing so they're able to reach their full potential. To date, they've served over 52,000 clients and have 4.5+ stars on review sites, including Google Reviews and Sitejabber. 

PaperTrue also offers a three-step quality checking process and hand-picked, qualified editors for each document reviewed. With locations in the US, Singapore, the UK, and India, they offer round-the-clock editing services with a turnaround time of 12 hours for documents up to 6,000 words. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 12 hours

Number of years in business: 8

With PaperTrue, you get not only editing and proofreading services but publication services as well, including typesetting, cover design, and online distribution.

Proofed is an editing and formatting service that helps students, businesses, authors, academics, researchers, and other professionals communicate effectively. Its mission is to provide the highest quality proofreading and editing services in the world.

With a diverse group of editors, the team at Proofed offers extensive knowledge on nearly every subject. All editors have undergone Proofreading Academy training, a course developed by Proofed, to ensure the highest standard of editing possible. 

Proofed offers speedy delivery (up to 10,000 edited words within 24 hours), with express and rapid turnaround times that range from 2 to 12 hours for select word counts. Their system supports over 15 different document formats, which makes the submission process easy, and their team offers 24-hour support.

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 2 hours  

Free sample: 500 words for proofreading only

ISO certified: Yes 

Account deposit feature: No

Proofed offers proofreading expertise in many fields, as well as formatting services.

Enago provides 24/7 editing services for the global research community. More than just a team of editors, Enago works with researchers in over 125 countries to help them publish their work in international journals. 

With end-to-end publication support services, such as pre-submission peer review, journal selection, and post-submission review, Enago also offers competitive quality assurance with unlimited edits and a money-back guarantee for manuscripts that are rejected due to language issues.  

Enago's editors all hold a PhD or master's degree, and they have an average of 19.4 years of academic editing experience. Each manuscript is assigned to an editor with similar subject area expertise, assuring high-level accuracy. 

Like ProofreadingPal, Enago also operates on a two-editor model, where all manuscripts are reviewed by no fewer than two native English-speaking editors. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 24 hours

Number of years in business: 17

Enago offers highly educated editors in the fields of science, academia, and business, along with help and support during the academic publication process. 

American Journal Experts (AJE) offers in-depth scientific and academic editing services, in addition to translation and manuscript formatting services, to help researchers publish their best work. Its mission is to improve the exchange of discoveries in the international research community by identifying opportunities to improve the research, publishing, and discovery cycle.  

In addition to providing quality editing services, their team of PhDs supports researchers when they have questions regarding manuscript submission and publishing. AJE also matches each manuscript with an editor who is a subject-matter expert. 

Prices and turnaround times, as well as more in-depth information regarding the details of each type of editing offered (standard, advanced, or premium), can be found on the AJE website. 

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 48 hours  

Number of years in business: 18

Free sample: Editing of up to 500 words for an abstract

AJE's editors have subject-matter expertise, and the service also offers translation and formatting services. 

10. Editage

Editage partners with researchers to offer advanced and premium editing as well as publication support and translation services. Their goal is to assure the publication success of hopeful researchers, scholars, and students. 

Each document submitted to Editage is assigned to an editor who best matches the content subject matter. Editage even offers the option to select your expert, price, deadline, and style, so researchers have full control of the service they receive. Researchers can also collaborate with their editing expert to ensure the paper follows their vision. 

Editage also has local language support, turnaround times of as little as eight hours, and a two-step revision process for quality. Their team of over 2,000 native English editors has publication expertise and covers over 1,000 subjects.  

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 8 hours

Number of years in business: 20

At Editage, two editors review every submission. They also offer client-to-editor Q&A interaction and translation services.

LetPub offers editorial services for researchers in the scholarly publishing community. In addition to editing, LetPub offers scientific illustration services, plain language summaries, and graphic and video abstracts. 

The LetPub team is composed of experts and senior editors who come from a wide range of disciplines, each one a native English speaker with experience editing both scientific and technical documents. The types of editing included in LetPub's services range from grant and language editing to response letter and scientific editing. 

Because many of LetPub's editors and staff have research backgrounds, they're familiar with the level of effort it takes to write a paper for publication, and they will reedit a paper at no cost if it is rejected for language reasons.

Fastest turnaround time for 1,000 words: 48 hours

ISO certified: Yes (for translation services)

Competitive Advantages 

LetPub offers expertise in science for scientists and academics, as well as translation and formatting services. 

Perfect Your Writing with High-Quality Academic Proofreading

There's a lot to consider when choosing an editing service. Save our table as a quick reference for your next document.

As long as you understand the important factors that go into choosing a great editing service, like experience, customer satisfaction, and quality, you'll be well equipped to choose the right one for you.

About the Author

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Achieve Perfect Writing with High-Quality Proofreading

Try our essay proofreading service.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

10 Reasons to Hire a Professional Editor

Value Proofreading: How Much Does Proofreading Cost in 2024?

Why Hiring a Copy Editor Is a Good Idea

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

• 13 Essential Editing Tips to Use in Your Essay Writing

The good student strives constantly to achieve a better essay each time they write one.

It can be a challenge to find ways to keep improving, but one way of making your essays instantly better is effective editing. Editing your essay before you submit it could mean the difference between a good grade and a brilliant one, so it’s worth taking fifteen minutes or so before you send it off just checking through it to make sure that the structure and wording is as good as it can be. In this article, we give you some tips to think about when you’re editing your own writing. Keep these tips alongside you to use as a checklist and you can’t go far wrong!

1. Start by getting the structure right

If you have time, try to leave a bit of time between finishing your essay and starting the editing process. This gives you time to approach it feeling reasonably fresh; if you edit immediately after spending a long time on something, you might find that you’re so close to it that you’re unable to spot errors. When you do sit down to look through it, start by looking at its structure. Think about the overarching shape of the argument you’re developing and check that the points you’ve made help build your essay towards a logical conclusion. You may have written an essay with the points in order of when they occurred to you, but is this really the most sensible order? Does one point follow logically on from the other? Would it make the essay more interesting to include a certain point near the beginning to tease the reader, or are you revealing too much in the opening, meaning it would be better to move some points nearer the end? These are just a few of the ways in which it might be possible to improve the structure, so it helps to keep in mind your overall argument and ensure your structure puts it across as effectively as possible. With word processors now the primary means of writing essays, it couldn’t be easier to rearrange paragraphs into a more logical structure by dragging and dropping or cutting and pasting paragraphs. If you do this, don’t forget to reread the essay to ensure that the wording works with this new order, otherwise you may end up with a sentence leading into the wrong paragraph.

2. Prune long sentences and paragraphs

Whether you’ve exceeded your word count or not, long sentences and paragraphs should be edited because they can be trickier to read, and risk being boring or hard to follow. Try, therefore, to keep sentences to a maximum of two or three clauses (or segments). Avoid long paragraphs by starting a new one if you find one getting longer than three or four sentences: a wall of text can be off-putting to the reader. Leave a space between paragraphs if you’re typing your essay, as we’re doing in this article. Another way of keeping sentences to a reasonable length is to go through what you’ve written and tighten up the wording. If you find yourself writing long sentences, try to look for ways in which you can reword them to express what you’re trying to say more concisely. You’ll probably find numerous instances of phrases that take many words to say what could be said in two or three.

3. Keep overly complicated language in check

It’s going to look obvious if you’ve had a thesaurus next to you while writing, just so that you can replace all the simple words with more complicated ones. The thing is, it doesn’t always make you look intelligent; you may, for instance, inadvertently choose the wrong synonym , not realising that even close synonyms can have subtly different meanings or connotations. Sometimes using big words where simple ones would suffice can seem contrived and pompous; aim for clear, concise language to avoid being verbose or pretentious. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use more complex words at all – just choose the situation carefully and don’t overdo it.

4. Watch for repetition of ideas and words

It’s easy to repeat yourself without realising it when you’re writing, but the editing process is there to enable you to spot this before your teacher or lecturer sees it. As you read through your essay, keep a look out for ideas you’ve repeated and delete whichever repetitions add nothing to your essay (don’t forget that the first instance of the idea may not be the most appropriate place for it, so consider which is the best moment to introduce it and delete the other mentions). On a related note, look out for instances in which you’ve laboured the point. Going on about a particular point for too long can actually undermine the strength of your argument, because it makes you look as though you’re desperately grappling to find supporting facts; sometimes a simple, clear statement with a brief piece of evidence to back it up is all that’s needed. You should be equally wary of repetition of words within the same sentence or paragraph. It’s fine to repeat common words such as “the”, obviously, but it’s best to avoid using the same connecting words, such as “also”, more than once in the same paragraph. Rephrase using alternative expressions, such as “what’s more”. More unusual words should be used just once per paragraph – words such as “unavoidable”, for example – unless it’s for emphasis.

5. Don’t rely on the spellcheck

It’s a tip we’ve told you before, but it’s worth repeating because it’s very important! The spellcheck will not pick up every single error in your essay. It may highlight some typos and misspellings, but it won’t tell you if you’ve inadvertently used the wrong word altogether. For example, you may have meant to write the word “from”, but accidentally mistyped it as “form” – which is still a word, so the spellchecker won’t register it. But it’s not the word you meant to write.

6. Spotting typos

It’s said that if you read through your work backwards, you’re more likely to spot typos. This is probably because it’s giving you a new perspective on what you’ve written, making it easier to spot glaring errors than if you read through it in the order in which you wrote it and in which you know what to expect. So, start with the last sentence and keep going in reverse order until you get to the beginning of your essay. Another tip is to print out your essay and take a red pen to it, circling or underlining all the errors and then correcting them on the computer later. It’s often easier to read a document from a printed version, and it also means that you can follow what you’re doing by touching each word with the end of your pencil to make sure you’re not skimming over any errors.

7. Omit unnecessary words and eradicate weasel words

Without even realising it, you’ve probably used plenty of unnecessary words in your writing – words that add to the word count without adding to the meaning – and you’ll find that your writing works just as well without them. An example is the word “very”, which almost always adds nothing to what you’re trying to say. As Mark Twain said , “Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be”. Weasel words are worse, as they are used to hide weak or objectionable arguments. A study of Wikipedia found that these tend to fall into three different categories: numerical vagueness (such as “many people say” without specifying who these people are), the use of the passive voice to distance the writer from what they’re saying (“it is often said”, for example, without saying by whom it is often said), and the use of adverbs designed to soften a point (such as “probably”). Look out for these in your own writing and rephrase to remove them; they are disingenuous and your essay will be stronger without them.

8. Remove tautologies

A tautology is a stylistic error involving redundant words, in this case the use of two consecutive words that mean the same thing, such as “the big giant” (referring simply to a “giant” would have been sufficient to convey the meaning). Students often use them when they’re trying to make their writing wordier, not realising that they simply make their writing worse.

9. Watch the commas

People tend either to put too many commas into a sentence, or too few. Too many, and the sentence sounds broken and odd; too few, and the reader has to read the sentence several times to figure out what you’re trying to say, because it comes out in a long, jumbled mess. The secret is to put commas in where you would naturally pause when speaking aloud. If it helps, try reading your writing aloud to see if it flows. Where you would pause for slightly longer, a semi-colon might be more appropriate than a comma. Use a semi-colon to connect two independent clauses that would work as two separate sentences.

10. Consistent spelling

Some words have more than one correct spelling, and the important thing is to be consistent with which one you use. You could, if you wanted to make your life a little easier, delve into the settings on your word processor and manipulate the spellcheck so that it highlights the version you decided against – or even autocorrects to the right version. If you’re writing in the UK, ensure that your word processor’s default language is set to UK English so that you don’t end up inadvertently correcting English spellings to US ones (“colour” to “color”, for example).

11. Get rid of exclamation marks and ellipses

In virtually every case, you don’t need to use an exclamation mark, and – at least in academic writing – your use of one may result in your writing not being taken quite so seriously. Only use them in exceptional circumstances when you really want to convey a feeling of surprise or outrage. Ellipses (“…”) should also be avoided except when you’re indicating the truncation of a quote from another writer (that is, where you left a bit out).

12. Attribute quotations

Quotations from authors or academic writers should be attributed to them. As you read through your essay, keep a look out for any quotations you’ve mentioned and make sure that you say where they’re from. If you’re writing an essay for university, a footnote would be an appropriate way of citing another writer. If you are using footnotes, this gives an extra area on which to focus your editing skills; ensure that all footnotes are consistently formatted, and don’t forget to put a bibliography containing all the books you’ve used at the end.

