We all know how serious an issue plagiarism can be, especially in the professional sphere. Whether you are an academic, you work in the legal profession or you are a copywriter, plagiarism can lead to you being disqualified or even dismissed from your profession.
Sometimes plagiarism can be accidental, so you’ll need to rule out the possibility that you are copying someone else’s words.
Luckily, there is software that will scan the entire length and breadth of the internet to ensure that none of your sentences will match any existing content.
So where can you find the best plagiarism software? How much will it cost you? How effective is it at finding unwanted words?
Well, we have scanned through the internet ourselves to find some of the best anti-plagiarism software on the internet. Keep reading to find out more.
Best Plagiarism Checkers
1. Unicheck
This first app is one of the best, which is why it is used by thousands of universities across the world.
This app is amazingly effective at tracking through its library of 91 billion pages and library files, which means that you can check if your essay doesn’t contain repeated material.
Once it has checked through every page, it will present the information to you clearly and concisely. It will come up with a plagiarism score and tell you whether you are in safe margins or not.
It will also highlight the sections which will allow you to amend them.
This comes with a comprehensive dashboard that incorporates plenty of programs including Office 365, Google Docs, and Chrome. This will allow you to scan each one of those documents without ever having to leave the programs themselves.
This also has a great security system, meaning that your system will not be compromised when you are scanning through their library.
There are also additional upgrades that you can buy for this program that provides extra educational tools that will help you with your grammar and your spelling.
Pros
- A comprehensive plagiarism checker.
- Access to a vast library of billions of pages.
- Compatible with lots of different apps and programs.
- Great security.
Cons
- Too many settings and dashboard features for some users.
2. Scribbr
This is an academic tool that will help you with proofreading, spellchecking, and checking for plagiarism. This will help you with all your academic documents, whether it is an essay, a thesis, or a dissertation.
This is a great piece of software that will be able to track whether there are specific phrases or wordings that match and suggestions for how to change them.
Scribbr will sift through over 90 billion pages and 70 million publications for anything that bears any resemblance to your essay.
However, you can even go back through old essays and documents, upload them to Scribbr and see if it matches anything existing on its database. This is very useful if you want to check the content or paper-written work.
Scribbr also provides other services for writers, including a professional editing service that will help you with your work, ensuring that your literary reviews of doctoral papers are of the very best quality before you submit them.
This software is also very reasonably priced, although the pricing will depend on the length of the document and how fast you want it delivered. Usually, it will take around 10 minutes to check the whole of your document for plagiarism and grammatical errors.
The only drawback of this app is that it does not really have an extensive dashboard. This will be ideal for single students who want a simplified interface, but it might not be suitable for large-scale academic enterprises.
Pros
- A vast library of around 91 billion documents.
- Great for checking theses, essays, and doctorates.
- Citation-checking options.
- This can pair up with external sources.
Cons
- This will not work well with large businesses.
3. Grammarly
This is one of the most popular and well-used grammar-checking and spell-checking apps out there right now. This will help you get the scansion and the readability of your article, essay, or story just right. This is great for professional writers and businesses.
Grammarly comes as a very handy app that you can port into most documents including Microsoft Word and Google Docs. You can also use it to check your emails.
However, what some people might not know is that Grammarly also checks your articles for plagiarism.
This has a large academic database of over 16 billion web pages and articles, running your own phrases against those currently in existence. It will give you an alert when it detects plagiarism and provide you with the opportunity to amend it accordingly.
The best thing about this plagiarism check is that it is completely free when you sign up for Grammarly.
However, unless you pay for it, it will not tell you exactly where you have copied. If you do decide to pay for the services, then you get access to all the features, including engagement and tone tools.
Grammarly has plenty of great price packages, so make sure that you pick the one that is just right for you.
Pros
- Popular software that gets great results.
- Plagiarism checker that draws from lots of sources.
- Easy software to get on board with.
- Free to use.
Cons
- You’ll have to pay for the most extensive features.
4. PlagScan
This is one of the more reasonably priced plagiarism checkers that you can find on the market. It is focused on the academic side of things, which is why it is used by a wide range of institutions. The prices range from anywhere between a few dollars and around $50.
This has integrated API features on the paid version, and it will give you the ability to create detailed reports and track which parts of your essay might be plagiarized.
This has the forensic ability to find any mistakes and duplicate content, although sometimes it can be a little too exacting.
All your infractions are color-coded, so you can see clearly what similar phrases are, meaning that you won’t have to scan through the whole document. It also means that you can target the right paragraph to change it or edit it out completely.
Pros
- A reasonable pricing structure, ideal for single users.
- Create reports of your plagiarism.
- Integrates well with other programs like Word and Google Docs.
- An easy-to-understand color-coded system.
Cons
- This can be too exacting on some phrases.
5. Quetext
This next program uses a deep search program that uses smarter AI software to deliver more comprehensive data.
This means that when it scans a document, there will be clearer and more concise results that will help you improve your grammar and sentence structuring.
This is another piece of software that uses a color-coded system to highlight all the issues and potential sites of plagiarism. This will also give you a side-by-side comparison that will allow you to place your own work against the plagiarized work itself.
Once you have amended your document, then you will get a percentage score that will tell you how much you are plagiarizing.
Quetext has an easy-to-understand pricing structure, with a basic package that will allow you to track 10,000 words. You can upgrade to a Plus package that reaches 250,000 words and more. This is great if you are using a plagiarism checker for your business.
