Essay Writing Apps of 2019
For students and busy professionals, writing essays can be a huge time commitment. Between doing research, crafting an outline, drafting content, editing and proofreading, a single essay assignment can easily take 10 or more hours to complete. Technology has begun providing solutions to make the essay writing process more efficient. In recent years, a new genre of apps specifically designed for essay writing have emerged to help users complete assignments more quickly and easily. This article explores some of the top essay writing apps available in 2019 and how they can help streamline your writing process.
Anthropic – Anthropic is one of the most full-featured essay writing apps on the market. It has powerful AI writing assistance as well as organization and planning tools built right in. Users can get help with brainstorming topics, creating outlines, drafting content for each section, and polishing their writing. The app automatically formats papers in common citation styles like APA and MLA. Anthropic also has sentence-level rewriting to help users strengthen phrasing and flow. A standout feature is the ability to add human-written examples on any topic to help illustrate key points. Pricing starts at $6.99 per month for basic access and scales up based on advanced features like plagiarism checking. Anthropic is very accessible across devices with web, iOS, and Android versions.
Grammarly – For basic formatting, spelling, grammar and style checks, Grammarly remains one of the most popular options. The free desktop and browser extensions catch issues while you type in any application. Paid tiers, starting at $29.95 per year, unlock additional checks for clarity, engagement and delivery. Grammarly’s digital writing assistant focuses more on line edits than higher-level organization or content creation compared to some other apps. It remains extremely versatile by integrating with any productivity or writing software to catch errors users may miss. Grammarly is also available as a mobile app for on-the-go editing and feedback.
QuillBot – QuillBot is an AI-powered paraphrasing tool designed to help users rewrite existing text into their own words while maintaining the original meaning. This is extremely useful for avoiding plagiarism when incorporating research sources into essays and papers. The app and browser extensions analyze content to generate grammatically correct paraphrases with just a click. Pricing starts free with 300 words per month, then ranges from $8-14 based on word count allowances. QuillBot shines for saving time rephrasing versus manually rewriting passages, but shouldn’t fully replace independently developing arguments and ideas. It works best in conjunction with one’s own writing and analysis abilities.
PaperRater – PaperRater analyzes writing skills based on a submitted text sample. Using AI and natural language processing, it evaluates coherence, conciseness, grammar/spelling, organization, style, transitions and vocabulary to generate a personalized diagnostic report. Highlights include statistically comparing language features to benchmarks and outlining specific areas of strength and improvement. While it can’t actually rewrite content, PaperRater helps pinpoint where to target edits by identifying writing weaknesses. The basic analysis is free with a 100-word limit, or users can upgrade to a premium monthly/annual plan for unlimited submissions. It provides an objective second opinion on stylistic qualities readers may unconsciously notice.
Ephorus – Going beyond basic writing checks, Ephorus seamlessly integrates with Google Docs as a writing assistant. It helps develop original content through guided brainstorming and outlining tools. The AI analyzes existing paper structure to recommend improvements or flag potential issues. Ephorus also identifies matching research sources from databases like JSTOR and compares paraphrasing to source materials to avoid accidental plagiarism. Pricing starts at $9.99 per month but additional tools like citation management are available for higher tiers. This creates a fully-immersive writing environment within Google Docs that supports the entire iterative workflow.
PaperAssist – For complete essay automation, PaperAssist generates sample content on any assigned topic from a basic prompt or guidelines. It can recognize specific assignment instructions and regurgitate models tailored to the given parameters. While this saves enormous time versus independent writing, students must be extremely careful not to directly submit AI-generated text as their own work. PaperAssist’s usefulness therefore depends entirely on how users integrate and modify examples into distinct final submissions. Still, it proves a helpful starting point for initial brainstorming or outlining ideas when time is limited. Pricing is $7.99 monthly or $59.99 annually.
Novel – Novel stands out from other essay assistants for its emphasis on higher-level writing skills. It helps evaluate logic, structure and argumentation in addition to grammar mechanics. Novel reads submissions and generates reports pinpointing weaknesses in thesis development, evidence quality, counterargument rebuttals and more. Users can then focus revisions on strengthening skeletal reasoning before turning to line-level edits. The app provides valuable rhetorical guidance for composing more persuasive, eloquent pieces. While not writing content itself, Novel teaches transferable critical thinking and composition strategies. Essay samples are also available for analyzing structure. Plans start at $25/month or $200/year with student discounts.
The above apps represent some of the top options available for assisting with essay writing tasks in 2019. While technology can help streamline the process, AI should augment—not replace—independent critical thinking. Using multiple tools provides a complete solution spanning brainstorming, research, outlining, drafting, formatting and revisions. Combining essay assistant apps with one’s own analysis and language skills maximizes quality outputs within efficient timeframes. With practice integrating AI guidance, students and professionals can write stronger, more polished papers to advance careers and education. Essay writing technology continues advancing rapidly, so exploring all available resources helps everyone succeed with assignments.
Andrew Stroud