Which AI Detector Is Closest to Turnitin? Finding Alternatives to Turnitin

As AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude proliferate in writing, detecting AI-generated content is vital for integrity. Turnitin, with high accuracy and LMS integration, is the academic standard but has limitations like restricted access and false positives for non-native English speakers. This guide compares seven top AI detectors to find the best Turnitin alternative for your needs.

How Do AI Detectors Work?

AI detectors identify machine-generated text by analyzing patterns that set it apart from human writing, evaluated here across multiple dimensions to ensure a robust comparison with Turnitin's 98% accuracy benchmark. Key methods include:

• Burstiness : Human writing varies in sentence length; AI text often lacks this rhythm.

• Perplexity : Measures word unpredictability; AI tends to be more predictable, as GPTZero detects.

• Syntactic Complexity : AI often uses rigid sentence structures; Turnitin flags this via NLP.

• Token Entropy : Originality.ai detects low randomness typical in AI-generated text.

• Semantic Coherence : Copyleaks identifies shallow or inconsistent AI content.

• Stylometric Fingerprinting : Walter AI analyzes writing style but struggles with edited text.

Turnitin combines these methods with NLP and machine learning, trained on vast AI and human writing datasets, to detect raw and paraphrased content. This evaluation's depth, grounded in these technical approaches and real-world performance, ensures an authoritative comparison for students and educators.

Comparative Analysis of 7 Top AI Detectors

Below is a detailed comparison chart of the 7 top AI detection tools available:

The bar chart below compares the detection accuracy of seven leading AI detectors, highlighting their performance relative to Turnitin.

1. Originality.ai

Developed by digital publishing and SEO professionals, Originality.ai was created to address the rising challenge of AI-generated content in online publishing and academia. Its focus is on helping content teams and institutions ensure originality and maintain quality in an era of widespread AI writing tools.

Pricing Packages:

• $30 for 3,000 credits (100 words each, 2-year expiry)

• $12.95/month (annual) or $14.95/month (monthly) for 2,000 credits/month

• $136.58/month (annual) for 15,000 credits/month with priority support

Key Features:

• AI-generated content detection

• Plagiarism checker

• Readability and fact-checking tools

• API and team management

• Bulk scanning and multi-format support

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

Ideal for content marketers, SEO professionals, publishers, and academic institutions managing large outsourced content volumes requiring robust AI and plagiarism detection.

2. GPTZero

Developed by a Princeton student and rapidly adopted by educators, GPTZero was designed to help teachers detect AI-written student work. It emphasizes sentence-level analysis, providing confidence scores and transparent detection reports suitable for academic environments.

Pricing Packages:

• Free plan: 10,000 words/month, 7 scans/hour

• $14.99/month (annual) or $19.99/month for 150,000 words/month

• $23.99/month (annual) or $29.99/month for 300,000 words/month

• $45.99/month for 500,000 words/month

• API access from $45/month for 300,000 words

Key Features:

• Multi-level detection (sentence, paragraph, document)

• Perplexity-based AI analysis

• Supports 30+ languages

• Batch processing and LMS integration

• Detailed interpretability and confidence scores

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

Preferred by educators, academic publishers, and institutions emphasizing detailed sentence-level analysis and minimizing false positives.

3. Copyleaks

Originally built as a plagiarism checker, Copyleaks expanded its capabilities to include AI detection as generative tools grew more popular. It now supports over 30 languages and offers enterprise-grade tools, API integration, and real-time analysis, making it ideal for institutions and large organizations.

Pricing Packages:

• Free: 10 pages (2,500 words)/month, 2 concurrent scans

• $7.99/month for AI detection, 100 pages (25,000 words)/month

• $8.99/month for plagiarism checker, 100 pages/month

• $13.99/month for combined AI + plagiarism, 100 pages/month

• Enterprise pricing available on request

Key Features:

• Combined AI and plagiarism detection

• Supports 30+ languages (AI) and 100+ languages (plagiarism)

• API and LMS integration

• Bulk scanning and real-time analysis

• Enterprise-grade security

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

Suited for academic institutions, businesses requiring multilingual compliance, bulk document processing, and enterprise deployments.

4. Walter Writes AI

Walter Writes AI began as a rewriting tool to help humanize AI-generated text. It later added its own detection system and now serves users looking to transform and verify content in real-time, with adjustable rewriting modes and multilingual support.

Pricing Packages:

• $10/month for 10,000 words

• $19/month for 55,000 words

• $56/month for unlimited words

• Annual billing discounts available

Key Features:

• AI humanization with three levels (Simple, Standard, Enhanced)

• Built-in AI detection verification

• Plagiarism checking

• Multilingual support (20+ languages)

• Real-time text transformation

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

Students, content creators, and marketers seeking to humanize AI-generated text to avoid detection while maintaining readability.

