Read this article if...
you're thinking about using Paperpal and want the real scoop before diving in. Well, I spent the last two weeks testing every feature for this Paperpal review, and I've got a lot to share.
 
I'll be breaking down the 3 things Paperpal does well, and trust me, there are a few surprises in there.
 
But I’m also sharing the 5 biggest mistakes I found, so you don’t get stuck making the same ones.
 
Worried about cost? I’ll talk about what Paperpal costs and whether it’s actually worth your money.
 
You’ll also see a list of Paperpal alternatives in case it doesn’t sound like your vibe after this review.
 
I know everyone wonders: is Paperpal legit? I’m covering that head-on with my honest opinion.
 
If you just skim past this blog, you could end up missing the practical stuff I learned using Paperpal every day and digging through other people’s Paperpal reviews.
 
This guide will save you both time and frustration, so stick around!
 
Before you jump in, here are some quick links to everything I’ll cover in this blog:
 
Jimmy Fallon welcoming everyone

Paperpal Review Summary

 
Infographic showing the pros and cons of paperpal at a glance.
 
If you're in a rush, here's a quick 2-minute summary of this blog:
 

3 Things Paperpal Does Well

 
  • Outline Customization: So, one thing people seem to use a lot is the outline feature, where you can make a custom outline for your paper or essay, which helps get your ideas organized fast without a ton of extra work.
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  • Chat with PDF: Another cool thing folks talk about is the Chat with PDF feature, since it lets you ask questions about your PDF files and get quick answers or summaries, making it simpler to understand big research papers.
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  • MS Word Integration: You’ll probably notice the MS Word add-in mentioned quite a bit, mainly because it works right inside Word without slowing things down, so you don’t have to switch between different programs every time you're working on something.
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  • More on the highlights of Paperpal below.
 

5 Big Problems with Paperpal

 
  • Terrible Customer Service & Refund Hassles: If you ever need help, good luck. Getting a refund or canceling is a mess, and customer service rarely helps. You might end up losing your money even if you ask nicely.
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  • Sneaky Subscriptions with Lost Credits: Paperpal locks you into expensive plans, and the worst part is your unused credits just disappear every month. You keep paying, but what you don’t use is simply gone for good.
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  • Grammar Fixes Make Things Worse: Sometimes, Paperpal actually messes up your writing instead of fixing it. It makes silly grammar mistakes and can even change what you meant to say, so you end up fixing it yourself anyway.
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  • Misleading Discounts & Surprise Charges: Don't trust the fancy discount codes. People try to use them, but Paperpal still charges the full price. Even if you reach out, the support just shrugs and you’re stuck paying more.
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  • Unfair Affiliate Program Practices: If you join their affiliate program to earn money, watch out. Some folks have their accounts shut down for no reason right when they’re supposed to get paid, so you might not see a dime.
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  • Want more details on where Paperpal slips up? Check below.
 

What Does Paperpal Cost?

 
Paperpal plans - Free and Prime.
 
  • Free Plan – Okay, so for ₹0, you get 200 language editing suggestions every month, and can use writing features like paraphrasing or translation just 5 times per day. You also get 7,000 words each month for plagiarism checks and unlimited citation generation, but honestly, you hit the limits kinda fast if you write a lot.
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  • Prime Plan – This plan sets you back ₹582 per month (billed at ₹6,992 a year), and with this, you get unlimited editing suggestions, writing tools, and even advanced PDF chat with AI. The only limit really is 10,000 words per month for plagiarism checks, so even though you pay, you don’t get truly unlimited everything. Still, it’s good if you use it lots, but yeah, it can feel pricey.
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  • Should you buy Paperpal? If you’re just testing things, the Free plan is nice but the limits kick in super fast. The Prime plan gives you way more, but the credits for things like plagiarism checks still disappear each month if you don’t use them all, so personally, I’d say no since you’re always limited by disappearing credits.
Quick and simple—that’s how Paperpal’s pricing works. If you want details, just keep reading below.
 

Paperpal Review - What Does it Get Right?

 
Infographic showing the best 3 Paperpal pros.
 
