Writing9 alternative
A Writing9 alternative that grades your first essay free.
Writing9 keeps its essay checker behind a paywall — there's no free graded check — and its users report scores that run optimistic. Gradeful grades your first essay free and is calibrated to be honest, so the band you see is close to the band you'd actually get. Keep going on a plan you can cancel in one click.
Gradeful vs Writing9, feature by feature
Writing9 is a long-running IELTS Writing practice site that scores essays and shows sample answers.
| Gradeful | Writing9 | |
|---|---|---|
| Free graded essay | Yes — your first full report is free | Essay checking is Premium-only — no free graded check |
| Pricing | $14.99/mo or $69/yr — cancel anytime, one click | Weekly, monthly and yearly auto-renewing subscriptions (from $7.99/week) |
| Scoring basis | The four official IELTS band descriptors | AI band score across the same four criteria |
| Score calibration | Calibrated against inflation — rounds down, not up | Users report scores that run optimistic |
| Feedback | Sentence-level rewrites with the criterion each one costs | Band scores and sample essays; less sentence-level rewriting |
Writing9 details reflect its publicly visible product and pricing as of July 2026. See a live head-to-head comparison.
Questions
- Is Gradeful a good Writing9 alternative?
- If you want a band score you can actually trust, yes. Gradeful grades your first IELTS Task 2 essay free against the four official band descriptors, then unlimited checks for $14.99/month or $69/year — cancel in one click.
- Is there a free Writing9 alternative?
- Gradeful grades your first full essay for free — no account, no card. Writing9 keeps its essay checker behind a paywall — there's no free graded check — and its users report scores that run optimistic. Gradeful grades your first essay free and is calibrated to be honest, so the band you see is close to the band you'd actually get. Keep going on a plan you can cancel in one click.
- Does Gradeful use the official IELTS criteria?
- Yes — Task Response, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy, with the overall band rounded the way IELTS rounds.
Try the Writing9 alternative free
Your first full report is free. After that, unlimited essays for $14.99/month or $69/year.
Cancel in one click — we’d rather earn the renewal.
Grade my essay free