Free alternatives to QuillBot

Proofread, rewrite, shorten, or change tone almost anywhere, assuming your Apple hardware made the guest list.

Versus paying: It covers basic proofreading and rewriting, but lacks QuillBot's dedicated paraphrase modes, synonym controls, citation tools, and broad cross-platform availability.

Setup: Built into current macOS, iOS and iPadOS; enable Apple Intelligence and let the required models download

Watch for: Requires Apple Intelligence-compatible Apple hardware, a supported language/region and several gigabytes of downloaded models

A browser sidebar that reads the page, rewrites the selection, and saves custom actions; your local model does the thinking.

Versus paying: It can paraphrase with a local model, but it lacks QuillBot's predictable modes, sentence-level controls, grammar suite, and citation workflow.

Setup: Install the extension from the Chrome, Edge or Firefox add-on store

Watch for: The extension installs cleanly, but it still needs a running local model endpoint and browser-to-localhost connectivity

8,100 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

System-wide selected-text commands, reusable experts, a scratchpad, and document context; bring the model and skip the subscription.

Versus paying: It can run rewrite commands anywhere, but results depend on prompts and models rather than QuillBot's purpose-built paraphrase controls and writing-tool suite.

Setup: Download a desktop binary from GitHub Releases; macOS also supports `brew install --cask witsy`

Watch for: It is BYOK unless you install Ollama and a local model; system-wide commands also need OS accessibility permissions

2,000 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

Select text anywhere, hit a hotkey, and fix, rewrite, summarize, or obey a custom instruction without opening another tab.

Versus paying: It handles selected-text rewrites well, but lacks QuillBot's structured paraphrasing modes, synonym controls, citation generator, and integrated editor.

Setup: Use the portable Windows ZIP or macOS DMG; Linux currently runs from source

Watch for: You must supply an API key or install a local model; macOS needs Accessibility permissions, while Linux installation and Wayland support remain rough

2,400 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)