Which tool to choose
There's no single best tool: it depends on what you've got in front of you.
If you have a short text in Italian (email, post, paragraph) and want it to sound good right away: choose DeepL Write. It doesn't flag the problems and ask you to fix them, it rewrites the text directly, and this removes the awkwardness for those who sense something is off but can't say why. It's available in Italian along with English, German, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
If you need to correct a long document while leaving everything else intact (thesis, report, contract): choose LanguageTool. The free version catches spelling, punctuation, and some style problems, and checks texts up to 10,000 characters without creating an account. It highlights the error without overturning your sentences.
If you want to understand why a sentence doesn't work, rewrite it in multiple versions, or change register (from formal to casual, shorten, soften): choose a conversational AI like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. It's the only one that explains its choices and accepts complex instructions in natural language.
The underlying difference: a grammar checker finds and flags errors inside your text, a conversational AI reworks it according to your goal and explains what it changed. They're different tasks, and confusing them leads to asking the wrong tool for the right thing.
| Tool | What it decides | Who gets the final say |
|---|---|---|
| DeepL Write | Rewrites for you | You, by choosing among the alternatives |
| LanguageTool | Flags and that's it | You, sentence by sentence |
| Conversational AI | Rewrites and argues | You, through dialogue |
How to do it
The method for truly controlling the result is the conversational AI, because you can say precisely what you want.
- Open ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (for normal texts the free versions are fine too).
- Paste the prompt below and, right below it, your text.
- Read the corrected version and the list of changes.
- If something doesn't convince you, reply in the same chat asking for the adjustment (more formal, shorter, keep that word).
The prompt for a complete correction:
Correct the text below on three levels: grammar and spelling,
punctuation, clarity and flow. Keep my meaning
and my tone, don't add information that isn't there.
The recipient is [a client / a professor / a colleague].
Give me two things:
1) the corrected text, ready to copy
2) a bulleted list of the most important changes, with the reason
Text:
[paste here]
Feedback: a good answer gives you back the cleaned-up text and a list like "I split a sentence that was too long", "I corrected the verb agreement". If you only get the text with no explanations, write "list the changes for me": it serves to verify that it didn't change the meaning.
If you only want a smoother style without touching the substance, use this:
Rewrite this text making it clearer and smoother, without changing
the information and without inventing anything. Shorter sentences where needed,
remove repetitions, cut useless words. Tone [formal / friendly].
Return only the final text.
Text:
[paste here]
With DeepL Write the path is quicker: open the site at deepl.com/write, set Italian, paste the text, and get the improved version. From there you can adjust the tone (switch between formal and informal register), refine the style, and see vocabulary alternatives by clicking on a single word or phrase.
Concrete example
Marco has to send an email to his boss to ask for a day of vacation. He writes it off the cuff:
"Hi I wanted to ask you if maybe it was possible to take the 14th off as vacation since I'd have a family thing, let me know if it's okay or not thanks."
He pastes the first prompt into the chat indicating "recipient: my boss". The AI returns:
"Good morning, I'm writing to ask about the possibility of taking a day of vacation on the 14th, for a family commitment. I look forward to your reply. Thank you."
And in the list of changes: removed "maybe it was possible" (useless uncertainty), corrected the verb tense, replaced "let me know" with "I look forward to your reply", added an opening greeting. Marco checks that the meaning is identical — it is — and sends. Total time: less than a minute.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If the AI changes the meaning of your text
It happens when the prompt doesn't forbid it, especially on technical or legal texts. Always add the phrase "don't change the information, don't add anything" and ask for the list of changes. If you see it has altered a fact, paste just that sentence again and write "correct only the grammar of this sentence, leave everything else identical".
If the text is too long for the free tool
Limits matter. LanguageTool's Premium accounts reach 100,000 characters, against the 10,000 of the free version, and even free DeepL Write has a cap for each check. The way out without paying: split the document into blocks (one chapter, one section at a time) and process them piece by piece. With a free conversational AI you can paste wider portions and continue in the same chat, where the model keeps in mind the style used in the previous pieces.
If the result sounds "robotic" or impersonal
The tools tend to standardize toward a neutral Italian. Fix: add to the prompt a concrete reference, like "keep a direct and warm tone, as if I were talking to a colleague I know well" or "keep my expression 'X' because it represents me". On DeepL Write use the tone adjustment instead of accepting the first version.
If in Italian the suggestions seem less precise
Some tools perform best in English. German and French give strong results, while Portuguese and Italian, added more recently, sometimes propose less refined suggestions. If a doubt remains, double-check with a second tool or ask the conversational AI to explain the specific grammar rule: comparing two answers tells you right away which of the two holds up.
A tip from someone who really uses it
Never accept the first version sight unseen. The AI is very good at making a sentence sound good, but "sounding good" and "saying what you meant" are not the same thing. Keep the original text open alongside and do a sentence-by-sentence comparison: it takes half a minute and saves you from those corrections that improve the form but shift the meaning. For important emails, always ask for the list of changes: you'll notice right away if it touched something that should have stayed as it was.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay to correct a text with AI?
No, for everyday use the free version covers everything. DeepL Write is free with a basic set of features, while the Write Pro subscription adds unlimited text improvements and an unlimited number of writing styles. You only pay if you work on high volumes or very long texts every day.
What's the difference between a checker and ChatGPT?
The checker highlights and fixes errors inside your text; the conversational AI reworks it according to your instructions and explains its choices. For a pinpoint check on a long document the checker is better; for rewriting, changing tone, or understanding a doubt the AI is better.
Can I use it directly while writing, without copying and pasting?
It depends on the tool. Watch out for a recent change: LanguageTool's browser extension is now reserved for Premium subscribers, while free users access the grammar checker and the paraphrasing tool from the website. So, for free, you go through the site by copying the text.
Does the AI correct very formal or technical Italian well too?
Largely yes, but with caution on specialist terms, where it can "normalize" correct words by mistaking them for errors. On DeepL Write click on the word to choose the alternative yourself instead of accepting the automatic rewrite. On LanguageTool add the terms to your personal dictionary, so it stops flagging them.
Isn't it better to learn to write well instead of relying on AI?
The two things go together, and here's the point many miss: the most useful feature isn't the correction, it's the list of whys. When you ask the AI to explain every change, after a few weeks you start to recognize your recurring errors — the extra comma, the kilometer-long sentence, the repeated "that" — and you avoid them even before pasting the text. Used this way, the AI doesn't make you dependent: it teaches you.