7 Best Plagiarism Checkers in 2024 (Free & Paid)
Plagiarism remains a significant concern in the writing community. When an author claims another person's work as their own, it constitutes a serious breach of ethics, both in academic and professional settings. Hence, getting a reliable plagiarism check is essential for writers to ensure their content is original and free from potential infringements.
In response to this need, Wordvice AI has compiled a comprehensive list of the top 7 plagiarism checkers available in 2024. We have evaluated and ranked each tool to help you find the one that best meets your requirements. Although we cannot promise any results in your particular use case, we do recommend giving one of these plagiarism checkers a try to ensure your work is authentic and free of copied text.
What do plagiarism checkers do?
Plagiarism checkers are digital tools designed to identify instances of plagiarism in a piece of writing. They work by scanning the submitted text and highlighting any sections that match other content, often providing a similarity percentage and detailed reports that indicate where the matches were found. To ensure work is original, good plagiarism check tools compare your text to a vast database of existing content on the internet, academic papers, books, and other sources.
Plagiarism check tools are used by a wide range of writers, including students, teachers, researchers, and professional writers. Students use plagiarism checkers to ensure their academic papers, assignments, and admissions essays are original. Teachers and professors use them to verify the authenticity of students' work. Researchers rely on a research paper plagiarism checker to check their papers before publication to avoid unintentional plagiarism, including self-plagiarism. Finally, professional writers and bloggers use plagiarism software to ensure their content is unique and credible and avoid SEO and reputational penalties.
A good plagiarism checker will detect plagiarism accurately, even when there are alterations made to the original phrasing. Inclusion of a plagiarism report is also an important factor in determining how complete a tool is.
Do I need a plagiarism check for my document?
Whether you’re a student, a professional writer, or a researcher, running your work through a plagiarism checker is a step to include in your writing preparation workflow.
But do you NEED to use a plagiarism checker? It depends on what you’re writing and if you are intending to publish your writing somewhere it will be accessible–whether in an academic journal or a large blogsite. If you care about retaining your original voice and keeping your reputation as a communicator intact, using plagiarism tools is an easy step to take that can save you from potential problems down the road.
Free vs. Paid Plagiarism Checkers: Some Conclusions
When comparing free and paid plagiarism checkers, several patterns emerge. As one might expect, paid tools generally offer more accurate and comprehensive results as they often have access to larger databases, including academic journals, proprietary content, and extensive web sources, which enhances their detection capabilities.
On the other hand, free plagiarism check tools, while useful for basic checks, tend to miss more subtle or less blatant instances of plagiarism due to their limited databases and less sophisticated algorithms. Paid versions also provide better user experiences, including detailed reports and customer support, and some even offer a grammar checker or citation generator as additional resources for writers.
In summary, while free plagiarism checkers can be helpful for initial reviews, paid versions are typically more reliable and effective for ensuring thorough plagiarism detection and maintaining the integrity of your work.
7 Best Plagiarism Checkers for Research, Academic, and Professional Writing
1. Wordvice AI Plagiarism Checker–best plagiarism checker for academic papers
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Highly accurate:Detects a high amount of plagiarism. Capable of identifying plagiarism even in paraphrased or edited texts | ❌ Limited pricing options: No free version available |
| ✅ Comprehensive: Includes a free plagiarism report and self-plagiarism detection feature | ❌ Platform limitations: Only available on the website platform |
| ✅ Great user experience: Easy to use and analyze results | |
| ✅ AI Writing Assistant: A suite of free AI revision tools to enhance your writing after getting a plagiarism check | |
| ✅ Safe & secure: User data and uploaded content is protected and confidential |
Plagiarism checker overview
The Wordvice AI Plagiarism Checker excels at detecting plagiarism, it catches nearly all instances of plagiarism in academic documents and accurately identifies copied content from a wide range of sources, including academic journals, websites, and dissertations.
This highly accurate plagiarism checker is particularly effective in catching paraphrased or heavily edited plagiarism, ensuring comprehensive detection.
User experience
Wordvice AI provides a user-friendly experience with a clear, downloadable report highlighting different sources in distinct colors for easy reading.
Users can check for self-plagiarism by checking their unpublished text against the database, preventing self-plagiarism (or using your own previously published work, whether intentionally or unintentionally).
However, users cannot edit their text directly within the plagiarism check tool, but can use free revision tools (especially for academic and admissions writing) provided by the Wordvice AI Writing Assistant, including the AI Proofreader, AI Paraphraser, AI Translator, AI Summarizer, and AI Detector.
Wordvice AI states in the site’s terms and conditions that they prioritize privacy and security. Uploaded documents are never sold or licensed to third-party data brokers.
