Educational technology offers many benefits, but the increased access to online information makes it easier for students to plagiarize content. According to the International Center for Academic Integrity, 58 percent of high school students admit to plagiarism.
Educators can use free plagiarism detectors to check plagiarism and encourage academic integrity. Not only do plagiarism checker tools catch instances of cheating, but several also include additional resources to teach students how to use and cite different sources in research papers and write original content.
Free Plagiarism Detection Tools Teachers Trust
According to the National Education Association (NEA), over 90 percent of teachers spend their money on classroom supplies each school year. On average, teachers spend over $500 per school year on non-reimbursed classroom materials, including technology like plagiarism checkers. This article features nine free online plagiarism checker tools and explains how plagiarism checkers work so that you are better equipped to identify plagiarism in your classroom without spending a penny.
Duplichecker
Duplichecker’s free tool checks up to 1,000 words at a time. Users can copy and paste text, upload files, link to files in Dropbox or Google Drive, or enter a webpage URL to be scanned.
The tool displays the percentage of unique versus plagiarized content and categorizes plagiarized content into exact and partial matches.
Since each scan takes up to a few minutes, checking an entire class’s work can be time-consuming.
Duplichecker’s AI Content Detector scans up to 2,000 words at a time to distinguish between human-written and AI-generated text.
While the tool is free within the word limit, the website doesn’t provide a great user experience. Ads and popups clutter the screen, and it can be difficult to know which button begins the plagiarism scan.
Duplichecker offers paid plans for those who want to avoid on-page ads and have a larger search limit. The lowest plan is $10/month and allows up to 25,000 words per search.
PaperRater
The plagiarism scanner from PaperRater analyzes up to 1,500 words, with a limit of 10 scans/month.
Compared to Duplichecker, there are fewer format options for uploading text. Users can paste text or upload a file to be checked.
The plagiarism checker breaks text into smaller chunks and compares it to books, academic papers, journals, and websites indexed by Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
The plagiarism score is typically available within 30 seconds. Results state the percentage of the original text, highlight parts that may be plagiarized and links to webpages that share the same content in case you want to pursue further comparison.
Some points to note about this plagiarism tool are (1) users must accept the terms of service before every scan, and (2) scanned content is shared on PaperRater’s Student Brands websites. This second point may be a privacy concern for some.
In addition to the free option, PaperRater offers a paid upgrade plan for $14.95/month, which includes 25 plagiarism checks per month.
Quetext
Quetext’s free plagiarism checker scans up to 500 words per search. Its DeepSearch technology uses AI and contextual analysis to find all types of plagiarism, even if the content was paraphrased to avoid detection.
Results are presented in a high-quality split-screen format. The left side shows the original text, with plagiarized sections underlined in yellow or red, depending on the level of plagiarism detected.
ColorGrade feedback distinguishes between exact matches and “fuzzy” matches, which are similarities with slightly different wording.
The right side of the results page shows a similarity score. This is the percentage of plagiarism in the text. By clicking on the potentially plagiarized text, a link to the duplicate content and an excerpt of the match are displayed.
Quetext’s AI content checker analyzes up to 250 words for free. The results indicate whether the text was human- or AI-generated. Quetext’s plagiarism checker can be used without an account; however, registration is required before using the AI checker tool.
Of all the free tools shared here, Quetext is one of the most user-friendly. The website is easy to navigate, and there are minimal ads to disrupt browsing.
Quetext is also fairly secure compared to many of the other free tools, as submitted content is not saved.
Copyleaks
With a free guest account, Copyleaks allows users to run a limited number of plagiarism scans.
One distinct feature of this program is the variety of ways content can be uploaded. The standard options are to upload a file, copy and paste text, or insert a link. However, users can also insert code or upload a photo.
Copyleaks saves previous scans, making it one of the few free tools with storage capabilities. Users can edit scan names, sort scans into folders and view an overview of each text's plagiarism and AI content score.
Copyleaks offers several pricing options for users who wish to run additional scans:
$8.99/month for the plagiarism checker
$7.99/month for the AI detector
$13.99/month for both tools
Small SEO Tools
Small SEO Tools provides free plagiarism detection for up to 1,000 words per scan.
After completing a scan, users select the “Compare” button on any plagiarized text, which takes them to a Google page that compares the potential plagiarism with online content.
There is no limit to the number of scans available on Small SEO Tools, and there is no requirement to create an account. However, there are ads and popups that may negatively impact the user experience with the free version.
Search Engine Reports
The plagiarism detector on Search Engine Reports has a similar interface and some features of Duplichecker and Small SEO Tools.
Users can paste text, upload a file, link to a Dropbox file, or insert a URL to be checked. The free tool scans up to 1,000 words.
The results display percentages of plagiarized and unique text. If a duplication is suspected, a link is provided to the original source.
PrepostSEO
PrepostSEO’s free plagiarism checker scans up to 1,000 words for guest visitors or up to 1,200 for anyone who creates a free account.
The tool detects three types of plagiarism: incremental, patchwork, and accidental. The accurate results identify the percentage of plagiarized content compared to unique content and link to original sources that may have been copied.
The free version includes ads, but they cause minimal disruption on this platform. The website also provides other features, such as grammar checking. PrepostSEO also provides a word count and checks the readability of a text. With so many free features, this site is almost like having a personal writing assistant!
Scribbr
Scribbr's plagiarism detector is designed for students. It compares uploaded text to 99 billion web pages and eight million publications.
The free version doesn’t provide a plagiarism percentage but shows the top five sources that match the text. This is a valuable feature if the tool is used to teach students how to write proper citations.
While this tool is useful for evaluating individual papers or assignments, it is not designed for analyzing papers from an entire class.
Originality.ai
Originality.ai’s free plagiarism detector has a 1,000-word limit. Users can paste text, enter a URL, or upload a file to be scanned.
Originality.ai asserts that the tool detects global plagiarism with 90 percent accuracy and patchwork plagiarism with 74 percent accuracy. Plagiarism-checking algorithms and advanced machine learning detect all kinds of plagiarism.
Results display a match percentage as well as the number of matched websites and phrases.
With no ads and simple functionality, Originality.ai provides a winning user experience. Scans only take seconds, which allows for quick evaluation of assignments for an entire class.
A unique pay-as-you-go plan provides access to additional features, including credits to scan 300,000 words, a 30-day scan history, the use of the AI checker, and more.
Conclusion
With this list of some of the best free plagiarism checkers online, you can integrate free plagiarism detectors into your classroom tech stack, promote ethical work habits, and help students develop independent thinking skills.
With these tools, a plagiarism report alerts you to potentially plagiarized assignments. You can also share your favorite plagiarism checker tool with older students and teach them how to analyze their own academic writing for plagiarism.