13. Consistent formatting

The appearance of your essay matters, too – and the formatting should not be neglected when you’re in editing mode. This means being consistent with your use of fonts, using italics or underline for emphasis rather than using them interchangeably, ensuring that the spacing between lines is consistent throughout, and other such minor aesthetic points. This may not sound very important, but consistent formatting helps your essay look professional; if you’ve used different fonts or line spacing or anything like that, your essay will look a mess even if what you’ve said in it is good. You could make use of the pre-populated formatting options in your word processor to ensure consistency throughout, with header 1 for the title, header 2 for subheadings and ‘normal text’ for the body of the document. If you find that there are too many things on this list to think about in one go when you’re reading through your essay, you could read through it several times looking out for different things each time. All this may seem a lot to think about when you’ve already put in so much effort to write the essay in the first place, but trust us: it will pay off with a sleek and polished piece.

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

15 Tips for Writing, Proofreading, and Editing Your College Essay

What’s covered:, our checklist for writing, proofreading, and editing your essay, where to get your college essays edited.

Your college essay is more than just a writing assignment—it’s your biggest opportunity to showcase the person behind your GPA, test scores, and extracurricular activities. In many ways, it’s the best chance you have to present yourself as a living, breathing, and thoughtful individual to the admissions committee.

Unlike test scores, which can feel impersonal, a well-crafted essay brings color to your application, offering a glimpse into your passions, personality, and potential. Whether you’re an aspiring engineer or an artist, your college essay can set you apart, making it essential that you give it your best.

1. Does the essay address the selected topic or prompt?

Focus on responding directly and thoughtfully to the prompt. If the question asks about your reasons for choosing a specific program or your future aspirations, ensure that your essay revolves around these themes. Tailor your narrative to the prompt, using personal experiences and reflections that reinforce your points.

• Respond directly to the prompt: It’s imperative that you thoughtfully craft your responses so that the exact themes in the prompt are directly addressed. Each essay has a specific prompt that serves a specific purpose, and your response should be tailored in a way that meets that objective.
• Focus: Regardless of what the prompt is about—be it personal experiences, academic achievements, or an opinion on an issue—you must keep the focus of the response on the topic of the prompt .

2. Is the college essay well organized?

An essay with a clear structure is easier to follow and is more impactful. Consider organizing your story chronologically, or use a thematic approach to convey your message. Each paragraph should transition smoothly to the next, maintaining a natural flow of ideas. A well-organized essay is not only easier for the reader to follow, but it can also aid your narrative flow. Logically structured essays can guide the reader through complex and hectic sequences of events in your essay. There are some key factors involved in good structuring:

• A strong hook: Start with a sentence or a paragraph that can grab the attention of the reader. For example, consider using a vivid description of an event to do this.
• Maintain a thematic structure: Maintaining a thematic structure involves organizing your response around a central theme, allowing you to connect diverse points of your essay into a cohesive centralized response.
• Transitioning: Each paragraph should clearly flow into the next, maintaining continuity and coherence in narrative.

3. Include supporting details, examples, and anecdotes.

Enhance your narrative with specific details, vivid examples, and engaging anecdotes. This approach brings your story to life, making it more compelling and relatable. It helps the reader visualize your experiences and understand your perspectives.

4. Show your voice and personality.

Does your personality come through? Does your essay sound like you? Since this is a reflection of you, your essay needs to show who you are.

For example, avoid using vocabulary you wouldn’t normally use—such as “utilize” in place of “use”—because you may come off as phony or disingenuous, and that won’t impress colleges.

5. Does your essay show that you’re a good candidate for admission?

Your essay should demonstrate not only your academic strengths. but also the ways in which your personal qualities align with the specific character and values of the school you’re applying to . While attributes like intelligence and collaboration are universally valued, tailor your essay to reflect aspects that are uniquely esteemed at each particular institution.

For instance, if you’re applying to Dartmouth, you might emphasize your appreciation for, and alignment with, the school’s strong sense of tradition and community. This approach shows a deeper understanding of and a genuine connection to the school, beyond its surface-level attributes.

6. Do you stick to the topic?

Your essay should focus on the topic at hand, weaving your insights, experiences, and perspectives into a cohesive narrative, rather than a disjointed list of thoughts or accomplishments. It’s important to avoid straying into irrelevant details that don’t support your main theme. Instead of simply listing achievements or experiences, integrate them into a narrative that highlights your development, insights, or learning journey.

Example with tangent:

“My interest in performing arts began when I was five. That was also the year I lost my first tooth, which set off a whole year of ‘firsts.’ My first play was The Sound of Music.”

Revised example:

“My interest in performing arts began when I was five, marked by my debut performance in ‘The Sound of Music.’ This experience was the first step in my journey of exploring and loving the stage.”

7. Align your response with the prompt.

Before finalizing your essay, revisit the prompt. Have you addressed all aspects of the question? Make sure your essay aligns with the prompt’s requirements, both in content and spirit. Familiarize yourself with common college essay archetypes, such as the Extracurricular Essay, Diversity Essay, Community Essay, “Why This Major” Essay (and a variant for those who are undecided), and “Why This College” Essay. We have specific guides for each, offering tailored advice and examples:

• Extracurricular Essay Guide
• Diversity Essay Guide
• Community Essay Guide
• “Why This Major” Essay Guide
• “Why This College” Essay Guide
• Overcoming Challenges Essay Guide
• Political/Global Issues Essay Guide

While these guides provide a framework for each archetype, respectively, remember to infuse your voice and unique experiences into your essay to stand out!

8. Do you vary your sentence structure?

Varying sentence structure, including the length of sentences, is crucial to keep your writing dynamic and engaging. A mix of short, punchy sentences and longer, more descriptive ones can create a rhythm that makes your essay more enjoyable to read. This variation helps maintain the reader’s interest and allows for more nuanced expression.

Original example with monotonous structure:

“I had been waiting for the right time to broach the topic of her health problem, which had been weighing on my mind heavily ever since I first heard about it. I had gone through something similar, and I thought sharing my experience might help.”

Revised example illustrating varied structure:

“I waited for the right moment to discuss her health. The issue had occupied my thoughts for weeks. Having faced similar challenges, I felt that sharing my experience might offer her some comfort.”

In this revised example, the sentences vary in length and structure, moving from shorter, more impactful statements to longer, more descriptive ones. This variation helps to keep the reader’s attention and allows for a more engaging narrative flow.

9. Revisit your essay after a break.

• Give yourself time: After completing a draft of your essay, step away from it for a day or two. This break can clear your mind and reduce your attachment to specific phrases or ideas.
• Fresh perspective: When you come back to your essay, you’ll likely find that you can view your work with fresh eyes. This distance can help you spot inconsistencies, unclear passages, or stylistic issues that you might have missed earlier.
• Enhanced objectivity: Distance not only aids in identifying grammatical errors or typos, but it also allows you to assess the effectiveness of your argument or narrative more objectively. Does the essay really convey what you intended? Are there better examples or stronger pieces of evidence you could use?
• Refine and polish: Use this opportunity to fine-tune your language, adjust the flow, and ensure that your essay truly reflects your voice and message.

Incorporating this tip into your writing process can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of your college essay.

10. Choose an ideal writing environment.

By identifying and consistently utilizing an ideal writing environment, you can enhance both the enjoyment and effectiveness of your essay-writing process.

• Discover your productive spaces: Different environments can dramatically affect your ability to think and write effectively. Some people find inspiration in the quiet of a library or their room, while others thrive in the lively atmosphere of a coffee shop or park.
• Experiment with settings: If you’re unsure what works best for you, try writing in various places. Notice how each setting affects your concentration, creativity, and mood.
• Consider comfort and distractions: Make sure your chosen spot is comfortable enough for long writing sessions, but also free from distracting elements that could hinder your focus.
• Time of day matters: Pay attention to the time of day when you’re most productive. Some write best in the early morning’s tranquility, while others find their creative peak during nighttime hours.

11. Are all words spelled correctly?

While spell checkers are a helpful tool, they aren’t infallible. It’s crucial to read over your essay meticulously, possibly even aloud, to catch any spelling errors. Reading aloud can help you notice mistakes that your eyes might skip over when reading silently. Be particularly attentive to words that spellcheck might not catch, such as proper nouns, technical jargon, or homophones (e.g., “there” vs. “their”). Attention to detail in spelling reflects your care and precision, both of which are qualities that admissions committees value.

12. Do you use proper punctuation and capitalization?

Correct punctuation and capitalization are key to conveying your message clearly and professionally . A common mistake in writing is the misuse of commas, particularly in complex sentences.

Example of a misused comma:

Incorrect: “I had an epiphany, I was using commas incorrectly.”

In this example, the comma is used incorrectly to join two independent clauses. This is known as a comma splice. It creates a run-on sentence, which can confuse the reader and disrupt the flow of your writing.

Corrected versions:

Correct: “I had an epiphany: I was using commas incorrectly.”

Correct: “I had an epiphany; I was using commas incorrectly.”

Correct: “I had an epiphany—I was using commas incorrectly.”

Correct: “I had an epiphany. I was using commas incorrectly.”

The corrections separate the two clauses with more appropriate punctuation. Colons, semicolons, em dashes, and periods can all be used in this context, though periods may create awkwardly short sentences.

These punctuation choices are appropriate because the second clause explains or provides an example of the first, creating a clear and effective sentence structure. The correct use of punctuation helps maintain the clarity and coherence of your writing, ensuring that your ideas are communicated effectively.

13. Do you abide by the word count?

Staying within the word count is crucial in demonstrating your ability to communicate ideas concisely and effectively. Here are some strategies to help reduce your word count if you find yourself going over the prescribed limits:

• Eliminate repetitive statements: Avoid saying the same thing in different ways. Focus on presenting each idea clearly and concisely.
• Use adjectives judiciously: While descriptive words can add detail, using too many can make your writing feel cluttered and overwrought. Choose adjectives that add real value.
• Remove unnecessary details: If a detail doesn’t support or enhance your main point, consider cutting it. Focus on what’s essential to your narrative or argument.
• Shorten long sentences: Long, run-on sentences can be hard to follow and often contain unnecessary words. Reading your essay aloud can help you identify sentences that are too lengthy or cumbersome. If you’re out of breath before finishing a sentence, it’s likely too long.
• Ensure each sentence adds something new: Every sentence should provide new information or insight. Avoid filler or redundant sentences that don’t contribute to your overall message.

14. Proofread meticulously.

Implementing a thorough and methodical proofreading process can significantly elevate the quality of your essay, ensuring that it’s free of errors and flows smoothly.

• Detailed review: After addressing bigger structural and content issues, focus on proofreading for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. This step is crucial for polishing your essay and making sure it’s presented professionally.
• Different techniques: Employ various techniques to catch mistakes. For example, read your essay backward, starting from the last sentence and working your way to the beginning. This method can help you focus on individual sentences and words, rather than getting caught up in the content.
• Read aloud: As mentioned before, reading your essay aloud is another effective technique. Hearing the words can help identify awkward phrasing, run-on sentences, and other issues that might not be as obvious when reading silently.

15. Utilize external feedback.

While self-editing is crucial, external feedback can provide new perspectives and ideas that enhance your writing in unexpected ways. This collaborative process can help you keep your essay error-free and can also help make it resonate with a broader audience.

• Fresh perspectives: Have a trusted teacher, mentor, peer, or family member review your drafts. Each person can offer unique insights and perspectives on your essay’s content, structure, and style.
• Identify blind spots: We often become too close to our writing to see its flaws or areas that might be unclear to others. External reviewers can help identify these blind spots.
• Constructive criticism: Encourage your reviewers to provide honest, constructive feedback. While it’s important to stay true to your voice and story, be open to suggestions that could strengthen your essay.
• Diverse viewpoints: Different people will focus on different aspects of your writing. For example, a teacher might concentrate on your essay’s structure and academic tone, while a peer might provide insights into how engaging and relatable your narrative is.
• Incorporate feedback judiciously: Use the feedback to refine your essay, but remember that the final decision on any changes rests with you. It’s your story and your voice that ultimately need to come through clearly.

When it comes to refining your college essays, getting external feedback is crucial. Our free Peer Essay Review tool allows you to receive constructive criticism from other students, providing fresh perspectives that can help you see your work in a new light. This peer review process is invaluable and can help you both identify areas for improvement and gain different viewpoints on your writing.

For more tailored expert advice, consider the guidance of a CollegeVine advisor . Our advisors, experienced in the college admissions process, offer specialized reviews to enhance your essays. Their insights into what top schools are looking for can elevate your narrative, ensuring that your application stands out. Whether it’s through fine-tuning your grammar or enriching your story’s appeal, our experts’ experience and expertise can significantly increase your likelihood of admission to your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Table of Contents

What Is Proofreading Software?

