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QuillBot is an AI-powered writing tool by Learneo, Inc., available as a web app and through plugins for Mac, Google Chrome, Microsoft Word, and Edge. The app costs $9.95 per month, but if you opt for the annual plan, it drops to $4.17 per month. You can try it for free before deciding on the premium version, and there are affordable team packages compared to similar tools. This review focuses on the premium web version of QuillBot in Google Chrome.
QuillBot offers several paraphrasing modes depending on the tone you want to use. You can start by typing directly into the app, pasting text, or uploading PDFs or Word documents. However, the app doesn’t handle paragraphs, headings, and lists well, often messing up the document’s structure. It’s probably better to start writing directly in the app. Once your document is ready, you can choose the mode for paraphrasing, and even customize it by telling the AI to sound like someone specific.
QuillBot can paraphrase up to about 6,000 words at a time. You’ll get a warning if you try to upload a very long document, like the 47,000-word one I accidentally added. For all modes except academic writing, you can adjust the level of accuracy. Fewer changes make it more accurate, sticking closer to your original idea, while more changes introduce more synonyms but can make the text less precise.
The app displays your original writing on the left for reference, and the two windows are resizable. You can review each sentence to check the app’s suggestions and rephrase parts you don’t like. You can also change individual words. This works well for short passages, but for longer documents, it’s more convenient to compare different modes side by side and pick the best one.
QuillBot lets you freeze specific words you don’t want paraphrased, and it even suggests words to make the process easier. The app also has a basic readout feature that can read your work aloud, which is useful for quick reviews. Once you’re satisfied with your edits, you can download the document as a Word file or copy the text to paste into another writing app.
The app keeps a history of your versions so you can revisit and compare changes. It also provides statistics on the changes you’ve made, helping you evaluate whether your writing has improved and whether you’re maintaining the right tone. This information is useful for making further adjustments throughout the writing process.
While QuillBot’s consistency across tools makes it easy to use, the app’s tendency to mess up the structure of imported documents is frustrating. The developers need to find a way to preserve document structure during imports; otherwise, the tool loses some of its usefulness. The grammar checker in QuillBot is accurate and includes most of the tools you’d need, but it’s often better to write directly in the app.
QuillBot offers basic formatting options, including font choices, text size, bold, italic, and underline. You can also change text color and use a highlighter. The color options are decent, and you can customize them if needed. The app supports text alignment and simple numbered and bulleted lists, though these don’t support multiple levels. While these tools create decent documents, they won’t replace your primary word processor or note-taking app.
The grammar checker is quite accurate, allowing you to review each error and its explanation. Depending on your needs, you can either go through each suggestion individually or accept all changes at once. The AI tool also offers paraphrasing suggestions, but you’ll need to review these one at a time.
One major drawback is QuillBot’s inconsistent dictionary feature. If you use a lot of technical terms, adding them to the custom dictionary can be a challenge. The grammar checker doesn’t even offer the option to add words to the dictionary, which is frustrating because the app keeps making the same incorrect suggestions.
QuillBot offers templates for different types of writing, including academic, professional, and personal writing. The word processor for this part of the app is more robust, with better support for lists, headings, and images. You can also add special characters, superscripts, and subscripts, which is especially useful for research papers.
The research feature in QuillBot is particularly impressive. You can research your topic within the app, and AI-generated content with citations can be added to your paper. This feature is useful for students and educators, though it may not be sufficient for professional researchers. The app also lets you save resources, take notes, and organize your writing with headings, quotations, and checklists.
QuillBot supports multiple citation styles, and you can easily switch between them. The plagiarism checker, while accurate, can be expensive for long documents, as it uses up your quota quickly. The AI tool provides a score for plagiarized content and links to the sources, but it would be helpful if this feature allowed for rich text editing directly within the plagiarism checker.
QuillBot’s plugins for Mac and Google Chrome are less reliable than the web app. They are slow to respond, frequently reboot, and struggle to stay consistent with settings like British English. The custom dictionary feature is also inconsistent, often failing to remember added words.
Overall, while the web app is nearly flawless, the plugins are frustratingly dysfunctional. If you plan to use QuillBot, you’ll get the most out of it by sticking to the web app in your browser. The plugins, unfortunately, are not worth the hassle.
