What Can Free AI Writing Tools Actually Do
Let's be clear: AI writing tools don't write articles for you. They're more like an always-available writing assistant — helping organize thoughts, expand outlines, polish sentences, and translate content.
I tested 8 tools, focusing on practical Chinese writing quality.
Individual Reviews
1. DeepSeek Chat
- Price: Free (with rate limits)
- Chinese quality: ★★★★★
- Best for: Chinese writing, translation, rewriting
- Strengths: Most natural Chinese output, reads like human writing
- Weaknesses: Creative writing imagination不如 ChatGPT
2. ChatGPT (GPT-5.5)
- Price: Free tier limited / Plus $20/mo
- Chinese quality: ★★★★
- Best for: English writing, creative content, marketing copy
- Strengths: Strongest creative writing, best English output
- Weaknesses: Occasional "translation feel" in Chinese, requires VPN
3. Kimi
- Price: Free
- Chinese quality: ★★★★
- Best for: Long document processing, research assistance
- Strengths: Supports 200K token input, strong web search
- Weaknesses: Pure writing quality slightly below DeepSeek
4. 讯飞星火 (iFlytek Spark)
- Price: Free tier limited
- Chinese quality: ★★★★
- Best for: Formal documents, meeting notes, voice-to-text
- Strengths: Excellent voice input, formal Chinese style
- Weaknesses: Limited creative writing ability
5. 秘塔写作猫 (秘塔 Xiezuocat)
- Price: Basic features free
- Chinese quality: ★★★★
- Best for: Academic papers, official documents
- Strengths: Designed for Chinese writing, grammar check, rewrite, plagiarism detection
- Weaknesses: Long-form generation weaker than large models
6. Notion AI
- Price: Free tier limited / Plus $10/mo
- Chinese quality: ★★★
- Best for: Notes, document management, knowledge base
- Strengths: Deep integration with Notion workspace
- Weaknesses: Chinese quality below dedicated Chinese tools
7. Claude (Free)
- Price: Free (with limits)
- Chinese quality: ★★★★
- Best for: In-depth analysis, technical docs, research reports
- Strengths: Best long-form writing, clear structure, tight logic
- Weaknesses: Requires VPN, high registration barrier
8. 通义千问 (Tongyi Qianwen)
- Price: Free
- Chinese quality: ★★★★
- Best for: Daily writing, e-commerce copy, DingTalk integration
- Strengths: Alibaba ecosystem integration
- Weaknesses: Less depth than DeepSeek for serious writing
How to Choose
| Writing Scenario | Recommended Tool |
|---|---|
| Daily Chinese writing | DeepSeek |
| English writing | ChatGPT |
| Academic papers | 秘塔 Xiezuocat |
| Long documents | Kimi or Claude |
| Formal documents | 讯飞星火 |
| Notes + AI | Notion AI |
| No registration needed | DeepSeek |
If you can only pick one, choose DeepSeek. Best Chinese, free, no VPN needed.
The Right Way to Use AI for Writing
Don't let AI write for you — let it help you edit.
The best workflow: write a rough draft yourself, then use AI to polish, add supporting arguments, and optimize structure. This way the output has your viewpoint and style combined with AI's language efficiency.
Articles written entirely by AI from scratch often have obvious "AI flavor": fancy but hollow words, neat but boring structure, correct but mediocre arguments.
