Grammarly vs Claude: I Let Claude Edit and Regretted the Smoothness

Grammarly's tone score is a blunt tool, but it caught three sentences I was about to send angry. Claude did the same job and made them too polished, which read as passive-aggressive instead of firm.

The difference is restraint. Grammarly flags; Claude rewrites, and its rewrites are so smooth you stop hearing yourself. For a rude email that needed to stay sharp, that's a downgrade dressed as an upgrade.

Now I use Grammarly to spot the harsh lines and decide which to keep. Claude only gets the hard rewrites where I'm truly stuck. The tool that edits least often protects my voice the most.

If you want a safety net, Grammarly. If you want a ghostwriter, Claude, but know you'll sound like everyone. For most email, the net beats the ghost.