App Showcase: Grammarly
App info
- App name: Grammarly: AI Writing Keyboard
- Onboarding steps: 10
- Paywall type: No Free Trial - Soft Paywall
- Monthly installs: 350,000
- Monthly revenue: $750,000
- App category: productivity
What it does
Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant designed to improve the quality of your writing. It functions both as a smart keyboard that provides real-time grammar, spelling, and tone suggestions in any app, and as a standalone document editor. Users can write, edit, and even use generative AI to draft entire emails or messages from a simple voice command.
Where it shines
Grammarly excels at making complex writing feedback accessible and actionable. The in-editor experience (02:01) is a prime example, where correction cards slide up from the bottom, allowing for quick, one-tap fixes. Another standout moment is the voice-powered AI composer (04:22). A user can dictate a messy, conversational command, and Grammarly transforms it into a polished, well-formatted email (04:27), removing filler words and correcting mistakes along the way. Finally, the Performance score (05:25) gamifies writing by providing a tangible metric for improvement, turning editing into a challenge.
UX highlights
- Live Demos in Onboarding: The initial feature carousel (00:04) uses animated typing to show the app's value in real-time, which is far more compelling than static images.
- Guided Keyboard Setup: The app provides a crucial, step-by-step tutorial (01:22) to navigate iOS settings, tackling the biggest user friction point head-on.
- Document-Centric Home: The home screen (01:53) is a document manager, positioning the app as a writing hub rather than just a passive utility.
- Actionable Correction Cards: Suggestions in the editor (02:02) are presented as clear cards with one-tap 'Accept' buttons, making the editing process fast and efficient.
- Synonym Suggestions: The keyboard offers synonym suggestions directly above the text (00:10), allowing for quick vocabulary improvements without leaving the context of writing.
- Performance Analytics: The detailed 'Performance' report (05:25) offers metrics on readability and vocabulary, giving users data-driven insights into their writing style.
Monetization & growth
Grammarly presents its premium subscription options on a paywall screen (01:11) during onboarding, after demonstrating its core features. The paywall clearly outlines the additional benefits of the premium plan, such as tone detection and sentence clarity, using a simple comparison table. It offers three subscription tiers (Annual, Quarterly, Monthly) and highlights a significant discount ('SAVE 60%') for the annual plan to anchor the user to a higher value option. There is no free trial offered in this flow; it's a direct conversion attempt.
Who it’s for
This app is for anyone who writes on their phone, from students and professionals to casual users who want to sound more polished in emails and social media posts. The document editor and performance metrics appeal to those working on longer-form content, while the keyboard integration serves users who need quick corrections on the go. The generative AI features are for busy individuals looking to save time drafting common communications.
Notes & opportunities
The onboarding is long and requires a full account creation and keyboard setup before a user can access the main app. While this ensures high activation, it could be a point of drop-off for users looking for a quicker start. The app could potentially test a guest mode that allows users to try the document editor with limited features before committing to the full setup process. Additionally, while the suggestion cards are clear, a brief tutorial on how to swipe through them could further reduce any initial learning curve.