Here are 3 things people often talk about when using Paperpal:
 
  1. Outline Customization:
    • Flexible Outlines: You can make a custom outline that fits your research area or topic, which helps get started without much hassle.
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    • Gets Your Ideas Sorted: People notice it actually understands the topic, so your section headings feel relevant and not random.
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    • Saves You Time: If you don’t want to spend ages organizing your thoughts, this feature sorts things out fast and gets you writing quicker.
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  3. Chat with PDF:
    • No More Skimming: You can just ask questions about your PDF and get quick summaries, so you don’t need to read the whole thing.
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    • Handles Research Papers: Readers like that it works well for long or tricky research articles, helping break down key points.
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    • All-in-One Place: You don’t need extra apps, this feature is already built in for research, essays, and reports.
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  5. MS Word Integration:
    • Works Right Inside Word: People like that you don’t have to keep switching programs. Everything stays inside Word while you write.
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    • Quick and Smooth: The add-in loads fast and doesn't slow things down, so you get results nearly instantly while editing your work.
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    • Keeps it Simple: This helps especially when you need to polish reports, check formatting, or use AI features without juggling lots of tabs.
 
 
“A perfect blend of multiple tools needed for research. It's a very helpful tool when drafting reports and publications. The inbuilt AI-enabled research tool is robust, with a wide range of journals available to explore. As a doctoral researcher, I read through a lot of publications, so the 'Chat with PDF' feature was a game changer. Yes, there are multiple AI tools out there, but this has all the features in one place, with the added benefit of the MS Word add-in.” ― Rachna Gampa AU

Paperpal Review - What Does it Get Seriously Wrong?

 
Infographic showing the worst 5 Paperpal cons.
 
Let’s break down the worst 5 things about Paperpal that really get on your nerves:
 
  • Terrible Customer Service & Refund Hassles
    • When you try to get help from Paperpal, you usually just hit a brick wall. Their team replies late or not at all, so you feel ghosted.
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    • If you're hoping for a refund after canceling, dream on. Folks have gotten charged for new subscriptions even after canceling the old ones, and customer service barely helps.
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    • From my own use, their support page leaves you going in circles. You submit a ticket, but getting real help is hit or miss, mostly a miss.
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  • Sneaky Subscriptions with Lost Credits
    • If you miss using your monthly credits, they vanish—you're basically paying for something and getting nothing back. No rollovers, no mercy.
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    • You sign up thinking you'll have control, but Paperpal actually locks you into expensive plans. You lose unused credits and stay stuck until the next billing period.
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    • I always end up feeling ripped off when credits reset every month. Even annual payers only get a little each month, so there's no bonus for loyalty.
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    Here's a review by Grace Appiah (GB) discussing an unauthorized payment issue:
     
    “I cancelled my monthly subscription because I don’t need it anymore and the next day they charged my bank for a yearly subscription - Which is something I’ve never even paid for before. I’ll be disputing this with my bank.” ― Grace Appiah (GB)
     
  • Grammar Fixes Make Things Worse
    • Papers and docs come out stranger after using Paperpal’s grammar check. Instead of fixing mistakes, it changes correct sentences to wrong ones—like “he needs” to “he need.”
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    • Sometimes the tool totally muddles your meaning. You try to clarify a point, but Paperpal just makes sentences awkward or even confusing.
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    • Every time I edit with this tool, I end up fixing all its "fixes" myself, so it wastes your time more than it helps.
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  • Misleading Discounts & Surprise Charges
    • The discounts look good, but don’t work. People enter promo codes and get charged full price anyway, and support won't do a thing.
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    • Even when you try during big sale days, like Black Friday, the "exclusive" code doesn’t actually apply and you just lose more money.
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    • I tried a discount myself, and the discount never showed up—so you just end up paying more out of your pocket.
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  • Unfair Affiliate Program Practices
    • If you try to make money with their affiliate program, don't get your hopes up. Your account might just get deactivated as soon as you hit their payout threshold.
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    • People work hard, send in customers, and when it’s payout time, Paperpal blocks them without reason. No warning, just game over.
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    • Based on my experience trying the affiliate option, it feels like they’re looking for ways not to pay you, even if you follow every rule.
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    Here's a review by Surajah Suez DE discussing issues with discount codes:
     
    “Beware of Paperpal’s misleading use of discount codes. The platform advertised the availability of a prolonged Black Friday discount on the annual subscription. I tried to redeem it and was charged the whole amount instead. As I tried to contact the customer service to fix the issue, they simply responded that they could do nothing about it and took no responsibility over the incident.” ― Surajah Suez DE
If you're interested in a service that won't tie you to a subscription and lets your credits stay valid forever, check out AIDetectPlus. You can also test it out for free (with a limit of 1000 words!) right here.
 
