AI detectors for academic writing
GPTZero is often marketed as the “gold standard” for academic integrity. However, it faces criticism for its false accusations and bias, which can derail a student or researcher’s career. These issues have often led to students searching for GPTZero alternatives.
The real need is simple: an accurate AI detector that can flag AI vs human writing patterns, while also acknowledging AI-assisted human text that may need additional review.
I tested the top 6 AI detection tools to understand which GPTZero alternative can accurately identify AI and human written text as it is. For this test, I used a snippet from a research paper, generated an AI version of the same content and scanned the entire text in each detector.
This is the snippet, I used (Source)
According to Benson (2011), there has always been a connection between educational technologies and learner autonomy to the extent that they have often been intended for independent practice. It should be noted, however, that this link and “future enquiry and practice into technology-mediated learner autonomy will need to be increasingly aligned to the tools, settings, and activities that are of significance to language learners” (Reinders & White, 2016, p. 151). Reinders and White (2016) further argue that as long as “the potential range of settings, tools, and experiences is now virtually limitless, individuals need to be increasingly adept at critical adaptive learning in order to benefit from and contribute effectively to those settings” (p. 151). It is indisputable that modern language educators must instruct learners on how to leverage mobile devices for language acquisition. Furthermore, it is critical for both researchers and practitioners to understand how learners organize these study modalities. It is also of paramount importance, for both researchers and practitioners, to comprehend the link between the modalities of the language learners’ organization of their own learning experiences and environments and the role mobile technologies, in particular smartphones and tablets, play in these contexts.
And here’s the AI paraphrased version of the above snippet
Educational technologies have long been associated with learner autonomy, primarily because they were designed to support independent practice (Benson, 2011). However, Reinders and White (2016) emphasize that future research and practical applications of technology-enhanced learner autonomy must reflect the specific tools, environments, and activities that matter most to language learners (p. 151). They contend that given the virtually unlimited array of available settings, tools, and learning experiences, learners must develop sophisticated skills in critical adaptive learning to effectively engage with and contribute to these diverse contexts (Reinders & White, 2016, p. 151). Language educators today face the essential task of teaching students how to use mobile devices strategically for language learning. Equally important is the need for both researchers and practitioners to investigate how learners structure these learning approaches and to explore the relationship between learners’ self-directed organization of their learning experiences and the specific role that mobile technologies—especially smartphones and tablets—play within these frameworks.
Ideally, AI detectors should flag 50% of this mixed text as AI-generated. But most failed. Below are the results from each detector, plus my top picks for academic writing.
| Feature | Paperpal | ZeroGPT | Copyleaks | Originality | QuillBot | Winston AI |
| Accuracy | High | Low | High | Medium | Low | High (OCR Specialist) |
| Languages Supported | English (best for academics) | 50+ Languages | 30+ Languages | 15+ Languages | English, Spanish, German, French | English, French, Spanish, German |
| Downloadable Report | No (On-screen only) | No (On-screen only) | Yes (Standard PDF) | Yes (Shareable Link/PDF) | No (On-screen only) | Yes (PDF with Recipient) |
| Pricing (Monthly) | ~$25.00 / mo | ~$10/mo) | $16.99 / mo | $14.95 / mo | $19.95 / mo | $12.00 / mo |
| Free Tier | 5 scans per day with 1,200 words per scan | Unlimited scans with 15,000 characters per scan | One-time scan of 25,000 characters | One-time scan of 300 words | 10 scans per day of 1,200 words per scan | 14-day trial allows for a 2,000-word scan |
Paperpal AI detector is the only GPTZero alternative that doesn’t penalize non-native English speakers for using clear, “textbook” English. While GPTZero and other AI checkers often flag formal academic writing as AI due to its structured nature, Paperpal recognizes “academic fluency” as human, emphasizing instances of hybrid AI-human content.
Paperpal’s AI detector is likely the only tool that flags hybrid content instead of delivering a simple yes-no judgment.
The detector analyzes and identifies machine writing patterns by evaluating linguistic signals like sentence predictability, variation, and contextual patterns, these are indicators of how content is structured, not the time and effort put into it. This empowers Paperpal to pinpoint blended sections rather than applying an overall score.
This GPTZero alternative is trained on human and AI text across all major research areas, allowing it to accurately identify text generated by tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini etc.
