The realistic way to make money with Grammarly is to sell proofreading of business and marketing copy, using Grammarly as a first pass and your own judgement for everything it gets wrong. Clients pay from about $15 per 1,000 words on a typical Fiverr gig up to the Editorial Freelancers Association’s 2026 median of 2 to 3 cents a word for business proofreading, and Upwork puts proofreaders at $18 to $35 an hour (all checked 19 October 2026). Nobody is paying for the software, which is free to them too. They pay for someone who knows which of its suggestions to ignore.
At a glance
Proofreading with Grammarly, in five lines
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Method | Proofreading blog posts, web pages and marketing copy for small businesses and agencies |
| Startup cost | $0 on the free plan; Grammarly Pro is $144 a year |
| Your cost per unit | About $0.40 per 1,000 words on annual Pro, if you edit 30,000 words a month |
| What clients pay | $15 per 1,000 words (Fiverr gig); 2.0 to 3.0 cents a word (EFA 2026 median, business proofreading); $18 to $35 an hour (Upwork) |
| Income | Not guaranteed |
Before paying for anything, read my Grammarly review: Pro costs $144 a year on annual billing but $30 a month if you pay monthly, and payments are non-refundable.
Which ways of earning with Grammarly are worth comparing?
Four are realistic, and only one of them is selling the tool. The rest are editing services where Grammarly saves you time.
| Method | Typical price (source) | Skill needed | My take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proofreading business copy | 2.0 to 3.0 cents a word (EFA); $15 per 1,000 words (Fiverr gig) | Medium | Best starting point |
| Copyediting and line editing | 3.0 to 5.0 cents a word for business copy (EFA) | High | Better pay once you can explain your changes |
| Book proofreading | Fiverr listings “From $150” and “From $300” | Medium to high | Long jobs, crowded market |
| Grammarly affiliate program | Commission not shown on the affiliate page | Low | Only if you already have an audience |
How does a proofreading service built on Grammarly work?
You take a client’s draft, run it through Grammarly to catch the obvious slips, then read every line yourself and send back tracked changes. Grammarly works inside Google Docs (through the browser extension) and Microsoft Word, which is where most small businesses keep their drafts, so you rarely need to move files around.
Delivery, step by step
- Agree the scope in writing: proofreading only (spelling, grammar, punctuation, consistency) or heavier editing, and the client’s style preferences.
- Switch off Product Improvement and Training in your Grammarly account before pasting any client text, and check the client’s NDA allows a cloud checker.
- Run the Grammarly pass in suggestion mode and reject anything that changes meaning or brand voice.
- Read the piece again without Grammarly, ideally aloud, for the errors software misses: wrong words spelled correctly, facts, names and links.
- Return tracked changes plus a short note listing recurring issues, which is what turns a one-off into a monthly client.
That second read matters more than the tool. A Fiverr blog post on editing software cites a study that put Grammarly’s margin of error at 41%, mostly from flagging errors that didn’t exist. If you accept every suggestion, you’re selling the free plan back to the client.
Finding the first clients
Upwork and Fiverr are the obvious places, and both take a cut: Upwork’s freelancer service fee runs from 0% to 15% per contract, and Fiverr pays sellers 80% of each order. Outside the platforms, small content agencies and businesses that publish a blog every week are the best targets, because their work repeats. A short sample edit of one of their live pages shows more than a portfolio.
What could one regular client be worth in a month?
Worked example: one content agency
These are examples, not income claims. Say an agency sends 20 blog posts a month at about 1,500 words each, so 30,000 words. At the Fiverr gig’s rate of $15 per 1,000 words, that is $450 a month.
Assume a careful two-pass proofread at 2,500 words an hour, which is my assumption rather than a published figure. That is 12 hours of work. Take off $12 for a month of annual Grammarly Pro and you keep $438, or $36.50 an hour.
Sell the same work through Fiverr and you receive 80%, so $360 minus $12 leaves $348, or $29 an hour. Charge the bottom of the EFA business range, 2 cents a word, directly and the month is worth $600, or $49 an hour after the subscription.
What about copyediting, book proofreading and the affiliate program?
Copyediting pays more because it asks more: the EFA’s 2026 medians put business copyediting at 3.0 to 4.0 cents a word and line editing at 3.2 to 5.0 cents. Grammarly helps with consistency, but the value is in restructuring sentences, so it’s a step up once proofreading clients start asking for it.
