9 Best Passive Voice Checker Apps For Perfect Writing In 2023

As writers, we’re always told to avoid the passive voice. It can create awkward sentences, and the misuse and overuse can make your text seem flat and uninteresting. 

Many writers struggle to understand the correct use of passive and active voice. Sometimes, we don’t even realize we’re using the passive voice! Thankfully, we can rely on passive voice checker apps to do the work for us.

If you’re a writer that struggles with the passive voice, this article is for you. Below, we will discuss the best apps to identify the passive voice.

What Is the Best Passive Voice Checker?

Hemingway Editor is the best passive voice checker available on the market. It can detect passive sentences, highlight them in your text, and provide suggestions for how to rewrite them for clarity and better readability. It also offers additional contextual spell-checking, grammar-checking, and other helpful tools to help you improve your writing. However, Hemingway doesn’t offer detailed feedback on why your sentence is considered passive.

Other grammar checkers considered the best in the market include Grammarly, which is highly accurate for detecting passive sentences and also comes with a chrome extension. However, passive voice check isn’t available for the free version.

To determine the best passive voice checker, we evaluated for accuracy, user experience, and functionality. To find the best, we looked at 15 passive checker tools and ranked the best 9 by their accuracy. The top 3 were Hemingway, ProwritingAid, and Grammarly.

While these apps are all recommendable, regarding user experience, we like Grammarly and ProwritingAid the most. Detailed insight on these passive checker apps is found below.

How I Evaluated Each Tool

Before choosing the apps listed below, I put each one to the test. In order to properly rank and review them, I used the same sample text. Using this paragraph on each app allowed me the opportunity to properly evaluate without bias. So, using the text below, we checked for accuracy, user experience, and functionality.

Here’s the text used:

The Best Passive Voice Checker Apps

1. Hemingway Editor

Hemingway not only helps you identify the passive voice in your paragraphs, but it also points out other grammar and structure errors. It will point out sentences that are too hard to read, ways you can make your sentences simpler, and give you a readability level. 

The Hemingway Editor has both a writing mode and an editing mode, which makes it easy to use. The readability score also helps you to gauge how easy your text is to read. You can choose from a variety of formatting options, and the editor will check for additional things like adverbs, and simple phrase alternatives.

If you have a difficult sentence, the Hemingway Editor will suggest ways to make it easier to read. You can also use the editor online or on your desktop.

My Experience Using Hemingway Editor

I use Hemingway App a lot for my books and articles. It helps me revise and edit all of my written content to make sure they are of the best quality.

I love that the interface is simple and provides a distraction-free writing and editing experience. Going to the writing tab removes all the observations, so you can write freely without worrying about the mistakes you’re making. 

As you can see from the screenshot, Hemingway highlighted 6 passive voice sentences (highlighted in green) and gave the text a readability grade of 7, which is good according to Hemingway.

The editing tab will point out all the things you can improve in your text, and give you alternatives on how to correct those mistakes. It is very user-friendly, and I can’t recommend this app more.

This app is free to use online. The Desktop app costs $19.99.

Pros And Cons of Hemingway Editor

Pros	Cons
Free to use online	Only available for the English language
Highlights errors in real-time	Text is not saved if the tab is closed
More accurate than other apps

Overall, the Hemingway Editor is a writer’s best friend. It is easy to use, has a great interface, and points out mistakes while giving insightful corrections.

2. Grammarly

Grammarly is hands down, the best passive voice checker app for accuracy. It also additionally detects and corrects punctuations, do spellchecks, and correct other grammatical errors. 

This Google Chrome extension works for all types of texts, from emails to google docs, this tool will correct and optimize everything you type!

This tool has a free version and a Premium one. The Passive voice checker is available on Grammarly Premium.

My Experience Using Grammarly

Grammarly is my favorite tool to use. I use it for everything! It is super helpful to catch all common mistakes whenever I’m writing. The Chrome extension is always active, so it will correct everything I write. I use it for Google Docs, emails, and even tweets! 

The installation is easy and quick. What I like the most is how not intrusive it is. It’ll highlight the mistakes in real-time and if you hover your mouse over the word, it’ll suggest a correction.

