LanguageTool vs Vale
Self-host pick — both replace Grammarly (Writing assistant / grammar + style checker).
Both LanguageTool and Vale self-host as a replacement for Grammarly (Writing assistant / grammar + style checker). Pick LanguageTool if you want a GPL-licensed codebase (LGPL-2.1); pick Vale for MIT (MIT). Both run in roughly the same cost bracket — $5-10 vps; the larger n-gram dataset wants ~16gb disk + a few gb ram if you enable it vs $0 — local binary; ci cost only if you run it in pipelines.
| LanguageToolopen-source | Valeopen-source | |
|---|---|---|
| License | LGPL-2.1 | MIT |
| Setup time | 10min — single Java process, optional docker-compose | 10min — single Go binary + a styles directory |
| Monthly cost | $5-10 VPS; the larger n-gram dataset wants ~16GB disk + a few GB RAM if you enable it. | $0 — local binary; CI cost only if you run it in pipelines. |
| GitHub | languagetool-org/languagetool | errata-ai/vale |
| Replaces | Grammarly | Grammarly |
Good fit for
LanguageTool
Anyone whose Grammarly use is mostly grammar + style + multilingual checking — LanguageTool covers 30+ languages.
Weak at:Tone, rewrite, and the AI 'make it sound more confident' features are not in the free OSS server.
Vale
Documentation teams and devs who want enforceable, repo-checked-in style guides — turn 'use active voice' into a CI check.
Weak at:Not for casual prose — wrong shape for in-browser corrections; you write rules, not get sentences rewritten.
In a terminal? npx -y github:SolvoHQ/os-alt-cli grammarly prints Grammarly's self-host options including both —
how the CLI works →
FAQ
Which is easier to self-host, LanguageTool or Vale?
LanguageTool: 10min — single Java process, optional docker-compose. Vale: 10min — single Go binary + a styles directory.
What does each cost to run?
LanguageTool: $5-10 VPS; the larger n-gram dataset wants ~16GB disk + a few GB RAM if you enable it.. Vale: $0 — local binary; CI cost only if you run it in pipelines.. Both projects are free and open source.
Do LanguageTool and Vale replace the same SaaS?
Yes — both are open-source alternatives to Grammarly.