You Might Like Reading: Why Paperpal Built Its Academic AI Detector (And Why Binary Scores Don’t Tell the Full Story)
| PROS | CONS |
| Paperpal’s AI detector provides clear sentence-level insights across three bands, human-written, human-AI blend, and AI-written, to show different writing patterns, instead of giving blanket scores. The tool acknowledges that AI is increasingly used in research and writing and provides objective feedback, clearly indicating text that needs human review and refinement | Paperpal’s AI Detector is optimized to detect AI writing patterns in English text only |
| Paperpal’s comprehensive AI academic writing toolkit goes beyond AI detection to offer plagiarism checks, grammar checks, paraphrasing and AI writing assistance | The AI detector doesn’t offer downloadable PDF reports for later use or sharing as hard evidence |
| If you’re writing within Paperpal, the AI Footprint feature clearly shows how Paperpal AI has contributed to your writing. This could be presented as version history proof in case of false accusations | |
| The GPTZero alternative doesn’t flag formal or academic language as AI generated, making it the best AI detector for students and academics | |
| Paperpal has a generous free tier (5 scans/day of 1,200 words each) |
Integrate Paperpal AI detector in your submission workflow and finalize your document with confidence. For academics, PhD students, or researchers, Paperpal is the most accurate AI detector that doesn’t mistake polished, scholarly writing for AI-generated content.
ZeroGPT uses a proprietary multi-stage detection method that is extremely sensitive to the “robot-speak” patterns of GPT-4, Gemini, and Claude. Unlike other GPTZero alternatives that limit word count for AI scans, ZeroGPT’s free version allows unlimited checks, provided you break your content into 2,000 words per scan. ZeroGPT doesn’t delve into sentence-level highlights like Paperpal or Copyleaks, it provides only an overall percentage score (e.g., “Your text contains 35% AI”).
| PROS | CONS |
| ZeroGPT is the free forever alternative to GPTZero | Based on my tests, ZeroGPT has the highest rate of false positives. If you write in a formal, academic, or “stiff” tone (common for ESL (English as a second language) researchers), this GPTZero alternative will likely flag your text as AI written |
| ZerroGPT can identify AI text in over 50 languages, making it viable, free AI detector for users with English as a second language | ZeroGPT’s AI detector page is cluttered with advertisements that often pop-up on screen as you work, leading to a frustrated user experience |
| It lacks the “Human/AI Mixed” subtlety unlike other AI detectors and often swings to extremes (e.g. Flagging a document as “100% AI” when it might just be 10% AI) |
Learn More: Why Using AI Humanizers for Academic Writing Backfire
Copyleaks provides comprehensive AI and plagiarism detection across 30+ languages, by integrating hybrid human-AI scans and image/code checks.
This popular GPTZero alternative can analyze the predictability of word choice and whether sentences have natural variation and can identify unethical writing practices like rewording copied content, adding white text hidden in the background.
| PROS | CONS |
| Copyleaks consistently ranks as one of the most sensitive GPTZero alternatives, that can detect AI text from advanced models like Claude 4.5 Sonnet or GPT-4o that often fool other AI detectors | Copyleaks frequently flags highly formal, grammatically perfect human writing as AI. PhD students on ESL researchers who write in a rigid, formal academic style are at high risk of being falsely accused |
| Instead of giving a wrapped “98% AI” score, Copyleaks also validates its claims with proper explanations (e.g., lack of perplexity, specific syntax patterns) | Unlike other GPTZero alternatives that offer a “Writing Replay” or “AI Footprint” to record a student’s version history, Copyleaks offers no such tools to claim writing as human written |
| Copyleaks can be integrated into learning management systems like Canvas, Moodle, and Blackboard, allowing it to automatically scan assignments as students submit them | Copyleaks’ credit system doesn’t roll over unused credits to the next month, which is a huge disadvantage for subscribers |
| According to some user reviews, Copyleaks is accurate enough to detect humanized AI text or paraphrased content |
Copyleaks is best for teachers, educational institutions, recruiters, and content agencies to cross-verify AI usage in assignments, and outsourced work.
Originality AI is a GPTZero alternative built for content marketers, SEOs, and web publishers who need to verify their content is safe to publish without risking search engine penalties. Originality AI detects underlying syntax patterns, making it capable of recognizing paraphrased content and basic synonym swaps. Here’s a gist of Originality AI’s features:
| PROS | CONS |
| Originality combines AI detection, plagiarism checking, readability scores, and fact-checking in one dashboard | Originality frequently flags 100% human-written content as AI, especially if the writing is simple, repetitive, or factual |
| The GPTZero alternative gives you a “readability score” alongside the AI score, helping you ensure the content isn’t just human written, but also easy to read | Unlike other GPT alternatives that offer “unlimited” words on premium plans, Originality.ai charges by word usage credits, which can make it quite expensive for users who need to check lengthy theses, dissertations or research papers |
QuillBot’s AI Detector is one best GPTZero alternatives for students thanks to its affordable pricing. The AI detector goes beyond percentage scoring and gives sentence-level analysis that classifies uploaded text as AI written; AI written, but human-refined; and human written. QuillBot’s AI detector can detect major LLMs, including GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, Gemini 1.5, and Llama 3.
| PROS | CONS |
| If uploaded text has been refined by a human, this GPTZero alternative likely shows it as human written, therefore reducing false positives significantly | While good for a self-check, QuillBot is not as accurate as Paperpal or other GPTZero alternatives. If QuillBot says you are “Safe” (0% AI), there is still a small chance a stricter tool like Turnitin might flag your work |
| QuillBot’s generous free tier (9 scans a day of 1,200 words each) helps students to quickly run a scan without the need to sign up | QuillBot fails to detect AI usage in heavily edited documents, making it an easy‑to‑bypass AI detector |
Use QuillBot if you’re a student or freelancer who wants to run a “sanity check” for your work before hitting send. You want to make sure your legitimate use of Grammarly, or spell-check won’t trigger a false alarm.