The 5 types of proofreading tools.

• The Best Proofreading Tools & Editing Software

Final Thoughts

The best free & paid proofreading & editing software (to use in 2023).

If you’re looking for the best proofreading tool on the market, I’ll tell you what it is:

The best proofreading software out there is Grammarly .

But even in 2022, it still has severe limitations.

We at Scribe tested the 8 most popular editing apps on the market in 2022, and none of them could hold a candle to a human proofreader .

But that doesn’t mean proofreading tools are worthless. Not at all.

I highly recommend Grammarly for :

• Flagging possible grammar mistakes
• Finding repetitive words and phrases
• Noticing “picky” details like spacing
• Highlighting basic style issues
• Cleaning up your writing before it goes to an editor
• “Last looks” for typos

I do not recommend Grammarly for :

• Accepting every suggestion
• Blindly altering your writing style
• Skipping a human editor

Why not? Because of writing like this:

“Our team has reviewed and requested our Chrome product team to review the GingerChrome store page again and fix any necessary correction.”

This was an actual comment from the team of the Ginger editing app (not Grammarly), on a negative review of the Ginger Chrome Extension.

As part of our test, we ran their comments through the Ginger app itself, and the app found nothing wrong with it .

Then we ran it through another app. And another. Of all the proofreading apps we tested, most found 0 errors in that sentence.

Even Grammarly, the top performer, only found 2, and one of its suggestions was arguably worse. (I’ll show you those suggestions in the Grammarly review.)

So, before you start using Grammarly , make sure you understand what it is and isn’t good for—in 2022 and beyond.

True editing apps, like Grammarly, apply artificial intelligence (AI) to proofreading.

AI is the science (and art) of programming computers to think and behave like human beings. It’s at the cutting edge of technology, but it has a long way to go.

You might think that Microsoft Word’s spell checker is pretty good—and it is—but it isn’t artificial intelligence. MS Word just checks each word you type against a dictionary.

That’s pretty basic stuff.

Editing apps are far more than spell checkers; they’re true grammar checkers. They’re even style checkers. And those kinds of mistakes are a lot harder to find than spelling errors.

Why? Because grammatical errors depend on context.

Here’s an example:

If I write, “It was the best of time, it was the worst of time,” you know right away that “time” is missing an “s.”

A spell checker wouldn’t flag it because “time” is in the dictionary. The word exists, it’s just being used incorrectly

Human beings see issues like that immediately because our brains are wired for language. But teaching a computer to do the same thing is far more complicated than you might imagine.

In fact, it’s so complicated that even the best proofreading app doesn’t do it very well.

That’s why a good proofreading app needs to explain each flagged issue, simply and clearly, to help you decide how (or even whether) to follow the suggestion.

There are 5 different types of proofreading tools, most of which can be useful to professional Authors. All 5 of them check for spelling mistakes, grammar errors, and style choices, but they’re used in different places.

1. Chrome Extensions

Proofreading extensions for Chrome or other browsers (like Firefox or Safari), evaluate your writing no matter where you go on the web. If you’re typing online, they watch what you type and offer suggestions.

You can install these like any other browser extension, and they add writing tools to your browser that check spelling, grammar, and style.

If you write in Google Docs, you’ll need more than a Chrome extension. You’ll need a grammar tool that integrates directly with the Google Docs app.

2. Online Proofreading Tools

Website apps.

Free online proofreading apps are websites that offer a simple text box where you can paste limited amounts of text to check it for spelling, grammar, and style.

They’re free, but you get what you pay for. The ones we tested ranged from bad to terrible.

Full-service online apps

Some services (like Grammarly) offer true web apps, akin to Google Docs, that let you write and save documents in your own cloud space.

They include a full range of built-in proofreading tools, but their formatting tools are limited. For professional manuscript formatting , I recommend writing in MS Word with a Grammarly addon.

3. Mobile Apps

These are keyboard extensions for phones and tablets that automatically check your writing on every text and tweet.

If you write on an iOS or Android tablet in a mobile word processor, you’ll want a mobile proofreading app.

4. MS Word Add-ons

For writers who compose on MS Word, proofreading addons provide grammar and style suggestions right in your Word documents as you type.

If you write in MS Word, this will be your best choice, but these add-ons only work on MS Office for Windows. Apple users will need to use a desktop app.

5. Desktop Apps for Mac and Windows

Desktop proofreading software provides a native word processor that’s designed for proofreading and editing .

Most of these apps don’t have great formatting options, so I recommend writing in MS Word even if you use a desktop app for editing.

If you don’t have access to an MS Office add-on, you can open any .docx file in a desktop proofreading app to check it.

The Best Proofreading Tools & Editing Software

1. grammarly.

Grammarly is far and away the best proofreading and editing tool on the market. It offers:

• Browser extensions
• A full-service online app
• Mobile apps
• An MS Office add-on for Windows
• Desktop apps for Mac and Windows

It even has a Google Docs integration, but this is a newer offering that seems less robust than the others. It let me type “I eats the pudding” without any complaints, even though the browser extension flagged it correctly.

The MS Office add-on doesn’t work on a Mac, but the desktop app lets you drag and drop a .docx file to open it in the app and check your writing.

The Chrome extension and desktop app were extremely easy to install, and Grammarly’s features (which work the same way across every version) made it the clear winner:

• It has the smartest AI (and best proofreading flags) of every app we tested
• One-click suggestions make it easy to accept good changes
• The clean, intuitive interface requires almost no learning time
• You can filter the suggestions by category with one click
• There’s even a “Change-all” option for pervasive errors

Basic suggestions are free, with advanced grammar suggestions (including tone) in paid plans:

• Premium Version: $139.95 per year
• Business Version: plans starting at $150 per member, per year

Caveat of Grammarly

1. internet requirement.

Grammarly has to be connected to the Internet to work, even with the desktop app. That’s because the AI “lives” in the cloud, not in the app that sits on your desktop.

If the app can’t communicate with the AI, it can’t understand what you’re typing.

2. The AI is still learning

Grammarly was the smartest app we tested, but that only says so much.

For our sample text:

The Grammarly desktop app suggested:

“Our team has reviewed and requested our Chrome product team to discuss the GingerChrome store page again and fix any necessary corrections .”

This isn’t much better. But I’ll let you in on a secret: this is a very hard test for any proofreading AI system.

Why? Because it probably wasn’t written by a native English speaker. “Fix any necessary correction”? Nobody would say that. The construction is just too strange.

Which is exactly the problem.

AI systems get smarter with feedback. They learn which suggestions people did or didn’t accept, and they adjust future suggestions based on that information.

But mistakes that native speakers would never make are, by definition, very rare, so the system doesn’t see them often enough to learn from them.

That’s why we chose this as a test: to push the proofreading AI’s to the limit of their capability.

The fact that Grammarly made any sense of it was impressive.

2. ProWriting Aid

ProWriting Aid was the only other app we tested that had a chance against Grammarly. It works with:

• Google Docs
• MS Office (in Windows)
• Desktop app

Not surprisingly, it also needs an internet connection to work. Powerful AIs need powerful computers. They live in the cloud on fast, dedicated servers and work with your computer (or phone) remotely.

It also doesn’t work with MS Office on Apple, just like Grammarly.

But in the battle of ProwritingAid vs. Grammarly, this one lost because:

• It offered fewer one-click fixes
• The interface was not as clean
• Navigation was not as intuitive
• The suggestions were not presented as well
• Extra features, like reports, cluttered the screen without being useful

3. Hemingway App

We included the Hemingway App in our test because it appeared in other articles on grammar checking software, but it was designed more for bloggers than professional Authors.

And it wasn’t very smart.

The one feature it did have was the ability to work offline, but that’s the tradeoff. If you want an AI that’s smarter than a word processor, you’ll need an Internet connection.

The Hemingway App failed our test because:

• It does not offer one-click fixes
• It gives general writing guidance but no specifics
• It’s designed for WordPress and Medium, not book Authors

It does have a free online tool, but the tool doesn’t save your work. If you get disconnected or you close the tab by accident, you can kiss your work goodbye.

The Hemingway App is good for helping you see things that need to be fixed, but that’s about it.

4. Ginger Software

We loaded the Ginger Chrome extension to give it a try, but the AI didn’t even come close to Grammarly.

These are the folks who wrote our bad test copy, and their own software didn’t correct it.

They did a nice job designing their sales page, but the app doesn’t stand up to the hype.

5. WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke is the used car lot of proofreading services.

The sales page extols the virtues of proofreading apps in general, hoping you won’t notice that the “demo” video doesn’t show the product and that they hardly offer any screenshots of the app.

There’s no free version or trial version, and what little you can see of the app doesn’t look great.

This is not the app you’re looking for.

6. PaperRater

PaperRater is a website that’s supposedly designed to help students write papers (not books), but it doesn’t even do that.

• It doesn’t offer any fixes
• The “report” is terrible
• If you click on “advanced analysis,” it takes you to Grammarly

Enough said.

7. LanguageTool

LanguageTool offers add-ons and/or extensions for several browsers and word processors, but the AI just isn’t up to par.

You can try it for yourself for free using the online tool, which does offer one-click changes, but if you hit “undo,” you’ll have to run the check all over again.

It found no errors in our horrible test copy, and it tags people’s names as misspellings.

8. SlickWrite

The free online version of SlickWrite is reasonably smart when it comes to finding issues, but it’s lousy at fixing them.

It doesn’t offer any suggestions, and the explanations it does offer are far too technical. You won’t understand them unless you already have a solid command of sentence structure, grammar, and style, which largely defeats the purpose of the app.

Although it’s far from perfect, Grammarly has a solid place in the professional Author’s arsenal.

It offers a ton of useful features in a simple, clean interface, and it’s the smartest proofreading AI by far when it comes to writing skills.

Authors who want to self-publish ( and 99.99% of them should ), will still need to hire an editor . But that editing will be faster, smoother, and a lot cheaper if you’ve done everything you can to clean up your writing before you get there.

The Scribe Crew

Read this next.

10 of the Most Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid (& How to Fix Them)

What are Beta Readers? (& How Authors Can Find Them)

How To Find & Vet Professional Book Editors

Editing and Proofreading

What this handout is about.

This handout provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. To give you a chance to practice proofreading, we have left seven errors (three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors) in the text of this handout. See if you can spot them!

Is editing the same thing as proofreading?

Not exactly. Although many people use the terms interchangeably, editing and proofreading are two different stages of the revision process. Both demand close and careful reading, but they focus on different aspects of the writing and employ different techniques.

Some tips that apply to both editing and proofreading

• Get some distance from the text! It’s hard to edit or proofread a paper that you’ve just finished writing—it’s still to familiar, and you tend to skip over a lot of errors. Put the paper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. Go for a run. Take a trip to the beach. Clear your head of what you’ve written so you can take a fresh look at the paper and see what is really on the page. Better yet, give the paper to a friend—you can’t get much more distance than that. Someone who is reading the paper for the first time, comes to it with completely fresh eyes.
• Decide which medium lets you proofread most carefully. Some people like to work right at the computer, while others like to sit back with a printed copy that they can mark up as they read.
• Try changing the look of your document. Altering the size, spacing, color, or style of the text may trick your brain into thinking it’s seeing an unfamiliar document, and that can help you get a different perspective on what you’ve written.
• Find a quiet place to work. Don’t try to do your proofreading in front of the TV or while you’re chugging away on the treadmill. Find a place where you can concentrate and avoid distractions.
• If possible, do your editing and proofreading in several short blocks of time. Your concentration may start to wane if you try to proofread the entire text at one time.
• If you’re short on time, you may wish to prioritize. Make sure that you complete the most important editing and proofreading tasks.

Editing is what you begin doing as soon as you finish your first draft. You reread your draft to see, for example, whether the paper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really backs up your argument. You can edit on several levels:

Have you done everything the assignment requires? Are the claims you make accurate? If it is required to do so, does your paper make an argument? Is the argument complete? Are all of your claims consistent? Have you supported each point with adequate evidence? Is all of the information in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall writing goal? (For additional tips, see our handouts on understanding assignments and developing an argument .)

Overall structure

Does your paper have an appropriate introduction and conclusion? Is your thesis clearly stated in your introduction? Is it clear how each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your thesis? Are the paragraphs arranged in a logical sequence? Have you made clear transitions between paragraphs? One way to check the structure of your paper is to make a reverse outline of the paper after you have written the first draft. (See our handouts on introductions , conclusions , thesis statements , and transitions .)

