Have you ever wondered which software is best for academic writing and research papers? This is the question so many students, and researchers seem to ask very often.
However, I will be reviewing and comparing two very notable software for academic writing. These software are Quillbot and Ref n Write.
Both software are used widely by students, teachers, and researchers in writing, editing, and perfecting their work for easy readability.
In this article, I will be writing down everything you need to know about both software, including their pros & cons, overview, pricing plans, and so on. At the end of this article, you will know exactly which software is the best academic and research writing assistant.
Quillbot Vs Ref n Write: Table Comparison
| Features | Quillbot | Ref n Write |
| Free Plan: | Yes | No |
| Paraphrasing Tool: | Yes | Yes |
| Plagiarism Tool: | Yes | Yes |
| Research Writing: | No | Yes |
| Academic Phrasebank: | No | Yes |
| Spell & Punctuation Checker: | Yes | Yes |
| Referencing Tool: | Yes | Yes |
| Grammar Checker: | Yes | Yes |
| Proofreading Tool: | Yes | Yes |
| Citation Generator: | Yes | Yes |
| Dictionary/Thesaurus: | Yes | Yes |
| SEO Tools: | Yes | No |
| Browser Extension: | Yes | No |
| Affiliate Program: | No | Yes |
| Money-Back Guarantee: | Yes | No |
| Summarizer: | Yes | No |
| Third-Party Integration: | Yes | No |
| Translator: | Yes | No |
| Rich Text Editor: | Yes | Yes |
1. Paraphrasing Tool
Both software has a paraphrasing tool. QuillBot has an excellent paraphrasing tool that is very quick, and you can paraphrase any article, even headlines, and email copies.
Ref-n-write also has an AI-powered paraphrasing tool that can paraphrase any of your academic work with ease.
2. Summarizer
This is a unique feature on Quillbot.
QuillBot’s Summarizer can shorten essays, papers, or documents down to the key facts immediately. You can make use of the Summarizer in two ways: To summarise key sentences or summarise your paragraphs.
3. Dictionary/Thesaurus
This feature is in both software.
The dictionary feature in Ref-n-Write allows users to look up the meaning of words, use the right phrases, and make use of distinct terms in their academic or research work.
The Ref n Write thesaurus feature also suggests proper synonyms of ambiguous words you can make use of in your writing.
The Thesaurus feature on Quillbot is AI-powered and provides context to the words you are using in your content.
It lets you look up words in various languages and in any translation you want. By doing this, you will have more understanding of the words you want to use, and also in the translation, you will be converting it.
4. Spell & Punctuation Checker
This feature is available on both software. With this feature, all misspelled and misused words are corrected with ease.
This feature is necessary because bad spelling or wrong use of words can make your content difficult to understand. Also, you can check for punctuation errors, and correct your punctuation in your work
5. Plagiarism Tool
This feature is available on Quillbot and Ref n Write.
QuillBot’s Plagiarism Checker examines whether any paragraph of your text or article did not adequately give credit to the author for the content already published on the web or in books, analysis papers, academic articles, or news sources.
On the other hand, Ref n Write offers an easy plagiarism checker you can use to review your work against plagiarism.
6. Grammar Checker
This feature is available on Quillbot and Ref n Write.
The grammar checker in both software offers help you identify and correct grammatical and spelling errors in your writing or academic work.
7. Browser Extension
When it comes to browser extensions, Quillbot only has one browser extension available, and that is the Chrome Extension. You can add Quillbot to your Chrome browser, and use its features on the go. It also integrates well with your Google Docs, Microsoft Word documents, and Google Mail.
Ref n Write on the other hand can be downloaded on Windows, and is available as an Add-on for MacOS. It has no browser extension, but you can use it on your Microsoft Word documents, Google Docs, and so on.
8. Translator
Quillbot offers a language translator feature that supports multiple languages, including French, German, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Spanish, and more.
This feature is absent on Ref n write. Ref n Write only function with the English language.
9. Proofreading Tool
Ref-n-Write’s proofreading tool also includes text-to-speech modification. Users can utilize this feature to work and proofread the written text and scan it so it flows well and is in sync with the context.
The proofreading tool in Ref n write can also help in detecting punctuation errors that were encountered while writing your academic work.
