How to choose a Korean grammar checker for Mac and Windows

Korean grammar checker websites vs. apps

The main difference between a checker website and an app is whether you have to move your text. A website checks text you paste into a box in your browser, and then you copy the corrected text back to where you were writing.

Many spell checker websites limit how much you can check at once. Naver’s takes up to 300 characters, Daum’s up to 1,000 and Saramin’s up to 4,000.

Apps check your writing inside the programs you already use. Hancom Office Hangul, a Korean word processor, and Microsoft Word check their own documents. Grammarly checks where you write through its apps and browser extensions, and Minikong checks the text boxes of many apps, such as KakaoTalk and Slack.

Korean spell checkers compared by situation

It’s more useful to choose a Korean spell checker by situation than by ranking. We checked everything in the Korean spell checker comparison tables on October 27, 2026; prices and limits can change.

Websites where you paste your text

Bareun Hangeul is the new name of the Pusan National University Korean spell checker, which has been around since 1994. It’s now run by the company that built it with the university’s AI lab. Bareun AI (바른AI) has a similar name but is a separate service from a different company.

Tools that check where you write

LanguageTool, a grammar checker that covers more than 30 languages, does not list Korean on its supported-languages page.

Grammarly’s Korean support (beta)

Grammarly supports Korean in beta. Korean is one of the languages in Grammarly’s multilingual suggestions, which give feedback on spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes in Grammarly for Mac, Grammarly for Windows, its Chrome, Safari and Edge extensions, and its iOS and Android apps.

Grammarly’s own help articles describe the Free plan differently. One says multilingual suggestions are included in all plans, including Free; another says the beta is for Pro, Plus, Business and Education users, with some features also available to Free users.

For individual Grammarly users, the ‘Product Improvement and Training’ setting is on by default and can be switched off in account settings. Grammarly covers many languages, with Korean in beta; Minikong is built for Korean and checks English once you turn it on.

For a side-by-side table of Grammarly and Minikong, see Does Grammarly support Korean?.

Korean spell checking on a Mac: built-in tools and apps

On a Mac, you can check Korean spelling with the built-in macOS spell checker, with Apple Intelligence’s Proofread tool, or with an app you install.

Apple says macOS checks spelling automatically no matter which language you’re typing. Apple’s feature list includes Korean (2-Set) for autocorrection but lists grammar checking for English only.

On Macs with M1 or later and MacBook Neo, Apple Intelligence Writing Tools support Korean. Writing Tools run only when you ask: select your text, Control-click it, choose Writing Tools > Show Writing Tools, and click Proofread.

To have Korean checked while you type in KakaoTalk or Slack, install an app that checks where you type, such as Minikong. Minikong runs on Apple silicon Macs (M1 or later) with macOS 26 or later, and there’s no Intel Mac version yet. On a Mac, Minikong uses only the Accessibility and Input Monitoring permissions, not Screen & System Audio Recording.

Install steps for Minikong on a Mac are in How do I check Korean spelling on a Mac?.

Korean spell checkers for Windows: document programs and apps

Korean spell checkers for Windows come in two kinds: programs that check inside their own documents, and apps that check text as you write in other programs.

Hancom Office Hangul, a Korean word processor sold for Windows (and for Mac through a Hancom Docs subscription), checks spelling inside its own documents, and Hancom says it works offline. Microsoft Word and Outlook check Korean spelling and grammar inside Microsoft 365 apps, and Grammarly supports Korean in beta in its Windows app and browser extensions.

Minikong runs on 64-bit Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11. Minikong installs for your user account only, without admin rights, and there are no permissions to grant. The installer isn’t code-signed yet, so ‘Windows protected your PC’ may appear the first time you open it. Some apps, such as the new Outlook, aren’t checked yet.

Install steps for Minikong on Windows are in Is there a Korean spell checker for Windows?.

How to check Korean in KakaoTalk, Slack and email on a computer

In KakaoTalk on a computer, Slack and email, you send short messages often. An app that checks right where you type works well there, because you can fix a message before you send it without moving it anywhere.

KakaoTalk added a spell check button (맞춤법) to the message box in version 11.3.0 of its mobile app, released on December 18, 2024. Tapping the button before you send fixes spelling and spacing in the message.

Minikong checks 2 seconds after you stop typing, and you can set the wait anywhere from 0.5 to 5 seconds. To have it check as you type, turn on Fast mode (패스트 모드) under Settings → Check (검사). When you click Paste (복붙하기) in the review window, the fix replaces the text in your message box, and nothing is sent.

