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Head-to-head · Writing Style Checkers

Acrolinx vs Vale

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 6 checks side by side
Higher score Acrolinx #1 in Writing Style Checkers 9.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Acrolinx
Vale #2 in Writing Style Checkers 9.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Vale

Acrolinx leads on 0 checks, Vale on 0, and 6 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 6 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreAcrolinx · 9.4/10
  • Free planonly Vale
  • Most featuresAcrolinx · 5 of 5

Acrolinx scores higher on our rubric for writing style checkers: 9.4 against 9.2 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #2.

Acrolinx is the better fit for enterprise content governance teams. Vale is the better fit for technical teams needing programmable style checks.

  • Acrolinx fits best

    Enterprise content governance teams

  • Vale fits best

    Technical teams needing programmable style checks

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature Acrolinx 9.4/10 Visit ↗ Vale 9.2/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.4 9.2
Ranking #1 in Writing Style Checkers #2 in Writing Style Checkers
Best for Enterprise content governance teams Technical teams needing programmable style checks
Pricing model Paid Free plan + paid
Starting price Pricing on request $19/user/mo
Free plan Not checked yet ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud Cloud, Self-hosted, Browser extension
Support Docs Community, Docs
Integrations 40+ integrations 16 integrations
Built for Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Acrolinx 5/5 · Vale 4/5
Custom style guide ✓ ✓
Terminology management ✓ ✓
Brand voice rules ✓ ✓
Team workflow ✓ ✓
API access ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
Editor support Adobe FrameMaker, Arbortext Editor, Figma, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, MadCap Flare, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Oxygen XML Author, Oxygen XML Editor, Oxygen XML Web Author, Visual Studio Code, XMetaL VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Neovim, Sublime Text, Zed, Emacs, JetBrains IDEs, Obsidian, Oxygen XML, Qt Creator, Vim ALE
Rule action Not checked yet Block
Our review
Pros
  • Custom style guides, terminology, brand voice, and inclusive-language rules
  • Quality gates, analytics, APIs, and command-line automation for governance
  • Guidance across Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Figma, Oxygen, and other editors
  • Custom YAML rules enforce terminology, vocabulary, and editorial guidance
  • Works across editors, repositories, CI pipelines, and pre-commit hooks
  • Free open-source CLI with markup-aware linting and blocking actions
Cons
  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • No trial is offered
  • Its enterprise scope may exceed smaller teams' needs
  • The hosted authoring layer requires a paid CMS plan
  • The Free plan includes a read-only sample project
  • Advanced repository editing and support start with the Pro plan
Our verdict

Acrolinx is an enterprise content governance platform for marketing, technical documentation, support, localization, and quality teams. It checks style, terminology, brand voice, tone, grammar, spelling, clarity, readability, inclusivity,…

Read the review →

Vale is an open-source command-line prose linter for writers, documentation teams, and developers. It checks Markdown, HTML, AsciiDoc, reStructuredText, and other formats against YAML-based rules. Teams can define terminology, vocabulary,…

Read the review →
  1. AcrolinxWriting Style Checkers 9.4Pricing on request
  2. ValeWriting Style Checkers 9.2Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Acrolinx — where it wins

    • Custom style guides, terminology, brand voice, and inclusive-language rules
    • Quality gates, analytics, APIs, and command-line automation for governance
    • Guidance across Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Figma, Oxygen, and other editors

    Where it doesn't

    • Pricing requires contacting sales
    • No trial is offered
    • Its enterprise scope may exceed smaller teams' needs
  • Vale — where it wins

    • Custom YAML rules enforce terminology, vocabulary, and editorial guidance
    • Works across editors, repositories, CI pipelines, and pre-commit hooks
    • Free open-source CLI with markup-aware linting and blocking actions

    Where it doesn't

    • The hosted authoring layer requires a paid CMS plan
    • The Free plan includes a read-only sample project
    • Advanced repository editing and support start with the Pro plan
  • Acrolinx9.4/10 · Pricing on request

    Deep enterprise style governance with broad editor support and sales-led pricing.

    Visit AcrolinxFull verdict →
  • Vale9.2/10 · Free plan

    A programmable prose linter with YAML rules, editor diagnostics, and CI workflows.

    Visit ValeFull verdict →

More comparisons

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update