QuillBot’s proofreading tool ensures your writing is completely polished. The easy-to-use proofreading tool provides your written work with a conclusive edit with just one click.
10. Academic Phrasebank
This is one feature that is very unique to Ref n Write. The Academic Phrasebank feature by Ref n Write is an add-in containing a collection of English phrases that you can make use of while writing your scientific papers and academic essays and reports.
In the Academic Phrasebank, there are over 20,000 academic writing phrases that you can make use of as you write your research papers.
According to Ref n Write, academic phrases are words and phrases used in high-quality scientific journal articles and high-quality academic materials.
With the help of this feature, your research work and reports can sound more knowledgeable and worthy to your reader. You don’t have to worry about plagiarism because the words in the phrase bank are very plagiarism free.
11. Research Writing
This is a big strength for Ref n Write. This software doesn’t just produce writing tools to help you modify your academic and research work, but it also helps in writing your research work.
Ref n Write already has pre-built writing templates in its software you can make use of in generating detailed research content for your use. This can save you time especially if you feel stuck while writing.
12. Citation Generator/ Referencing Tool
Both software has a referencing tool students and researchers can make use of in generating citations and references for their academic work.
On Quillbot, it’s called the citation generator. In Ref n Write, it is called a referencing tool.
This citation generator lets you quickly get references for your articles or books.ab It provides Chicago, MLA, and APA in-text citations.
If you want to use this tool in Quillbot free version, you’ll have to input the work’s title, author’s name, year, and the type of reference you want.
In Ref n Write, the referencing tool delivers references for your academic work or research papers in whatever reference style you want. Only that it is best for referencing scientific papers.
13. Money-Back Guarantee
Quillbot has a 3 days money-back guarantee. Once you upgrade to a paid plan and dislike the features or experience, you can request a refund, and get it back in 3 days.
This is not 100% certain since there can be some delays, but you will definitely have your money back once you cancel your subscription.
On the other hand, Ref n Write does not offer refunds when you cancel your subscription at any time.
14. Affiliate Program
Quillbot runs an affiliate program for marketers or business owners who want to advertise this software to their audience for a commission.
The Quillbot affiliate program is also free to join, and Commission rates depend on the plans your customers are purchasing. For Monthly plans, it’s 10%. For the Semi-annual plans, it’s 15%. For annual plans, it’s 20%.
Although Ref n Write has resellers in various parts of Asia, it doesn’t have an affiliate program at the moment.
Quillbot Vs. Ref ‘n’ Write: Pricing Comparison
Quillbot Pricing Plan
Quillbot offers three pricing plans. These plans include;
- Free plan
- Premium plan
- Team Plan
1. Free Plan
This plan doesn’t require a credit card, so you can easily get access to some of the features of the tool with benefits.
With this plan, you can get access to the following;
- 125 words for the paraphraser
- 1 freeze words and phrase
- You can write in 1200 words for the summarizer tool
- Access to 3 synonym options
- Access to the standard mode of writing
2. Premium Plan
This plan comes in three different plans and includes; annual, semi-annual, and monthly plans. For the annual plan, you get to pay $4.17 per month and $49.95 for 12 months. For the semi-annual plan, you get to pay $6.66 per month and $39.95 every 6 months and for the monthly plan, you get to pay $9.95 monthly.
With this plan, you can get access to the following;
- Unlimited words in the paraphraser
- 6000 words in the summarizer
- Plagiarism checker
- Plagiarism history
- Tone detection
- Unlimited freeze words
- 4 synonym option
- Faster processing speed
This plan allows users to take full advantage of all Quillbots features.
3. Team Plan
To access this plan, you’ll have to contact the sales team. This plan is for anyone with a large team. If your team consists of 5-10 writers, you get to pay $3.75 monthly while for 11-50 writers, you get to pay $3.33 per month.
There’s also a plan for teams with 51+ writers and this costs $2.91 per month per writer.
Ref-N- Write Pricing Plan
There are two basic pricing plans for this AI tool. This plan includes:
- Free Trial
- Purchase license ( Lifetime time plan)
1. Free Trial
Without spending a cent, you can sign up for the Ref n Write 15 days free trial. The free trial gives you access to all the features Ref n Write has to offer in creating a quality research or academic paper.
This Free Trial is perfect for anyone new to this software and wants to test out its features before committing to its paid plan.
