10 best free websites on how to write an essay

Figuring out how to write an essay in English can be hard if it’s not your first language. Fortunately, there are great tools and resources online that teach you how to write an essay. The best part? Most of them are free.

Whether you need to identify the different types of essays or to check your grammar, our top 10 picks below will help.

Do note these tools are meant to assist you in writing better essays. It will be unethical to enlist the help of an online provider in writing your assignment. Not only does this defeat the purpose of completing your assignment, but could get you suspended or even thrown out of university.

Understanding the nuances of writing an essay will help you deliver better work. With the Internet, you’ll have an easier time writing your essays. Source: Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP

10 best free websites on how to write an essay

1. International Student

Learn how to write different types of essays through a handful of detailed, actionable articles at their Student Essay Writing Centre.

Here, you’ll find tips for writing general essays, scholarship essays, and admission essays. They also provide samples for you to refer to if you need extra guidance on writing a specific topic.

2. Grammarly

Grammarly needs no introduction. This website uses artificial intelligence to review your spelling, grammar and punctuation. If you’re afraid of missing grammatical errors and wonky phrases in your assignment, this tool can help to capture these mistakes.

Once you’ve uploaded your assignment on Grammarly, get a friend to check through your work, as you never know what the website might have missed. 

3. Hemingway Editor

The Hemingway Editor App highlights common errors and suggests ways to create simple, concise, and engaging content with its unique user interface known as the “Write” and “Edit” mode. Amendments to sentences created by the writer are colour coded.

4. The Purdue Online Writing Lab

Like the International Student, this website contains detailed articles using specific reference styles, subject-specific writing, and teaching resources. 

Remember to bookmark this website as they constantly update it to inform readers of changes to popular citation styles, like the Modern Language Association, Chicago, American Psychological Association, and so forth.

5. Grammar Girl

Mignon Fogarty, also known as the Grammar Girl, is the founder of the blog and website “Quick and Dirty Tips.” Articles address grammatical errors, homophones, and awkward phrasing. 

Got a question about how to use a word or apply a grammar rule? There’s a good chance that Fogarty may have already covered it on the website. You can also browse through her content to learn the history of some words and plenty of writing-related advice. 

You use an active voice to express yourself in a clear manner. For example, “I am happy.” Source: James Gilbert/Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

6. Aztekera Passive voice checker

Did you know it’s better to write your essays in an active voice? That is because this tone is more concise and straightforward. 

If you need help eliminating passive voice (the opposite of active voice) in your essays, consider using Aztekera to look out for “To be” verbs that make up a passive voice phrase. 

7. Thesaurus

Building on your vocabulary is part of becoming a better English writer — and Thesaurus fills that gap. The website provides alternative words and phrases for users to express themselves perfectly in written English by leveraging its collection of synonyms and antonyms.

Thesaurus also has a collection of the most overused words you should avoid in your essays.

8. Project Gutenburg

Reading great writing samples can help you make out what makes a good essay. Project Gutenburg is an open-source (legally allowed to be shared for free) library with over 60,000 titles! Note that most of the titles here are old since many books are no longer protected by copyright.

To fully use this resource, read actively and closely. Write notes in your journal to get a better feel for the language. Take note of new phrases, unfamiliar grammar structures, and anything else that stands out to you.

9. Edit Central

You’ve written your essay but are unsure if it flows well. Don’t worry — use Edit Central’s readability calculators. This tool calculates the readability scores of a written text based on the most used readability indicators. A high score indicates that your copy flows well with your readers.

10. Grammar Monster

Don’t let the name fool you. Like Grammar Girl, Grammar Monster features many articles addressing punctuation, apostrophes, commas, prepositions, adverbs, and adjectives, among others.

The great thing about this website is that you can master the English language through bite-size easy-to-learn components, making this one of the best sources to teach how to write an essay.