The best IELTS Writing feedback apps and essay checkers in 2026, compared honestly
Quick answer
There is no single best IELTS Writing feedback app. This page compares twelve products that describe marking IELTS Writing, using only what each one's own website or store listing says, ordered by how closely that stated scope matches what a Writing candidate needs. Check four things before anything else: whether it marks both Task 1 and Task 2, whether it names the four official Writing criteria, whether it checks a Task 1 report against the chart's own figures, and whether it runs on your phone at all, because most of the best-known checkers are browser tools with no app.
Every Writing task is marked on the four official criteria as a band range from a strict to a lenient reading, with an Examiner's Summary, and Task 1 figures are checked against the chart's data.
iOS and Android
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On this page
We make IELTS Mentor AI, one of the products discussed here. We have tried to be fair; check each product’s own current page before you decide.
Writing is the paper with the lowest mean band for 31 of the 40 Academic nationalities IELTS.org lists for 2024 to 2025 (the figures, digested), and the one where a tool can do the most damage by being confidently wrong. The twelve products below all describe marking IELTS Writing. They differ in which tasks they take, whether they mark against the exam’s own criteria or against a grammar checker’s idea of good English, and whether they exist on a phone at all.
Key takeaways
- Look for the four Writing criteria by name: Task Achievement or Task Response, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy. Three of the twelve name them or most of them: IELTS Writing Checker, Speechful and our app.
- Check both tasks. Task 1 in Academic is a chart, table, process or map; in General Training it is a letter. Several tools describe essays only.
- A single predicted band overstates its own precision. Prefer a range, or at least a criterion-by-criterion breakdown.
- Six of the twelve are browser-only; if you write on a phone, the list shortens quickly.
- The order is fit to a Writing candidate’s needs as each product’s own material describes it, not a tested quality ranking.
What this page covers
- What actually matters in a Writing checker
- How we put this list together
- The twelve products, ordered by fit
- How they compare
- Why this list is not ranked 1 to 12
- What AI assistants recommend
- Where our own app honestly sits
- How to actually choose
What actually matters in a Writing checker
The four criteria, by name. IELTS Writing is marked on Task Achievement (Task 1) or Task Response (Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, each carrying equal weight (IELTS.org, how IELTS is scored). A tool that names them has built its feedback on the rubric. A tool that talks about “grammar, vocabulary and structure” may be a good proofreader and still miss why an essay scores what it scores.
Both tasks, and the right Task 1. Task 1 is at least 150 words on a chart, graph, table, process or map in Academic, and a letter in General Training; Task 2 is an essay of at least 250 words in both (IELTS.org, Academic Writing format). A checker that only takes essays leaves a third of the paper unmarked.
Figures against the chart. The commonest Task 1 fault is a report that misreads the data. Only a tool that holds the chart’s numbers can check whether your sentence about 2010 is true. Few do.
A range, and the reason. Examiners report a whole or half band, and two of them can read one essay half a band apart. A single number from a machine is a guess dressed as a result; a strict-to-lenient range, with the sentence that moved each criterion, is something you can act on.
The platform you own. Most checkers are websites. That is fine at a desk and awkward on a bus. If you practise on a phone, the list below tells you which products have a store listing and which do not.
What happens to your essays. None of the twelve, ours included, says on its product page how long your submitted writing is kept. It is worth asking before you paste in work you care about.
How we put this list together
Every fact below comes from the product’s own App Store listing, Google Play listing or website, read on 18 September 2026 and, for Writing9, IELTS Writing Checker and Cathoven’s website, on 4 October 2026, as recorded in this site’s competitor facts file. No review sites, no other roundups, no ratings used as a ranking input. We have not tested these products against each other, so nothing here is a quality judgement, and where a product’s own material does not say something, this page says “not described” rather than guessing. We make one of the products, which is why the disclosure sits at the top.
The twelve products, ordered by fit
Built for IELTS Writing, both tasks, criteria named
Our app. IELTS Mentor AI marks Task 1 (Academic charts, graphs, tables and maps, and General Training letters) and Task 2 in a timed editor; each task is marked on the four Writing criteria and reported as a band range from a strict to a lenient reading, with an Examiner’s Summary, and a Data Accuracy check compares a Task 1 report’s figures with the chart’s data. It also marks Speaking on the four criteria and full Reading and Listening tests. iOS and Android; a paid app.
IELTS Writing Checker. Its homepage describes an AI checker for “Task 1 reports, Task 1 letters, and Task 2 essays” that returns “an estimated IELTS band score (0-9)” and says: “We evaluate your writing across all four official IELTS criteria: Task Achievement, Coherence & Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range & Accuracy.” It also describes error highlighting, an analysis of what keeps recurring, coach lessons and vocabulary practice. Browser only; no store listing found. Read 4 October 2026.