2. Lifetime Plan
This is Ref n Write full version pricing plan. By subscribing to the lifetime plan, you will have access to all the features without any restrictions.
The lifetime plan of Ref n Write is available at a cost. This plan is worth £29.99 which is $37.5 and definitely worth it.
This lifetime plan is perfect for researchers, students, educators, writers, and so on. After using the free trial for 15 days. You can commit to the lifetime plan, and the good thing is that you can easily cancel your subscription at any time.
Overview of Quillbot Vs. Ref n Write
Quillbot and Ref n Write are both AI tools that can help in writing and editing any form of research or academic work to perfection.
While Quillbot is mostly used by students and marketing professionals, Ref n Write is mostly used by academicians and researchers.
Both of these AI tools are really good even though they are more suitable for different fields or niches of writing.
Here is an overview of both software.
Overview of Quillbot
Quillbot is an excellent AI writing assistant that makes use of cutting edge natural language processing to edit and paraphrase your content with ease.
This tool was designed by Rohan Gupta in 2017 with his team of AI experts. Their goal was to create an all-in-one writing software that can help all individuals in the writing space improve the quality of their content or essays.
Today, Quillbot has over 4 million users globally and is highly recommended by marketing experts as a must-have tool. It is largely used by students, teachers, and marketing professionals.
Overview of Ref n Write
Ref-n-Write is an AI research writing software developed to help students, teachers, researchers, and scientific experts deliver quality research papers or academic essays. It also helps in the improvement of quality and efficiency in writing research papers and reports.
Ref-n-Write was designed by Dr. Salahaddin Khalilov, who is a researcher and software developer in 2016.
He developed this software to help academicians and researchers in delivering excellent research and academic work.
The software was planned to enable various aspects of academic writing, such as developing phrases, implying vocabulary, delivering templates, and proposing grammar-checking qualifications.
Today, Ref-n-Write is helping thousands of academic writers and researchers in creating high-quality academic papers with the help of its features and resources. It also has a friendly user interface.
Below are steps to try out Ref n Write a 15-day trial:
- Download the software from the link below. Double-click the REF-N-WRITE_Setup.msi file and install the tool.
- If your antivirus obstructs the software, disable the anti-virus software for a few minutes and try installing again.
- Open Word, you will see the REF-N-WRITE Tab in the Ribbon Menu.
- Click one of the REF-N-WRITE buttons.
- A message box will open prompting you to enter your email address and license.
- Just fill in the details shown below and you are good to go.
Quillbot Vs. Ref n Write: Pros and Cons
Quillbot Pros and Cons
Pros
- It has a user-friendly interface.
- Its free plan is available for forever use.
- Excellent paraphrasing and plagiarism tool.
- It offers a 100% money refund within three days.
- SEO optimization tools are available.
Cons
- Access to its plagiarism checker, co-writer, summarizer, and citation generator is only in its premium plan.
- Human assistance is still needed after using its paraphrasing tool.
- No Lifetime plan available.
Ref n Write Pros and Cons
Pros
- Excellent for research and academic writing
- Has all necessary proofreading tools
- Simple user interface
- Paraphrasing tools can paraphrase academic work with ease.
- Academic Phrasebank is a big plus
- Excellent referencing tool
Cons
- No free plan
- The free trial is short
- Writing tools are not 100% effective
Quillbot Vs. Ref n Write: Which Is The Best Academic Writing Tool?
Both Quillbot & Ref n Write are arguably good tools for academic writing.
The major thing you should know is that Quillbot is not a content-writing software. Instead, it is a writing assistant providing all the necessary tools like the thesaurus feature, grammar checker, paraphrasing tool, and plagiarism checker you will need to proofread and edit your academic work for easy readability.
On the other hand, Ref n Write helps in writing research and academic papers with its in-built writing templates.
One thing I love about this software is that it can be used to write very complex research and academic papers. You don’t need to worry about the right phrases and words to use thanks to its Academic Phrasebank. Its plagiarism checker and paraphrasing tool is sound but not as Quillbot.
I will highly recommend Ref n Write to researchers and students who are into writing scientific papers and reports. This tool has all you need to generate and edit your papers to perfection.
However, I will recommend Quillbot to students and educators who just need an excellent tool to help them proofread and edit their written academic work.