4 Best AI Essay Writing Tools in 2025 (Free & Paid)

Writing essays can be tough, especially when you have deadlines ahead, do research, and try to sound academic without overthinking every sentence. The good news? AI tools can seriously cut down your workload.

In this post, I’ll review the 4 best AI essay writing tools I’ve personally used to write better essays.

1. ChatGPT
2. Grammarly
3. QuillBot
4. JotBOT

These AI tools are designed to make essay writing faster, easier, and more effective. If you use these tools effectively, they can guide you through the entire writing process and save you hours of work.

Quick Comparison

ChatGPT

Ah, yes, ChatGPT — the OG and still the most talked-about AI tool out there. It’s not just useful for writing essays, but for tons of other school tasks too.

So, how do you use ChatGPT to write essays for your studies? It’s pretty straightforward.

First, you need to create an account. You can start using it without an account, too, but I highly recommend creating one. This way, your chats are saved, which makes it easier to build on previous work and reference past essays later on.

Create a Prompt

After creating the account, it all starts with giving it a good prompt. You don’t need to be super technical, just be as clear and as specific as possible about what you want

For example, instead of saying “write my essay,” say something like:

“Can you help me write a 600-word argumentative essay on why social media is affecting student focus in school? Make it sound like a college-level student wrote it.”

The more details you give — like word count, tone, and topic — the better the results you’ll get. ChatGPT cannot know on its own what you want, but if you guide it right, it gets surprisingly close.

But before jumping into writing, I always ask ChatGPT for an outline first. It saves a ton of time and gives you a clear structure to follow, so you’re not just staring at a blank page.

Example

“Give me a simple outline for a 600-word essay on how social media affects student focus. Include an intro, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion.”

ChatGPT will give you something like:

Now you’ve got a roadmap. You can write each part yourself or ask ChatGPT to help with each section one by one.

Once you have a draft — even if it’s messy – ChatGPT can help clean it up. Just copy and paste your paragraph and ask it to improve things like tone, clarity, or flow.

For example, you might say:

“Here’s my paragraph. Can you make it sound more formal and clear for a college essay?”

Things To Consider

ChatGPT will rewrite it with smoother sentences, better word choices, and fix grammar mistakes. But remember — don’t just accept everything blindly. Use its suggestions as a starting point and tweak them to keep your voice.

Be smart with ChatGPT. It’s a tool to help you write better, not to do all the work for you. Don’t just copy-paste its answers and call it a day, especially when it comes to school essays. Always check for accuracy, add your thoughts, and make sure you understand what you’re submitting. That way, you learn more and avoid any trouble with plagiarism.

You can check more features about ChatGPT, including its pricing, in our post Top 6 Free AI Tools for Students to Use in 2025.

Grammarly

If your pain point is grammar or awkward sentences, Grammarly can help you clean up your writing, improve clarity, tone, and flow. It’s like having an English teacher in your browser.

How To Use Grammarly For Essays

Once you have finished writing your essay, or even just a rough draft, you can copy and paste it into Grammarly. Once you paste your essay into Grammarly, it will instantly highlight grammar mistakes, awkward phrasing, and offer suggestions in areas like correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery.

Now, with all the suggestions it will give you, you need to carefully review each suggestion, and see if it improves your sentence, and if it makes sense.

Pay extra attention to the “Clarity” and “Engagement” suggestions. These are gold for essays. They help make your writing more readable and academic without sounding robotic.

⭐Pro Tip: Hover over each suggestion and read why Grammarly recommends the change. You’ll learn a lot that way and improve over time.

Example

After pasting a short essay paragraph, it flagged things like:

• Missing hyphen in “fast-moving”
• Incorrect verb form “became” (should be “has become”)
• Spelling errors like “wich” and “effects”

On the right, you can also see Grammarly’s suggestions sorted by category: correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery — perfect for improving your writing flow and academic tone.

Grammarly also has a built-in generative AI tool that can help you get started when you’re stuck. Just click “Write with generative AI,” describe what you need (like “a 300-word intro for an essay on climate change”), and it will draft a starting point. It’s not perfect, but it’s a useful way to overcome writer’s block.

JotBot

JotBot AI might not be as famous as other tools, but it’s a surprisingly solid option for quickly generating essay drafts and outlines. It’s simple, fast, and great for students who need a starting point.