Even without the premium version, it’ll still point out the passive voice. However, it will not give you suggestions on how to fix it. If you wish to see these corrections, then you must pay for the premium membership.

Grammarly is free to use with basic writing suggestions and tone detection. The Premium for individuals costs $12 per month. The Premium for business costs $15.

Pros And Cons of Grammarly

Pros	Cons
Real-time corrections	It isn’t 100% accurate
In-depth explanations	Not available offline
Premium option provides advanced features like custom style guides and goal-setting	Passive voice checks only available with Premium

Grammarly is a great all-in-one grammar tool to check and improve your writing style.

3. ProWritingAid

If you’re a writer, then you know that the key to a great piece is often in the details. But details can be hard to catch on your own. ProWritingAid helps you identify and fix common writing mistakes, including passive voice misuse and poor readability.

In addition, ProWritingAid provides in-depth reports on your writing style, which helps you to refine your technique and make your work stand out. And if you’re stuck on how to start or end a paragraph, the handy browser extension can provide helpful prompts.

The app has a free online version, with very limited functions. The premium option gives you many more tools, and you can even use it as a browser extension. 

My Experience Using ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid is an easy-to-use tool. I started using the free tool, which has very basic functions, but it’s still adequate. However, paying for the premium option is worth it for all the other options it gives you. 

As you can see, it marks the passive voice in purple, and on the column on the right, it gives advice on how you can improve your text. It not only marks the passive voice, but it also lets you know if the sentence is hard to read and gives you options on how to improve it.

ProWritingAid works perfectly for short text and long-form content. The interface is very similar to Google Docs or Microsoft Word, so you can use it easily. Plus, the browser extension corrects all types of text, regardless of where you’re writing.

The yearly plan for this app costs $120. The monthly plan costs $20, and the lifetime plan costs $399. You can use it for free online with very limited features.

Pros and Cons of ProWritingAid

Pros	Cons
Real-time editor	Not 100% accurate
14-day refund policy	Not available offline
In-depth suggestions and analysis

ProWritingAid is the best tool for professional writers!

4. GrammarCheck

GrammarCheck is a free-to-use online tool that is perfect for checking quick grammatical errors.  This tool is great for spotting passive voice sentences, spelling mistakes, and punctuation errors. 

GrammarCheck is the best free software to use because it offers a lot at no cost (you don’t need an account in order to use it). It is also easy to use, with an easy-to-understand interface

My Experience Using GrammarCheck

GrammarCheck is a good tool to check a short text for passive sentences. I found it worked best for just a quick check, without much depth of analysis. It is a good online tool to use if you’re looking for something simple and easy to use. 

Unfortunately, I did notice that it doesn’t point out all the passive sentence errors as other tools do, and it sometimes takes a moment for all the errors to load.

Regardless, it is still a fairly useful tool that may help you in a hurry. For being free, it is perfectly adequate. The app has a Deep Check, which connects directly to Grammarly. In order to use this premium feature, you must have a Grammarly paid account.

This app is free to use online.

Pros And Cons of GrammarCheck

Pros	Cons
Available online for free	The accuracy is limited
Good for simple mistakes	Not suitable for intricate texts

Overall if you’re looking for a quick and simple tool, GrammarCheck is the perfect one!

5. Sapling

Sapling is an AI assistant designed for businesses, enterprises, and professional writers. It specializes in business writing, to help you communicate more efficiently with your clients.

Sapling offers more than just a grammar check function. It provides live chat responses, snippets, and other tools for eCommerce. However, grammar checking is one of its main features.

My Experience Using Sapling

Sapling is a relatively new tool I discovered not too long ago, but I’ve found its functions very useful.

The reason Sapling is the best editing app for Google Docs is because it has an add-on specially designed for Google Docs. It’s a function you can directly access through the extensions tab. It makes the editing process easy, practical and convenient. 

I do have to say that the grammar checks aren’t 100% accurate. However, the software has many functions that make it worth the try. Additionally, having a Google Docs extension, you can also use it on Google Chrome and or other browsers. 

The downside is that it only points out which sentences are in passive voice but won’t suggest how to fix them. 

