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Turnitin Similarity

Institution-grade similarity checking for academic originality and integrity

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  • Overview
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Pros
  • Cons
  • Reviews

Turnitin Similarity Overview

  • Updated February 9, 2026

Turnitin Similarity is an academic integrity tool designed for institutions to identify text similarity in student and research submissions. It compares documents against extensive databases of student papers, scholarly publications, and web content.

The tool provides detailed similarity reports that help educators and administrators assess originality, support proper citation practices, and investigate potential plagiarism within established academic workflows.

Key Features

  • Similarity Reports: Generates percentage-based similarity scores with matched source highlighting.
  • Extensive Content Database: Compares submissions against student papers, academic journals, and web sources.
  • Match Filtering: Allows exclusion of quotes, bibliographies, and small matches for cleaner analysis.
  • LMS Integration: Integrates with systems like Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard.
  • Instructor Review Tools: Supports manual review and contextual interpretation of similarity results.

Price

Plan Price Featured
Turnitin Similarity (Institution License) Custom Quote (Annual Contract) Similarity Reports, Large academic database access, LMS integration

 

Pros

Competitor

Pros
Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Turnitin Similarity offers deeper academic database coverage than Grammarly, especially with student paper repositories. While Grammarly is easier for individuals to access, Turnitin provides more rigorous institutional controls, better LMS integration, and reports designed for formal academic review rather than casual writing checks.
Copyscape Compared to Copyscape, Turnitin Similarity is better suited for education, offering structured similarity reports and academic source matching. Copyscape focuses mainly on web duplication, while Turnitin excels in scholarly content, instructor workflows, and policy-driven integrity enforcement.
Unicheck Turnitin Similarity provides broader database depth and stronger brand trust in higher education. While Unicheck is often more affordable and simpler to deploy, Turnitin remains preferred for high-stakes academic assessment and large institutional environments.
iThenticate Turnitin Similarity is more classroom-focused than iThenticate, which targets publishers and researchers. For student assessments, Turnitin offers clearer reports, better LMS integration, and educator-oriented workflows, making it more practical for teaching institutions.
PlagScan Compared to PlagScan, Turnitin Similarity benefits from a much larger proprietary database of student submissions. Although PlagScan can be more transparent in pricing, Turnitin delivers stronger detection depth and long-established academic credibility.

Cons

Competitor

Cons
Grammarly Plagiarism Checker Turnitin Similarity is far less accessible to individual users compared to Grammarly. It lacks transparent pricing and personal plans, making it impractical for freelancers or independent students who want quick plagiarism checks without institutional approval.
Copyscape Compared to Copyscape’s pay-as-you-go model, Turnitin Similarity requires institutional contracts and longer procurement cycles. This makes it slower to adopt and more expensive for organizations that only need occasional or lightweight plagiarism detection.
Unicheck Unicheck offers clearer pricing and simpler onboarding than Turnitin Similarity. Turnitin’s interface and reports can feel complex for new instructors, requiring training to interpret similarity scores correctly and avoid misuse.
iThenticate For advanced research plagiarism detection, Turnitin Similarity is less specialized than iThenticate. Researchers may find Similarity reports too education-focused and lacking the publishing-oriented workflows that iThenticate provides.
PlagScan PlagScan can be more flexible with data ownership and regional compliance options. Turnitin Similarity has faced criticism for data retention concerns, which may be a drawback for institutions with strict privacy or regulatory requirements.

Verified Customer Reviews

  • University of Pittsburgh Teaching Center Review (Rating: 4/5): Educators value its strong plagiarism flagging and academic database, but note that similarity scores require careful human interpretation to avoid false conclusions.
  • Reddit/r/studytips Review (Rating: 3.5/5): Users appreciate its authority in universities, while criticizing the lack of transparent pricing and limited access for individual students.
  • SUNY Empire State Review (Rating: 4/5): The tool is trusted for reviewing similarity reports in coursework, though students sometimes find the reports difficult to understand without instructor guidance.
  • UC San Diego Instructor Review (Rating: 4/5): Instructors praise the detailed reporting interface, but mention that reviewing large classes can be time-consuming due to manual analysis requirements.
  • Quora Academic Discussion (Rating: 3.5/5): Users find the similarity percentage useful for reassurance, while acknowledging confusion about what scores actually indicate in grading decisions.