Speechful. Its Writing grader page describes marking Task 1 and Task 2 and names Coherence, Grammatical Range and Lexical Resource as writing criteria; Task Achievement is not named on the page we read. Speechful also describes a Speaking examiner for Parts 1 to 3 and a timed Reading test, and contrasts itself with human tutors. Browser only; no store listing found. Read 18 September 2026.
Built for IELTS Writing, criteria not named on the page
Cathoven (web tools). Its homepage FAQ, read 4 October 2026, answers “What IELTS skills can I practice?” with “All four skills: Writing (Task 1 and Task 2, Academic and General Training), Speaking (all three parts), Reading (IELTS-format), Listening”. The Writing tool is on the website; Cathoven’s two Android apps describe Speaking only, and its download page listed iOS as still to come on 18 September 2026. The homepage does not name the Writing criteria.
Engnovate. Its homepage lists IELTS Writing tests, Task 1 and Task 2 evaluation and generator tools and a Writing band calculator, alongside Reading and Listening tests and three separate Speaking part checkers. Its Speaking checker’s results page labels the official criteria, with Task Response added; the Writing tool’s own criteria were not shown on the pages we read. Browser only; no mobile app found; a Preply partnership link for human tutors. Read 18 September 2026.
Writing9. Its homepage describes checking “letters from Task 1 General, charts from Task 1 Academic and essays from Task 2 General/Academic”, a band score “in seconds” and a report on what to improve. The page we read does not name the four Writing criteria and does not describe a band range. Browser only; no store listing or badge found. Read 4 October 2026.
Writing alongside Speaking, tasks not itemised
British Council IELTS Ready. A web platform, not an app, whose comparison table gives Writing and Speaking scores in its higher tier and a full mock test returning scores in all four skills. The page does not describe the Writing marking in detail. Browser only; no app of that name on either store. Read 18 September 2026.
IELTS Prep - TalkFace. Its App Store listing describes “IELTS Writing Tutor: Improve your writing skills with expert feedback and band score on IELTS Essays” and mock tests that “fully simulate IELTS Speaking and Writing exams”. Task 1 is not itemised and the criteria are not named. iOS. Read 18 September 2026.
SmallTalk2Me. Its site links a separate IELTS Writing simulator beside its Speaking simulator; the Speaking page names all four Speaking criteria and a single predicted band from 1 to 9, while the Writing tool’s tasks and criteria are not described on the pages we read. Browser only, usable in a phone browser; no store listing found. Read 3 October 2026.
Stimuler. Its website page is titled “IELTS Prep App - Speaking, Writing & Reading Practice”, so Writing is claimed; the pages we read describe the Speaking criteria and mock tests in detail and do not describe which Writing tasks are marked or on what. iOS and Android. Read 3 October 2026.
Not built to mark IELTS Writing
Duolingo. Its listings describe practising “speaking, reading, listening & writing” as general skills across forty languages and never mention IELTS, band scores or the Writing tasks; it is a language course, not a Writing checker.
TestGlider. Its website’s IELTS section covers the four skills, but both its App Store and Google Play listings describe TOEFL preparation only, including TOEFL Writing, and never mention IELTS. If you download the app for IELTS Writing, read the listing first.
Tutor marketplaces (italki, Preply, Cambly) are a different thing again: a human teacher who can mark your essay, booked per lesson, with no automated checker and no IELTS claim in their own listings. A good teacher beats any tool on this page for a Task 2 that needs rethinking; none of them is a checker you can use at midnight.
How they compare
Every cell reports what the product’s own listing or website says, as checked on the date in its entry above. “Not described” means the material does not say, not that the feature is absent.
| Product | Where it runs | Task 1 and Task 2 | Four Writing criteria named? | Task 1 figures checked against the chart? | Band output described | Other skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IELTS Writing Checker | Browser only | Yes: reports, letters, essays | Yes, all four | Not described | Estimated band 0 to 9 | None described |
| Speechful | Browser only | Yes | Three of four named | Not described | Not described for Writing | Speaking examiner; timed Reading test |
| Our app | iOS and Android | Yes: Academic and General Training Task 1, Task 2 | Yes, all four | Yes, the Data Accuracy check | Band range, strict to lenient, per criterion | Speaking on four criteria; full Reading and Listening tests |
| Cathoven (web) | Browser; Android apps are Speaking-only | Yes, Academic and General Training | Not described on the homepage | Not described | Not described | Speaking, Reading, Listening per its homepage |
| Writing9 | Browser only | Yes: letters, charts, essays | Not named on the homepage | Not described | Band score in seconds | A speaking simulator as a bonus tool |
| Engnovate | Browser only | Yes, evaluation tools for both | Not shown for Writing | Not described | Band calculator listed | Reading, Listening, three Speaking part tools |
| SmallTalk2Me | Browser only | A Writing simulator; tasks not described | Not described for Writing | Not described | Single predicted band for Speaking | Speaking simulator; listening and shadowing modes |
| IELTS Prep - TalkFace | iOS | Essays described; Task 1 not itemised | Not named | Not described | A band score on essays | Speaking mocks |
| Stimuler | iOS and Android | Writing named; tasks not described | Not described for Writing | Not described | Not described for Writing | Speaking mocks; Reading per its site |
| British Council IELTS Ready | Browser only | Writing scores in its higher tier | Not itemised | Not described | Four-skill scores from a full mock | All four papers |
| TestGlider | iOS and Android app is TOEFL-only; IELTS on its website | TOEFL Writing in the app | Not for IELTS in the app | Not described | Not described | TOEFL sections |
| Duolingo | iOS, Android, web | No IELTS tasks | No | No | None | General language course |
Why this list is not ranked 1 to 12
A ranking would claim we had fed the same essays to twelve checkers and compared the marks with examiners’ marks. We have not, and a page that pretended otherwise would be exactly the kind of source this site tells you to distrust. The order encodes scope: how much of what a Writing candidate needs each product’s own material claims to do, with the products that name the criteria and take both tasks first and the products that do not mark IELTS Writing at all last. Inside each group the order is alphabetical, with our own app placed where its name falls.