Sapling is free to download for Google Docs and other extensions. The Pro plan costs $25/month. 

Pros And Cons Of Sapling

Pros	Cons
Offers many features	Doesn’t offer suggestions for corrections
Different from other grammar check software	It isn’t 100% accurate
Perfect for business writing	Not good for long-form texts

Sapling is a new software that offers many great features. Definitely worth the try!

6. LanguageTool

LanguageTool is an online passive voice and grammar-checking tool. It detects passive voice misuse, plus other grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, and more.

This is an excellent alternative to Grammarly, as it offers multiple languages. It also offers helpful recommendations to optimize your grammar and overall style. It is the perfect general writing assistant.

My Experience Using LanguageTool

LanguageTool is my go-to software whenever I’m writing in a different language that isn’t English. I spent a long time looking for a Grammarly alternative to edit in other languages, and LanguageTool came to the rescue.

Aside from being multilingual, it is also very useful for the English language, especially if you’re editing Microsoft Word documents. Not only can you download an extension to your browser, but you can also upload Word documents to the platform to check.

As you can see in the image, it offers corrections and rephrasing for your passive voice sentences. It highlights the sentence and gives you a list of options to correct it.

This and many other features are what make LanguageTool one of my favorite passive voice detector apps.

LanguageTool has a free plan for beginners. The Premium plan costs $59.90 a year. The Teams plan costs $119.80 a year.

Pros And Cons Of LanguageTool

Pros	Cons
Basic version is free	Requires sign-in
More than 30 languages and dialects	Passive voice check is better in premium versions
Distraction-free

Overall, LanguageTool is an excellent alternative, especially if you’re writing and editing in a different language from English.

7. Datayze

Datayze differs from other writing and editing tools. Not only does it provide an accurate grammar check, but it also analyzes your text with a passive voice detector.

This is an online app, meaning it is only available on a browser. 

My Experience Using Datayze

Datayze is a great tool to check short text and analyze the mistakes you’ve made. 

I like this software because it is very insightful and gives useful information that helps me understand the structure of my sentences and why it marked certain mistakes. In the case of the passive sentences, it explains how the passive voice works and how I can fix it, which I thought was a very nice feature.

Datayze also offers other features like spelling check, word finder, and readability analyzer. Even though the interface might not be as clean as other software, this one works really well!

Datayzer is free to use online.

Pros And Cons Of Datayzer

Pros	Cons
Available online	The interface is not user-friendly
It’s free	Not great on mobile
Text analysis	Not 100% accurate
	Not suitable for long texts

Overall, Datayze is a good tool if you want quick corrections on short text with insightful observations.

8. Ginger

Ginger Writer is an AI-powered writing assistant. It helps correct texts, improve your style, and boost your creativity. It is a good alternative to Grammarly or other grammar checkers.

It has free and premium versions. Aside from being available for mobile, it’s also available for desktop. 

My Experience Using Ginger

I started using Ginger app on my phone not too long ago, and I’m very pleased with it. The free version offers the basic functions, which are enough to edit short texts.

The premium version has more things, which I think are worth the expense. It not only checks for passive voice sentences, it corrects your grammar and spelling. You can also use the dictionary, look for synonyms, and even translate your texts.

Checking for passive voice is not always accurate, but with the rephrase function, it’ll give you options on how to better write the passive sentence. 

Pricing

Ginger app has a free plan available. The Premium plan costs $84 annually. The monthly plan costs $13.99.

Pros And Cons Of Ginger

Pros	Cons
Practical grammar and spelling	Passive voice detector only on Premium plan
Many other features	Is not 100% accurate
Good for short texts	Not good for long-form texts

Ginger app is a good alternative if you’re looking for a comfortable mobile app to edit short texts.

9. AISEO

AISEO is a top-notch tool that specializes in detecting the passive voice in a text. It uses an advanced algorithm that detects the passive voice almost immediately. 

Not only does it detect mistakes, but it also corrects them and offers alternatives on how to improve your writing. The best of all is that it is a totally free software you can use online.

My Experience Using AISEO

AISEO is another app I’ve used to edit short texts. It is a great tool that is easy to use and provides a good grammar guide.

