8 Free and Affordable Online Writing Tools for Students

Writing tools for online college students

All industrial professionals use written communication methods to share business details and information with different team members. These details include emails, instant messaging, and slack data. Any grammatical mistakes or confusion in important business emails can cause dire consequences, such as sales failures or misunderstandings with the boss. This article provides information about different online writing tools that you can employ to improve your writing skills.

Research conducted by the National Association of Universities and Employers in 2021 concluded that 72.7% of employers are looking for candidates with strong written communication skills.

1) Grammarly

This tool assists in checking grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in the content. Unlike other grammar checking tools, Grammarly scans the text and then provides relevant suggestions and corrections. If you use the word “affects” instead of “effects,” it autocorrects and replaces it with the appropriate option. 

You can add either a Grammarly extension to your chrome or install this app on your computer. It is an optimized tool for creating articles online. Furthermore, premium and commercial subscriptions are also available to add additional features to your document.

2) Hemingway

Hemingway tool makes your text more concise. If you write a sentence that contains many words, the application will highlight it in yellow or red. Hemingway also points out errors for passive voice and dialects that make your statements complex and challenging to read. If you tend to use big words, Hemingway recommends shorter and simpler alternatives. The Hemingway network platform is free to use, the desktop application is available for Mac and PC, and the price is $19.99.

3) Reedsy Book Editor 

The Reedsy Book Editor tool enables writers to write, create, and prepare manuscripts for publication in print and electronic formats. It is the first free formatting tool that allows authors to export files compatible with many different e-books and printing services. The Reedsy Book Editor is available to all Reedsy contributors. First, you have to create a free account and go to “My Books.” After creating an account, you can log in to this site and start writing your content.

4) Draft

A draft is an online editor tool, and after installation, it runs in any browser. The draft allows you to save multiple genres of your tasks and compare them to see how your manuscript has changed over time. The draft also facilitates collaboration with writers and editors. When editing a shared document, the draft creates a new copy so that you can review, accept, or reject the changes. Drafts have many advanced features, including audio/video transcription, presentation tools, and automatic simplification to detect and delete unnecessary sentences to sharpen your prose.

5) Grammark

Grammark is a free online writing and editing tool that checks words usage, passive voice, and complex sentences. Remember that minimal transitions in your content make the text hard to read. Grammark gives suggestions to add transitions words like “despite” and “however,” etc. 

Grammark will also check your prose for grammatical errors and random vocabulary. It is best for academic writing. Unlike other online writing grammar tools, Grammark does not mark sentence fragments, comma splicing, or apostrophe errors.

6) OmmWriter 

OmmWriter tool assists you if you are struggling with distractions while writing. The current version of this immersive writing tool has natural-inspired backgrounds and ambient sounds. Users can also select instrument tracks and scenes based on color theory to increase the sense of calmness. OmmWriter provides two field tests that you can use to test your software before purchasing. It is a paid writing tool, and OmmWriter buyers can set their prices.

7) Freedom

Freedom itself is not a writing tool, but it can help you with writing. It blocks websites and applications to protect you from interruptions. Freedom allows you to secure multiple sites or all sites and applications for a specific period. You can set it on a customized schedule or log in at any time. Freedom is a compatible paid tool that optimizes synchronization between devices. If you subscribe for one year, the premium subscription fee is US$2.42 per month with 15 days free trial.

8) Scrivener

Scrivener is a word processor with valuable features for writers. It allows you to create an outline, divide a long manuscript into multiple parts, and write these parts in the desired order—all the research data protected by Scrivener that you can access quickly with the previous writing manuscript. Scrivener is available for macOS, Windows, and iOS. The standard charges are $49 per month, with discounts available for students, faculty, and staff members. These writing tools assist you to learn effectually through online learning sites such as CollegeDegree.Education.