What it is
Overview
An academic writing service that combines citation generation, plagiarism detection, and professional human editing. Scribbr serves 5 million students monthly who need academic formatting help, source verification, and manuscript review. The citation generator supports APA, MLA, Chicago, and other academic styles. Students and researchers use it for organizing references, checking originality, and getting professional feedback on drafts before submission.
At a glance
Usability & Quality overview
Best for
- citation help
- preliminary plagiarism checking
- academic writing support
Watch out for
- It may not match Turnitin exactly.
- Detailed plagiarism insights can be paywalled.
- Paid editing quality appears uneven.
Build typeIndependent product
Scribbr combines citation generation with plagiarism detection in one platform, offering some workflow convenience over using separate tools. However, the core functions could be accomplished through manual citation formatting plus standard plagiarism checkers, limiting its unique value proposition.
Moderate evidenceQuality score
Scribbr helps students with citation tools and preliminary plagiarism checks, but its detailed results and paid editing can be inconsistent.
This score is our editorial judgment, computed automatically from the sources, weights, and dates shown above. It reflects the data we could verify as of October 12, 2026, not a guarantee or statement of fact about Scribbr. Third-party ratings and quotes belong to their original platforms and authors. Thin data lowers our confidence label, and we say so instead of guessing. Work on Scribbr? Dispute any datapoint and we will review it, publish your response, and correct verified errors.
PricingUnknown
Individual plan details haven't been verified yet — they'll appear here on the next data refresh.
Community feedback
Aggregated reviews
Ratings and quoted comments below are aggregated from third-party sources and reflect those users' views, not SearchTools.ai's.
What reviewers talk about
themes inside the Sentiment pillar — not score ingredients
37Output Quality83 mentions
“I really like how professional, and high quality the citations are and it saves me a lot of time checking it over to make sure its up to par cause it always is!”
“They ruined the one useful part of this website, which was the paper grader. I actively looked at your vocabulary, suggested new words and averaged your thesises, essays, projects, with other forms and lengths. It critiqued you to make you a better writer, and even gave you a grade at the end to show what you were likely of getting. Now it's all AI slop, none of the features are there, and you can barely use the interface, let alone understand the bullcrap that they've put out. One star. I hope ”
“Even when citations aren't perfect or not for the edition you are searching for, the tool makes it easy to get them corrected. Excellent use of DOI links. Those haven't been wrong for me once.”
“AI slop, turned a 2010s gem into garbage ”
26Value & Pricing20 mentions
“Love that it's actually a free site. I gave four stars because it almost always gets the sources cited for me. There are occasions when it won't recognise a website citation, even a book or article; however, the manual cite option always sorts that out. Great site, highly recommend.”
“Irreführend. Für wissenschaftliche Arbeiten leider nicht zu empfehlen. Vor dem Kauf wird erst mit einem hohen Plagiatsrisiko gewarnt. Nach der kostenpflichtigen Prüfung waren es dann aber nur 10 % Ähnlichkeit insgesamt. Die einzelnen Treffer lagen jeweils bei höchstens 1 %, und vieles davon kam sogar aus dem Literaturverzeichnis. Für mich passt diese starke Warnung vorher nicht zum eigentlichen Ergebnis und wirkt eher so, als solle man damit zur Premium-Version bewegt werden. ”
“Nou dochter lief wilde en check doen voor haar profiel werkstuk. Na een eerste schok dat ze gemiddelde plagiaat erin zou hebben zitten en 14 % AI/ chat gegenereerde teksten heeft ze zelf van haar zuurverdiende Mac Donalds bijbaantje 24,95 betaald. De betaalde check gaf 4% plagiaat aan en weet je waar die in zat???? RaRa in de bronvermelding! Zou graag het geld teruggestort zien!”
“Nicht zu empfehlen! Es wird mit einem kostenlosen Plagiatscheck geworben. Dort erhält man dann eine "hohe Wahrscheinlichkeit" eines Plagiats. Aus Angst kaufte ich dann für fast 30 Euro den vollständigen Bericht. Dort wurden dann fast ausschließlich Aussagen als Plagiate identifiziert, welche auch in den Fußnoten angegeben wurde. M.E. nach hat das System”
34Reliability16 mentions
“The most consistently reliable tool that I use for my programs of studies. I am assured if the citing is not found here then it cannot be considered a reliable source. ”
“I used Scribbr with the explicit expectation of a 10-minute turnaround time for my document, as promised by their platform. However, immediately after submission, the system informed me it would actually take several hours. When I reached out to customer support to resolve this discrepancy, I was told they would get back to me in 48 hours. Waiting two days for a response regarding a service that was supposed to take 10 minutes is completely unacceptable and defeats the purpose of using a fast s”
“Unfortunately, the entire process was very disappointing and did not go as agreed. Before placing the order, I clearly communicated my requirements and relied on the arrangements that had been confirmed in advance. However, the final document did not meet these expectations. The formatting of the tables was inconsistent, including different colours and font colours. Figures and tables were not formatted uniformly: figure captions were placed after the diagrams, while table captions appeared bef”
“I really cannot offer a single suggestion for improvement. I have been using Scribbr for three years as I work on my master's degree, and I have used two different citation formats, and it has never let me down”
29Supportthin data · 9 mentions
“It was great because the team was quick to answer my questions. Furthermore, the expert who did read my text improved significantly the style and the grammar. I would highly recommend this service for publishing academic articles.”
