Citation machines are gold dust for any academic or student who wants to save time creating citations. But with so many tools available, which is the best? We’ve tested the Citation Machine by Chegg vs Scribbr to find out.
We’ll cover the features, usability, pricing, and accuracy of each of these citation generators in this review. First, though, let’s recap what citation tools are and how they can help you streamline your work.
What Is an Online Citation Generator?
Online citation tools make the citation process for essays and academic journals easier. They let users create accurate citations in several popular styles, including APA and MLA.
Referencing citations manually can be a time-consuming process. It’s also easy to make a mistake. That’s bad news when you’re trying to nail academic papers while avoiding unintentional plagiarism.
Citation generators will automatically format your footnotes, endnotes, and in-text citations. All you need to do is input the material you want to reference. The tool will handle the rest and provide a list of reliable generated citations. This saves you time and potentially a lot of hassle.
You’ll usually pair a citation generator with a plagiarism checker. These tools will tell you whether your work is accidentally plagiarized. As such, we’ll also talk about the plagiarism checkers of each tool in our review.
What Should I Look for in a Great Citation Tool: 4 Main Features To Consider
Choosing the perfect citation generator is a matter of personal preference. That said, there are generally a few key features and benefits you should look out for and we have outlined some of them below.
1. Accuracy of Citations
Every citation tool should be capable of generating a proper citation. This seems obvious. But you need to double-check that your tool is accurate before you rely on it. You should be able to trust that your citation tool knows the rules of your referencing style. Even when you don’t.
2. Adjustable Citation Styles
Your chosen tool should be able to generate citations in multiple different styles. Academic writing often involves adhering to various guidelines. Scientific journals often use APA. Humanities typically prefer MLA. Chicago and Turabian are popular in historical essays. Get a citation generator that can do it all.
3. User-Friendliness
Aside from preventing accidental plagiarism, the goal of a citation generator is to save you time. It’s important to choose a tool that is easy to use and straightforward. You should be able to paste in your source material and get a citation in a few clicks.
4. Affordable Subscriptions
A citation tool shouldn’t be expensive. It should provide you with everything you need for a low price. Many of the best referencing tools are even free. That said, you should double-check that your potential tool’s free version offers enough perks. Many generators lock helpful features behind a paywall.
Citation Machine by Chegg: Top Features To Note
Citation Machine by Chegg is the first online citation generator we’ll review. The platform offers various features to help create reliable citations for a range of applications. Let’s break it down.
Accuracy
From our testing, we found that Citation Machine by Chegg is accurate and reliable. It produces citations in a variety of styles quickly. This will help you save time without having to worry about pesky errors.
Citation Styles
Citation Machine by Chegg offers a brilliant range of citation styles. It currently has over 7,000. Naturally, that includes all of the most popular styles like MLA, APA, and Chicago. In short, if there’s a citation style you need to use, the platform will have it.
Ease of Use
One of the things we liked most about the Citation Machine by Chegg is that it’s easy to use. It’s simple to generate citations, and it works fast. You won’t need to spend hours learning how it works. All you need to do is input your source information and it’ll handle everything else.
Affordability
The Citation Machine by Chegg is free to use for citations. However, to get the most out of the platform, you’ll need to pay $119.40 annually or $14.95 monthly. This comes with a bunch of handy features, like the plagiarism checker and expert feedback. But if you’re cost-conscious, you should opt for a more affordable tool instead, like Smodin, which is free.
Extra Features
In addition to being a great APA and MLA citation generator, Chegg has several extra features. Know that you’ll need to pay for the Plus package to access these tools:
- Grammar checker: This Plus tool comes with a grammar checker that will scan your work for errors. It’ll also provide advice to help you improve your flow.
- Plagiarism checker: Chegg features a simple plagiarism check tool that will see if any of your work was accidentally plagiarised. It doesn’t provide a particularly comprehensive plagiarism report, though. This tool lags behind many competitors like Scribbr and Smodin.
- Expert help: With the Plus tool, you’ll also get access to an “expert check.” This means an expert will review your paper and provide human feedback. Again, this tool is locked behind a paywall.
Scribbr: What Can This Tool Offer You?
Scribbr offers a large range of features that you can use to improve your writing. Among these is its popular citation tool. Let’s take a closer look at the features it offers as we ask: Is Scribbr worth it?