Where Minikong can’t read the text box, as in Figma, terminals and web editors like Google Docs, it checks your keystrokes for typos only. Minikong deliberately skips password fields, banking and brokerage apps, and meeting apps.

What Minikong fixed in a real test

Two of the changes are spacing fixes: in 수정할 수 and 있을 것, the bound nouns 수 and 것 are written as separate words. 연락할께요 and 안내드릴께요 show a common misspelling, 께요 for the ending 게요, as in 할께요 for 할게요 (‘I’ll do it’).

Offline Korean spell checking and where your text goes

To check Korean offline and keep your text to yourself, choose a spell checker that runs on your computer. Spell checker websites need the internet, and they send the text you paste to the service so it can be checked.

Minikong keeps the dictionaries and checking data it uses inside the app, so it checks spelling even when you’re offline. Text can leave your computer through Minikong in only two ways: sharing text snippets to improve checking, and subscription AI features. Both stay off until you turn them on.

Before anything goes to the AI, Minikong masks personal details such as phone numbers, right on your computer. In an AI translation test on October 17, 2026, the test number 02-1234-5678 was sent as ⟦P1⟧ and put back when the translation returned. People’s names may not be masked.

Minikong’s Privacy Policy has the details.

AI Korean grammar checkers vs. regular spell checkers

An AI Korean grammar checker reads your sentences and suggests fixes, so it usually sends your text to a server and comes with fees or usage limits. A regular Korean spell checker works from dictionaries and checking data, and Minikong’s basic check runs entirely on your computer.

Minikong’s AI second check (AI 2차 검사) is a subscription feature: after the on-device check, AI takes another look and labels anything the first pass missed with ‘AI’. Only users 14 and older can turn it on, with separate consent, and it allows 200 checks a day and 2,000 a month. If you hit a limit, only AI features pause until it resets; free checking keeps working.

Subscriptions open soon at $38 a year or $4 a month, tax included. Everything in Free works in the meantime. See subscription pricing and AI limits for details.

You can also paste Korean text into an AI chatbot such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and ask it to proofread. Each chatbot service has its own settings for whether chats help train its models.

Why Korean spell checkers give different answers on spelling and spacing

Korean spell checkers give different answers because each checker uses its own dictionary and method, and because some rules of Hangeul Orthography (한글 맞춤법), South Korea’s official spelling standard, allow two correct forms. Article 47, for example, says auxiliary predicates (보조 용언) such as 보다 in 해 보다 (‘try doing’) are written with a space as a rule, but may be attached in some cases.

On the National Institute of Korean Language’s Online Ganada (온라인가나다) board, someone asked why three spell checkers gave three different answers for ‘이해해보도록 노력해볼게’ (‘I’ll try my best to understand’). On May 28, 2026, the institute answered that 이해하- and 노력하- are derived predicates of three or more syllables, so the auxiliary predicates after them must be written with a space: ‘이해해 보도록 노력해 볼게.’

Korean spacing rules in brief

Hangeul Orthography, currently Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Notice No. 2017-12 (in force since March 28, 2017) and posted by the National Institute of Korean Language, sets these basic spacing rules (our translation):

• Article 2: each word in a sentence is written separately, as a rule.
• Article 41: particles attach to the word before them, as in 꽃이 and 꽃마저.
• Article 42: bound nouns are written separately, as in 아는 것이 힘이다 and 나도 할 수 있다.
• Article 47: auxiliary predicates are written separately as a rule, but may be attached in some cases. They must be written separately when a particle attaches to the word before them, when that word is a compound predicate, or when a particle comes in between.

Where to check when checkers disagree

Look words up in the Standard Korean Language Dictionary (표준국어대사전), and ask about rules on the institute’s Online Ganada board; both are in Korean. Learners can also use the institute’s Korean-English Learners’ Dictionary. Minikong can be wrong too, so take a quick look before you send, and report odd results with the Error (오류) button in the review window.

Getting started with Minikong

Minikong is ready to use once it’s installed; on a Mac, you also allow two permissions the first time it runs. Get the free installer from the Minikong download page and follow the install guide. Then open Settings, click Test input (시험 입력…) on the General tab, type ‘할께요.’ (a common misspelling of ‘할게요.’, ‘I’ll do it’) and click Check this sentence (이 문장 검사하기). If it changes to ‘할게요.’, you’re all set.

Minikong’s interface is in Korean for now, so this site’s English pages give each Korean setting name with an English translation. More answers are in the Korean spell checker FAQ.