Scribbr Plagiarism Checker compares a document with a database of 99 billion web pages and 8 million publications and shows where the text matches existing sources. The free check gives an overview of potential plagiarism, the top five matching sources, a summary of spelling and grammar issues by category, and a score estimating how likely the text was generated or refined with AI writing software. The premium report adds a precise similarity percentage, highlighted snippets color-coded to each source, a side-by-side comparison with the original wording, and a built-in citation generator for APA, MLA and Chicago. Premium checks are billed per document, and files can be uploaded as Word or PDF or imported from Google Drive.
This service is aimed at students who want to confirm a paper is original before handing it in, university applicants polishing personal statements, and academics who need a quick originality check on drafts. It also suits thesis writers, editors and writing tutors who review other people's work and need clear evidence of which passages match published material. No technical skill is required: the workflow is upload, wait for the report, and read the highlighted sections. Text in 20 languages can be checked, which helps international students writing in their first language.
Typical use cases include scanning an essay the night before a deadline, catching missing citations in a literature review, and comparing a new assignment with earlier submissions to detect self-plagiarism. A thesis supervisor might run a chapter to see which sources overlap, then use the citation generator to fix attribution. Writers who work in Word can download a document with Track Changes showing spelling and grammar corrections. Because flagged AI-generated fragments can be rechecked unlimited times, authors can revise and verify their edits before final submission.
