Short answer: the best IELTS Writing Task 1 checker in 2026 is the IELTSbiz Writing Checker, because it is the one that reads the chart you were given - you upload it, the checker turns it into data, and your report is marked against those numbers as well as on the four criteria.
It also marks General Training letters against the register the task demands. KeenIELTS is the best free alternative and Cathoven the most detailed on language.
Disclosure: IELTSbiz is our product. The deciding test below is one you can run on any checker in two minutes - give it a report with a deliberately wrong figure and see whether it notices.
An IELTS Task 1 checker is a tool that marks your Writing Task 1 answer - a 150-word report on a chart, table, map or process for Academic candidates, or a 150-word letter for General Training - and estimates a band on the four criteria.
Task 1 is worth a third of your Writing band, and it fails differently from Task 2: the usual problem is not ideas but accuracy, selection and the overview.
| Checker | Reads your chart? | GT letters | Free access | Price (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IELTSbiz Writing Checker | Yes - upload the image | Yes, by register | Monthly allowance, no card | Pro from $7.99/month |
| KeenIELTS | Within its own mock tasks | Within its mocks | Free, ad-supported | Free |
| Cathoven | Text analysis | Text analysis | Language tools free with daily limits | IELTS scoring on Premium, from $21/week |
| ieltsonlinetests | Within its own mock tasks | Within its mocks | Free mocks | AI marking from $4.99 |
| engnovate | Quick estimates on submitted tasks | Yes | Free with limits | Paid tier available |
| Human correction service | Yes, a person reads it | Yes | No | Per script, varies |
How we ranked these Task 1 checkers
Task Achievement, the first criterion in Task 1, asks whether you selected the key features, reported them accurately and gave a clear overview. A checker that only receives your text has to take your numbers on trust.
Write "sales rose to 40%" when the chart says 30%, and a text-only checker will praise the sentence. So our first test is can it check your data against the visual.
The second is does it mark the overview, the single sentence that most often separates 6 from 7. The third, for General Training, is does it know the register. Then price.
Our guides to writing the Task 1 overview and the Task 1 band descriptors explain why those two features carry so much weight.
1. IELTSbiz Writing Checker - Best overall Task 1 checker
For Academic Task 1, the IELTSbiz Writing Checker lets you upload the chart, table, map or diagram from your practice task. The image is transcribed into data, used for that one marking, and never stored.
Your report is then marked against that data and on all four criteria, so a misread axis or a wrong year shows up as a Task Achievement problem, which is what an examiner would call it.
Every correction quotes the sentence it refers to, so you can check the reasoning yourself.
For General Training, the checker marks your letter against the register the task sets - formal, semi-formal or informal - because the same sentence can be right in one and wrong in another.
Checks are free within a monthly allowance with no card; Pro, from $7.99/month, removes the limit. If you want to be taught each visual type before you write, the Band 8 Writing Trainer covers all seven Academic visuals and all three letter registers, lesson by lesson.
The limit: the overall band is an estimate, not an examiner's mark.
2. KeenIELTS - Best free Task 1 checking
KeenIELTS is free and ad-supported on web, Android and iPhone, and it scores Writing with AI inside its mock tests. Because the tasks are its own, it knows the visual it set. On a zero budget, it gives the most Task 1 practice with an estimate attached.
Explanations are shorter, and you cannot bring your own chart from a textbook.
3. Cathoven - Best for detailed language analysis
Cathoven's strength is analysing the language of your text: CEFR-level vocabulary, grammar range and readability, with those tools free inside daily limits. Its scoring against the four IELTS criteria is part of Premium, with plans from $21 a week as of September 2026.
It is excellent for Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range work, weaker on checking your figures against a chart. Our Cathoven review has the detail.
4. ieltsonlinetests - Cheapest add-on for mock users
If you already sit free mocks on ieltsonlinetests, AI Writing marking from $4.99 adds a band to your Task 1 attempts within its own tasks. Good value as an add-on; the free tier carries ads. See the ieltsonlinetests review.
5. engnovate - Best for quick estimates
engnovate gives fast automated band estimates on Writing tasks, with a free tier within limits. It is useful for keeping a habit of finishing timed Task 1 attempts and getting a quick number back. Treat the estimate as a direction and check the detail elsewhere.
6. A human correction service - Best for a final check
A trained teacher reads the chart and your report together, which is exactly what an examiner does. One or two human-marked Task 1 scripts in the last fortnight are a sensible check on any AI estimate. Our comparison of writing correction services lists options.
The 20-minute Task 1 routine that works with any checker
Spend three minutes reading the visual and choosing three or four key features. Write the overview first, then the detail paragraphs, and stop at twenty minutes. Check it.
Then rewrite only the overview, using the feedback, and check again. Overviews improve fastest of anything in Task 1, and they are what moves a 6 to a 7. Our guide to describing graphs and charts and the GT letters guide cover the rest.