Winston’s AI Detector is more feature-rich than free AI content checkers, but also more intuitive and simpler to use. It can scan documents and images, making it a favorite for teachers who can use it to quickly grading physical papers. Here’s what Winston AI can do:
| PROS | CONS |
| Winston is the best AI detector if you want to scan physical papers, essays etc. Most GPTZero alternatives only accept digital text | Unlike QuillBot or other GPTZero alternatives, Winston AI has a fixed time trial that forces you to upgrade after your short trial ends |
| Winston generates shareable PDF reports, which serves as hard evidence of your paper | Like Originality.ai, it uses a credit system. If you scan the same document twice (e.g., after making a small edit), you pay double |
Use Winston AI if you’re a teacher who deals with physical papers/photos. The OCR feature alone makes it worth the price for specific use cases.
No, GPTZero doesn’t have an AI humanizer feature. To make your writing sound human-like and not AI written, always add your personal insights to the final output, even if AI generated. Do not copy AI text as is.
While both detect AI content, GPTZero & ZeroGPT have a higher false positive rate for academic content like theses, dissertations, research papers, essays, etc. due to their overly structured and formal writing nature. Paperpal is generally considered better for accuracy and in-depth analysis, especially for research, offering sentence-level insights across a three-band categorization, ensuring more accurate and transparent results.
While you can use GPTZero or ZeroGPT for quick, less critical tasks, I’d recommend using Paperpal for serious academic work.
Paperpal is undoubtedly the best GPTZero alternative for research and academic writing. Paperpal is tailored for the academic workflow, addressing the “conflicting signals” and limited nuance often found in general-purpose detectors like GPTZero. It prioritizes helping researchers understand and refine hybrid writing rather than simply policing it. Here are few reasons why Paperpal’s AI detector performs better than GPTZero:
1. Coherent, Context-Aware Scoring: Paperpal solves the issue where GPTZero’s document-level verdicts often contradict its sentence-level probabilities. It uses context-aware algorithms to analyze the “flow” of ideas, ensuring the overall score matches the granular sentence analysis
2. Superior Handling of Blended Text: While competitors often struggle to interpret “blended” writing (text mixing human and AI input), Paperpal accurately segments text into AI Written, Human-AI blend, and Human Written. This helps users identify exactly which specific sections require human revision
3. Built for Long Manuscripts: Unlike tools with lower limits, Paperpal’s Prime plan supports up to 10,000 words per scan, allowing researchers to check full papers without splitting them
4. Integrated Research Ecosystem: Paperpal combines AI detection with plagiarism checks and language feedback, and AI writing assistance at one place, eliminating the need to switch between multiple disjointed tools
While GPTZero is a well-known tool, it may not be the best choice for students who need to actually improve their work rather than just receive a “pass/fail” grade. Paperpal is a better alternative to GPTZero which helps you understand why your essay or thesis might get flagged and how to fix it responsibly.
Here is why Paperpal is likely the better AI assistant for your academic writing:
1. Paperpal clearly identifies what to fix: GPTZero does give an AI score, but the sentence-level highlights don’t explain why. This leaves you guessing. Paperpal avoids this with a consistent three-level hybrid score – AI Written, Human-AI blend, and Human Written, so you know exactly which parts you need to fix before submission
2. Paperpal handles blended writing better: Students often use AI for outlining or polishing, resulting in “hybrid” text. Many detectors, including GPTZero, struggle to interpret this nuance, often giving binary scores that don’t reflect the actual degree of AI influence. Paperpal AI is trained to recognize these “Human-AI Blends” and provides granular insights, helping you distinguish between helpful AI support and writing that sounds too robotic.
3. Paperpal supports your entire draft: Reviewing a long-term paper or thesis on free plans with low word limits often means splitting your document into messy chunks. Paperpal’s Prime plan supports up to 10,000 words per scan, allowing you to check full chapters or papers in context.
4. Paperpal improves your writing, not just “Police” it: Generic AI detectors encourage “fear-based editing,” where students randomly change words just to lower an AI score. Paperpal is designed to be an “actionable” writing aid: it integrates AI detection with plagiarism checks and language feedback in one workflow. This allows you to revisit flagged sections and use editing tools to refine tone and language, ensuring the final submission is authentically yours.
Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 23+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.
Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$25 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed.
Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!
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