Grammarly’s plagiarism detector is among the most widely used, promising to scan your work against billions of web pages to ensure originality.
But how reliable is it really?
With content authenticity now critical, plagiarism checkers are indispensable tools for students, educators, and content creators worldwide, and I am no exception.
So in this review, I will get into the nitty-grities of Grammarly’s plagiarism checking capabilities, examining its accuracy, limitations, and value compared to alternatives.
Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Accuracy (Key Takeaway)
Grammarly’s plagiarism checker offers decent reliability for everyday content creation and casual academic work. Here are the most important key takeaways from my experience:
- It scans against 16 billion web pages.
- It provides clear source attribution with direct links.
- It has limitations, particularly for academic work requiring stricter standards.
- It occasionally flags false positives.
Is Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Accurate?
Grammarly is good for basic plagiarism checks in essays and research papers, but it does not verify citations or detect improperly paraphrased content as effectively as dedicated academic tools.
However, several limitations affect its overall reliability:
1. False Positives
The checker sometimes flags common phrases or general statements as plagiarism when they’re simply widely used expressions. This can artificially inflate plagiarism percentages.
2. Source Attribution Issues
In some cases, Grammarly may attribute content to secondary aggregator sites rather than original sources. For example, one test showed content from The Verge being attributed to “Syfeed” instead of directly to The Verge.
Reliability For Content Creation On Grammarly
For bloggers, content marketers, and casual writers, Grammarly’s plagiarism checker is generally reliable enough. Its integration with grammar and style checking makes it a convenient, all-in-one solution for ensuring content quality and originality.
The unlimited plagiarism checks available with a Premium subscription provide ongoing value for regular content creators who need frequent verification without additional costs per document.
Grammarly Plagiarism Checker For Students & Academic Use
Grammarly is a useful tool for students to check their work. Here is how students can benefit from it:
1. Citation Assistance
- Grammarly’s citation assistance is a strength for students.
- Grammarly Premium identifies potential plagiarism.
- It suggests citation formats in various styles (APA, MLA, Chicago).
- This helps students properly attribute sources.
- It helps students avoid unintentional plagiarism.
2. Suitability for Academic Work
- Grammarly can be a valuable self-check tool for undergraduate papers and preliminary drafts.
- Supplementing with a specialised academic plagiarism checker is advisable for theses, dissertations, or high-stakes academic work.
Limitations Of Grammarly Plagiarism Checker
For students and academic researchers, Grammarly’s plagiarism checker presents some limitations worth considering:
1. Limited Academic Database Access
- Grammarly checks against ProQuest databases.
- It lacks the extensive access to academic repositories, dissertations, and unpublished papers that specialized tools like Turnitin offer.
2. Institutional Standards
- Many universities have specific plagiarism thresholds.
- Universities often require tools like Turnitin that integrate directly with learning management systems.
- Grammarly may not satisfy these institutional requirements.
3. Patch Writing Detection
- Grammarly struggles to detect sophisticated plagiarism like patch writing (synonym substitution).
- Specialized tools are better equipped to identify patchwriting.
- Patch writing is a common form of academic misconduct.
My Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Experience!
In my own experience as a content creator, I was impressed to see it flawlessly identify my previously published work, showing a perfect 100% match.
I was also asking my colleagues, and several of them who have been using Grammarly pointed out that:
- Grammarly caught obvious plagiarism.
- It sometimes misattributes sources.
- It occasionally identified fewer problematic passages than expected.
General Consensus on Grammarly at my work
- Grammarly works well as a first-line plagiarism check.
- Supplemental verification may be required for critical academic or professional work.
How Reliable Is Grammarly’s Plagiarism Detector Compared to Other Tools?
Here is how much Grammarly compares with other alternatives in terms of cost and the availability of a Grammarly free trial.
| Tool | Free Trial | Monthly Subscription | Annual Subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grammarly | Limited free version (no plagiarism check) | $30/month | $12/month ($144 billed annually) |
| Turnitin | ❌ | Institutional pricing only (typically $2-3 per student) | Institutional licenses start at ~$2,000/year |
| Scribbr | 250 words free check | Pay-per-use: $19.95 (up to 7,500 words) | No annual plan; one-time payments |
| Copyscape | Free limited version | Pay-per-use: $0.03 per search (100 words) | Premium: $10 minimum deposit |
| Quetext | 500 words free | $9.99/month (25k words) | $4.16/month ($49.95/year) |
| Plagscan | 1,000 words free | €5.99/month (5,000 words) | €4.99/month (€59.90/year) |
You can save on Grammarly Premium with occasional discounts and offers. Check for the latest Grammarly discount before subscribing.