5. QuillBot

QuillBot started as an academic paraphrasing tool and quickly became popular among students and researchers. Today, it includes AI detection, grammar checking, summarization, and citation generation, offering a full writing suite with both free and paid plans.

Pricing Packages:

• Free with unlimited AI detection, paraphrasing limited to 125 words per instance

• $8.33/month (annual) or $19.95/month for unlimited paraphrasing and AI detection

• Team plans start at $7.50/user/month

Key Features:

• Unlimited AI detection (free and premium)

• Paraphrasing with multiple writing modes

• Grammar checking and summarization

• Citation generation

• Vocabulary enhancement

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

Bloggers, academic writers, and content creators needing writing enhancement with basic AI detection as a safety net.

6. Scribbr

Founded as a student-focused proofreading and plagiarism platform, Scribbr has since added AI detection to support evolving academic needs. It provides paragraph-level analysis and combines grammar checks, citation tools, and writing feedback for comprehensive academic support.

Pricing Packages:

• Free AI detection with 1,200 words max per check

• Premium AI detection and plagiarism checking from $19.95 to $39.95 per check

Key Features:

• Free AI detection with 1,200-word limit per check

• Premium AI detection with higher accuracy and unlimited words

• Paragraph-level AI detection feedback

• Plagiarism checking and citation tools

• Academic proofreading support

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

Students, researchers, and academic institutions requiring combined plagiarism and AI detection for theses, dissertations, and scholarly publications.

7. Grammarly

Originally launched as a grammar and style checker, Grammarly has become a household name for improving writing across platforms. Its AI detection feature, available only in Premium, adds a layer of content verification but remains basic compared to specialized tools.

Pricing Packages:

• Free plan with basic grammar checks, no AI detection

• $12/month (annual) or $30/month for Premium with AI detection up to 5,000 words/month

• Business plans with custom pricing

Key Features:

• AI detection (Premium and Enterprise only)

• Grammar and style checking

• Tone and clarity suggestions

• Plagiarism detection

• Multi-platform integration

Optimal Usage Scenarios:

General writers and professionals seeking comprehensive writing assistance with supplementary AI detection.

Bonus Tip: How to Beat AI Detectors?

For those looking to avoid AI detection while maintaining natural and human-like writing, Tenorshare AI Bypass is a recommended tool. It uses advanced AI humanization techniques to rewrite and transform AI-generated text, reducing detectability without sacrificing readability or coherence. This dual functionality of detecting AI content and rewriting it makes it a powerful choice for content creators seeking to bypass AI detectors responsibly.

Key Features:

• AI Humanization: Transforms AI-generated text into human-like content to bypass detectors.

• Integrated Detector: Includes a built-in AI detector to verify humanized output.

• Multiple Modes: Offers Fast, Balanced, and Ultra-Enhanced modes for varying bypass strength.

• Plagiarism-Free: Aims to produce 100% original, human-like text.

• Multilingual & Easy-to-Use: Supports 50+ languages with a simple interface and tone control.

Conclusion

This guide reviewed seven top AI detectors by accuracy, use cases, pricing, and transparency. Originality.ai and Copyleaks are strong Turnitin alternatives, while GPTZero works well in education. If you need to rewrite AI content in a way that feels natural and human, Tenorshare AI Bypass is a smart choice. It blends detection with smooth, readable rewriting.

FAQs

Is Grammarly's AI detector accurate?

Grammarly offers basic AI detection in its Premium and Business plans, but it lacks the depth and reliability of specialized detectors like Originality.ai or Copyleaks. Its accuracy is generally below 70%, making it better suited as a supplementary checker rather than a primary AI detection tool.

How to get Turnitin AI detector for free?

Turnitin's AI detection is not available for free to the general public. It's licensed to institutions, so students can access it only through a university or school account. For free alternatives, consider GPTZero's basic plan or QuillBot's AI detector, though they vary in accuracy.

Does Canvas have an AI detector?

Canvas itself does not have a native AI detector, but it often integrates with tools like Turnitin or Copyleaks via LMS plugins. These integrations allow seamless submission scanning for both plagiarism and AI-generated content.

Can AI detectors be wrong?

Yes. AI detectors can produce false positives (flagging human writing as AI) and false negatives (missing AI-generated content), especially in short texts or heavily edited content. Non-native English writing is also sometimes misclassified due to atypical sentence structures.

What AI detector do colleges use?

Most colleges still rely heavily on Turnitin due to its robust integration with LMS platforms (like Canvas, Moodle, and Blackboard), high detection accuracy (~98%), and combined plagiarism + AI capabilities.