Hemingway Editor Review: Features, Pricing & Alternatives

What is Hemingway Editor?

Hemingway Editor is a readability tool that shows you, at a glance, what makes your writing hard to follow. Paste in text and it highlights long and very long sentences, adverbs, passive voice and complex words in different colours, and gives the piece a readability grade. The aim is bold, clear writing, in the spirit of its namesake.

It has been available since 2013 and is made by Boondoggle Studio, LLC. The free web editor still covers the classic highlights, while Hemingway Editor Plus is a subscription that adds an advanced grammar checker and AI suggestions that fix wordy sentences, adjust tone and change length. A one-off desktop app, now called Hemingway Editor Classic, remains available for offline use without AI.

Hemingway’s strength is focus. It does not try to be a full writing suite; it trains you to cut clutter and shorten sentences. That makes it popular with bloggers, marketers, technical writers and students, and a good final pass before publishing. Its simple rules can over-flag deliberate style, so it works best as a guide rather than a strict judge.

Key features of Hemingway Editor

• Readability gradeScores your text by the reading level needed to follow it, so you can target a wider audience.
• Colour-coded highlightsMarks hard and very hard sentences, adverbs, passive voice and words with simpler alternatives.
• AI sentence fixes (Plus)Rewrites wordy or unclear sentences in one click, with monthly AI rewrite allowances.
• Tone and length controls (Plus)Make text shorter, longer, more confident, friendly, casual, formal or persuasive.
• Advanced grammar checker (Plus)Catches spelling, grammar and punctuation errors beyond the free highlights.
• Classic desktop appOffline editor for Mac and Windows with import from Word and export to HTML, Markdown, PDF and Word.

Who is Hemingway Editor best for?

• Bloggers and content marketers who want punchy, readable articles.
• Technical and business writers who need plain-English documents and instructions.
• Students who want to tighten essays and learn to write concisely.
• Writers who prefer offline tools and a one-off purchase instead of a subscription.

Popular ways to use Hemingway Editor

• Final edit: run a blog post through Hemingway to shorten long sentences before publishing.
• Plain-language documents: lower the readability grade of policies, guides or instructions.
• Email clarity: make important emails shorter and more direct.
• Tone changes: use Plus to make a draft more formal or more friendly.
• Offline drafting: write and format in the Classic desktop app without an internet connection.

Hemingway Editor pricing (October 2026)

Hemingway Editor Plus offers a 2-week free trial with no credit card. Monthly billing costs more than the yearly rates shown; invoice and wire payment are available for teams.

Hemingway Editor pros and cons

How to get started with Hemingway Editor

1. Open hemingwayapp.com and paste your text into the editor.
2. Check the readability grade in the sidebar.
3. Fix red (very hard) sentences first, then yellow ones.
4. Replace adverbs and passive voice where it improves clarity.
5. Start the free Plus trial if you want AI rewrites and grammar checks.

Tips to get better results from Hemingway Editor

• Aim for a readability grade that suits your audience rather than the lowest possible score.
• Ignore highlights that remove necessary nuance; it is a guide, not a rulebook.
• Use Write mode to draft without distractions, then switch to Edit mode.
• Pair it with a full grammar checker if you use only the free version.

Hemingway Editor vs alternatives

Grammarly and ProWritingAid cover grammar, style and tone in far more depth and work across more apps. LanguageTool adds strong multilingual support. Hemingway is narrower but faster to understand.

For rewriting sentences, Wordtune and QuillBot offer more variety, while ChatGPT can simplify text on request. Hemingway’s advantage is its visual, rule-based feedback that teaches you to write clearly. See all best AI writing tools.

Our verdict: is Hemingway Editor worth it?

Hemingway Editor FAQs

Pricing and features change often. Details on this page were last reviewed in October 2026. Always confirm current plans on the official Hemingway Editor website.