This brings us to the end of this comprehensive review. Curious about other alternatives to Paperpal? But before we dive into those options, let’s take a closer look at the pricing!

What Does Paperpal Cost?

 
Comparison of Paperpal pricing plans
 
Alright, let me break down what you actually pay for with Paperpal. They give you a "free" version with lots of limits, and then quickly push you to pay up for anything useful. Here's what you get (or don't get) in each plan—based on what I've seen and tried myself:
 
Free Plan
  • Look, Paperpal's free plan only gives you 200 language corrections per month. That's barely enough if you write more than a few pages a month—honestly, I ran out of those super fast just doing basic editing for my class assignments.
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  • You get 5 AI generative uses per day (stuff like Rewrite or Translate). It sounds fine, but in practice, you hit the cap before you even finish a decent essay, especially if you need to tweak multiple paragraphs.
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  • They let you do plagiarism checks for just 7,000 words per month. That's basically one long essay or a small research paper. After that? You have to pay up.
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  • Citation generation is unlimited in style, but you can't save references—kind of defeats the purpose if you want to build a proper bibliography.
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  • You get a basic summary report with 30+ technical checks, and unlimited Chat PDF, but the interactions are pretty standard and miss a lot of the "advanced" things you probably came for.
 
Paperpal Prime (Paid Subscription)
  • So here's where it starts eating your cash—there are three ways to pay: Monthly at $25/month, Quarterly at $55 every 3 months, or Yearly at $139/year (comes to about $11.58/month). They don't exactly make it cheap, and you have to pay every month/year, no matter how much (or little) you use it.
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  • You get unlimited corrections and unlimited AI features. Sure, it sounds cool, but remember, even with "unlimited," the plagiarism checker is still capped at 10,000 words a month. If you write a lot or need to check multiple drafts? You'll have to pay extra for more credits, and the unused "allowance" disappears every month so you can't stack or save them for later.
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  • They advertise "fully AI-edited manuscripts" and "detailed pre-submission reports," but in my experience, it's just a lot of bells and whistles. Honestly, the extra features felt kind of gimmicky after a while—they definitely didn't save me enough time or stress to justify that price.
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  • There's Editage expert support included, but it's really just a way to upsell human editing which isn't even part of the core AI offering and costs even more on top of what you already pay monthly.
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  • You unlock advanced Chat PDF (which is just a fancier PDF question tool), but unless you're deep into research, you probably don't even need it that much.
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  • What bugs me most? You pay every month for the same "credits," even if you don't use them. So if you take a break or your writing load dips, you basically threw money away. It's like having a gym membership and never going.
 
Institutional Plans
  • This plan is for big teams or schools. You have to talk to their sales team for a custom quote – no actual prices online, which is usually code for "it's way more expensive than you want to pay."
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  • Unless you're running a whole university department, you probably won't even touch this – but I've seen that most "institutional" deals just lock schools into paying a ton every year for features hardly anyone uses.
 
Editage Plus for Researchers ($174/year)
  • They bundle Paperpal Prime with their Editage Plus service and toss in some other tools (like R Discovery Prime and Mind the Graph), but now you're paying $174 a year—that's even more than the standard Paperpal Prime plan.
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  • If you're just a student or solo researcher, you're mostly paying for a pile of add-ons you likely won't ever use. And you still get the same "use it or lose it" credit rules.
 