If you are a student and want to run use this software to track just a few of your essays, then we would recommend that you use just the basic package.
Quetext has a simpler dashboard than a lot of other plagiarism checkers, again, perfect for anyone who might not be that technologically savvy.
Pros
- Uses an algorithm to check your document with the highest accuracy.
- Gives you clear, color-coded results.
- The pricing system is very straightforward.
- Has great packages for individuals and larger organizations.
Cons
- This is a basic package that doesn’t come with many add-ons.
6. Plagramme
This is a great tool that can check through billions of source materials to find any examples of duplicated sentences, paragraphs, or even larger sections of text. This also helps you reword poorly structured sentences and picks you up on dubious citations.
But you won’t have to worry about being inundated with information, as it breaks it all down for you in a score that is very easy to understand.
This is great if you want to quickly detect how much of your article is plagiarized quickly so that you can amend it fast (an invaluable feature if a deadline is approaching).
This works in many different languages, and they have a team of editors that can check your document manually. So, if you want a level of rigor and thoroughness in your editing, then you can have your essay or article checked by a machine first and then double-checked by a human.
You’ll have to sign up for an account to use Plagramme, but once you have done so, you will have access to a wide range of features. If you want to get your document checked quickly by a professional editor, then you’ll have to pay extra to get yourself to the front of the queue.
This is based on a credit system where you must purchase the company’s credits to pay for the additional features. This is sometimes a cumbersome feature that makes it more complicated to pay for extras.
This will also certainly be a turn-off for larger organizations.
However, if you are an individual student who wants to use a basic plagiarism checker, then you can’t go wrong with Plagramme.
Pros
- Free access to a wide range of solid features.
- Multi-language.
- Access to a team of manual editors that work fast.
- Many affordable pricing options.
Cons
- This might not be suitable for large organizations.
7. Copyscape
This is a very popular piece of online software that allows you to input your website or your article into a search bar which will then trawl the internet for examples of duplicate content. This is a popular website that is used by webmasters.
Copyscape has both a free version and a paid version, which is much more in-depth when it comes to tracking for plagiarism. This also comes with a feature that will help to protect your website from potential plagiarism from other sources.
If you are purchasing articles for your website, you should run them through Copyscape first. This is because articles that are purchased will often feature duplicate content (this is so that the articles will be quicker to produce).
You can also set up email alerts that will tell you when your content is being duplicated anywhere else on the net.
Copyscape will scan the internet daily, which is great if you have a popular website, and you are worried about losing traffic to other sites copying your content.
This service is used by millions of subscribers and is regarded as a trusted source. This will help you to check PDF files and Word documents, as well as emails and WordPress blogs.
They also supply you with warning banners that will inform any potential plagiarists that their attempts to plagiarize will be tracked.
Pros
- Tracks plagiarists that might lift materials from your website.
- Email alerts for when your content is being copied.
- Trawls the internet for similar examples to your work.
- Helps you create original content for your website.
Cons
- Might not be suitable for academic essay scanning.
Buyer’s Guide
When you are looking for a decent plagiarism checker, then there are certain features that you won’t be able to do without. At its most basic, you’ll need a plagiarism checker that can scan thousands if not millions of documents.
Here are a few other things you should be looking out for:
How In-Depth Are The Plagiarism Checks?
Some plagiarism checkers are free and use algorithms to check the internet for duplicate content.
They usually have a more limited scope than some of the paid premium versions although they have the bonus of being embedded into a page rather than coming as a downloadable app.
If you want to pay, then you’ll be able to access a whole range of services that include manual human editing, proofreading, and prompts for readability and engagement.
This will be more appealing for full-time copywriters or businesses that depend on accurate and original content.
Free Or Paid Plagiarism Checkers?
You can get plenty of free software on the internet, most of them are quick and very easy to use.
If you just want a website where you can copy and paste your document, click a button, and have it scanned for duplicate content, then a free version probably has everything you need.
However, if you want something that you can really rely on or you are scanning an academic document and you need access to other academic essays, then you should get a paid version with an academic USP.
Does It Have A Good Dashboard?
Sifting through millions of pages of content can produce an overwhelming number of results. This is why it is important to have a dashboard that presents the information in a clear and understandable way.
Some of the plagiarism checkers that we have listed above come with a percentage tracker that distills all the information on your copied material into a simple number that will tell you how much duplicate content appears in your article.
There are also trackers that come with side-by-side comparisons, which is great for checking your paragraphs against the paragraphs of other writers.
How Much Will You Have To Pay?
There are various pricing structures that you can adapt to your editing needs. If you want the ability to spellcheck and proofread, then you might have to pay a little extra. Human editing services will usually cost you additional fees too.
Conclusion
Plagiarism is a serious issue for some professions, and a good plagiarism checker will give you peace of mind that you are not copying content, even by mistake. There are also plagiarism checkers that will prevent others from stealing the content from your website.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are 5 forms of plagiarism: verbatim plagiarism, mosaic plagiarism, global plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and accidental plagiarism.
If you submit an essay that has been plagiarized, then most likely you will receive a zero marking and you might even be removed from the course. You should always make sure that you are citing properly too, as failure to do so is also plagiarism.
Citing is attributing a quote or even an idea to the source where you got it from. Often you will have to provide the name, the publication, and the date of the source.