Should I self-host Grammarly?
LanguageTool's server boots in seconds and the browser extension points at it with one setting — grammar and style rules without shipping every keystroke to a cloud. But Grammarly's AI rewrites are genuinely a tier above. Worth it if privacy is the point; not if the AI editor is.
GrammarlyGO rewriting and tone suggestions
The premium rule-sets (LanguageTool's own premium exists for that)
grammar & spelling checks · style suggestions · browser integration
* Percent of the subscription price. Your time is priced at the slider's rate — $0/h ("my homelab time is free and I love it") is a legitimate position. Every number is derived from the record, never hand-written. Price source, checked 2026-08-06.
Runs comfortably on a real VPS (2 GB+).
Boot to healthy measured at 20s on the 2GB reference env
# LanguageTool — grammar server the browser extension can point at
services:
languagetool:
image: erikvl87/languagetool:latest
container_name: languagetool
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
Java_Xms: 256m
Java_Xmx: 1g
ports:
- "8103:8010"
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "wget -qO- 'http://localhost:8010/v2/languages' >/dev/null || exit 1"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 10s
retries: 30
start_period: 30s
Want a guided install instead? caniselfhostit.com/grammarly has AI-agent prompts that assume a bare machine — that's their half of the stool, and it's good.
FULL TIMED LOG
# Grammarly — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** KINDA — worth it if… - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Setup evidence - Compose: `compose/grammarly-languagetool.yml` - Boot to healthy: **20s** measured this session - Setup time recorded: 11 min (boot + configuration to first working workflow) ## What broke / notes - Boot to healthy measured at 20s on the 2GB reference env ## The call LanguageTool's server boots in seconds and the browser extension points at it with one setting — grammar and style rules without shipping every keystroke to a cloud. But Grammarly's AI rewrites are genuinely a tier above. Worth it if privacy is the point; not if the AI editor is.