It is very similar to Grammarly in the way that it highlights passive sentences and offers solutions on how to correct them. The platform is clean and very user-friendly.

I also liked the additional features it has to offer. It has a paraphrasing tool that works perfectly, and the readability analysis feels accurate.

Although it is best for short texts, it is also useful for essays and other forms of writing. 

The Grammar and passive voice checking tool is free to use online. The premium plans are for the AI text generator tool. 

Pros And Cons For AISEO

Pros	Cons
Good quality content	Not suitable for long-form texts
Accurate	Other tools are paid
User-friendly

In summary, AISEO is a great tool for revising and editing. It’s easy to use and gives accurate corrections to your text.

What is a Passive Voice Checker?

There are many useful writing and editing apps, all of them with different functions. Some are perfect for correcting your structure, while others focus on spelling and grammar. Believe it or not, many of these apps check for passive voice.

But what exactly is a passive voice checker? That’s easy! They’re a tool that detects whether sentences are in the passive voice or not. You can copy and paste your text and then these tools will automatically point out the passive voice and suggest a correction. 

Why Should You Use A Passive Voice Checker?

Writing is challenging. Whether you’re a novelist or a blogger, creating the perfect text takes time and dedication. Sometimes, as independent creators, we not only take the job of writers but also that of editors. This comes with its own branch of challenges. So should you use a passive voice checker?

You should use the passive voice because it can help you identify sentences written in the passive voice. It quickly and easily finds and fixes these types of sentences so that your writing is more concise, clear, and effective. Also, it can help you become a better writer overall by helping you recognize when it’s appropriate to use the passive voice.

Overall, a passive voice checker app makes the writing and editing process easier by:

• Identifying passive sentences and suggesting corrections
• Making your points clearer
• Improving your clarity and fluency
• Boosting the quality of your writing

How To Spot Passive Voice

The apps we’ve discussed above will help you identify the passive voice in your texts. However, it is useful to know how to spot the passive voice so that you can avoid making the mistake as much as possible, even if have no passive voice checker handy.

Identifying the passive voice is simple. When you’re looking at a sentence, try to locate what happened and who did it.

For example:

What happened? The wall was painted.

Who did it? Maria.

If the person or thing responsible for the action comes after the verb, then it is a passive sentence. 

Look at the same sentence in active voice:

See the difference? In short, in a passive sentence, the subject is acted upon by the verb while in an active sentence, the subject is doing the verb.

See our comprehensive guide on Active Vs Passive Voice where we discussed these in detail, including several examples and worksheets to help you practice.

Should You Use Passive Voice In Writing?

You might be wondering, can I use the passive voice? Why is it such a big deal? Why do I have to avoid it?

Depending on the type of writing project and the purpose of your writing, there are certain instances where you should use the passive voice. Scenarios such as when reporting for news, academic writing, or creating suspense in storytelling. Otherwise, it is best to avoid using the passive voice altogether.

When you use the passive voice, your sentences might look vague. It creates emphasis on the action, rather than on the subject. This means your sentences may sound awkward, flat, or uninteresting.

See our guide on Passive voice in writing to learn more.

How Can You Use Passive Voice As A Writer Or Author?

Of course, that does not mean the passive voice is always a bad thing. There are some cases in which you can use the passive voice, and it’ll help your writing.

There are times when the passive voice works best to present an idea. It is especially used in some formal, professional, or legal instances.

Here are some examples and special cases when it is okay to use passive voice:

• When reporting a crime with unknown perpetrators: My friend was assaulted yesterday.
• In a scientific context: The drug was tested on human beings.
• To emphasize an action and the doer is irrelevant: The president was sworn in last month.

For more in-depth explanations with examples, see our guide on When to use the Passive voice in writing.

FAQs On Passive Voice Checker Apps

Final Notes On Passive Voice Checker Apps

At the end of the day, we’re all writers or authors looking to improve our writing. There are so many useful writing and editing apps that help us make our writing stronger. 

These nine apps presented in the article are the best in the market at the moment. They’ll give you insight into whether you’re using the passive voice and help you correct the mistakes in your texts. 

I hope you found these apps useful. Have fun writing!