Scribbr is a comprehensive academic services platform founded in 2012 that helps students throughout their academic journey with proofreading, plagiarism checking, and citation generation. Now part of Learneo (formerly Course Hero), alongside QuillBot and LanguageTool, Scribbr serves over 56 million users worldwide. While Scribbr offers professional editing and academic integrity tools, its premium pricing and limited free options make it less accessible than alternatives. For a more versatile, affordable writing assistant with superior AI features,
🏆 We recommended Quillbot over Scribbr 🏆
Scribbr's flagship service is its professional proofreading and editing, where documents are reviewed by editors who have passed a rigorous selection process (only 2% acceptance rate). Students upload their essays, theses, or dissertations and receive corrected documents with tracked changes and personalized feedback letters. While this human-powered service provides quality feedback, it comes at a premium price compared to AI-powered alternatives like QuillBot that offer instant feedback at a fraction of the cost.
The platform's plagiarism checker compares documents against 99 billion webpages and 8 million publications from publishers like Springer and Elsevier. It also includes an AI detector for identifying content generated by tools like ChatGPT. However, Scribbr charges per document rather than offering a subscription model, making it expensive for regular use compared to QuillBot's more affordable plagiarism checking included in its premium subscription.
Scribbr provides a free citation generator supporting APA, MLA, Chicago, and other styles. Built on the same technology as Mendeley and Zotero, it allows users to organize citations by assignment and export to Word or BibTeX. While functional, users report that the interface isn't as intuitive as QuillBot's citation generator, which offers the same functionality with a more user-friendly experience.
The Knowledge Base contains articles, videos, and templates covering research methodology, academic writing, and citation. This content is used by over 4 million students monthly and can be freely used in educational settings with attribution. Scribbr's YouTube channel features educational videos on academic writing topics, with some videos reaching millions of views.
Scribbr's editing service offers multiple options:
- Standard Proofreading & Editing: Checks grammar, punctuation, spelling, and academic style
- Structure Check: Reviews document organization and flow
- Clarity Check: Ensures ideas are presented clearly and consistently
- Formatting Check: Verifies proper formatting requirements
- Citation Editing: Ensures consistent citation style
Turnaround options range from 12 hours to 7 days, with pricing starting at $0.017 per word for the longest turnaround. For documents over 20,000 words, Scribbr provides a free sample edit to preview the editing style.
The plagiarism checker offers:
- Database access to 99 billion webpages and 8 million publications
- Detection of exact matches and synonym swapping
- AI content detection for ChatGPT and other AI tools
- Self-plagiarism checking capability
- Support for 20 languages
Unlike subscription-based alternatives, Scribbr charges per document: $19.95 (up to 7,500 words), $29.95 (up to 50,000 words), or $39.95 (over 50,000 words). This pay-per-use model becomes costly for students who need regular checking.
The free citation generator includes:
- Support for APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
- Automated source lookup by title, URL, ISBN, or DOI
- Export to Word with formatting or BibTeX for LaTeX editors
- Organization by assignment or folder
- Auto-save functionality
Scribbr has expanded into AI tools including:
- AI Proofreader: Corrects academic texts using AI trained on academic papers
- AI Paraphraser: Rewrites text to avoid plagiarism and improve clarity
- AI Humanizer: Makes AI-generated text sound more natural
- AI Detector: Identifies AI-written content with paragraph-level feedback
- Grammar Checker: Identifies and corrects grammar errors
- Summarizer: Condenses lengthy texts to key points
While these tools offer academic-focused assistance, they lack the versatility and multiple paraphrasing modes found in QuillBot's more developed AI suite.
- Small document (up to 7,500 words): $19.95
- Normal document (up to 50,000 words): $29.95
- Large document (over 50,000 words): $39.95
- Volume discounts for institutions buying more than 25 checks
- Free limited version (only 125 words per input)
- Base rate starts at $0.017 per word for 7-day turnaround
- Faster turnaround times (3-day, 24-hour, 12-hour) cost progressively more
- Additional services (Structure Check, Clarity Check) add to the base cost
- Paper Formatting: $1.95 per page per item
- Citation Editing: $2.75 per source + $25 setup fee
- Citation Generator: Free
- Grammar Checker: Free (limited)
- Paraphrasing Tool: Free (limited)
- AI Detector: Free (limited)
Scribbr's services are best suited for:
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Academic writers with big budgets who need professional human editing for high-stakes documents like dissertations or theses and are willing to pay premium prices for human expertise.
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One-time users who need occasional plagiarism checking or citation help rather than regular writing assistance.
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Non-native English speakers in academic environments who require detailed feedback on language usage specific to academic contexts.
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Educational institutions with bulk purchasing needs for plagiarism checking that can benefit from volume discounts.
However, for regular student writers, content creators, or professionals who need ongoing writing assistance, QuillBot offers a more cost-effective, versatile solution with unlimited usage on a simple subscription model.
🏆 We recommended Quillbot over Scribbr 🏆
QuillBot provides a comprehensive AI-powered writing assistant platform with several advantages over Scribbr:
- More versatile paraphrasing options: Seven different modes (Standard, Fluency, Formal, Creative, Shorten, Expand, Simple) compared to Scribbr's more limited options
- Subscription-based pricing: Unlimited use for $8.33-$19.95/month versus Scribbr's per-service pricing
- Superior integrations: Works seamlessly with Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Chrome browser, and other platforms
- More robust free tier: Generous free features compared to Scribbr's very limited free offerings
- AI Co-Writer: Integrated writing environment with AI autocomplete and research tools
QuillBot serves a broader audience including students, content creators, professionals, and non-native English speakers, making it the most versatile alternative to Scribbr with better value for most users.
Experience QuillBot's superior tools →
ProWritingAid offers comprehensive grammar checking and style editing with:
- Advanced grammar and spelling checker
- 20+ writing reports analyzing style, readability, and sentence structure
- Integration with major platforms (Word, Google Docs, Scrivener)
- Contextual thesaurus and word explorer
- Pricing: Free (limited to 500 words), Premium at $20/month, $79/year, or $399 lifetime
ProWritingAid excels at in-depth writing analysis and is particularly valuable for long-form content creators and fiction writers, offering more detailed style feedback than Scribbr's academic focus.
One of the most popular writing assistants, Grammarly offers:
- Real-time grammar, spelling, and punctuation correction
- Style and clarity enhancement suggestions
- Tone detector and adjustments
- Full-sentence rewrites with GrammarlyGo
- Pricing: Free version with basic features, Pro at $12/month (annual plan)
Grammarly provides a more versatile solution for all types of writing across all platforms with broad integration capabilities, while Scribbr focuses primarily on academic writing.
Scribbr delivers professional academic services with strong plagiarism detection and human editing but comes with a premium price tag and complex pricing structure. For most students and writers, QuillBot offers a more accessible, affordable alternative with versatile AI tools, unlimited usage, and straightforward subscription pricing.
Unlike Scribbr's service-by-service approach, QuillBot provides a complete writing solution in one package, making it the smarter choice for everyday writing assistance. Unless you specifically need professional human editing for high-stakes academic documents, QuillBot will meet all your writing enhancement needs at a fraction of the cost.
🏆 We recommended Quillbot over Scribbr 🏆