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CiteTrue 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.

The short answer

Cheaper paid plan
CiteTrue — $5.99/mo vs $12/mo for Grammarly
Free plan
Both have one
Public API
CiteTrue has one; not confirmed by us for Grammarly
Higher Trust score
Grammarly — 94 vs 80 for CiteTrue
Best fit
CiteTrue: Writers and researchers checking citations added by an AI drafting tool · Grammarly: Anyone writing in a browser, Word or email who wants corrections in place

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

CiteTrueChecks citations against academic databases to catch fabricated or inaccurate references, including ones made up by AI.GrammarlyGrammar, tone and rewriting help inside every app

Side by side

FactCiteTrueGrammarly
CategoryResearch & Citation ToolsGrammar & Proofreading
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at$5.99/mo$12/mo
Public APIYesNot confirmed
Trust score80 / 10094 / 100
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Chrome extension, APIWeb, Chrome extension, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
CompanyDocumentMind LLCSuperhuman
Launched—2009
Last verifiedOct 15, 2026Oct 16, 2026

What our research says

CiteTrue

CiteTrue targets a specific failure mode of AI writing tools, invented citations that look real but don't exist or don't say what's claimed, by checking each reference field against academic databases. Shipping it as a Chrome extension and API alongside the web app makes it easier to slot into an existing writing workflow than a check-one-document-at-a-time tool.

Pros

  • Free tier offers 30 checks a day with no account cost
  • Available as web, Chrome extension, Mac app, API, and MCP server
  • Suggests replacement citations on paid tiers, not just flags

Cons

  • Credits now also feed an 'AI Humanizer' and paper-drafting tools, an odd mix for an academic-integrity checker
  • Paid tiers scale quickly in price for higher-volume checking, up to $47.99/month
  • Accuracy depends on database coverage, which isn't detailed publicly

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 CiteTrue if you need

  • Writers and researchers checking citations added by an AI drafting tool
  • Anyone wanting a quick daily citation sanity-check without paying
  • Developers wanting citation verification via API or MCP inside another tool

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

CiteTrue vs Grammarly: the questions people ask

Is CiteTrue cheaper than Grammarly?

On published entry prices, CiteTrue starts lower — $5.99/mo against $12/mo for Grammarly. Entry price is the lowest paid plan as we last verified it; what each plan includes differs.

Does CiteTrue or Grammarly have a free tier?

Both: CiteTrue has a free tier, and Grammarly has a free tier.

Which has a public API, CiteTrue or Grammarly?

CiteTrue ships a public API, as of our last verification. A public API for Grammarly is not confirmed by us — check its developer docs before you plan an integration.

More comparisons

All CiteTrue alternatives →Browse all Research & Citation Tools →