Let’s be honest: Grammarly is a deep, cloud-based grammar and writing assistant — and for exhaustive grammar checking across every device it’s still excellent. Shadowtype is a different thing. If what you want is private, local, one-time inline writing help — predictive ghost-text completion plus on-device rewrite — without sending your text to the cloud, paying monthly, or signing in, this is the alternative for you. It is not a full replacement for Grammarly’s grammar engine or its cross-platform reach, and we’ll say exactly where Grammarly still wins.
Two different categories. Shadowtype wins on privacy, offline use, true inline completion, and one-time pricing. Grammarly wins on deep grammar checking and cross-platform reach — and we mark those rows plainly.
| Capability | Shadowtype | Grammarly |
|---|---|---|
| Inline ghost-text autocomplete | Yes | Deprecated |
| Works fully offline | Yes | No |
| Text stays on device | Yes | Cloud-processed |
| No account required | Yes | Sign-in required |
| On-device selection rewrite | Yes | Cloud |
| Deep grammar & style checking | Basic | Yes |
| Cross-platform (Win / iOS / Android / web) | Mac only | Yes |
| Pricing | $79 once | $30 / mo · ~$144 / yr |
Shadowtype runs 100% on-device with llama.cpp and Metal. Your keystrokes are never uploaded, there’s zero telemetry, and no account. Grammarly, by default, sends your text to the cloud for analysis and requires sign-in.
A $79 one-time license (Founders from $39) plus a free tier — versus Grammarly Pro at $30/month, roughly $144/year, recurring for as long as you use it. Own it, don’t rent it.
Shadowtype predicts your next words as ghost text in any app — Tab accepts a word, ⌥Tab a whole line — plus on-device selection rewrite with ⌥⌘K (improve, shorten, formal, casual, fix grammar, summarize). Grammarly deprecated inline autocomplete and works reactively instead.
Download Shadowtype free, accept your first word with Tab, and upgrade once — never monthly, never to the cloud.