Here’s the thing—Paperpal keeps you paying every month (or year) for the same old credits, and when you don't use up everything, you just lose it. It adds up fast, and feels like you're locked in for life. If you want real savings and freedom, you don't need all this subscription junk. Let me show you what actually makes sense…
 
  • Better alternatives exist—at a way lower cost!
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  • My absolute favorite? AIDetectPlus. It's an all-in-one AI platform with a crazy strong Essay Writer that gives you 100% undetectable, plagiarism-free essays with built-in citation (seriously, double-checked it with Turnitin and it passed every time for me).
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  • You only pay once, starting at just $9 for 5,000 words, and your credits NEVER EXPIRE. Use them however you want—this is actually a big deal because, with Paperpal, you lose all unused credits at the end of each month. With AIDetectPlus, you keep everything you pay for.
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  • It's packed: you get AI Humanizer, Detector, Paraphraser, PDF Chat, plus a free like-ChatGPT bot. You only pay again if you need more words, not because a month just reset and wiped out your words. Honestly, that's the biggest breath of fresh air after being nickel-and-dimed everywhere else.
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  • See it yourself—go to AIDetectPlus here for details, or check out their homepage for feature breakdowns.
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  • If you want my honest advice, skip Paperpal and get real value for your money without monthly payments or wasting unused credits. It's your call, but why pay more for less?

What are some Paperpal alternatives?

 
Top 3 Paperpal alternatives.
 
Alright, so you’ve seen what Paperpal can do (and where it kinda flops). But before you decide, let’s check out some other options. Here are my top 3 picks:
 

#1 - Paperpal vs AIDetectPlus

  • Both Paperpal and AIDetectPlus help with writing and research, but honestly, they’re pretty different:
    • Paperpal is all about helping you edit, organize, and polish your essays or research papers. It’s got stuff like outline tools, PDF chat, and a Word add-in, but you’re always dealing with limits and disappearing credits.
    • AIDetectPlus is like your all-in-one writing buddy. It writes essays that pass AI and plagiarism checks, helps you paraphrase, summarizes PDFs, checks for AI, and even lets you chat with a free AI chatbot. Plus, you only pay for what you use—no sneaky subscriptions or lost credits.
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  • Where is AIDetectPlus Better?
    • One-click, undetectable essays: AIDetectPlus can whip up essays that pass AI and plagiarism detectors, and you get real citations too. It’s super fast and you don’t have to stress about getting caught.
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    • PDF Chat that actually works: You can upload up to 100 PDFs at once and chat with them, or even compare answers from different AI models. It’s way easier and more powerful than Paperpal’s version.
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    • Everything in one place: You get an AI detector, humanizer, plagiarism remover, essay writer, paraphraser, PDF chat, and even a free AI chatbot—all in one spot.
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    • No subscriptions, no wasted credits: You just buy credits when you need them, and they never expire. No monthly bills, no losing what you paid for.
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    • Super helpful support: If you get stuck, the live chat is actually fast and friendly. No endless waiting or getting ignored.
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    • Way more flexible: It’s not just for school essays—you can use it for assignments, blog posts, marketing stuff, whatever you want.
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  • Where is Paperpal Better?
    • MS Word add-in: If you really need to work inside Word, Paperpal’s add-in is handy.
    • Simple outline tools: Paperpal’s outline feature is easy if you just want to organize your ideas fast.
 

#2 - Paperpal vs Writeless AI

  • Both Paperpal and Writeless AI help you come up with essays and research stuff, but they do things a bit differently:
    • Paperpal is all about organizing your academic writing. Think custom outlines, chatting with your PDFs to get answers, and even fixing up your grammar (well, most of the time). It works inside MS Word too, which is handy if that's what you usually use.
    • Writeless AI is the go-to if you just want to bang out a long essay with real, proper citations and a full bibliography—super fast, with almost no hassle. Plus, it’s designed to sound original and not get caught by AI detectors.
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  • Where is Writeless AI Better?
    • Essay generation with real citations: cranks out long, academic essays (up to about 20,000 words) with citations and a bibliography, all done for you.
    • Crazy fast writing: spits out polished essays in under a minute. If you’re in a time crunch or need a bunch of essays, this is a lifesaver.
    • Writes undetectable stuff: makes content that sounds real and doesn't get flagged by tools like Turnitin—so you don’t have to stress about originality.
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  • Where is Paperpal Better?
    • Outlining & working with PDFs: You can make your own outlines for papers, and the chat-with-PDF thing is awesome for getting quick answers from big, confusing documents.
    • MS Word add-in: It actually works right inside Word, so no need to bounce back and forth between different tools.
 

