Looking for something to “ginger up” your writing?
Why not give Ginger software a try.
Ginger is a grammar checker that gives your writing extra juice and punches it in the appropriate places to make it sound just right.
But hey, I’m not a Ginger software salesman; so, let me give you both the Pros and Cons before I start going deeper into the review.
Ginger Pros
Great Tool for Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate English Learners: The Software—which is based on natural language processing—makes it easy to learn how to write fluently for non-native English speakers and pre-Intermediate and intermediate English writing students.
Excellent Paraphrasing Tool: equipped with synonym and idiom suggestions, the tool proves to be a helpful instrument that helps users to learn how to easily rephrase bland and dull sentences.
Handy Translations: The translation tool is more than convenient when you want to communicate with global audiences, some of which do not speak English. With 40 languages available, academicians or public relations teams can draft a report or statement and use the tool to translate it to various languages.
Can Read Your Texts Aloud: The software has a text reading feature that vocalizes your text. This feature helps you to learn to speak with a good natural accent. It also helps you hear just how good or dumb your writing sounds.
Ginger Cons
Less writing style checks: Ginger lags behind Grammarly and ProWritingAid when the amount of writing style checks is considered.
Translation in Some Languages is Poor: There have been complaints by people who are fluent in some of the 40 languages that the tool is just as basic as Google translate. Google translate isn’t bad, but I have seen a couple of tutors say it’s not an adequate tool.
No Web Editor: Not a massive let-down; still, a web editor is often convenient when you’re using a browser and want to check some text real fast.
With Grammarly and ProWritingAid, checking text using the web is convenient because it only takes a switching of tabs.
It Offers No MacOS support: Although the Ginger software seamlessly integrates with web browsers like Chrome and Safari and has Windows Desktop and mobile apps (Android and iOS), it has no dedicated app for macOS.
Quick Overview
If you know the best grammar checkers available now, you probably know Grammarly and ProWritingAid.
In this article, I have not made an in-depth comparison of Ginger with its competition, but I have made a comparison with ProWritingAid in its review article, and I have rated it against other Grammarly alternatives.
What Is It?
Ginger Software is a grammar checker that helps you write better and produce text that oozes mastery and professionalism.
It has features that handle grammar, punctuation, and spell checks. These features automatically catch misused words and grammar mistakes and offer rectifications for such errors.
The ginger Premium version comes with a lot of other tools. Apart from grammar and spelling checking, Ginger Software also has a feature that rephrases sentences to help the writer deal with sticky, bland, and boring sentences.
Plus, the tool is equipped with a dictionary which helps check whether the words and phrases used in a sentence or paragraph are contextually appropriate.
Unlike most of its competitors, Ginger Software is, by nature, an excellent tool for users who speak English as a second language (or third, even fourth). The grammar checking tool can translate text to more than 40 languages.
You can find more about the features that I just introduced in the features section of this article. Or visit the Ginger features page.
Who Is It for?
Ginger software is for bloggers, authors, small business owners, schools, online English students, people who have dyslexia, and pretty much anybody who wants their writing to be precise and neat.
Tip: If you are an Online English course owner or tutor, you could try to negotiate with Ginger to give you exclusive discount coupons for your students. In that way, you’re getting paid for marketing their product (discounts for your students), and you are making your course more for people who like Ginger.
How Much Does Ginger Cost?
Apart from its paid versions, Ginger offers a free version that is more versatile than free packages offered by its competitors—the free version is available on more platforms than other grammar checkers.
Although Ginger already costs less than most of its competition, they offer discounts now and then. At the time of publishing, Ginger had slashed pricing on most of its plans. Here’s how the plans cost before and after the discounts.
- The monthly pricing had been discounted from $29.96 to $20.97.
- The Annual plan had been lowered from $12.48 to $7.49
- The Two Year package was at $6.66 from $9.99
If you buy one of the plans but aren’t completely satisfied with the software, Ginger offers a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Is Ginger better than Grammarly?
Ginger is an excellent tool, no doubt—a great Grammarly alternative.
But…
It fails to outdo Grammarly on many fronts: speed, comprehensive advanced reports, versatility, etc.
However, if you are a fiction writer, Ginger will offer you better checks than both Grammarly and ProWritingAid.
Plus, I feel like Ginger’s desktop app is more ‘app like’ than Grammarly’s—Grammarly’s desktop app looks just like its web editor.
Is Ginger Premium Worth It?
Before I started answering this question, I looked at the two-year plan and I thought,
“At $6.66 a month, that’s a steal.”
It is a considerable bargain, in fact, only a first-grade cheapskate would consider this premium package to be nothing but cheap.
So, yes, the Premium plan is worth it.
Will Ginger Help Improve My Writing Skills?
Most definitely.
Most of Ginger’s features have been designed to help you polish your English (both written and spoken).
The Grammar checks and sentence rephrasing suggestions will make you aware of common mistakes that you frequently and blindly commit. In no time, you will be advertently using efficient words and expressions in your writing.
Moreover, Ginger won’t just help you write better English; you could improve your Spanish, Dutch, German, French, and other foreign languages.
Is Ginger Software Safe?
Most writers that don’t trust online grammar checkers share one concern: they are always worried about their work getting plagiarized.
With Ginger software, the text never gets stored in their servers. Your writing is sent to Ginger’s servers, analyzed, and sent back to you with the marked parts, suggestions, and reports.