Structure within paragraphs

Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea? Are there any extraneous or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs? (See our handout on paragraph development .)

Have you defined any important terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the meaning of each sentence clear? (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a time, starting at the end and working backwards so that you will not unconsciously fill in content from previous sentences.) Is it clear what each pronoun (he, she, it, they, which, who, this, etc.) refers to? Have you chosen the proper words to express your ideas? Avoid using words you find in the thesaurus that aren’t part of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them.

Have you used an appropriate tone (formal, informal, persuasive, etc.)? Is your use of gendered language (masculine and feminine pronouns like “he” or “she,” words like “fireman” that contain “man,” and words that some people incorrectly assume apply to only one gender—for example, some people assume “nurse” must refer to a woman) appropriate? Have you varied the length and structure of your sentences? Do you tends to use the passive voice too often? Does your writing contain a lot of unnecessary phrases like “there is,” “there are,” “due to the fact that,” etc.? Do you repeat a strong word (for example, a vivid main verb) unnecessarily? (For tips, see our handouts on style and gender-inclusive language .)

Have you appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas you got from sources? Are your citations in the correct format? (See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for more information.)

As you edit at all of these levels, you will usually make significant revisions to the content and wording of your paper. Keep an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of problems you tend to have will be helpful, especially if you are editing a large document like a thesis or dissertation. Once you have identified a pattern, you can develop techniques for spotting and correcting future instances of that pattern. For example, if you notice that you often discuss several distinct topics in each paragraph, you can go through your paper and underline the key words in each paragraph, then break the paragraphs up so that each one focuses on just one main idea.

Proofreading

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on surface errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

Why proofread? It’s the content that really matters, right?

Content is important. But like it or not, the way a paper looks affects the way others judge it. When you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a good impression.

Most people devote only a few minutes to proofreading, hoping to catch any glaring errors that jump out from the page. But a quick and cursory reading, especially after you’ve been working long and hard on a paper, usually misses a lot. It’s better to work with a definite plan that helps you to search systematically for specific kinds of errors.

Sure, this takes a little extra time, but it pays off in the end. If you know that you have an effective way to catch errors when the paper is almost finished, you can worry less about editing while you are writing your first drafts. This makes the entire writing proccess more efficient.

Try to keep the editing and proofreading processes separate. When you are editing an early draft, you don’t want to be bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammar, and spelling. If your worrying about the spelling of a word or the placement of a comma, you’re not focusing on the more important task of developing and connecting ideas.

The proofreading process

You probably already use some of the strategies discussed below. Experiment with different tactics until you find a system that works well for you. The important thing is to make the process systematic and focused so that you catch as many errors as possible in the least amount of time.

• Don’t rely entirely on spelling checkers. These can be useful tools but they are far from foolproof. Spell checkers have a limited dictionary, so some words that show up as misspelled may really just not be in their memory. In addition, spell checkers will not catch misspellings that form another valid word. For example, if you type “your” instead of “you’re,” “to” instead of “too,” or “there” instead of “their,” the spell checker won’t catch the error.
• Grammar checkers can be even more problematic. These programs work with a limited number of rules, so they can’t identify every error and often make mistakes. They also fail to give thorough explanations to help you understand why a sentence should be revised. You may want to use a grammar checker to help you identify potential run-on sentences or too-frequent use of the passive voice, but you need to be able to evaluate the feedback it provides.
• Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. If you try to identify and revise too many things at once, you risk losing focus, and your proofreading will be less effective. It’s easier to catch grammar errors if you aren’t checking punctuation and spelling at the same time. In addition, some of the techniques that work well for spotting one kind of mistake won’t catch others.
• Read slow, and read every word. Try reading out loud , which forces you to say each word and also lets you hear how the words sound together. When you read silently or too quickly, you may skip over errors or make unconscious corrections.
• Separate the text into individual sentences. This is another technique to help you to read every sentence carefully. Simply press the return key after every period so that every line begins a new sentence. Then read each sentence separately, looking for grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors. If you’re working with a printed copy, try using an opaque object like a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the line you’re working on.
• Circle every punctuation mark. This forces you to look at each one. As you circle, ask yourself if the punctuation is correct.
• Read the paper backwards. This technique is helpful for checking spelling. Start with the last word on the last page and work your way back to the beginning, reading each word separately. Because content, punctuation, and grammar won’t make any sense, your focus will be entirely on the spelling of each word. You can also read backwards sentence by sentence to check grammar; this will help you avoid becoming distracted by content issues.
• Proofreading is a learning process. You’re not just looking for errors that you recognize; you’re also learning to recognize and correct new errors. This is where handbooks and dictionaries come in. Keep the ones you find helpful close at hand as you proofread.
• Ignorance may be bliss, but it won’t make you a better proofreader. You’ll often find things that don’t seem quite right to you, but you may not be quite sure what’s wrong either. A word looks like it might be misspelled, but the spell checker didn’t catch it. You think you need a comma between two words, but you’re not sure why. Should you use “that” instead of “which”? If you’re not sure about something, look it up.
• The proofreading process becomes more efficient as you develop and practice a systematic strategy. You’ll learn to identify the specific areas of your own writing that need careful attention, and knowing that you have a sound method for finding errors will help you to focus more on developing your ideas while you are drafting the paper.

Think you’ve got it?

Then give it a try, if you haven’t already! This handout contains seven errors our proofreader should have caught: three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors. Try to find them, and then check a version of this page with the errors marked in red to see if you’re a proofreading star.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Especially for non-native speakers of English:

Ascher, Allen. 2006. Think About Editing: An ESL Guide for the Harbrace Handbooks . Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Lane, Janet, and Ellen Lange. 2012. Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing , 3rd ed. Boston: Heinle.

For everyone:

Einsohn, Amy. 2011. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications , 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose , 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.

Tarshis, Barry. 1998. How to Be Your Own Best Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes . New York: Three Rivers Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Disclosure: MyeLearningWorld is reader-supported. We may receive a commission if you purchase through our links.

The 12 Best Essay Editing Services for Students (2023 Rankings)

Last Updated: 01/05/2023

By Fatima Mansoor

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Pinterest

With the best essay editing services, you can get the help you need to take your essay from good to amazing.

The editing process is essential for producing a high-quality essay, but editing your own work is often difficult. You may have spent a lot of time and effort on your essay, making it hard to take a step back and see your work through a fresh, unbiased set of eyes.

Professional editors can help identify strengths and weaknesses in your essay, as well as offer suggestions for improvement.

Furthermore, editors can help to ensure that your essay is clear and concise so you can be sure your message is coming across in the best possible manner.

Of course, when you look online, you’ll see there’s no shortage of essay editing services. Needless to say, not all of them are created equal.

That’s why it’s important that you take the time to compare and contrast different editing services before making a decision.

We’ve reviewed and ranked the best essay editing services based on a variety of important factors, including customer reviews, prices, turnaround times, and any additional services or guarantees that come with the package.

Let’s get started.

What are the Best Essay Editing Services?

Here are our picks for the top 12 editing services for essays and other academic documents…

1. Scribendi

Scribendi offers a full suite of professional editing and proofreading services to a cademics, students, professionals, authors, and individuals from all around the world. With unmatched quality, exceptional accuracy, and impressive turnaround times, Scribendi has been an industry leader for 20+ years.

Varies ( get an instant quote )

There are lots of reasons why Scribendi tops our list of the best essay editing services.

First and foremost, all of their editors are highly qualified and have extensive experience in the field of academic writing. This means that they are able to provide a high level of guidance and support to students who are working on their essays.

In addition, Scribendi offers a variety of services that can be tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual client. They offer editing and proofreading services for essays of all types (e.g. argumentative, analytical, and expository essays as well as admissions essays), as well as for business documents, presentations, books, and much more.

They also have an excellent turnaround time, so you don’t have to worry about missing your deadline.

Finally, their customer service is second-to-none; you can trust that any questions or concerns will be addressed quickly and efficiently.

Key Features

• Editing and proofreading by a team of 400+ professionals
• Super-fast turnaround times
• Multiple services such as proofreading, editing, formatting, and copyediting
• Privacy guaranteed by using bank-grade security

Click here to get started with Scribendi today.

2. PenDrago

$3.90 per 100 words

PenDrago is one of the most professional online services for writing, editing, and proofreading. You can be sure that you’ll receive the best college essay editing service from their team, which consists of the top 2% of industry experts. This website is a market leader in offering top-notch writing and editing services for essays.

They also enjoy a solid online presence and consistently receive positive feedback from clients and writers for their college essay editing services, making it a reliable service. The price of their editing also includes spellcheck, formatting, and grammar check.

Although they are not affordable for many, you’re getting top-notch service which is value for money. They don’t charge per page but a word; hence, you are free from worrying about the number of pages that will fit your budget.

Just provide the essay guidelines to PenDrago, and they will deliver the best results to you.

• Advanced editing in various subjects
• Real-time editing by human editors
• Formatted essays as per guidelines
• Fast delivery
• Reasonable pricing
• Two-in-one service: Editing and Proofreading

3. EduVinci

$5 per page or 250 words

EduVinci offers editing services for all kinds of essays and scholarly work. Despite having a small team of writers, each member is well-equipped to edit academic papers, carries the required qualifications, and goes through strict evaluations.

It has helped EduVinci to have a positive reputation in the market. Considering EduVinci’s writing and editing quality, their prices are reasonable. They charge on a per-word basis and not per page. Although their prices aren’t the most affordable, you should understand that they’ll offer you what you pay for.

• Ensure proper punctuation and tone
• High readability of essays
• Properly followed essay guidelines
• High-quality customer service
• Quick response and timely delivery

$10 per page

Studdit is a relatively new service in the market, but it’s not at all a disappointment. Only a few businesses worldwide can match Studdit’s editing and proofreading capabilities. Their editing service places a high value on customization; hence, you can rely on the customer support team to respond quickly.

The editors they use are trained professionals who strictly follow your instructions. Their customer service is available throughout the day, including holidays. It is therefore not a problem to contact them for urgent matters, even after midnight.

Ordering is affordable, and you could also sign up for the rewards program. It brings in extra offers for you. The service has mainly received positive customer feedback, primarily on the originality of the content.

• Customer service is available throughout the day
• Low pricing
• Human editors instead of AI
• Real-time suggested edits
• A team of professional editors
• Advanced-level editing includes spelling checks, grammar checks, style, and essay accuracy

5. EssayFactory

EssayFactory is well known for providing students with the best edited and proofread content. The company, however, can manage a variety of other kinds of documents, including research papers. Because of this, you can have your academic work reviewed and checked online.

They also offer ghostwriting, copywriting, presentations, and business writing services. Along with choosing the editor, EssayFactory offers premium services with advanced features.

The editors working for EssayFactory are all trained professionals who will polish the essay’s quality by ensuring proper formatting and proofreading. In addition to essays, they can proofread various writings, such as theses, research papers, and term papers.

• Offers a proper structure for essays with grammar and spell checking
• Human editors perform editing
• Easy to use the website
• Editing and formatting are subject to field guidelines

$9 per page

When we talk about the correct handling of essays, 1 Essay is a well-renowned business that only employs the best writers and editors. You can rely on this incredible platform to assist you in making your paperwork the best and up to the standards that your colleges require.

This editing service’s reasonable prices and undeniable editing standards led to its inclusion in the list of top editing services with maximum positive reviews.

• Issues warranty to their customers
• Punctual deliveries in the suggested time frames
• Affordable pricing
• Highly professional team of editors
• 24/7 customer service
• Editing of essays, thesis, and other documents

7. EssayBox

$12 per page

EssayBox has made a place in the market by offering some of the best editing and proofreading services. It promises to improve your essay’s grade through error-free and well-formatted documents.

Their team consists of well-experienced editors who are professional in their field and offer polished essays. EssayBox proofreads a wide range of writings, such as dissertations, journal articles, and term papers, in addition to essays.

Additionally, the service helps with essays in various subjects ranging from sociology to business studies.

You can get all the academic resources you need from EssayBox for your essays or other academic works.

• Editing services extended beyond essays to thesis and other research works
• Professional, reliable editing team
• No AI interference
• User-friendly website
• Advanced-level grammar checks

8. EssayPro

$11 per page

EssayPro provides a substantial team of competent writers and editors who could change the appearance of your essay by polishing it according to the standard of academic essay writing. With a success rate of more than 98 percent, EssayPro is a trusted company.

On this platform, placing an order is also easy. You can fill out the online form on their website and send your papers to have them edited. Following the placement of your order, proposals are submitted by several editors, just like bidding.

