Grammarly Review: Is It Legit, and What Happens to Your Writing?

When people ask me whether Grammarly is safe, they rarely mean the grammar. They mean the words. A writing assistant sits inside your emails, documents and browser, so it sees client proposals, contracts, private messages and half-finished ideas. The worry is simple: where does that text go, who can use it, and could it end up training someone's AI?

I'm Lilach Bullock, and after 23 years in marketing I've learned to read a tool's privacy policy before I read its feature list. So this review starts with that worry and answers it from Grammarly's own pages, then covers who runs it, renewal and cancelling. Every point is worded as what its site, terms or privacy policy says.

The worry, answered from Grammarly's own pages

The question people ask	What its pages say	What I'd do
Does it sell my writing?	Its privacy policy says it makes its income when people buy its premium products, not by selling or monetising user content	Take it as a stated commitment and keep an eye on policy updates
Is my text used for advertising?	Its home page says it doesn't provide user content for advertising purposes	Nothing to change
Does it train AI on my text?	Its privacy policy says it uses information to train its AI models, and that you can control whether your content is used through training controls in account settings	Check that setting on day one
Can outside AI firms train on it?	Its home page says it doesn't allow its third-party service providers to train their models on user content	Nothing to change
Who else handles my data?	Its privacy policy names service providers for things like payment processing, AI technology and cloud storage, and says the Superhuman corporate family may access information	Read the provider section if you're in a regulated job
Who owns what I write?	Its terms say you own all right, title and interest in your content, and you grant it a licence to use that content to provide the service	Nothing to change
How is it protected?	Its privacy policy lists encryption, secure network configuration, network segregation and access minimisation	Use a strong password and two-step sign-in
Can I get my data deleted?	Its privacy policy says that, depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct or delete your personal data	Use the request routes it lists, or email [email protected]

Who owns what you write

This is the reassuring part. Grammarly's terms say you own all right, title and interest in your user content, which they define broadly to include text, output, documents and even text shown in an app window. The terms then say you grant a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence so the service can work.

That licence is normal for any cloud tool: it can't suggest a better sentence without processing the sentence. What matters is the limit on it, and the terms describe it as being for providing and improving the service. If your contracts with clients restrict where their material can go, check those first, because that's about your obligations, not Grammarly's.

The AI training switch, and why I'd check it first

Here's the one setting I'd look at before anything else. Grammarly's privacy policy says it uses the information it collects to train its AI models. The same sentence goes on to say you can decide whether your user content is used for that by adjusting the training controls in your account settings.

That's a fair approach, and it's more control than some tools give. But a control only helps if you use it. If you write anything confidential, open your account settings, find the training control and choose the option you're comfortable with. It takes a minute, and it's the single most useful thing you can do after installing it.

Work and school accounts change who's in charge

If your employer or school gives you Grammarly, the picture shifts. Its terms say that if you're an individual using a multi-user account, it'll handle your content and personal information as instructed by the administrator of that account, unless the law says otherwise.

In practice, your organisation's settings and agreements apply, not just your personal choices. If you use a work account, ask your IT or data team how it's configured before you paste in anything sensitive from outside work. And the consumer terms aren't the whole story for larger customers, who usually sign their own enterprise contracts.

Renewal, cancelling and deleting your account

Grammarly's site describes it as free AI writing assistance, so you can start without committing to anything. If you upgrade, read the renewal wording. Its terms say a subscription renews automatically for further periods of the same length as your first one, unless you cancel or decline to renew.

The good news is that its terms say you may cancel at any time, through its Customer Care site or by contacting [email protected]. The less good news is that its terms also say payments are non-refundable and there are no refunds or credits for partly used periods, to the extent the law permits. So cancelling stops the next renewal; it doesn't hand back the rest of the current one. My guide to cancelling a Grammarly subscription walks through the steps.

Deleting your account is a separate step. Its terms say that once you delete your account, you can't reactivate it or retrieve any content or information linked to it. If you only want to stop the upgrade, cancel the subscription and keep the account.

Two more terms are worth knowing. Its terms set a minimum age of at least 13 under most United States law, or 16 under European Union law. And Section 12 contains an agreement to arbitrate, with a class action and jury trial waiver, so most disputes would go to binding arbitration rather than court.

Who's behind Grammarly now

Its about page says Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko and Dmytro Lider founded Grammarly in 2009 to help people communicate more effectively. Its site now says Grammarly is part of Superhuman, and its terms name Superhuman Platform Inc., formerly known as Grammarly, Inc., as the company behind the service. That's why the contact emails in its policies now end in superhuman.com.

Its home page says it's trusted by 50,000 organisations and 40 million people, and its about page says it works across more than 1 million apps and websites and now offers AI writing agents and a docs space. Those are its own figures, so treat them as the company's claims, but a product of that age, run by a named company, sits about as far from a fly-by-night tool as you'll find.

My take on whether it's worth installing

Grammarly is legitimate, long-established and open about how it handles your writing. Its real strengths are the free way in, clear statements that it doesn't sell user content, ownership staying with you, and a training control you can switch. The trade-offs are automatic renewal, no refunds for partly used periods, arbitration, and the fact that a work account puts your administrator in charge of your data.

It fits you if you want help with everyday writing and you're happy to spend a minute on your settings. I'd skip it, or keep it off certain documents, if you handle material your clients have told you mustn't go into any cloud tool. If you're new to it, my walkthrough of setting up and using Grammarly covers the basics, and my piece on what the free version of Grammarly includes helps you decide whether to upgrade at all.

Frequently asked questions

Is Grammarly legit?

Yes. Its about page says it was founded in 2009, its site says it's now part of Superhuman, and its terms name Superhuman Platform Inc., formerly Grammarly, Inc., as the company behind it.

Does Grammarly use my writing to train AI?

Its privacy policy says it uses information to train its AI models, and that you can decide whether your content is used for that through the training controls in your account settings.

Does Grammarly renew automatically?

Yes. Its terms say a subscription renews automatically for periods of the same length as your first one unless you cancel or decline to renew.

Can I cancel Grammarly any time?

Its terms say you may cancel at any time through its Customer Care site or by contacting [email protected], but payments aren't refunded and partly used periods aren't credited, to the extent the law permits.

Who owns Grammarly now?

Its site says Grammarly is part of Superhuman, and its terms name Superhuman Platform Inc., formerly known as Grammarly, Inc., as the company that runs the service.