Turnitin vs Grammarly: Unmasking the Best Editing Tool

Are you a writer or student looking for the best tool to improve your writing skills and ensure originality? Two popular options are Turnitin and Grammarly. In this comparison, we’ll explore the features, benefits, and differences between these two powerful writing tools.

What is Turnitin?

Turnitin is a web-based plagiarism detection service. It is widely used by educational institutions and publishers around the globe. It checks submitted documents against a large database. This database includes online sources, publications, and previously submitted papers. Turnitin identifies any instances of plagiarism.

Turnitin’s Key Features

1. “Originality Check”: Turnitin compares submitted papers to its database and highlights any matching text, helping to ensure academic integrity.

2. Feedback Studio: This feature allows instructors to provide detailed feedback on student work, including comments, suggestions, and grading rubrics.

3. Peer Review: Turnitin facilitates collaborative learning by enabling students to review and provide feedback on each other’s work.

What is Grammarly?

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant. It helps users improve their writing by identifying grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style errors. Grammarly offers suggestions for improvement. It also provides explanations to help users learn from their mistakes.

Grammarly’s Key Features

1. Grammarly identifies and corrects hundreds of grammar and spelling errors, ensuring your writing is polished and error-free.

2. Plagiarism Detector: While not as comprehensive as Turnitin, Grammarly does offer a plagiarism checking feature that compares your text to billions of web pages.

3. Vocabulary Enhancement: Grammarly suggests synonyms and alternative phrases to help you expand your vocabulary and improve your writing style.

Key Feature Comparison

Features	Grammarly	Turnitin
Grammar, spelling, and punctuation check	✅
Suggestions for readability and clarity	✅
Tone adjustment recommendations	✅
Plagiarism detection	✅	✅
Citations and bibliography generator		✅
Similarity/originality report		✅
Available integrations	Browser, Word, GDocs	LMS, Blackboard, Canvas
Mobile app	✅
Browser extension	✅

Ideal for: students, writers, professionals, academics, and institutions

As highlighted in the table, Grammarly offers advanced writing suggestions beyond just plagiarism checking to help you communicate clearly and effectively.

Turnitin focuses solely on plagiarism detection and is better suited for academic institutions than individual users.

Both tools analyze written text to provide helpful feedback, but they have different end goals.

Accuracy Comparison

Plagiarism Detection

When it comes to accurately identifying plagiarized or unoriginal content, both Grammarly and Turnitin perform exceptionally well.

They scan billions of online sources to detect matching text and maintain extensive databases of previously submitted works.

Turnitin’s submissions database does give it a slight edge for academic institutions checking student papers. But Grammarly’s web crawling scope is rapidly improving.

Writing Suggestions

Grammarly has a clear advantage here because it provides advanced writing analysis beyond just plagiarism.

It offers 250+ checks related to grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, style, tone, vocabulary, and more. These AI-powered suggestions help you fix mistakes and improve the overall quality of your writing.

Turnitin focuses exclusively on plagiarism and does not provide any grammar, spelling, or style recommendations.

Pricing Comparison

Grammarly has free and paid subscription plans for individual users, starting at $12/month. For institutions with a minimum of $4,000 per year, Turnitin pricing is quote-based.

Here’s an overview of the pricing models:

Plan	Grammarly	Turnitin
Free	✅
Individual paid plans	$12-$30 per month	Not available
Academic pricing	Not available	Quote-based > $4,000 per year minimum

Grammarly offers a forever-free version with basic writing suggestions. Turnitin does not have a free plan and requires annual academic licensing.

For individuals, Grammarly-paid plans provide much more value, starting at just $12 per month. For institutions handling student submissions, Turnitin is the better plagiarism checker.

When to Use Turnitin

Turnitin is the go-to choice for educators and institutions looking to uphold academic integrity and provide detailed feedback on student work. Here are some scenarios where Turnitin shines:

1. Ensuring Original Work: Turnitin’s comprehensive plagiarism checks help instructors ensure that students submit original work and avoid academic dishonesty.

2. Providing Detailed Feedback: With Feedback Studio, instructors can offer in-depth comments, suggestions, and grading rubrics to help students improve their writing skills.

3. Facilitating Peer Review: Turnitin’s peer review feature encourages collaborative learning by allowing students to review and provide feedback on each other’s work.