You can choose an editor based on your budget, essay field, reviews, and availability. The essay’s editors can also provide a free plagiarism report upon request.

EssayPro allows you to modify the downloaded document, which can be further sent for revisions. There are no limitations on the number of revisions.

Its services are not only restricted to essays but extend to thesis, lab reports, and other academic papers. With a turnaround time of 24 hours, EssayPro is prompt with its deliveries.

• Services offerings in several fields such as thesis, essay, research papers, etc
• Customers can use editors of their own
• Plagiarism-free documents

9. PaperHelp

$7 per page

As one of the top-rated and renowned online writing services, PaperHelp provides both editing and proofreading services. In addition to writing essays, PaperHelp edits various other academic papers and dissertations.

If you are a student worried about the quality of your essay, fret no more! PaperHelp has got you covered. The flawless work produced by this essay writing service will substantially improve your grades.

Remember- it is always a good idea to go through the edited version of your essay so you can reflect on your mistakes and avoid repeating them.

This service has been available for almost ten years, making it feasible for writers and students. You can get your document back within 24 hours with after-service.

• Affordable rates
• Top-quality papers are returned to customers
• Loyalty and referral programs
• Strict adherence to deadlines
• After-sales service
• Reliable guarantees
• VIP services are offered

10. PenCamp

$9-$11 per page

PenCamp is yet another service for students or writers looking to get their essays edited. Their quick turnaround times and commitment to quality for each submitted assignment make them stand out.

PenCamp offers superior assistance with research papers compared to most conventional editing services. The pricing depends on the type of document being sent for revision. Their turnaround time is approximately 6 hours.

• The editor team comprises graduates of MIT, Oxford, or Harvard
• Customers’ data privacy is the top priority
• Ready-to-submit documents are returned in the English language
• Urgent and punctual deliveries
• 10-day return policy during which students can request as many revisions as possible

Why Should You Use An Online Essay Editing Service?

In today’s competitive academic landscape, students are under more pressure than ever to produce perfect essays.

Unfortunately, not everyone is a natural-born writer, and even if you are a talented wordsmith, you can still benefit from having an extra set of eyes on your work.

A good editor can be the difference between an average essay and a great one. They can help you polish your writing, identify any mistakes, and suggest changes that can make the overall quality of your work even better.

Whether you’re hoping to get into a top school or simply improve your grades, an essay editing service can be a valuable asset.

Final Thoughts on the Best Essay Editing Services

Hopefully, our guide to the top essay editing services has been helpful to you in your search for the perfect editor.

When choosing an editor, it’s important to consider factors such as turnaround time, pricing, and customer reviews.

With the right editing service, you’ll be able to confidently submit your work knowing that it’s accurate and error-free.

Scribendi is our top pick for a variety of reasons, including its elite editing team, 20+ year proven track record, affordable rates, and fast turnaround times. But there are some other great options to consider on this list as well!

We recommend spending a little time considering your individual needs and deciding which service best meets them.

Have any questions about our guide to the best essay editing services? Let us know by commenting below.

The 12 Best Online Proofreading Services & Tools (2023 Rankings)

How to choose an lms hosting service for your online courses, leave a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Link to facebook
• Link to linkedin
• Link to twitter
• Link to youtube
• Proofreading Services

Professional Proofreading Services

Proofed’s top-rated proofreading services help you complete your work with confidence, knowing the writing is error-free and flows well from start to finish.

Clear, Concise Writing

Our proofreading service is all about making sure you can communicate your meaning as clearly and effectively as possible. This makes it great for putting a final polish on your work. Whether you’re submitting an academic paper or publishing a book, our proofreaders have you covered.

What Our Proofreading Services Include

Our professional proofreading service includes the following:

• Correcting grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors
• Tweaking sentences to ensure that they flow smoothly
• Adapting vocabulary to suit the document type and purpose
• Removing repetition and editing for concision
• Fixing inconsistencies, including in capitalisation and punctuation 
• Highlighting unclear sentences and suggesting corrections
• Where applicable, checking that citations and references are clear and correct

Make sure your writing is the best it can be with our expert English proofreading and editing

A Dedicated Team Of Expert Editors Working 24/7, 365 Days A Year

We pair you with the perfect proofreader based on your document type and subject matter. This ensures that you’re always matched with an editor ideally suited to your writing.

Expert Editor

How We Work

Lightning-fast delivery.

You’ll never miss a deadline with our speedy services: our Next-Day Guarantee means we’ll return any document up to 8,000 words long within 24 hours.

And if you need a faster turnaround, simply select your desired delivery speed when you submit your document. We have three options:

We can also meet custom deadlines! Just let us know what you need. 

* For documents up to 8,000 words

** For documents up to 3,000 words

Great Pricing

Our pricing is affordable and transparent – the cost is based on the exact length of your document. Check out our pricing calculator for an instant quote, and rest assured that you’ll receive the highest quality proofreading and editing for the best value on the market.

All Major Formats

Our system supports over 15 document formats, making it easy to submit content for proofreading and editing. Click the link below to find out more about how we’ll work with your document.

Learn More About Formats

Subject-Matter Experts

Our team of over 750 professional editors includes experts on thousands of topics. As a result, we can pair you with the perfect proofreader for your writing, no matter the subject.

24-Hour Support

Our support team is available around the clock to address any concerns or questions you have about your order. This means you’ll never be left in the dark, no matter where you are or what time it is.

Select Your Profile

I need student proofreading services for my college or university work

• Dissertation
• Admission Essay
• Literature Review
• PhD Proposal
• Statement Of Purpose

I need proofreading and editing for my research or related writing

• Research Proposal
• Research Paper
• Journal Article
• Grant Proposal

My business has documents or content that needs proofreading and editing

• AI-Generated Content
• Website Content
• Presentation
• Business Plan

I need an editor or proofreader for my writing project

• Short Story

Professional

I need proofreading for a document related to my career or professional life

• Personal Statement
• Cover Letter

I need proofreading and editing for a piece of academic writing

English is a second language for me, and I need a proofreader to check my writing

• Translation

I have dyslexia and need a proofreader to check my writing

Instant Quote

You can also upload a document to get an instant quote

Drag & drop your file

or browse your computer

Browse from your device

Drop your file here!

Your file is being uploaded!

Proofreading vs Copy Editing

You may have heard both of these terms, but how are they different? Technically, copy editing differs from proofreading in the traditional sense. In the old days:

• ‘Proofreading’ meant checking a printed proof. This ‘proof’ was an early version of a typeset text, so all a proofreader would do is look for typos.
• ‘Copy editing’ was the last step in the editing process before a text was typeset. It usually involved editing a document so that it followed a specific style guide.

This distinction is looser with most modern proofreading services. For example, we combine traditional proofreading with some elements of copy editing. But proofreading is always about making minor changes.

Need Editing?

If you’re looking for more extensive changes to your writing, we also offer an editing service.

Learn More About Our Editing Services

Looking For The Perfect Proofreader?

Let our expert editors show you what they can do.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

How to Edit Your Own Writing

Writing is hard, but don’t overlook the difficulty — and the importance — of editing your own work before letting others see it. Here’s how.

By Harry Guinness

The secret to good writing is good editing. It’s what separates hastily written, randomly punctuated, incoherent rants from learned polemics and op-eds, and cringe-worthy fan fiction from a critically acclaimed novel. By the time this article is done, I’ll have edited and rewritten each line at least a few times. Here’s how to start editing your own work.

Understand that what you write first is a draft

It doesn’t matter how good you think you are as a writer — the first words you put on the page are a first draft. Writing is thinking: It’s rare that you’ll know exactly what you’re going to say before you say it. At the end, you need, at the very least, to go back through the draft, tidy everything up and make sure the introduction you wrote at the start matches what you eventually said.

My former writing teacher, the essayist and cartoonist Timothy Kreider, explained revision to me: “One of my favorite phrases is l’esprit d’escalier, ‘the spirit of the staircase’ — meaning that experience of realizing, too late, what the perfect thing to have said at the party, in a conversation or argument or flirtation would have been. Writing offers us one of the rare chances in life at a do-over: to get it right and say what we meant this time. To the extent writers are able to appear any smarter or wittier than readers, it’s only because they’ve cheated by taking so much time to think up what they meant to say and refining it over days or weeks or, yes, even years, until they’ve said it as clearly and elegantly as they can.”

The time you put into editing, reworking and refining turns your first draft into a second — and then into a third and, if you keep at it, eventually something great. The biggest mistake you can make as a writer is to assume that what you wrote the first time through was good enough.

Now, let’s look at how to do the actual editing.

Watch for common errors

Most writing mistakes are depressingly common; good writers just get better at catching them before they hit the page. If you’re serious about improving your writing, I recommend you read “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, a how-to guide on writing good, clear English and avoiding the most common mistakes. “ Politics and the English Language ” by George Orwell is also worth studying if you want to avoid “ugly and inaccurate” writing.

Some of the things you’ll learn to watch for (and that I have to fix all the time in my own writing) are:

Overuse of jargon and business speak . Horrible jargon like “utilize,” “endeavor” or “communicate” — instead of “use,” “try” or “chat” — creep in when people (myself included) are trying to sound smart. It’s the kind of writing that Orwell railed against in his essay. All this sort of writing does is obscure the point you want to make behind false intellectualism. As Orwell said, “Never use a long word when a short one will do.”

Clichés. Clichés are as common as mud but at least getting rid of them is low-hanging fruit. If you’re not sure whether something is a cliché, it’s better to just avoid it. Awful, right? Clichés are stale phrases that have lost their impact and novelty through overuse. At some point, “The grass is always greener on the other side” was a witty observation, but it’s a cliché now. Again, Orwell said it well: “Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” Oh, and memes very quickly become clichés — be warned.

The passive voice. In most cases, the subject of the sentence should be the person or thing taking action, not the thing being acted on. For example, “This article was written by Harry” is written in the passive voice because the subject (“this article”) is the thing being acted on. The equivalent active construction would be: “Harry wrote this article.” Prose written in the passive voice tends to have an aloofness and passivity to it, which is why it’s generally better to write an active sentence.

Rambling . When you’re not quite sure what you want to say, it’s easy to ramble around a point, phrasing it in three or four different ways and then, instead of cutting them down to a single concise sentence, slapping all four together into a clunky, unclear paragraph. A single direct sentence is almost always better than four that tease around a point.

Give your work some space

When you write something, you get very close to it. It’s almost impossible to have the distance to edit properly straight away. Instead, you need to step away and come back later with fresh eyes. The longer you can leave a draft before editing it, the better. I have some essays I go back to every few months for another pass — they’re still not done yet. For most things, though, somewhere from half an hour to two days is enough of a break that you can then edit well. Even 10 minutes will do in a pinch for things like emails.

And when you sit down to edit, read your work out loud.

By forcing yourself to speak the words, rather than just scanning them on a computer screen, you’ll catch more problems and get a better feel for how everything flows. If you stumble over something, your reader will probably stumble over it, too. Some writers even print out their drafts and make edits with a red pen while they read them aloud.

Cut, cut, cut

Overwriting is a bigger problem than underwriting. It’s much more likely you’ve written too much than too little. It’s a lot easier to throw words at a problem than to take the time to find the right ones. As Blaise Pascal, a 17th-century writer and scientist (no, not Mark Twain) wrote in a letter, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”

The rule for most writers is, “If in doubt, cut it.” The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer John McPhee has called the process “writing by omission.” Novelist Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch (and not William Faulkner, although he may have popularized this version of it) exhorted a version of the oft-repeated phrase, “In writing you must kill all your darlings.” This is true at every level: If a word isn’t necessary in a sentence, cut it; if a sentence isn’t necessary in a paragraph, cut it; and if a paragraph isn’t necessary, cut it, too.

Go through what you’ve written and look for the bits you can cut without affecting the whole — and cut them. It will tighten the work and make everything you’re trying to say clearer.

Spend the most time on the beginning

The beginning of anything you write is the most important part. If you can’t catch someone’s attention at the start, you won’t have a chance to hold it later. Whether you’re writing a novel or an email, you should spend a disproportionate amount of time working on the first few sentences, paragraphs or pages. A lot of problems that can be glossed over in the middle are your undoing at the start.

Pay attention to structure

The structure is what your writing hangs on. It doesn’t matter how perfectly the individual sentences are phrased if the whole thing is a nonsensical mess. For emails and other short things, the old college favorite of a topic sentence followed by supporting paragraphs and a conclusion is hard to get wrong. Just make sure you consider your intended audience. A series of long, unrelenting paragraphs will discourage people from reading. Break things up into concise points and, where necessary, insert subheads — as there are in this article. If I’d written this without them, you would just be looking at a stark wall of text.