The interaction is strictly between your device and its server; no third-party app, person, or site gets access to your texts.
Once you are done, there are no remnants of your text in Ginger’s servers.
Ginger Software Review
What Ginger Software Integrations Are Available?
As stated earlier, Ginger doesn’t have an app that runs on macOS or an add-in for Mac word processors. You can only use it through web browsers.
However, users with Windows, iOS, and Android devices are well covered. Ginger offers web browser extensions, a Desktop app, an add-in for MS Word, and smartphone keyboards.
Unlike most other grammar checkers, Ginger doesn’t have a web editor.
Ginger Software Desktop App (Windows Only)
Ginger has a simple but effective desktop app (Ginger Page) for windows that simplify the checking process of local files.
The Ginger page has an intuitive sidebar that has tabs for all of the tool’s features. To download this feature, go to the Ginger website and click on the “Ginger For” tab and click on windows.
Web Browser Extensions
Although I’m excited that my Chrome browser is supported by the tool, I’m also frustrated by the fact that Ginger has no extensions for Firefox and Opera.
These browsers are industry leaders, and Ginger should have made an extension for at least one of them.
But, as of now, the grammar checker only has extensions for Chrome and Safari.
Microsoft Office Add-in
For Windows users, Ginger software integrates seamlessly. You just have to know how to install and enable it.
Follow these steps to add and enable Ginger Software to your MS Word.
1. Open the Word application.
2. Go to “File,” then “Option,” then “Add-ins.”
3. Click on the “Manage” drop-down menu (at the bottom) and select “COM Add-ins” (it’s the default option for some)
4. Click “Go” and enable Ginger by marking the box next to the “Ginger” add-in.
Phone Apps
Ginger for Android and iOS phones comes in the form of Ginger pages and smart grammar checking keyboards.
Once you select the Ginger keyboard as the primary input device, it will take over every task requiring text or number inputting. It has a pop-up on the uppermost row of the keyboard that tells how many issues the tool has found and are unresolved.
The app is available on Google Play for free and the Apple app store for $8.99.
Ginger Software Features
The software tool comes with a couple of features that Ginger claims use patent-pending technology.
Ginger software offers four essential editing features: Grammar Checker, English Dictionary, Personal Trainer, and a Sentence Rephraser.
Grammar Checker
What’s a grammar checker without a grammar checking feature?
The grammar checker provides extensive checks for grammar mistakes, English syntax errors, misused words, and punctuation mistakes.
There are a lot of grammatical issues that the tool can flag and offer solutions to. The topics include:
- Subject-verb agreement
- Singular/Plural nouns
- Consecutive nouns
- Misused words
- Contextual spelling
Sentence Rephraser
Ginger has a very effective sentence rephraser that gingers up your text and makes it exciting.
The sentence rephrasing feature offers variations to your sentences. These suggestions are aimed at replacing boring or incorrect words and spicing up your sentences.
It also helps users complete sentence fragments and correct English idioms used in a text.
Whilst you write or edit your text, this feature will suggest synonyms, idioms, and phrases that you can add, thereby enriching the text.
This feature enhances your text and makes the text fluently communicate to the reader.
For bloggers, the richer the texts, the longer a reader will stay on the post or the blog in general.
Translation
The onus of rendering your text from one language to another falls on Ginger Translate. This software translates texts between 40 languages including Spanish, French, German, and Japanese.
With the translation feature, you can write in English and convert the text into another language. The tool makes the text read so natural and seem like a native wrote it.
Personal Trainer
Nowadays, there are a lot of writing courses online. Although I admit that some are helpful, lots are just there to give the tutors some cents.
And most of these courses are not tailor-made for you.
Ginger came up with a “personal trainer,” a tool equipped with tailored lessons to tackle your weak areas.
This tool is designed to prevent you from committing the same errors repeatedly. Ginger’s Personal Trainer observes the recurring mistakes in your text and explains how you can avoid the mistakes in the future.
Text Reader
Ginger incorporated a text-to-speech feature in their grammar checker.
Ginger’s Text Reader feature vocalizes your text aloud using perfect diction and a smooth accent, perfectly matching a native English speaker.
The vocalization of the text is beneficial to both native and non-native English writers and speakers.
For people who speak English as a second language, the tool helps them learn proper pronunciation.
For native English speakers, the tool aids them to easily pick up some zany stuff that they might have included in the text.
Is The Ginger Grammar Checker Right for You?
This question is a very subjective one.
Is Ginger Software good? Definitely. Is it good enough for you? There isn’t a straight answer to this question.
Writing styles and genres differ, so do grammar checkers. Choosing the best grammar checker for you will depend on the checker’s best attributes and your needs.
As I have previously said, if you are a fiction writer, you might prefer Ginger to Grammarly or ProWritingAid. Likewise, if you are in the pre-intermediate or intermediate level of English learning, Ginger will sharpen a lot of your rough edges.
Conclusion
Once again. I have to recommend Ginger software. Not ahead of Grammarly or ProWritingAid, but any other grammar checking software.
With its translations, paraphrasing capabilities, text to voice tool, and grammar and spelling checks, Ginger is probably (8 out 10) going to wow you.
It’s that good.
But, regardless of whether you are going to like this tool or not, one thing’s for sure, you must always remember to treat your writing gingerly.