#3 - Paperpal vs Caktus AI

  • Alright, so both Paperpal and Caktus AI help with academic writing, but they’re really different in what you get:
    • Paperpal is all about making your papers and essays better with tools like outline customization, chatting with your PDFs, and working right inside MS Word. Kinda handy if your main thing is writing long essays or research papers.
    • Caktus AI is more like a Swiss Army knife for students—yeah, it’ll help you write, but it also does math problems, code homework, résumé-building, language learning, and even stuff like summaries and paraphrasing. Everything, basically, under one roof.
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  • Where is Caktus AI Better?
    • Jack-of-all-trades for students: Caktus covers writing, math, programming, citations, email/resume building, story writing, language tutoring, and paraphrasing—pretty much everything a student might need, all in one place.
    • More Features: It’s got neat tools like humanizing your writing, summary maker, discussion reply builder, paragraph generator, and hook generator—super useful for a bunch of school stuff.
    • One dashboard for all homework: STEM, writing, coding, and even resumes—all from the same dashboard. If you do all kinds of assignments, Caktus saves you a lot of hopping around.
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  • Where is Paperpal Better?
    • Super simple outlines: If you want to organize your ideas fast or make a custom outline for your essay, Paperpal nails it.
    • Ask your PDF anything: You can chat with your PDF file to get quick answers, so reading big research papers is way less boring.
    • Use right inside Word: It’s got a Word add-in, so you don’t have to keep switching tabs - just work in one spot.

Is Paperpal Legit?

Mark saying No
 
Short answer - Nope, not really!
 
Here's why I think Paperpal just isn't worth it:
  • Reason #1: Customer Support is Awful: If you ever get stuck or need your money back, prepare yourself—because you're not getting much help. Customer service is pretty much missing in action, and getting a refund or even just canceling is a pain. I've tried, and honestly, I just ended up frustrated and out of cash.
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  • Reason #2: You Lose Money on Subscriptions: The subscription model feels like a sneaky trap. If you pay for credits you don’t use, they just disappear every month. There’s no rolling over, nothing. So basically, you just keep paying for stuff you never get to use. That annoyed me big time.
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  • Reason #3: Editing Makes Your Writing Worse: The grammar fixes are honestly risky. Paperpal sometimes switches up what I wanted to say or adds weird mistakes, so I end up rewriting everything myself. If you want editing that actually helps, this ain't it.
Here's a review by Martin Wessendorf US discussing their experience with AI:
 
“I think that they should be paying us to teach their AI. I'm a native speaker of English but tend to write sentences that are overly complicated. I tried Paperpal to see whether it could help. The brief answer was "no". it has a VERY poor knowledge of English grammar. Most seriously, it FREQUENTLY introduced errors of number (--for instance, changing a phrase like, "he needs to know..." to "he need to know." Paperpal has a LONG way to go before they should be charging people for their services.” ― Martin Wessendorf (US)
 
So, what do you do next if you want an actual good tool?
 
If you ask me, AIDetectPlus fixes every problem I’ve mentioned with Paperpal. Here’s how:
 
AIDetectPlus dashboard.
 
First, you can try it out for free with 1000 words—no sneaky strings attached. But honestly, that’s just the beginning:
 
  • #1 Undetectable, Plagiarism-Free Essays with Citations: The Essay Writer on AIDetectPlus gives you essays that slide past AI detectors and plagiarism checkers, and they’re good from the start. Need citations in APA or MLA? They’re built in and ready to go, so you don’t have to stress.
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  • #2 Credits NEVER EXPIRE: Buy credits and keep them forever. If you don’t use them this month, they’ll be there next month. Only pay again when you’ve used yours up—it’s super fair.
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  • #3 Way better customer support: I’m not kidding—I always get a real reply, fast. The AIDetectPlus team actually cares about their users, no fighting with bots or feeling ignored. They reply to everyone within 12 hours, sometimes much faster!
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  • #4 Fully Equipped Essay Writer in an All-in-One Platform: With AIDetectPlus, you get way more than just essays. There’s paraphrasing, plagiarism removal, citation generation, and even a free LLM chat. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or just need an all-in-one writing tool, it’s all there. Hit up the menu above to check it out.
 
That’s it from me! Hope this review made things clear about Paperpal and helped you find something way better. If you want to give AIDetectPlus a shot, visit their website or jump into your 1000-word free trial. No credit card or phone needed — just toss in your email and you’re good to go!