While Grammarly helps detect copied text, academic institutions typically use Turnitin, which has more extensive database access.
Between Grammarly vs Turnitin, Turnitin remains the standard for academic plagiarism detection, with several advantages over Grammarly:
- Extensive Academic Database: Includes student papers, academic journals, and institutional repositories
- Learning Management System Integration: Direct integration with university systems
- Sophisticated Detection Algorithms: Better at identifying paraphrased plagiarism and patchwriting
- Instructor Features: Designed specifically for educational environments with grading tools
Between Grammarly vs. Scribbr, Scribbr uses Turnitin’s technology, making it more precise for academic writing. Grammarly, on the other hand, is more user-friendly but not as comprehensive for research-based work.
Scribbr offers a middle ground between Grammarly and Turnitin:
- Academic Focus: Designed specifically for student papers
- Offline Source Checking: Compares against restricted journals and academic papers
- Multiple Language Support: Covers 20 languages
- Better False Positive Handling: More sophisticated algorithms for common phrases
Coming to free plagiarism checkers vs. Grammarly premium
Grammarly’s free version doesn’t include plagiarism detection; this feature requires a Premium subscription. When comparing Grammarly Free vs Premium, the paid version offers advanced features like plagiarism detection, in-depth grammar analysis, and style suggestions. Compared to free alternatives, Grammarly Premium provides:
- Larger Database: 16 billion web pages versus the more limited databases of free tools
- Unlimited Checking: No document limits, unlike many free services
- Integration with Grammar Checking: Comprehensive writing improvement
- Source Links: Direct attribution to potential matches
Free tools like Quetext or Plagscan offer basic plagiarism detection but often have limitations in accuracy.
Grammarly’s free version provides minimal plagiarism detection, while the premium version offers a more thorough scan.
How Grammarly’s Plagiarism Checker Works
Grammarly’s plagiarism checker follows a systematic approach. My favourite feature of Grammarly is how it highlights matched content and provides source links.
It checks against web-based content but has limited access to proprietary academic journals.
The free Grammarly plagiarism version offers minimal plagiarism detection, while the premium version provides more comprehensive checks.
Also Check:
Final Verdict: Is Grammarly A Good Plagiarism Checker?
Grammarly’s plagiarism checker is useful for general content and casual writing but lacks the depth needed for academic submissions. It is best used as a preliminary plagiarism check rather than a final validation tool.
What I like about Grammarly Premium is that it offers a user-friendly interface, unlimited checking, grammar integration, decent web accuracy, and citation suggestions.
In the range of $12 to $30 per month, Grammarly Premium’s plagiarism checker offers good value when considered as part of its writing improvement suite.
So do not wait around. If you want to elevate your writing skills overall and are not just looking for a plagiarism checker, get Grammarly today!
FAQs
Grammarly, like all checkers, isn’t perfect; it can have false positives and miss complex plagiarism. Multiple tools are best for critical work.
For academic work, Turnitin is generally considered the most accurate plagiarism checker due to its extensive database of academic papers, journals, and previously submitted student work. For general content, Grammarly offers good accuracy for web-published material.
Grammarly’s plagiarism checker can produce both false positives (flagging original content as plagiarized) and false negatives (missing actual plagiarism). It sometimes flags general statements or common phrases as potential plagiarism and may struggle to detect heavily paraphrased content.
Using Grammarly’s writing suggestions and grammar corrections is not plagiarism. However, if you use Grammarly’s AI features to generate substantial content without proper attribution, it could be considered AI plagiarism in some academic contexts. Always follow your institution’s policies on AI writing assistance.
In Grammarly’s plagiarism checker, a score of 100% plagiarism means your entire document matches existing sources, which is very concerning. For the general performance score, 100 indicates excellent writing with no detected issues. Always check which metric the score refers to when interpreting Grammarly results.