For longer pieces, structure is something you’ll need to put a lot of work into. Stream of consciousness writing rarely reads well and you generally don’t have the option to break up everything into short segments with subheads. Narratives need to flow and arguments need to build. You have to think about what you’re trying to say in each chapter, section or paragraph, and consider whether it’s working — or if that part would be better placed elsewhere. It’s normal (and even desirable) that the structure of your work will change drastically between drafts; it’s a sign that you’re developing the piece as a whole, rather than just fixing the small problems.

A lot of the time when something you’ve written “just doesn’t work” for people, the structure is to blame. They might not be able to put the problems into words, but they can feel something’s off.

Use all the resources you can

While you might not be lucky enough to have access to an editor (Hey, Alan!), there are services that can help.

Grammarly is a writing assistant that flags common writing, spelling and grammatical errors; it’s great for catching simple mistakes and cleaning up drafts of your work. A good thesaurus (or even Thesaurus.com ) is also essential for finding just the right word. And don’t neglect a second pair of eyes: Ask relatives and friends to read over your work. They might catch some things you missed and can tell you when something is amiss.

Editing your work is at least as important as writing it in the first place. The tweaking, revisiting and revising is what takes something that could be good — and makes it good. Don’t neglect it.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that the phrase “kill your darlings,” originated with novelist Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch , who actually said “murder your darlings,” and not William Faulkner, to whom the phrase is often attributed.

Free writing software: 24 tools to help you create better content, faster

Find the best brainstorming, researching, writing, and editing tools.

As a freelance writer, I try to keep my app costs lean, so I'm a sucker for free writing tools. But with so many writing apps on the market, it's hard to tell which free options are actually valuable.

I've done some of the legwork for you by bringing together some of the best free writing apps on the internet. All of the options listed here are tools the Zapier team or I have used and enjoyed.

For this roundup, I prioritized completely free tools and freemium apps with a forever free plan that was sufficient for actual regular use. Many of the options have paid plans, but those plans are generally geared toward power users.

Researching and note-taking software

Writing software

Editing software

Proofreading software

The best free writing software at a glance

Free writing tools for brainstorming and organizing your thoughts, best free writing software for expanding your ideas.

MindMeister (Web, iOS, Android)

If you like to perform mind mapping to get your thoughts on paper and connect them, MindMeister gives you a virtual space to do it. It includes templates for the traditional mind map as well as more specific layouts for frameworks like SMART goals, case studies, and content plans.

Want to learn more about mind mapping? Check out Zapier's list of the best mind mapping apps , or discover nine ways to use mind maps to jumpstart your projects.

MindMeister pricing: Free for up to 3 mind maps; from $5.99/month for premium plans , including features like unlimited mind maps, advanced exporting, and group sharing

Best free writing software for creating content outlines

Workflowy (Web, macOS, Windows, Chrome, iOS, Android)

Outlines are a writer's best friend , and Workflowy lets you go as deep or shallow as you want. This tool organizes your outline into bullet points that you can click to nest and expand however you want.

Workflowy pricing: Free for up to 250 bullets a month ; from $4.99/month for the Workflowy Pro plan with expanded features like unlimited bullets and uploads

Best free writing software for brainstorming together

When you need to write something in collaboration with others, the brainstorming process is one of the trickiest to facilitate with technology. Miro lets you plot out ideas with mind maps, Kanban boards, virtual sticky notes, and whatever strategy you use to get your thoughts down. The free plan allows for unlimited team members to brainstorm with at the same time.

If whiteboards aren't your preferred brainstorming method, explore Zapier's picks for the top brainstorming tools for more collaborative and solo apps.

You can even use Miro with Zapier (also free), so you can automate your brainstorming workflows. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started.

Create Miro widgets with new Trello cards

Add Miro cards from new rows on Google Sheets

Miro pricing: Free for 3 whiteboards with unlimited team members; from $8/user/month for plans with unlimited whiteboards and advanced collaboration features

Best free writing software for brainstorming topics

Ryan Robinson's Keyword Research Tool (Web)

Go to the Ideas tab of Ryan Robinson's Keyword Research Tool , and it'll provide ideas related to your query. Since it's a keyword tool first and foremost, these ideas are designed to be less competitive on search results, too.

If you're looking for keyword research tools specifically for their main purpose, check out Zapier's roundup of the best free keyword research tools .  

Keyword Research Tool pricing: Free

Best free writing software for brainstorming ideas with AI

ChatGPT (Web)

With the rise of AI , some writers use GPT-based apps to brainstorm ideas and build the base for an outline. ChatGPT is the best free option—and the one you know and love—or you can check out even more GPT-powered writing apps in Zapier's list of the best AI writing generators . 

You can also combine GPT with Zapier to send ideas to your favorite project management tool.

ChatGPT pricing: Free; ChatGPT Plus is $20/month

Best free writing software for brainstorming out loud

Your computer's dictation software (MacOS, Windows)

If you process your thoughts best through speaking, there's a brainstorming app already on your computer. Boot up Windows 10 Speech Recognition on Windows or Apple Dictation on Mac to record your thoughts as you brainstorm out loud.

For mobile and premium dictation app options, check out Zapier's list of the best text dictation software .

Windows 10 Speech Recognition and Apple Dictation pricing: Free

Free writing tools for research and note-taking

Best free writing software for keeping everything in one place.

Notion (Web, MacOS, Windows, iOS, Android)

Notion's balance of organization and spontaneity make it a great place to hold your notes, links, social media posts, transcriptions, and any other resources you need to write that draft. Plus, depending on your writing preferences, you can then write the draft itself in Notion—all for free. 

Add Zapier integrations to the mix to bring even more of your writing life together. Here are some pre-made workflows to get you started.

Save new tasks in Google Tasks in Notion databases

Add new Microsoft Outlook calendar events to Notion databases

If Notion doesn't meet your needs, try one of these Notion alternatives . Zapier also has a list of the best note-taking apps for you to browse.

Notion pricing: Free plan available; from $8/user/month for team plans

Best free writing software for finding free copies of paywalled research

Unpaywall (Web)

Have you ever come across a search result for the perfect research article, only to discover it's behind a paywall? Unpaywall gets you across those paywalls ethically by looking for legitimate free versions of paywalled academic research. It looks at sources like journals' open-access repositories and university and government databases, so you're never infringing copyright.

Unpaywall pricing: Free

Best free writing software for transcribing interview and video content

oTranscribe (Web)

oTranscribe simplifies the manual transcription process by placing your audio controls and a word processor on the same screen. This tool has keyboard controls and speed adjustment, so you can seamlessly transition between your audio and transcript.

If you're willing to pay a bit, here's Zapier's list of the best transcription apps and services .

oTranscribe pricing: Free

Best free writing software for collecting research from other people

Google Forms (Web, iOS, Android)

When you need original quotes or data from other people, a free survey tool or form builder will help you organize it all. Google Forms is an accessible choice for most people because it's completely free and works with the rest of Google Workspace.

Turn your form responses into Trello cards, Notion database entries, or any other nugget of info that serves you well with Google Forms' Zapier integrations .

Create Trello cards from new Google Forms responses

Share Google Forms responses in a Slack channel

Google Forms pricing: Free

Free writing tools for solo and collaborative writing

Best free writing software for collaborative writing.

Google Docs (Web, Chrome, iOS, Android)

Google Docs' straightforward interface and ease of use make it a great tool for writing solo, but this app really shines through its collaborative features . Its suggestion, sharing, and version history features put it on par with its paid alternatives at no cost to you.

You can connect Google Docs to all the other tools you use with its Zapier integration . Here are some ideas for free automations you might set up.

Create new Google Docs from text with new rows in Google Sheets

Create new Google Docs when Trint transcripts are ready

Not a fan of Google Docs or don't want to create a Google account? Find another great option in Zapier's guide to the best collaborative writing apps .

Google Docs pricing: Free

Best free writing software for messages and blurbs

WordCounter (Web)

Sometimes you need to write a small amount of text, such as a message or a blurb, without the pressure of accidentally hitting the Enter button too early. WordCounter acts as a combination clipboard and editor with a word count that saves your work in your browser cache for the next time you visit.

WordCounter pricing: Free

Free writing tools for editing

Best free writing software for finding the perfect word.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus (Web)

OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus offers all the synonyms you could dream of like a regular thesaurus, but it stands out in its reverse dictionary capabilities. Enter a phrase—or even a full sentence—to get words that match that meaning. This feature comes in handy when you want to write more concisely or find that word that's on the tip of your tongue.

OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus pricing: Free

Best free writing software for finding the right word—anywhere

Power Thesaurus (Web, Chrome, iOS, Android)

As a freelance writer, I find myself needing to switch up words when I write on various platforms across the internet. Power Thesaurus gives me synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and other forms of word assistance wherever I like to write. It can do the same for you—put it to use on its website, in your browser, on your phone, in Google Docs, in Word, and in Gmail.

Power Thesaurus pricing: Free for fundamental features; starting from $2.49/month for Power Thesaurus PRO , featuring filters and a wider selection of synonyms

Best free writing software for rewording what you write

Wordtune (Web, Chrome, iOS)

When you just can't get phrasing right in your writing, you might turn to a friend or editor to help you sort it out. Wordtune acts as that person by offering suggestions to reword, expand, and shorten your content using AI. It doesn't have as robust of a free plan as some of the other options on this list, but it provides enough if you need assistance here and there.

If you want more features and are willing to pay a monthly fee, you can put AI to work in your editing process with Zapier's list of the best AI rewording and grammar-checking tools .

Wordtune pricing: Free for up to 10 rewrites, three AI prompts, and three summaries a day; from $9.99/month for advanced plans featuring more rewrites, AI prompts, and summaries

Best free writing software for clear and concise writing

Hemingway Editor (Web, macOS, Windows)

Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's concise writing style, the Hemingway Editor points out opportunities to sharpen your writing. This tool highlights passive voice, complex sentences, and adverbs that make your work harder to understand. It also supplies a readability score to estimate how accessible your writing is to a broad audience.

Hemingway Editor pricing: Free for editing in the Hemingway web app; $19.99 for the Mac or Windows desktop app

Best free writing software for creating compelling headlines

CoSchedule Headline Studio (Web, Chrome)

CoSchedule Headline Studio helps you write compelling headlines by analyzing the sentiment and word balance in your titles. Type in a headline to get a score and test different variations based on the suggestions you get. The Google Chrome extension and WordPress plugin let you analyze headlines wherever you go.

CoSchedule Headline Studio pricing: Free for basic features; from $8/month to buy "Premium Headline" credits that give you access to an SEO score, AI writing features, headline suggestions, and word banks for a certain number of headlines

Best free writing software for finding and removing cliches

Cliche Finder (Web)

Cut cliches out of your writing using Cliche Finder . After you paste your text into the textbox and click the Find Cliches button, the tool will highlight any cliches in bold, red text. It's up to you from there, but the tool is 100% free.

Cliche Finder pricing: Free

Best free writing software for finding jargon in your text

De-Jargonizer (Web)

Another writing mechanism that gets in the way of clarity is jargon—terms that only people in a specific role will understand. The De-Jargonizer highlights potential jargon in your writing in orange in red for you to consider rephrasing.

Once you identify jargon in your text with the De-Jargonizer, you can get suggestions for rewriting it from Zapier's Corporate Jargon Translator , built using Zapier's free AI chatbot builder .

De-Jargonizer pricing: Free

Best free writing software for varying your wording and sentence length

Expresso (Web)

Two of the best ways to amp up your writing are to switch up your words and sentence length. Expresso helps you achieve both of these goals by breaking your writing down into metrics based on word usage and sentence length, such as frequently repeated words and average sentence word count.

Expresso pricing: Free

Best free writing software for comparing your writing to AI content

GPTZero (Web, Chrome)

Due to the complexity of the AI situation, it can be tricky to truly detect AI writing with an AI content detector . But, as one writer discovered in our guide to standing out from AI , these tools work well for picking out human content that sounds like AI due to repetitive phrases and generic writing. GPTZero is a free option that judges text based on perplexity (complexity) and burstiness (sentence variation).

GPTZero pricing: Free for documents up to 5,000 words and batch uploads of up to 3 files; from $9.99/month for plans with higher word and batch limits

Free writing tools for proofreading

Best free writing software for catching spelling and grammar mistakes.

Grammarly (Web, macOS, Windows, Android iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

Check for spelling and grammar mistakes everywhere you write with Grammarly . It looks for even the nit-pickiest details, like missing dashes and incorrect prepositions. Stick to its web editor, add it to your favorite writing tool, or add the browser extension to check your writing wherever you go.