JotBot feels more like a shortcut tool than a writing assistant. Instead of guiding you step by step, it does most of the heavy lifting up front. Just type in your essay topic, something like “The impact of social media on student focus” and it will instantly give you a full draft.

You don’t need to craft detailed prompts or ask for an outline first, it jumps straight to writing. That makes it super useful if you’re in a rush or just need something to get started with.

The best way to use it is to let it write the first version, then break it down and rewrite each paragraph in your own words, or use tools like Grammarly to polish it.

Real Life Example

For this example, I asked JotBot: “Write a 500-word persuasive essay on why schools should implement a four-day school week to improve student well-being and academic performance.

As you can see, JotBot instantly created a structured outline with clear headings and bullet points. Each section focuses on a key aspect of the topic, such as student well-being, academic performance, and practical considerations. This kind of layout makes it much easier to write your essay step-by-step or have JotBot generate the full draft for you with one click.

Pros and Cons of JotBot

JotBot is great when you need something quick and straight to the point. It might not be as flexible as ChatGPT, but if you’re in a rush and need a solid starting point, it helps get things moving.

QuillBot

QuillBot is like that friend who always knows how to say things better. If you’ve ever stared at a sentence thinking, “This sounds off,” QuillBot can help clean it up and make it flow smoother.

What Makes QuillBot Useful for Essays

QuillBot’s real power is in its paraphrasing tool. If a sentence sounds weird, too clunky, or if you’ve repeated the same phrase too many times, it fixes that. It can help you improve your sentence structure, clarity, and overall flow without changing the meaning. It’s a big help when you’re wrapping up your essay and just want it to read better and flow nicely.

How to Use It

Using QuillBot is simple. Just copy a sentence or paragraph that feels a bit off — maybe it’s awkward, repetitive, or just too wordy — and paste it into the Paraphraser. Stick with the “Standard” or “Fluency” mode for essay writing, then hit Paraphrase. QuillBot will give you a smoother version to choose from.

For example:

Original: “Students who don’t sleep well may not perform well in school.”
QuillBot: “Students who do not get enough sleep may struggle academically.”

QuillBot also comes with a grammar checker, which is great for catching little mistakes and cleaning things up before your final draft. It’s not as advanced as Grammarly, but it gets the job done for quick fixes.

Use the Synonym Slider Carefully

QuillBot lets you control how much the text is changed using a synonym slider. Sounds cool, but don’t overdo it. If you push it too far, your sentences might start sounding robotic or just… weird. Stick to the middle range for more natural results.

QuillBot doesn’t always get it perfect. Always read over what it paraphrases to make sure the meaning stays the same and the tone fits your writing style.

So, should you use QuillBot for your essays? Absolutely. It’s not going to do your thinking for you, but it’s an incredible helper for polishing your prose, making sure your arguments are crystal clear, and avoiding those awkward repetitions.

For anyone who writes essays, this tool can seriously smooth out the bumps in the road and help you produce work you’re genuinely proud of. Give it a shot; you might just wonder how you managed without it!

Conclusion

Choosing the right AI writing tool depends on your needs and writing style. ChatGPT excels at generating creative and comprehensive content with a conversational tone, making it ideal for brainstorming and drafting.

Grammarly stands out as the best for polishing your writing, catching grammar mistakes, and improving clarity. QuillBot offers powerful paraphrasing capabilities, helping you rephrase content smoothly while maintaining the original meaning.

Meanwhile, JotBot AI provides a solid balance between idea generation and rewriting, catering well to users looking for versatility. By understanding the strengths of each tool, you can leverage them individually or in combination to craft well-written, original, and polished essays.

FAQs

Which AI tool is best for essay writing?

The best AI tool depends on your needs. ChatGPT is great for generating content and ideas, Grammarly excels at proofreading and grammar correction, QuillBot is ideal for paraphrasing, and JotBot AI offers a balanced mix of writing and rewriting features.

Can I use an AI to write an essay?

Yes, AI tools like ChatGPT can help you draft essays by generating ideas and content. However, it’s important to review and personalize the output to ensure originality and quality.

Is there an AI that can rewrite essays?

Yes, tools like QuillBot and JotBot AI specialize in paraphrasing and rewriting essays to help improve clarity and avoid plagiarism.

What AI can write an essay for free?

ChatGPT offers free access with limited usage, allowing you to generate essay content without cost. Some other tools also provide free tiers or trials, but features may be limited.