Grammarly, the well-known grammar and writing assistant, has extended its support beyond English to five additional languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Italian. This marks the company’s most significant update since its launch 16 years ago, when a team of linguists first built the platform to mirror natural English language patterns. According to Luke Behnke, Grammarly’s vice president of enterprise product, expanding to other languages has been “the number one feature request” since the company’s founding.
The update allows users to correct spelling, refine grammar and restructure sentences in six languages. Grammarly also helps text flow more naturally, matching the tone of native speakers and improving clarity. In addition, the service can translate between its six core languages and 19 others directly within the app. “Without having to leave the tool and go to another translation provider,” Behnke explained.
Growing competition in language AI
The expansion comes as demand for AI-based language tools intensifies. Google recently broadened the range of languages supported in its Search AI Mode, while Apple’s latest AirPods now feature live translation. Grammarly is positioning itself to remain competitive by evolving from a simple proofreading service into a wider AI productivity platform.
This strategy became clearer in July when the company acquired Superhuman, a popular email application. It has since launched nine AI agents aimed at helping students and educators. Behnke said Grammarly’s proofreading product itself could be considered the company’s original AI agent. “We call it an agent. … I know that’s maybe an overused AI word at this point, but it is kind of the first agent that people ever used,” he noted.
Although Grammarly has always been powered by machine learning, large language models (LLMs) became part of its system in 2023. The company uses open-source LLMs fine-tuned by analytical linguists. While the number of linguists did not grow in proportion to the additional languages, Grammarly relied on a smaller team supported by internal feedback and evaluations to develop the new tools. Suggestions and rewrites are produced using in-house models hosted on the company’s own infrastructure, with strict security controls and training processes.
Rollout and future development
The new language support is currently in beta and available to about one million users. Many native speakers were surprised to see Grammarly’s familiar red lines appear under their writing for the first time in their own language. Behnke said that users of Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Italian accepted Grammarly’s corrections at a rate similar to English speakers, suggesting the expansion is being well received.
For advanced features, Grammarly also works with third-party LLMs from major providers such as OpenAI. Behnke clarified that while Grammarly does train its own models on user data, external models cannot access that information. Enterprise and education customers have model training automatically disabled, while individual users must opt out manually if they do not wish their data to be included.
Looking ahead, Grammarly has not revealed which additional languages may be added next. However, Behnke acknowledged that customers working in customer support services have been requesting more language coverage, particularly in regions where offshore call centres operate.
With growing competition and an apparent demand for multilingual support, Grammarly’s latest update signals its ambition to remain a key player in AI-powered writing tools.