Grammarly pricing: Free for the basic spell- and grammar-checker; from $12/month for plans with advanced features like tone, vocabulary, and rewrite suggestions

Best free writing tool for proofreading short-form content

ProWritingAid (Web, macOS, Windows, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)

ProWritingAid's free plan can analyze less text at a time than Grammarly , but it includes a word explorer, thesaurus, and rephrasing tool on top of its grammar-checking features. These capabilities make it a better fit for writers who like to get really granular with their improvement. ProWritingAid's free plan could be a better option for you than Grammarly if your total word count usually clocks at 500 words or fewer.

ProWritingAid pricing: Free for a 500 word count limit and 10 rephrases per day; from $10/month for a Premium plan with no word count limit, unlimited rephrases, and advanced grammar improvement features like in-depth analytics of your writing

Best free writing tool for making MLA citations

EasyBib (Web)

This one's for the academics out there. Enter your paper's sources into EasyBib , and it'll organize them into an MLA bibliography for you. I had to give everything a once-over and make minor changes, but EasyBib helped me win my college library's bibliography contest back in the day by getting it all together.

EasyBib pricing: Free

Free writing software FAQ

Here are some questions lots of people have about writing apps and how to choose the right one.

What's a good free writing tool?

Tools like Google Docs and WordCounter are free forever and very functional. Other apps, like Grammarly or ProWritingAid, have free plans that offer basic features, with more advanced features available via a paid plan.

But there are a lot of free writing tools available that perform a wide variety of functions—everything from brainstorming to research and note-taking to writing to editing to proofreading.

What writing tool do most writers use?

There's a wide variety of writing tools out there, and which one a writer uses really comes down to preference. A lot of writers use Google Docs to write because they already use Google for so many other things—but some may prefer a tool like Notion, where they can combine writing with project management.

What makes a good writing tool?

In short, whatever helps you write! If a blank page and no distraction is what helps you actually get words down, then open a new Google Doc and go at it. If you need to organize your thoughts before you even think about writing, consider adding a brainstorming tool to the mix. Each writer's process is different, and it's all about finding tools that enable your writing, not add another roadblock to your process.

Sharpen your craft with your new toolkit

As is the case with many skills, it can be easy to focus too much on improving your writing through tools alone. You'll maximize the results you'll get from your apps with a solid foundation in writing techniques. Grab the tools that appeal to you on this page, then brush up on your core writing skills to become a killer prose machine.

Related reading:

The best journal apps

How to capitalize or change the case of your text in any app

How to write great copy: 11 copywriting tips

Copywriting vs. content writing: How to do each one well

How to write a business letter: Formatting + template

This article was originally published in June 2015 by Jane Callahan and has also had contributions from Jessica Greene. The most recent update was in August 2023.

Get productivity tips delivered straight to your inbox

We’ll email you 1-3 times per week—and never share your information.

Melissa King

Melissa King is a freelance writer who helps B2B SaaS companies spread the word about their products through engaging content. Outside of the content marketing world, she sometimes writes about video games. Check out her work at melissakingfreelance.com.

• Content marketing
• Google Docs
• Google Forms

Related articles

The 8 best free website builders in 2024

The 5 best AI email assistants in 2024

The best DocuSign alternatives in 2024

The best Shopify apps in 2024

Improve your productivity automatically. Use Zapier to get your apps working together.

The Best MBA Essay Editing Coaches of 2023

MBA application essays are challenging and require substantial self-reflection and many iterations. These 10 coaches will help you brainstorm, write, edit, and polish as you find a story that wows the adcom.

Posted January 10, 2024

Featuring Avi L.

Case Studies of Winning M7 MBA Essays

Wednesday, march 27.

6:00 PM UTC · 60 minutes

Notoriously the most difficult part of MBA applications, the essays require potential candidates to dig deep and reflect on their values, journey thus far, and future aspirations. Open-ended prompts like, “What matters most and why?” (Stanford GSB) coupled with strict word limits make the process even more daunting.

When finding your theme, drafting your story, and editing your essays, it’s enormously helpful to get an objective review from someone who has successfully gone through the application themselves. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, and that second opinion can be pivotal in regaining perspective. We’ve compiled a list of some of Leland’s top essay coaches who can ensure that the story you tell is cohesive, compelling, and one the admissions committee will want to hear.

Ben graduated with his MBA from Stanford University where he was the Lead Editor for the GSB’s student-run publication, Nondisclosure , and the Managing Editor for the Stanford International Policy Review . Ben’s professional background includes policy, management consulting, and venture capital. He is an extremely experienced writer and editor, whose work has spanned speeches, op-eds, fictional short stories, policy deep-dives, application essays, and more.

1:1 Personalized Essay Workshop : For one school’s set of essays, Ben will walk you through examples of successful essays and extrapolate techniques to help you build your own genuine narrative. Go from one of a million applicants to one in a million.

Harsha graduated with her MBA from Harvard Business School and is currently the Head of BizOps at a Series C startup. She has also worked in management consulting and growth equity. At HBS, Harsha was the CEO of Harbus, where she led the development and launch of the 2020 Harbus Essay Guide, interviewing 50+ admitted students and alumni to curate a library of essays and admissions resources. For her work there, she was featured in Poets & Quants .

Book coaching with Harsha here .

Free trial!

From 89 top coaches

Access a library of videos, templates, and examples curated by Leland's top coaches.

Example essays.

Example Resumes

Application Prep

Video Courses

Andy is a professional admissions coach with over 20 years of experience helping applicants get into top MBA programs. He got his BA from Stanford University, where he was also the Managing Editor of The Stanford Review . He’s worked with three top-rated admissions consulting firms, for one of which he co-designed all editing services and served as the sole “essay doctor.” Andy specializes in helping applicants differentiate themselves from the crowd by finding that elusive “wow factor.”

Book coaching with Andy here .

Sowa is currently an MBA Candidate at Stanford GSB where she is also the Student Body Co-President. Before GSB, she was a teacher focused on essay writing and storytelling. She holds a BA in Economics, Psychology, and Creative Writing from Northwestern University, through which she learned how to help people tell their truest stories. As a coach, Sowa is skilled at helping applicants frame their diverse experiences in a way that resonates with admissions committees.

Book coaching with Sowa here .

Danielle D.

Danielle earned her MBA and MA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and Graduate School of Education. At the GSB, she was the Lead Editor of Nondisclosure , its student magazine, and an Arbuckle Fellow. Danielle was accepted into seven of the top ten business schools. Her expertise lies in MBA essays, more specifically advising on story, brand, cohesion, and clarity.

Book a package with Danielle for individualized support on your MBA application essays.

• MBA Essay Set - 2 Rounds of Feedback : This package is perfect for applicants who know what story they want to tell and want support in improving their structure and overall message.
• MBA Essay Support - All-Inclusive : For more comprehensive guidance on your essays, Danielle will work with you from ideation to completion, ensuring that you have effectively told your story to the admissions committee.

Camden studied Economics and Spanish as an undergraduate at Brigham Young University and is now an MBA Candidate at Harvard Business School. HBS was the only program to which he applied, and was admitted in the first round. Camden has an intimate and sophisticated understanding of the HBS application process, especially the essays, recommendations, and interviews. He has outstanding writing skills and specializes in helping applicants leverage self-awareness to discover their innermost values and goals.

Camden’s HBS Essay Review Package : If you already have a draft of your HBS essay and are looking for guidance, book this package with Camden. He’ll provide detailed feedback on the topic, theme, story selection, and structure.

Arushi studied Management Information Systems, Creative Writing, and Educational Psychology in her undergrad at UT Austin and was accepted into both Harvard and Stanford’s deferred MBA programs. In a few years, she’ll matriculate at the latter where she’ll also be pursuing an MA in Education. Arushi has reviewed 100+ essays and papers and went through dozens of iterations in her own application essay process. She knows what it takes to shine and works with applicants to uncover the “through lines” that connect their different experiences and goals.

Telling Your MBA Story Through Essay Writing : Book this package with Arushi to get help with drafting, reviewing, and refining your MBA essays. From the preliminary brainstorm to final edits, Arushi will ensure you’re telling a story that’s cohesive across the different parts of your application.

Nikki is a Harvard Business School MBA with a longstanding passion for storytelling. Her professional career began at Bain & Company. She then transitioned into economic development and climate change mitigation before moving into climate-tech startups. Nikki’s key coaching strength is in helping applicants craft, articulate, and crystalize their personal stories and then weaving that story across the different parts of the application. She pushes candidates to reflect, self-discover, brainstorm, and create an authentic narrative.

Harvard Business School Essay Package : Whether you’re starting from scratch on the HBS essay or have a draft, Nikki’s package will help you tackle Harvard’s broad and challenging essay prompt.

Erik holds a BA from Columbia University and an MBA from Stanford’s GSB. His professional work experience is in EV, Space, and Consulting. As an MBA admissions coach, his specialty is in working with applicants to translate their different experiences into a narrative that stands out and makes sense to admissions officers. He provides essay strategies that are customized to individual writing styles in a structured and organized process.

Book coaching with Erik here .

Sarah graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Economics and moved overseas to work for an off-grid solar company. She then transitioned into product management before returning to Stanford for her MBA. Sarah now runs her own impact-focused business, which she founded during business school. With a background in customer research and storytelling, Sarah is an expert at helping applicants find and share their unique stories. She is a whizz on all things essay-related and would love to help you craft yours.

Book coaching with Sarah here .

Regardless of where you are in the essay writing process, these coaches will help you make sure that what you submit is as great as it can possibly be. They have years of experience and an unrivaled wealth of knowledge. Browse all of our world-class MBA admissions coaches here .

Here are a few other resources you may find helpful:

The Ultimate M7 MBA Essay Guide

• A Guide to the HBS Essay
• What Matters Most In Writing the GSB Essays
• A Guide to the Booth Essays

How to Nail Your Kellogg MBA Application Essays

• How to Answer the "Why an MBA?" Essay Question
• How to Nail the NYU Stern "Pick 6" MBA Essay
• MBA Essay Too Long? Here's How to Fix It.

Leland provides you with the content, community, and coaching that you need to get into your dream MBA program and accomplish other ambitious goals. Sign up today to gain access to additional free resources, community events, small group classes, world-class coaching, and more.

Browse hundreds of expert coaches

Leland coaches have helped thousands of people achieve their goals. A dedicated mentor can make all the difference.

Browse Related Articles

March 12, 2024

How to Write a Powerful MBA Essay—With Examples

The MBA essay is critical to your business school application. Read our guide to writing the perfect MBA essay, with successful admit examples.

May 4, 2023

Why ChatGPT Can’t Write Your Personal Statement

While ChatGPT is multifaceted, there is a compelling argument against using AI for your personal statements. Here is one expert's take on the revolutionary technology and application essays.

February 27, 2023

Craft a Powerful Essay for Stanford GSB: What Matters Most & Why?

Ben L., a GSB MBA, expert coach, and pro writer, outlines his top advice for nailing the challenging and broad Stanford essay prompt, to help you get into one of the most prestigious MBA programs in the world.

January 9, 2024

A Guide to the Columbia Business School Essays (2023-2024)

Coach Melanie E. walks you through each Columbia Business School essay prompt for the 2023-2024 cycle, breaking down what adcoms are looking for and offering expert advice on how to nail your responses.

March 1, 2024

UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA Essays Guide: Overview, Tips & Examples

Get ready to ace your UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA application with this comprehensive essay guide.

March 2, 2024

Georgetown McDonough MBA Essays Guide: Overview, Tips & Examples

Looking to ace your Georgetown McDonough MBA essays? Our comprehensive guide provides an overview, valuable tips, and real examples to help you craft compelling and impactful essays that will set you apart from the competition.

UW Foster MBA Essays Guide: Overview, Tips & Examples

Learn everything you need to know about writing impactful UW Foster MBA essays with our comprehensive guide.

Everything you need to know to write a killer essay for your M7 MBA application, including prompts, deadlines, expert advice, coach recommendations, additional free resources, and more.

Top 25 MBA Admissions Coaches for Round 3/Deferred Application Deadlines (2023)

With R3/deferred deadlines right around the corner, now is the time to find a coach to help you finish up those essays, polish your resume, and perform a final review.

Tips and tricks that will help you craft the best application essays possible and get admitted into Kellogg.

A Guide to the Wharton MBA Essays

Tips and tricks to writing a stand-out essay for your Wharton MBA application, including an overview of the questions, expert advice, and how to get started.