Pricing
Wordvice AI does not offer a free version of their plagiarism checker, but a subscription to Wordvice AI Premium grants users access to all of the tools in the AI Writing Assistant, including full reports and detailed similarity scores in the Plagiarism Checker. Pricing is $9.95/month and Team plans are also available for greater collaboration.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 9.5 | 9 | 8.7 |
2. Copyleaks Plagiarism Checker–one of the all-around best plagiarism checkers
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Extensive database: Accesses a vast database of sources | ❌ Not free: Requires a subscription to access the plagiarism checker |
| ✅ Flexible pricing: Points-based system with purchased credits | ❌ Potentially expensive: Credit-based pricing can become costly for heavy users |
| ✅ Effective detection: Offers reliable plagiarism detection with the ability to compare source |
Overview
Copyleaks is a robust tool designed for educators, businesses, and content creators to ensure originality in their documents. It uses advanced AI algorithms to scan texts against billions of web pages, academic databases, and private repositories. The tool provides detailed reports highlighting potential matches and the percentage of duplicate content. Copyleaks excels in detecting paraphrased content and subtle similarities, making it highly effective in maintaining academic integrity and content authenticity.
User experience
Copyleaks effectively identifies plagiarism across various sources, including public and specialized databases. It is particularly adept at comparing sources, making it easy to pinpoint specific instances of plagiarism.
The tool’s detailed reports and ability to compare sources enhance the overall user experience, providing clear insights into potential plagiarism. Overall, multiplatform support and comprehensive databases make Copyleaks a user-friendly option.
Pricing
Copyleaks employs a points-based pricing model, offering flexibility for users based on their needs. Credits can be purchased as needed, with 100 points covering approximately 25,000 words. While the pricing is flexible, it can be slightly high for heavier users. Monthly plans range from around $10 for low-end usage to $1100 for extensive organizational use.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | 9.3 | 8.5 |
3. Quetext Plagiarism Checker–a solid plagiarism and ai checker
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Citation assistant: Built-in citation assistant to help add missing citations | ❌ Plagiarism Detection Gaps: Does not detect all instances of plagiarism |
| ✅ Document privacy: Ensures that documents are not stored in a database | ❌ Subscription cost: Monthly subscription starts at $9.6 after free trial, and another $7.99 for the AI Detector |
| ❌ Limited scholarly source detection: Not a highly effective academic plagiarism checker for most research documents |
Overview
Quetext’s plagiarism checker performs better than most free tools, they ensures the privacy and security of submitted texts, stating that documents are not saved in a database and are kept private and encrypted.
User experience
Quetext provides a straightforward plagiarism report, displaying a percentage of similarity and highlighting plagiarized text.
While it claims to check against academic sources, its performance in detecting plagiarism from journal articles and dissertations is less impressive. The built-in citation assistant offers help in adding citations but requiring manual input of additional information.
Pricing
Quetext offers a limited free trial of up to 500 words. After the trial, users need to subscribe to a premium plan starting at $9.6 per month, which allows checking up to 100,000 words. Higher-priced plans are available for users needing to check more extensive content. File uploads are only available in the Premium version; otherwise, users must copy and paste their text.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 8.8 | 9.3 | 8.2 |
4. Grammarly Plagiarism Checker–one of the most popular tools to check for plagiarism
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Language and citation assistant: Includes tools to improve language, style, and citations | ❌ Not free: Requires a subscription to access detailed plagiarism reports |
| ✅ Document privacy: Documents are ensured not to be sold or shared with third parties | ❌ Limited detection: Relatively low percentage of plagiarism detected overall |
| ❌ Same color highlighting: Same color used to highlight different sources, making it hard to differentiate |
Overview
Grammarly's plagiarism checker is capable of identifying more complete matches than most free plagiarism checking software. As one of the most popular AI revision tools for years, Grammarly has earned a reputation as a reliable writing and editing platform. It is committed to user privacy, ensuring that documents are not stored, sold, or shared with third parties.
User experience
Grammarly offers a premium user experience with a clean, visually appealing interface. The tool maintains the original formatting of documents, which is a plus. However, according to our test result, it struggles with detecting academic and online sources, and the use of the same color to highlight all sources can make the results difficult to interpret. Therefore, the plagiarism check tool is better suited for general text rather than specialized academic documents.
Subscribers benefit from additional features, including a language and style assistant and a citation helper, enhancing the overall utility of the service. Overall, while Grammarly's plagiarism checker offers a polished user experience and additional writing tools, its effectiveness in detecting plagiarism (especially from academic sources) is somewhat limited compared to some other plagiarism check tools.
Pricing
Grammarly's plagiarism detection software is not available for free. To access detailed plagiarism reports, users must subscribe to the premium service, which costs $30 per month. The premium package also grants access to Grammarly's comprehensive suite of language and writing tools, but the need to pay for a subscription may also be a drawback for some users.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 8.4 | 9 | 8.5 |
5. PaperRater Plagiarism Checker–a plagiarism checker for basic detection
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Extensive database: Utilizes Google and Bing to search the entire internet for potential matches | ❌ Accuracy issues: Does not detect all instances of plagiarism in tests, which shows the weakness of plagiarism detection than other plagiarism checking tools |
| ✅ Free version: Offers a free version that allows checks of up to 1,500 words per document | ❌ Strict limitations: Premium plan allows only 25 checks per month for documents |
| ❌ No mobile support: Only available as a web-based tool with no mobile apps or browser add-ons | |
| ❌ Report is difficult to interpret: Understanding what report details mean can be somewhat confusing |
Overview
While PaperRater's plagiarism detection scans a wide range of internet sources, its accuracy does not match that of some competitors, which often detect over 80% of plagiarism in our test. This makes PaperRater less reliable and competitive for thorough plagiarism checks, especially for academic or professional use.
