Access to the LanguageTool browser extension will become paid in 2 weeks, unless you are using a local model or selfhost it (languagetool.org)
from otter@lemmy.ca to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 29 May 05:00
https://lemmy.ca/post/65591349

I got a banner warning today linking to this page. It was announced a while back, but I either didn’t see it or forgot.

We have made the difficult decision to limit the use of LanguageTool’s browser extension to Premium users only. The rise of generative AI has made it more challenging to sustainably monetize our offering. A majority of users use our products for free, and the relatively small percentage of Premium subscribers is all that is subsidizing our continuously increasing server costs. To improve our Premium experience and to sustain our business model, we’ll be making the LanguageTool browser extension available exclusively for paying customers.

The key bit for people who can selfhost:

Yes. If you are a developer, you can still host and run your own instance of LanguageTool’s server. The browser extension will continue to work as it currently does for users who use it with their own server.

#selfhosted

threaded - newest

moonpiedumplings@programming.dev on 29 May 06:27 next collapse

Unfortunately, the browser extension is proprietary. They used to have an open source one but they stopped maintaining it.

Proprietary was a dealbreaker for me. There is no way to verify that it isn’t selling everything I type even if I do have it configured to point at a local server.

I’m also concerned that the extension may eventually no longer work against local servers as well.

github.com/languagetool-org/…/247

As an alternative, there is harper by wordpress: github.com/Automattic/harper

It is webassembly and runs entirely in your browser.

Starfighter@discuss.tchncs.de on 29 May 07:11 next collapse

Harper is great, but it only does English. Really wish their “extensible core” was extended to other languages sometime.

ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.net on 29 May 08:38 next collapse

Thanks for mentioning harper, hadn’t heard of it until now.

pineapple@lemmy.ml on 29 May 12:35 collapse

Seconded Ive never tried anything else but harper works well for me.

water1309@lemmy.world on 29 May 06:32 collapse

From the accompanying FAQ:

Are there any free alternatives Yes. Our sister brand, QuillBot, offers a free grammar-checking and paraphrasing browser extension that works just as well as LanguageTool for English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese. Give it a try Quillbot