January 28, 2024

How to Nail Your Stanford GSB Short Answer Questions

Learn how to stand out with your Stanford GSB short answer questions.

Essay Editing Service

Get accepted at your dream school.

Expert essay editors polish your writing to reflect the work you put into it. Professional college essay editing will:

• Make sure that your essay will get read
• Make sure you'll leave a positive impression
• Make you stand out from your peers

• College Essay Editing & Coaching

Professional editors

12 hour turnaround, 100% happiness guarantee.

College Essay Editing Services

Our college essay editing package.

The first draft is always the hardest. Work with an admissions essay coach who will give you practical, step-by-step guidance on how to develop your essay and make your story come alive.

Your coach will…

• Read your profile
• Review your essay draft
• Share feedback to help you refine your topic, structure, and voice
• Leave in-text feedback and suggestions
• Proofread for grammar and punctuation
• Give you a roadmap to guide your revisions

We’ll help you show your best traits to college admissions officers and prove that you’re college-ready! With help from our essay coaches, you’ll improve your chances of getting accepted – so what are you waiting for?

Meet Scribbr's essay experts

At Scribbr, you can rest assured that only the best editors will work on your college essay.

All our 800+ editors have passed the challenging Scribbr Academy, which has a passing rate of only 2%.

We handpick your college essay editor on several criteria, including field of study.

Janice holds a PhD in German studies from Duke University. As a former professor, she has helped many students refine their application essays for competitive degree programs and study-abroad programs. Today, she helps students improve their writing skills at Scribbr. In her spare time, when she's not writing or editing, she enjoys working on the small family farm that she owns and operates.

Alexandra earned an Erasmus Mundus MA in cultural narratives and a BA in English from Emory University. As a teacher, editor, and writing coach, she has spent nearly a decade helping students find their voice and express their ideas.

Originally from Maryland, Amy headed west to attend Scripps College in California, where she earned a bachelor's degree in music and gender studies. In 2009, she began working for the admissions office of her alma mater, where she focused on reviewing applications and interviewing prospective students.

“Extremely professional and timely”

Extremely professional and timely! Regis did an amazing job bringing my admission essay to life. It went from overly wordy and unclear to very professional and concise. If I don’t get into my desired program, it won’t be because of my essay.

How it works

Get quality feedback in 4 easy steps, upload your college essay.

Upload your college essay , and tell us a little about yourself. We’ll match you with a certified college essay coach.

Sit back and relax

Your coach will edit your essay and share in-depth advice to help you strengthen your structure, content, and narrative.

Receive your feedback

We’ll send back your fully edited essay. Applying to college is nerve-racking, but at Scribbr you never have to wait for long.

Revise and submit your essay

Thanks to your coach’s feedback, you’ll feel clear about the next steps and confident when you hit “send” on your application.

Scribbr & academic integrity

Scribbr is committed to protecting academic integrity. Our proofreading service, our AI writing tools ( plagiarism checker , paraphrasing tool , grammar checker , summarizer,  Citation Generator ) as well as our free Knowledge Base content are designed to help students produce quality academic papers.

We make every effort to prevent our software from being used for fraudulent or manipulative purposes.

Your questions, answered.

We know that waiting for feedback can be nerve-racking. If you select our faster deadline option, you’ll hear from your personal statement editor in 12 hours or less – including on weekends and holidays. 

We never engage in rewriting or adding text at Scribbr. Our personal statement editors will make grammatical corrections and leave suggestions using Word’s track changes and commenting feature. However, we always make sure that your perspective and voice remain front and center in your essay.

We know that waiting for feedback can be nerve-racking. If you select our faster deadline option, you’ll hear from your college essay coach in 12 hours or less – including on weekends and holidays.

Yes. All our college essay coaches are subject-matter experts and can help you make decisions regarding the content of your essay. Your coach will help you make a strong case for your admission.

Our essay coaches will provide feedback on…

• Whether your topic is appropriate and how to strengthen it
• Whether your essay demonstrates positive traits and authenticity
• Whether the narrative flows smoothly and grabs the reader’s attention
• How to dig deeper and show self-reflection and insight
• What content is missing and should be added
• What content is weak and should be removed
• How to shorten your essay to meet a word count limit

However, we will never…

• Write or rewrite content for you
• Research or fact-check your essay’s content

If you have any questions, feel free to email [email protected].

Yes! Our essay coaches can help you reduce your word count by up to 25%. You can choose to receive this feedback through direct edits or suggestions in comments – just select your choice when you upload your essay.

When you submit your essay to our College Essay Editing & Coaching service, you’ll be asked to indicate what type of content feedback you would like to receive. You can choose from three options:

Dig deep and challenge me

Give me the standard treatment

Tread lightly

Whichever option you choose, you’ll receive in-depth content feedback from your essay coach. However, the type of feedback your essay coach provides may differ, and the option you should choose depends on what outcome you want from the review. You can always elaborate on what type of feedback you want in your note to your essay coach.

Learn more about the three options below.

Choose from three options

If you choose this option, we’ll challenge you to write the best possible essay – no content suggestions are off-limits, including reorienting your topic or reframing your story. Students who choose this option aren’t afraid to go back to the drawing board if it’ll increase their chances of getting accepted. You may have to roll up your sleeves and do some more work on your essay, but your essay will be much stronger because of it.

Select this option if your priority is to have the best possible essay, even if it requires some extra work on your side.

We’ll strike a balance between “dig deep and challenge me” and “tread lightly.” We may suggest changes to your structure and narrative, including removing weak content, elaborating on certain sections, and adding content to strengthen your arguments. You may have to rework sentences and paragraphs, but we won’t suggest major content changes.

With this option, we’ll focus on improving your essay in a way that requires little additional work from you. We’ll provide you with targeted suggestions for how to refine your essay’s structure and narrative, but we will work within your current structure and topic. While you may have to make a few tweaks here and there, we’ll aim to return you a polished draft that’s ready to be submitted to your chosen colleges.

Select this option if you are fairly satisfied with your essay and don’t want to make major changes or if you have limited time to revise.

At Scribbr, we promise to make every customer 100% happy with the service we offer. Our philosophy: Your complaint is always justified – no denial, no doubts.

Our customer support team is here to find the solution that helps you the most, whether that’s a free new edit or a refund for the service.

Get in touch, with real people

We answer your questions quickly and personally from 9:00 to 23:00 CET

• Start live chat
• Email [email protected]
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Knowledge Base

Finish your college essay with scribbr’s top-rated guides.

College Essay

How to Write a College Essay

What colleges look for in an essay, choosing your college essay topic, college essay format & structure.

EssayGPT is the most comprehensive AI essay-writing solution

A s academic workloads grow heavier, the need for writing assistance has never been greater. While previous AI essay tools only automated draft creation, EssayGPT is different.

It offers a fully holistic solution through its innovative suite of tools.

This guide will explore EssayGPT’s impressive capabilities and features and how they revolutionize the essay writing experience. Read on!

What is EssayGPT?

EssayGPT is a cutting-edge AI platform that offers a suite of AI essay tools designed to enhance the essay writing experience.

This includes Generator, Writer, and ScholarChat, catering to users’ diverse needs, from generating high-quality essays and conducting in-depth research to editing and polishing their written works. 

Now, let’s dive into each tool’s capabilities!

Generator (AI essay generator)

EssayGPT’s Generator allows users to create high-quality, plagiarism-free essays step-by-step effortlessly. 

The process begins by simply inputting the desired essay topic and any specific keywords or details. You can either let the tool directly generate the essay or opt for more detailed customization.

This could include picking headings, configuring the essay’s outline, and more.

Once everything is ready, Generator taps into its vast knowledge base and advanced natural language processing techniques to generate a comprehensive and well-structured final draft.

Users can save valuable time and effort, confident in the knowledge that their essays will be coherent, well-organized, and thoughtfully presented.

Writer (Workspace for writing and editing essays)

EssayGPT’s Writer offers users an integrated environment to refine their content, structure, and style.

Its research mode sets it apart. It allows users to effortlessly find relevant publications and citations to include in their essays. 

In addition, Writer simplifies the process of incorporating citations by automatically generating in-text citations in various styles such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

This helps users maintain academic integrity and adhere to proper citation practices effortlessly.

Furthermore, the tool provides an exceptional autocomplete feature. It offers suggestions and predictive text as users type, helping to speed up the writing process and provide inspiration.

Users can effortlessly find the right words, phrases, and expressions to articulate their ideas effectively.

And that’s not all. Users can activate a prompt bar with many options by typing “//” in the document.

This includes creating outlines, brainstorming ideas, shortening or expanding content, rewriting sections, and more. 

Finally, users can conveniently check their essays for any potential instances of plagiarism or grammar mistakes, ensuring the integrity and quality of their work. 

ScholarChat (AI research assistant chatbot)

ScholarChat boasts access to an extensive database of over 200 million papers, enabling users to ask questions and receive science-based answers backed by credible research. 

This invaluable tool enhances the research process by providing users with accurate and reliable information to strengthen their arguments. 

Whether it’s seeking evidence or clarifying complex concepts, ScholarChat empowers users with the knowledge needed to produce well-informed and compelling essays.

More advantages of using EssayGPT

Plagiarism-free essay writing.

EssayGPT guarantees to produce plagiarism-free essays. The AI algorithms and extensive training behind EssayGPT ensure that the generated content is original and unique. 

This gives students, academics, and professionals confidence in submitting their work without the risk of being flagged for academic dishonesty.

Support various essay types

EssayGPT can accommodate various types of essays.

Whether it’s a persuasive essay, argumentative essay, research paper, literary analysis, or any other type, EssayGPT’s AI essay tools can help generate content that aligns with each type’s specific requirements.

Multilingual capabilities

With EssayGPT, you can generate and write essays in 50+ languages. This feature benefits students, academics, and professionals who are non-native English speakers or are required to write in languages other than English. 

In-text citations

EssayGPT’s AI essay tools also provide in-text citation support, allowing users to reference and cite sources within their essays properly. 

The tool creates in-text citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, or other citation styles, allowing users to confidently incorporate external sources, strengthen their arguments, and acknowledge the work of other scholars.

Comprehensive research support

EssayGPT empowers users to conduct thorough research, strengthen their arguments with reliable sources, and ensure the accuracy and validity of their essays.

This advantage simplifies the information-gathering process and contributes to the overall quality and academic rigor of the written work produced using EssayGPT.

Who can benefit from EssayGPT?

The comprehensive range of features EssayGPT provides makes it an exceptional tool for students, academics, and professionals.

• Save time and effort in generating essay drafts to manage busy schedules.
• Automatically add citations and bibliographies in essays and scholarly papers.
• Access 24/7 research help from ScholarChat for complex topics. 
• Advise students globally by utilizing an always-on research assistant like ScholarChat.
• Generate sample essays to use as teaching materials or for discussion in the classroom.
• Efficiently craft high-quality materials such as journal articles and literature reviews.
• Find and incorporate relevant citations with ease.

Researchers:

• Conduct in-depth research by accessing decades of studies.
• Get fresh perspectives to aid in exploring new research directions.

How to use EssayGPT?

Visit the EssayGPT platform and choose the AI essay tool that aligns with your specific needs. Options may include Generator, Writer, or ScholarChat.

For Generator

• Input essay topic and keyword.
• Customize settings if needed (word count, language option, etc).
• Choose or customize the title and outline.
• Let the generator create a draft.
• Review and refine the generated content.
• Import or create an essay document.
• Enhance style, structure, and format.
• Utilize research mode for publications and citations.
• Add citations with an automatic in-text feature.
• Revise and finalize the essay.

For ScholarChat

• Ask research questions or seek clarifications.
• Receive science-based answers from the extensive database.

Apart from its core platform, EssayGPT also has GPTs for users to explore its tool. In addition to the GPT models, it has launched a free tool to grant users increased accessibility to the features and capabilities offered by EssayGPT by visiting essaygpt.io .  

Final thoughts

In summary, EssayGPT is an innovative AI platform that offers a suite of powerful essay tools.

With its impressive features, EssayGPT revolutionizes the essay writing experience, saving time, improving research rigor, and facilitating the creation of outstanding essays.

It's your chance to make essay writing a breeze with EssayGPT!

Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our  Twitter  or  Facebook .

Editors' Recommendations:

EssayAI: Top undetectable AI essay generator for quality writing

Essaywriter is the best ai writer to help you write better essays.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. However, our opinions, reviews, and other editorial content are not influenced by the sponsorship and remain objective .

The post EssayGPT is the most comprehensive AI essay-writing solution appeared first on KnowTechie .