A Few Hints for Finding a Free Online Essay Checker

You no longer have to worry about unintentional plagiarism or multiple errors in your essay. Use an online checker to identify and fix these problems before you submit it. The program will underline the problem areas of your text and suggest improvements.

• Determine what kind of check you need.

Typically, a free online tool can check either for plagiarism or for grammar and spelling accuracy. You may find a checker that combines all three functions – plagiarism, spell, and grammar check – as well, but such programs are mostly paid.

• Be prepared to run several checkers.

There are controversial opinions on how reliable free grammar checkers are. Each taken separately may not be able to catch all mistakes that a human proofreader would see. However, if you test your essay in two or three checkers, an error missed by one program will be identified by another.

• Always check pricing conditions.

It should be stated openly on the website that it is free to use. If there is no such statement (and no pricing information either), assume that this checker is a paid one. