Hemingway App
Hemingway App (Boondoggle Studio, LLC) is a bootstrapped, New York-based software company offering a web-based writing editor and AI-powered subscription (Hemingway Editor Plus) that highlight readability issues, check grammar, and rewrite text for students, professionals, content creators, ESL writers, and teams globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Hemingway App does
Hemingway App (legal entity: Boondoggle Studio, LLC) is a New York-based, bootstrapped software company founded in 2013 that builds a web-based writing-improvement platform branded around the Hemingway Editor. The core product is a text editor that highlights readability issues in real time using the Automated Readability Index, color-coding hard-to-read sentences (yellow at grade 12, red at grade 14+), and provides an overall grade-level score with no word-count limit on the free version. The company is co-founded by Ben Long and Adam Long.
The product portfolio spans a tiered offering: a free Hemingway Editor (web) for basic readability highlighting, a premium Hemingway Editor Plus tier launched February 2024 that adds AI-powered grammar checking, sentence rewriting, tone and style adjustment, custom rewrites, an AI synonym tool, creative rephrasing, and a Polish/feedback tool, plus a legacy desktop Hemingway Editor Classic. Four standalone free tools — grammar checker, paraphrasing tool, AI proofreader, and readability checker — function as SEO-driven acquisition channels. AI capabilities include generative rewriting, NLP-based grammar checking supporting 100+ languages, and multiple English dialect support. The technology stack is AI-augmented but does not disclose proprietary models; the small team (11–50 employees) suggests reliance on third-party foundation models.
Hemingway App operates a freemium, product-led growth model. Free tools and the free editor drive organic acquisition via SEO and word-of-mouth, with conversion to Hemingway Editor Plus at $10/month or $100/year (approximately $8.33/month annual). A 2-week trial requires no credit card. Team Plans, launched in February 2024 and expanded with admin controls through 2025, introduce B2B seat-based licensing with role-based access (User, Admin User, Admin Only) and enterprise invoicing. Customer segments are horizontal — students and academic writers, professionals and content creators, ESL writers, teams/organizations, and creative writers — served globally via self-serve web distribution. The company is privately held, founder-owned, and shows no evidence of external venture or PE investment.
Hemingway App firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hemingway App
- Legal name
- Boondoggle Studio, LLC
- Website
- https://hemingwayapp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hemingway App (Boondoggle Studio, LLC) is a bootstrapped, New York-based software company offering a web-based writing editor and AI-powered subscription (Hemingway Editor Plus) that highlight readability issues, check grammar, and rewrite text for students, professionals, content creators, ESL writers, and teams globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hemingway App industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Writing Assistance Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Language Content Libraries & Digital Readers (Leveled Readers, Graded Content) (EDAFAOAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Rapid eLearning Authoring Tools (EDAFAHAA)
Keywords
Where Hemingway App is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Hemingway App business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Hemingway Editor Plus Subscription: Premium subscription offering advanced AI-powered writing assistance including grammar checking, readability improvement, tone adjustment, and custom rewrites. Offered as monthly ($10) or annual ($100) subscription with 2-week free trial.
- Team Plans: Multi-user team subscription allowing single administrators to control multiple licenses. Includes User, Admin User, and Admin Only roles. License-based pricing per seat.
- Free Tools: Free online tools including grammar checker, paraphrasing tool, proofreader, and readability checker drive user acquisition and conversion to paid subscriptions.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Monthly subscription - Hemingway Editor Plus |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual subscription - Hemingway Editor Plus |
| Per seat | Multi-year contract | Team Plan - Multi-user licensing |
| Freemium | Monthly | Free version - Basic tools |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Hemingway App product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hemingway App is a writing-assistance platform that analyzes text for clarity and readability. It offers a free online Hemingway Editor, a paid Hemingway Editor Plus subscription, Hemingway Editor Classic for desktop, and complementary free tools including a grammar checker, paraphrasing tool, AI proofreader, and readability checker. The platform is used by students, professional writers, ESL writers, and teams to produce clearer, more readable prose.
Product overview
Hemingway App offers a suite of writing improvement tools centered on the Hemingway Editor brand. The product portfolio consists of a tiered offering: the free Hemingway Editor (web-based) providing basic readability highlighting, the premium Hemingway Editor Plus adding AI-powered corrections for grammar, tone, and sentence simplification, and the desktop Hemingway Editor Classic. Supporting the core products are four free standalone tools—a grammar checker, paraphrasing tool, AI proofreader, and readability checker—all accessible online without requiring an account. The company is operated by Boondoggle Studio, LLC.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Hemingway Editor Plus: Premium AI-powered writing tool with advanced grammar checking, tone adjustment, readability scoring, and text simplification features. Includes Team Plans for multi-user collaboration.
- Hemingway Editor Classic
Products and services
- Hemingway Editor Plus Paid subscription version of the Hemingway writing-assistance editor that adds advanced editing capabilities, support for longer texts, and team workflows on top of the standard readability and clarity analysis. Sold at $10/month or $100/year to individuals and via Team Plans for groups.
- Hemingway Editor (Free Web Version) Free online editor that uses the Automated Readability Index and rule-based analysis to highlight hard-to-read sentences, passive voice, adverbs, and complex phrases. Aimed at students, professional writers, ESL writers, and creative writers.
