ZimmWriter review: a summary of my experience with the cloudless AI writer

Despite being another GPT-3-powered writer among many in a crowded market, ZimmWriter still manages to stand out.

I’ll explain why ZimmWriter stands out and why I’m switching over to it from my previous favourite, Copymatic in a bit.

Without further ado, let’s dive in and talk about what makes ZimmWriter special.

What is ZimmWriter?

ZimmWriter is an AI text generator created by Matt Zimmerman. It runs on GPT-3 and produces text of a similar quality to other GPT-3-powered text generators like Jasper and Writesonic.

What separates ZimmWriter from other text generators is that it’s not a cloud app; it runs on your computer old-school style. You have to actually install the thing. This seems backwards at first but please hang in there.

It turns out that ZimmWriter is fast, cheap and good.

What are the pros and cons of ZimmWriter?

Pros

Cheaper than cloud-based text generators

Starting at just $5.97 a month, ZimmWriter undercuts most AI text generators easily. There’s also a lifetime deal for $197, something that’s missing from many competitors.

This is another perk of ZimmWriter not being cloud-based because it comes with none of the operating costs associated with cloud apps, thus it can charge less.

Unlike competitor cloud tools, ZimmWriter only charges for the product, not the gas. This means that with ZimmWriter, you’re only paying for ZimmWriter itself.

You do, however, have to pay for each API call but at no additional markup. GPT-3’s API costs money to use and every cloud AI text generator makes you pay for it, usually with a markup. ZimmWriter lets you use GPT-3 at the market rate and it’s still far cheaper.

A typical blog post can cost anything between $0.15 to $0.40 of API (about 1,000 to 3,000 words) credits when using GPT-3, depending on the total word count and how much you decide to rewrite, as well as the quality of the model.

Competitors will often cover the gas fee by charging a markup within their flat rate.

Seemlessly integrates into whatever you’re doing without extensions or plugins

The real advantage of a hardware-based writing tool rather than a cloud app is that it can always run in the background and interact with whatever window you have open, whether it’s Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, Slack or anything in the browser.

High quality outputs

Despite being based on the same tech as other GPT-3-based text generators, ZimmWriter’s outputs are better quality and better for SEO.

This is because its interface allows more granular control of the inputs, thus generates outputs that are more in tune with its users’ expectations than other apps.

No other AI text generation tool offers such precision in its inputs commands.

I have previously published a guide on generating high quality long form blog posts with ZimmWriter.

Cons

Not for newbies

If you’re new to GPT-3 or AI text generators in general, ZimmWriter may prove daunting. It doesn’t beat around the bush with any pretty interfaces, or handholding with live chat support agents, or offer the plethora of writing tools unlike its competitors.

It’s simply a barebones program that installs on your operating system with an interface composed mainly of grey boxes. If you’re like me and don’t care much for bells and whistles, this hardly matters.

You also have to connect it to OpenAI’s API too, which again, isn’t a problem for me but raises the bar of entry above many others. There’s a video.

How much does ZimmWriter cost?

ZimmWriter starts at $5.97 per month for the Normal Plan, and $9.97 per month for the Ultimate Plan. The Ultimate Plan includes the bulk and SEO tools which are not included in the Normal Plan.

There’s also the option of a one-off lifetime price of $197, which gives you all of the features of the Ultimate Plan.