Book proofreading on Fiverr shows listings starting at $150 and $300. The jobs are long and the EFA median for fiction proofreading, 1.2 to 2.0 cents a word, is lower than for business copy.
Grammarly’s affiliate program is open, runs on Impact and offers a 90-day cookie, but the affiliate page doesn’t show the commission in text. An undated Grammarly support article lists $0.20 per free sign-up and $20 per upgrade; confirm current rates in Impact before counting on them. The terms ban bidding on Grammarly’s brand and on terms such as “grammar checker” and “proofreading” in paid search.
Which rules can get you in trouble?
- Grammarly’s Terms. Section 3.3.1 says logins must not be shared, and section 3.4 bars reselling or renting the service. Edit the files yourself; never hand clients your account.
- Fiverr’s AI guidelines. There is no blanket duty to disclose AI, but you must honour a client’s explicit request for non-AI work, disclose your workflow when asked, and misrepresenting AI use is a breach.
- Student work. The UK’s essay-mill offence excludes legitimate proofreading, but universities set their own limits. City St George’s, University of London, lets third-party proofreaders fix typos, spelling and punctuation only, and bans the generative AI functions inside grammar checkers such as Grammarly. Australia’s regulator, TEQSA, says providing academic cheating services is an offence.
- Reviews and testimonials. The FTC’s rule on fake reviews took effect on 21 October 2024. Don’t buy reviews or invent client quotes, and if you promote Grammarly as an affiliate, put a clear disclosure next to the link.
Mistakes I’d avoid
- Accepting every Grammarly suggestion, which flattens a brand’s voice.
- Pasting client text into an account with training switched on.
- Paying $30 a month for Pro while testing demand; the free plan is enough for the first jobs.
- Taking academic jobs without reading the student’s university policy first.
Good fit, poor fit
Good fit: you read carefully, enjoy fixing other people’s sentences, write strong English, and would happily do the same kind of job every week for the same client.
Poor fit: you hoped Grammarly would do the editing for you, you dislike detail work, or you want income without having to find and keep clients.
For other editing-style services, see my guides to refreshing blog posts with Surfer SEO and editing podcasts with Descript.
Related reading: Surfer SEO review · How to make money with Beautiful.ai · How to make money with Otter.ai
Questions about earning with Grammarly
Can you make money with Grammarly?
Yes, but indirectly. The money comes from proofreading and editing services where Grammarly is one of your tools, or from its affiliate program if you already have an audience.
Can I use Grammarly for freelance proofreading on Fiverr?
Yes. Fiverr has no blanket rule requiring you to disclose AI tools, but you must honour a client’s explicit request for non-AI work and tell them your workflow in that case.
How much should I charge for proofreading?
Between about $15 and $30 per 1,000 words for business copy is a reasonable range. A Fiverr gig charges $15 per 1,000 words, the EFA’s 2026 median for business proofreading is 2 to 3 cents a word, and Upwork lists $18 to $35 an hour.
Can I proofread student essays using Grammarly?
Only within strict limits. UK law exempts legitimate proofreading, but universities such as City St George’s restrict third-party proofreaders to typos, spelling and punctuation and ban Grammarly’s generative AI functions.
Does Grammarly have an affiliate program?
Yes. It runs on Impact with a 90-day cookie; the affiliate page doesn’t show the commission, and an undated support article lists $0.20 per free sign-up and $20 per upgrade.
These figures are examples, not income claims, and nothing here is legal advice. I don’t earn a commission from Grammarly; links are plain.
Update log: 19 October 2026: first published, with rates and prices checked that day.
Sources
- EFA 2026 Rate Chart (PDF)
- Upwork: How much do proofreaders cost?
- Upwork: Freelancer Service Fee
- Fiverr gig: proofread and edit your writing
- Fiverr: book proofreading listings
- Fiverr help: How Fiverr works for freelancers
- Fiverr help: Using AI on Fiverr
- Fiverr blog: drawbacks of copyediting and proofreading software
- Grammarly plans
- Grammarly help: How much does Grammarly Pro cost?
- Where Grammarly works
- Grammarly Terms of Service
- Grammarly help: Product Improvement and Training Control
- Grammarly affiliates
- Grammarly affiliate terms
- Grammarly help: Commissions and remittance options
- FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule Q&A
- FTC: Endorsement Guides, what people are asking
- Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, explanatory notes
- TEQSA: illegal commercial cheating services
- City St George’s: proofreading guidance for students (PDF)
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