Accuracy
As with the Citation Machine by Chegg, we found Scribbr to be accurate. It creates reliable citations for academic writing that are properly formatted. This will save you extra time and streamline the research process.
Citation Styles
Scribbr offers every citation style you’ll likely ever need. It has all the basics, like APA, Chicago, and MLA. It also offers dozens of styles in multiple languages. For everyday academic sources, you’ll encounter no problems.
Ease of Use
We found Scribbr to be very easy to use. It has a user-friendly interface, letting you create citations in a few clicks. It’s pretty much neck and neck with the Citation Machine by Chegg in this regard.
Affordability
Scribbr’s citation tool is free to use. But the real benefit of the platform lies in its plagiarism checker. Detecting plagiarized content is a must when you’re assembling your references. So, it’s worth choosing a platform that offers this functionality, too.
Sadly, Scribbr’s plagiarism checker is rather expensive. That’s especially true if you want to evaluate several articles. Here are its pricing plans:
- Small document (up to 7,499 words): $19.95
- Normal document (7,500 to 50,000 words): $29.95
- Large document (50,000+ words): $39.95
You’ll need to pay this fee for every document. That’s a lot of money if you’re submitting multiple papers a semester. If affordability is an issue, there are several cheaper tools on the market.
Extra Features
Scribbr’s real value proposition is its plagiarism detection tool. It’s one of the best plagiarism checkers on the market. Once you pay to use it, it will provide a comprehensive report and highlight areas for you to review.
Scribbr also offers proofreading and editing services. These services cost more money, but they’re useful ways for students to get extra help.
Citation Machine by Chegg vs Scribbr
First, there’s the citation tool. We found that the Citation Machine by Chegg and Scribbr were roughly equal here. The Citation Machine is slightly more comprehensive. It offers more citation styles and also allows you to save your bibliographies for future use.
That said, there isn’t much in it. Both tools are easy to use and accurate. Either is a good choice for your projects.
However, that means we have to look at the complete package to determine which is the best tool. Chegg’s Plagiarism Checker is useful but fairly basic. It’ll catch most incidences of accidental and self-plagiarism. That said, this is only available on the subscription-based Plus package.
Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is better than Chegg’s. It’s made in partnership with Turnitin. You can be sure it’s fully accurate in line with university requirements. But it’s so expensive that it almost isn’t worth the money.
Chegg and Scribbr are both useful platforms. But if you’re looking for a tool that offers all the features while being more wallet-friendly? You might like to look elsewhere. Let’s explore a third option.
Citation Machine by Chegg vs Scribbr vs Smodin: Which One Is the Best?
Smodin’s suite of AI tools offers everything you need to write better essays and papers. It has all the features you’d expect from the best. Our citation generator is free to use, fast, and accurate. It’ll help you save time and give you the peace of mind.
But that’s not all we offer. Our AI Plagiarism Checker will compare work with thousands of digital sources to help you improve your writing. It’s as good as the best on the web, and it’s cheaper, too.
In fact, you can access the entire catalog of Smodin tools for just $12 a month. That includes our AI Writer, AI Translator, AI Rewriter, AI Chat, and more.
Smodin is the complete package for writers, students, and academics. It provides all of the tools you expect from Chegg and Scribbr, plus a selection of unique features. And it offers all of this at a cheaper price point.
Try Smodin’s Citation Machine for Free Today
When it comes to the Citation Machine by Chegg vs Scribbr vs Smodin, only one of these platforms can offer all of the features for the most affordable price.
Don’t settle for inflated costs. Try Smodin’s Citation Machine for free and see how easy it is to quote your sources with accuracy and streamline your writing process. Try Smodin today and take your next assignments to the next level.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a citation?
A citation is a reference to a source. It’s a way of showing where you got your information from. You can either embed citations in-text or have them as footnotes or endnotes.
What makes a good citation?
A great citation should make it easy to identify and track down your source. It should contain essential information, like the author’s name and the title of the publication. It should also be properly formatted in line with your citation style.
What citation style should I use?
Usually, your professor or teacher will assign a citation style. However, if you have free rein to choose your own, there are a few options. APA is common in education, science, and psychology. MLA is standard in humanities. Chicago/Turabian is best for history. IEEE is typical in the IT and computing industry.