“I used Scribbr with the explicit expectation of a 10-minute turnaround time for my document, as promised by their platform. However, immediately after submission, the system informed me it would actually take several hours. When I reached out to customer support to resolve this discrepancy, I was told they would get back to me in 48 hours. Waiting two days for a response regarding a service that was supposed to take 10 minutes is completely unacceptable and defeats the purpose of using a fast s”
“I paid 352 for three specific services: Proofreading & Editing, Structure Check, and Clarity Check. What they actually did was nothing short of stealing my money. They did nothing but correct commas and verb tenses. Even the "advice" they provided was completely empty, with absolutely zero examples of what they were actually requesting. For instance, they told me to add an introduction to Chapter Two. I paid you to be my editor and provide active solutions, not just leave generic comments. Did y”
“Por fin! he logrado recuperar el dinero . Desde el principio y tras casi un mes reclamando, enviando infinitas veces capturas de pantalla, números de referencia, reportes de cuenta bancaria...se acabó. NO ha sido gracias a la "gentileza" de Scribbr y de su equipo. NO ha sido a su "buena" voluntad. NO. Ha sido por la insistencia y el reclamo, con escarnio público de mi parte. No hay nota positiva como ahora me mandan por correo, una vez solucionado. Ni de coña. Han sido un suplicio, una mala gest”
62Ease of Use23 mentions
“The most reliable, user friendly, easy, and professional citation tool on the internet! Only issue is that when using the plug-in to generate reference list entries, when I attempt to copy and paste, the formatting cuts off the beginning of the reference. I have to paste without formatting, which removes any italicization. Small price to pay for the overall outcome, but would be a nice glitch to fix.”
“They ruined the one useful part of this website, which was the paper grader. I actively looked at your vocabulary, suggested new words and averaged your thesises, essays, projects, with other forms and lengths. It critiqued you to make you a better writer, and even gave you a grade at the end to show what you were likely of getting. Now it's all AI slop, none of the features are there, and you can barely use the interface, let alone understand the bullcrap that they've put out. One star. I hope ”
“Der Scribbr Zitiergenerator hat mir schon bei unzähligen Hausarbeiten geholfen. Auch für größere Projekte (Bachelor- und Masterarbeit) habe ich mit Scribbr gearbeitet. Die Seite ist selbsterklärend, leicht zu bedienen und spart einem Unmengen an Zeit. Top!”
“It is so helpful on your class work and cuts out time wasted allowing you to get more done without the hassle.”
50Trust derived from dimensions + predator detectionview math
A composite of the quality dimensions weighted by mention volume, then capped by predator / abuse-detection rules.
Reasoning
Capabilities
Key features
Grammar Checker
Detects and corrects grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in your writing
Plagiarism Checker
Scans text against sources to detect copied passages and flag originality issues
Content Detector
Analyzes text to estimate whether it was written by a human or AI
Writing Assistants
Helps you draft, edit, and polish written content across many formats
The honest take
What users love & flag
Distinct themes surfaced across 4 reviews from 1 source — each grounded in real review text, ranked by how often it comes up.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is Scribbr?
Scribbr is a comprehensive academic writing platform that combines professional editing services with plagiarism detection and citation tools. It provides students with access to qualified academic editors for proofreading, along with digital tools for plagiarism checking, citation generation, and AI content detection. The platform serves over 5 million students monthly with both free and paid services.
Is Scribbr free to use?
Scribbr offers both free and paid services. Free tools include the citation generator, paraphrasing tool, AI humanizer, grammar checker, summarizer, and AI proofreader, plus access to their extensive knowledge base. Professional proofreading and editing services by qualified academic editors require payment, though specific pricing details aren't publicly listed.
What makes Scribbr different from other academic writing tools?
Scribbr distinguishes itself by combining human expertise with digital tools, rather than relying solely on automated checking. The platform employs qualified academic editors who provide personalized feedback and corrections on student papers. It also offers an extensive educational knowledge base with articles, videos, templates, and lecture slides covering academic writing topics.
What types of documents can Scribbr help with?
Scribbr is designed to help with various academic writing assignments including essays, research papers, and dissertations. The platform's editors specialize in academic writing and can help achieve publication-quality results. The knowledge base also covers specialized topics like dissertation structure, research methodology, and statistics.
Does Scribbr detect AI-generated content?
Yes, Scribbr includes an AI detector that can identify AI-generated content within academic documents. This feature helps students ensure their work meets academic integrity standards by flagging potentially AI-written sections that may need to be revised or properly attributed.
What citation formats does Scribbr support?
Scribbr's citation generator creates accurate citations in multiple academic formats, though the specific formats aren't detailed in available information. The platform also offers a Chrome extension that allows users to generate citations directly from web browsers for quick reference management.
How does Scribbr's plagiarism checker work?
Scribbr's plagiarism checker scans submitted documents against extensive databases to identify potential plagiarism issues before submission. This helps students detect and resolve unintentional plagiarism, ensuring their work meets academic integrity standards before they submit it to their institutions.
Is Scribbr available 24/7?
Yes, Scribbr maintains 24/7 availability throughout the year. This round-the-clock access ensures students worldwide can use the platform's services and access support whenever they need it, regardless of time zones or academic deadlines.
Compare Scribbr
Compare with another toolMore Like This