When to use Grammarly

Grammarly is the perfect tool for writers, professionals, and students who want to improve their writing skills and ensure error-free, polished content. Here are some situations where Grammarly excels:

1. Polishing Your Writing: Grammarly’s advanced grammar and spelling checker helps you identify and correct errors, ensuring your writing is clear and professional.

2. Enhancing Your Vocabulary: With Grammarly’s vocabulary suggestions, you can expand your word choice and elevate your writing style.

3. Writing On-the-Go: Grammarly’s browser extension and mobile app allow you to improve your writing wherever you are, whether you’re composing an email or drafting a social media post.

Key Use Cases

Grammarly Use Cases

✅ Casual writing, such as emails, messages, and social posts
✅ Creating professional documents, such as resumes and cover letters
✅ Academic writing such as essays, research papers, and dissertations
✅ Writing for business, including reports, pitches, and newsletters
✅ Blogging and content writing

Turnitin Use Cases

✅ Checking student paper originality
✅ Verifying research paper submissions
✅ Academic plagiarism detection for journals and conferences
✅ Screening professional writing, such as news articles, before publication

If you are an individual looking to improve your daily writing across personal and professional use cases, Grammarly is ideal.

Turnitin has a specific purpose for plagiarism detection, primarily for academic institutions rather than individual users.

Verdict: Should You Use Grammarly or Turnitin?

For individual writers, students, and professionals, Grammarly is the clear choice to get advanced writing assistance and basic plagiarism checks in one tool.

But for academic institutions, Turnitin is better given its focus on detailed similarity reports, dedicated databases, and compliance needs.

So while both tools look for plagiarism, Grammarly offers a much wider breadth of writing improvements compared to Turnitin’s depth in academic originality checking.

I recommend using Grammarly if you are:

✅ Student looking to improve your writing
✅ Writer looking to improve your content
✅ Professional aiming to level up your communication

And consider Turnitin primarily if you are an

✅ Academic institutions focused on integrity
✅ Journal screening submissions
✅ Publishers verify articles

So choose Grammarly for everyday writing help or Turnitin for specialized academic plagiarism detection based on your specific needs.

I hope this detailed feature comparison helps you decide on the best online writing tool for your requirements. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Turnitin and Grammarly: A Powerful Combination

Turnitin and Grammarly have different primary purposes. However, they can be used together for a complete writing improvement strategy. Use Grammarly to polish your writing and correct errors. Then submit your work to Turnitin for a thorough plagiarism check. This way, your content will be original, error-free, and ready for submission.

The Bottom Line

The best tool for you depends on your specific needs and goals. If you’re an educator trying to assure academic integrity and provide detailed feedback, utilize Turnitin. If you’re a writer or student seeking to improve your writing skills and ensure error-free content, use Grammarly.

Both programs offer essential features that can help you become a better writer and communicator. By understanding the pros and contrasts of Turnitin and Grammarly, you can make an informed conclusion. Choose the tool that best supports your writing journey.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is Turnitin free?

   Turnitin is a paid service, with pricing varying based on the specific needs of the institution or individual. However, many schools and universities provide access to Turnitin for their students and faculty.

2. Does Grammarly offer a free version?
   Yes, Grammarly offers a free version that includes basic grammar, spelling, and punctuation checks. However, the premium version provides more advanced features, such as vocabulary enhancement and plagiarism detection.

3. Can Turnitin detect plagiarism from offline sources?
   No, Turnitin can only compare submitted papers to its database of publications, internet resources, and earlier submissions. It cannot detect plagiarism from offline sources, such as printed books or unpublished manuscripts.

4. Is Grammarly’s plagiarism checker as comprehensive as Turnitin’s?
   While Grammarly’s plagiarism detector is a great tool, it is not as comprehensive as Turnitin’s. Turnitin’s primary focus is on plagiarism detection, while Grammarly’s plagiarism checker is a supplementary tool.

5. Can I use Grammarly and Turnitin together?
   Yes, you can utilize both tools together to construct a thorough writing improvement strategy. Use Grammarly to polish your writing and correct errors. Then, submit your work to Turnitin for a thorough plagiarism check.

By understanding the features, benefits, and differences between Turnitin and Grammarly, you can make an informed decision. Choose the tool that best supports your writing goals. Whether you’re an educator, student, or professional writer, these powerful tools can help you improve your skills. Create original, error-free content.