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Acurio vs Grammarly

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors. Acurio starts at $24, Grammarly at $12. Both have a free tier.

AcurioChecks every citation in a thesis against the source PDFs and flags which ones the text doesn't actually support.GrammarlyGrammar, tone and rewriting help inside every app

Side by side

FactAcurioGrammarly
CategoryResearch & Citation ToolsGrammar & Proofreading
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$24 one_time$12 month
Public APINoNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Chrome Ext, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
CompanyAcurioSuperhuman
Launched—2009
Last verifiedSep 1, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Acurio

Acurio answers a narrow but real question, does this citation actually say what the thesis claims it says, by reading both documents rather than just checking formatting. It is built for a one-off thesis deadline, not ongoing research work, and the review quality depends on correctly matching quotes to the right page, which is worth spot-checking on a sample before trusting the full report.

Pros

  • Matches citations against the actual source PDF text, not just bibliography formatting
  • Gives a page number and match score per citation instead of a single pass or fail
  • One-time credit pricing instead of a forced subscription

Cons

  • Only useful once you already have finished source PDFs to upload
  • Credits are consumed per thesis, so re-checking after edits costs more
  • No public information on how the match score is calculated

Grammarly

Still the default for catching mistakes inside other people's software, but the free tier has quietly become an AI-prompt meter and the honest price is $30 unless you commit to a full year.

Pros

  • Runs inside the apps people already write in rather than as a separate editor
  • Free tier still covers spelling, grammar and tone detection with no time limit
  • Pro folds in plagiarism and AI-text detection that rivals charge for separately

Cons

  • The $12 headline is the annual rate; paying monthly costs $30
  • Free AI allowance is 100 prompts a month and depletes quickly
  • No public API, so it cannot be embedded in another product
  • Enterprise pricing is not published anywhere on the site

Which one fits

Choose Acurio if you need

  • Students proofing citations before a thesis submission deadline
  • Advisors who want a first pass on citation accuracy before a full read
  • Anyone citing sources in Word, LaTeX, or PDF who wants a page-level match check

Choose Grammarly if you need

  • Anyone writing in a browser, Word or email who wants corrections in place
  • Teams enforcing a house style guide across people who are not writers
  • Non-native English speakers who want fluency rewrites, not just error flags

More comparisons

Browse all Research & Citation Tools →