- Hemingway Editor Classic (Desktop) Downloadable desktop version of the Hemingway Editor that lets users edit and analyze text offline. Marketed as the classic single-purchase desktop edition for users who prefer a non-subscription installable app.
- Free Grammar Checker Free online grammar-checking tool that flags grammatical issues and suggests clearer phrasings. Used by students, professional writers, and ESL writers as a lightweight alternative to full editor flows.
- Free Paraphrasing Tool Free online paraphrasing tool that rewrites supplied text to improve clarity and simplicity. Marketed to students, professional writers, and ESL users who want to rework existing drafts.
- Free AI Proofreader Free AI-driven proofreading tool that reviews supplied text for grammar, spelling, and style issues. Targeted at individual writers who want a quick, no-cost proofreading pass.
- Free Readability Checker Free readability analysis tool that assigns the supplied text a grade level based on the Automated Readability Index and related metrics. Used by writers who want a quick readability score without opening the full editor.
- Hemingway Editor Plus Team Plans Multi-seat subscription plan for Hemingway Editor Plus that lets small teams, editorial groups, and organizations share access to Plus features under consolidated billing. Priced separately from individual Plus subscriptions.
Quantifiable outcome
- Free tools with unlimited word count for full document analysis
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Hemingway App
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Hemingway App technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Feature10 records
Hemingway App partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Hemingway App competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Grammarly: Grammarly is Hemingway's closest direct competitor, offering AI-powered grammar checking, tone adjustments, and rewriting. Both target writers, students, and professionals with subscription models priced at the consumer and team tiers, and Grammarly explicitly competes on Hemingway's namesake readability scoring.
- ProWritingAid: ProWritingAid is a direct competitor in the grammar/style/reporting category, providing in-depth writing reports, style suggestions, and integrations. It targets professional writers, students, and enterprises with annual subscription pricing comparable in positioning to Hemingway Editor Plus.
- QuillBot: QuillBot operates a writing suite (paraphraser, grammar checker, summarizer) that directly competes with Hemingway's free tools and Plus features. Its freemium model, paraphrasing focus, and student/SEO-writer audience mirror Hemingway's gtm_motion and target segments.
- Wordtune: Wordtune offers AI sentence rewriting and tone adjustment that overlaps with Hemingway's AI Simplify, Tone, and Custom Rewrites tools. Both target professional and student writers with subscription models emphasizing style preservation rather than just grammar correction.
- LanguageTool: LanguageTool is a multilingual grammar and style checker with an open-source/online hybrid offering. It overlaps heavily with Hemingway's grammar checker, proofreading, and multi-language support, serving similar writing audiences with tiered subscriptions.
- Ginger Software: Ginger Software provides grammar checking, sentence rephrasing, and translation tools. Now part of a larger AI writing suite, Ginger competes with Hemingway's proofreading and rewrites capabilities for ESL and professional writers.
Broad incumbents
- Microsoft Editor: Microsoft Editor is a writing assistant bundled into Microsoft 365 that competes with Hemingway at the OS and productivity-suite level. As a broad incumbent it overlaps on grammar, clarity, and tone features, threatening Hemingway's premium positioning via bundled distribution.
Emerging players
- Trinka AI: Trinka is an AI grammar and style checker focused on academic and technical writing. It overlaps Hemingway on grammar, tone, and rewriting for a narrower academic/professional segment, representing an emerging niche threat to Hemingway's academic-writer base.
- PaperRater: PaperRater offers AI-based grammar checking and writing analysis targeted primarily at students. It competes with Hemingway's free readability and grammar tools in the student segment, with comparable free-tier positioning.
- Sapling AI: Sapling is an AI writing assistant focused on customer support, sales, and enterprise messaging. It overlaps Hemingway on grammar and tone features but with a business-comms concentration, making it a partial competitor for Hemingway's professional-team segment.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Hemingway App social profiles
Digital presenceHemingway App financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hemingway App leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Hemingway App funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hemingway App M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hemingway App
What does Hemingway App do?
Hemingway App is a writing-assistance platform that analyzes text for clarity and readability. It offers a free online Hemingway Editor, a paid Hemingway Editor Plus subscription, Hemingway Editor Classic for desktop, and complementary free tools including a grammar checker, paraphrasing tool, AI proofreader, and readability checker. The platform is used by students, professional writers, ESL writers, and teams to produce clearer, more readable prose.
Is Hemingway App a public or private company?
Hemingway App is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Hemingway App founded?
Hemingway App was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hemingway App based?
Hemingway App is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Hemingway App make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Hemingway Editor Plus Subscription is the primary driver. The others are team Plans and free Tools.
Who are Hemingway App's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Grammarly, ProWritingAid, QuillBot, Wordtune, LanguageTool and Ginger Software. Microsoft Editor is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Trinka AI, PaperRater and Sapling AI.
Does Hemingway App have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hemingway App.
What industry is Hemingway App in?
Hemingway App's product category is Writing Assistance Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAOAM, Language Content Libraries & Digital Readers (Leveled Readers, Graded Content), with a secondary code of EDAFAHAA, Rapid eLearning Authoring Tools. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 2731.