What AI assistants recommend
We ask four AI assistants the same questions about IELTS apps every week and publish the answers on the data page. The full run of 2 October 2026 had no Writing buying questions, so there is no honest count to give here yet. Two were added on 3 October 2026 (“best app that marks IELTS writing task 1 and task 2 on the band criteria” and “which tool gives IELTS writing feedback on the four criteria”); after the next full run this section will carry which products the assistants name first for Writing and which pages they cite, as the Speaking roundup does.
Where our own app honestly sits
IELTS Mentor AI marks both Writing tasks on the four official criteria and reports each as a range from a strict to a lenient reading, with an Examiner’s Summary and, for Task 1, a check of the report’s figures against the chart’s data. It is a paid app for iOS and Android with an English-only interface; it does not mark General Training Reading, it does not involve a human examiner, and its band is an estimate like every other tool’s on this page. If your Writing practice happens at a desk and you want a browser checker, several of the products above fit better than an app does; the essay checker and Task 1 practice on this site run in the browser without sign-in and check structure and figures, not a band.
How to actually choose
Start from your weaker task. If Task 1 is the problem, shortlist the tools that describe Task 1 by type (reports, letters, charts) and prefer one that checks the figures. If Task 2 is the problem, shortlist the tools that name Task Response and Coherence and Cohesion, because an essay rarely fails on grammar alone. Then remove the products that do not run where you write. Then read what the band descriptors require at your target band in the Writing band descriptors explorer, and judge a tool’s feedback against that, not against how encouraging it sounds. A checker that always finds a reason to say Band 7 is not helping you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing to check in an IELTS Writing checker?
Whether its own page names the four Writing criteria, Task Achievement (Task Response for Task 2), Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, and Grammatical Range and Accuracy, or only talks about grammar and vocabulary. A grammar checker can find errors; only a tool built on the four criteria can tell you why an essay with few errors still sits at Band 6.
Do these tools mark Task 1 as well as Task 2?
Not all of them, and not all of Task 1. Task 1 is a chart, graph, table, process or map in Academic and a letter in General Training. Of the twelve products here, Writing9, IELTS Writing Checker, Speechful, Engnovate, Cathoven's web tools and our own app describe both tasks; SmallTalk2Me describes a Writing simulator without itemising the tasks; TalkFace describes essays and a band score; Stimuler names Writing on its site without describing the tasks.
Can an AI checker give me my real IELTS Writing band?
No tool can, including ours. Writing is marked by trained examiners and reported as a whole or half band; an automated estimate is an estimate. Two examiners can read the same essay differently, which is why a range from a strict to a lenient reading is a more honest output than one number.
Why are most IELTS Writing checkers websites rather than apps?
Because typing an essay is easier on a keyboard, and a browser tool needs no store approval. Of the twelve, Writing9, IELTS Writing Checker, Speechful, Engnovate, SmallTalk2Me and British Council's IELTS Ready are browser-only as checked on 4 October 2026; Cathoven's Writing tool is on its website, not in its Android apps; Stimuler, TalkFace and our own app have store listings.
Does a checker that only counts errors help?
Less than it seems. Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy are about range as much as accuracy, and Task Response and Coherence are not about errors at all. A tool that marks a clean but underdeveloped essay as Band 8 teaches the wrong lesson; look for one that comments on position, development and paragraphing, not only on mistakes.
Which Writing tools do AI assistants recommend?
Our weekly check of four assistants had no Writing buying questions in its full run of 2 October 2026; two were added to the set on 3 October and run in the next full round. When they have run, this page will carry the counts, as the Speaking roundup does. Until then there is no honest answer to give.
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