User experience
PaperRater offers a straightforward web-based interface, but its functionality is limited as it did not detect all instances of plagiarism for academic content. The free version is helpful for budget-conscious students, but the word limit and the number of checks can be restrictive.
Pricing
PaperRater’s Premium plan is priced at $14.95 for a monthly subscription. This plan includes enhanced features but remains limited to 25 checks per month for documents. These restrictions make it less suitable for heavy users, such as writers, editors, or educators. Additionally, the lack of PDF support further diminishes its appeal compared to plagiarism checkers like Wordvice AI or Copyleaks.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 8.5 | 7.9 | 8 |
6. Copyscape–top plagiarism checker for online contents
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Multilingual support: Works with most languages, excluding some Asian languages | ❌ Only for online content: Free plagiarism search for online URLs; file upload only available in Premium Plan. |
| ✅ Flexible pricing: Pay-as-you-go model allows prepayment used towards multiple checks | ❌ Limited Device Support: Accessible only via desktop or laptop; no support for mobile devices, browsers, or Microsoft Word integration |
| ❌ Reliable sources: Google and Bing provide a comprehensive range of sources |
Overview
Copyscape effectively scans a wide range of sources provided by Google and Bing, ensuring comprehensive checks. Its robust database helps identify copied content across various languages, though it performs less effectively with some East Asian languages.
User experience
Copyscape provides a straightforward, user-friendly experience. The interface is intuitive, with a URL text box for easy input. However, the inability to save reports and the lack of device support can be limiting for users who need to keep a record of previous checks. Although Copyscape is effective for detecting plagiarism in online content, other plagiarism tools with more comprehensive features and better support may be more suitable for those needing frequent and detailed plagiarism checks.
Pricing
Copyscape employs a flexible pay-as-you-go pricing model. Users can prepay to receive multiple plagiarism checks, costing just a few cents per hundred words. This model allows you to pay only for what you use, but may require frequent recharges for heavy users.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 8.5 | 8 | 7.5 |
7. Search Engine Reports Plagiarism Checker–good plagiarism checker for limited uses
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Free for most uses: Up to 1,000 words per scan without registration | ❌ Distracting ads: Site is cluttered with ads, disrupting the user experience somewhat |
| ✅ Document privacy: Uploaded documents are not stored in their database | ❌ Same highlight colors: Same color used for different sources, making it hard to distinguish between them |
Overview
Search Engine Reports' plagiarism checker works by searching Google for each sentence in your document and marking it as plagiarism if it finds a match. This method resulted in high percentages of plagiarism being identified in online resources. The tool struggles to find full matches and performs poorly with academic sources such as dissertations and journal articles.
User experience
The usability of the tool is hampered by distracting ads and a lackluster interface. The report lists individual sentences marked as plagiarized or original, with links to Google searches for each sentence. The downloadable report highlights plagiarized text and lists sources. Additionally, a language statistics feature helps identify frequently used words to limit repetition. While it is free and maintains document privacy, the user experience is further hindered by distracting ads and unclear reports.
Pricing
Search Engine Reports is free for scanning documents up to 1,000 words. For larger documents, users can pay to increase the limit to 30,000 words per scan. This tiered approach allows basic functionality for free, with additional capacity available for a fee.
| Accuracy | User experience | User interface |
|---|---|---|
| 7.5 | 8.5 | 7.3 |
Best Plagiarism Checkers: Final Thoughts
| Plagiarism Chekcer | Accuracy | User experience | User interface | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wordvice AI | 9.5 | 9 | 8.7 | 27.2 |
| Copyleaks | 9 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 26.8 |
| Quetext | 8.8 | 9.3 | 8.2 | 26.3 |
| Grammarly | 8.4 | 9 | 8.5 | 25.9 |
| PaperRater | 8.5 | 7.9 | 8 | 24.4 |
| Copyscape | 8.5 | 8 | 7.5 | 24.0 |
| Search Engine Reports | 7.5 | 8.5 | 7.3 | 23.3 |
As our review demonstrates, there are currently dozens of reliable and free plagiarism checkers on the market today, many of which are powered by AI technology to comb through databases and look for similar phrases and sentences. However, keep in mind that no plagiarism checking software is 100% accurate and that it is ultimately up to you, the author, to ensure that you have not borrowed from other sources without including citations and/or quotes.
For writers who require more than just a plagiarism check, Wordvice offers professional proofreading services for all types of documents by highly qualified editors with Master’s and PhD degrees. Perfect your admissions essays and other application documents with our Admissions Editing Services. Prepare your paper for publication in journals with our Academic Editing Services. And create compelling copy and internal communications text with our Business Editing Services.
Whichever revision tools or services you use, make sure that it matches the specific needs of your document, tone, and style. And read our AI tool reviews before buying, including reviews of the best online paraphrasing tools, best online translators, and best AI grammar check tools.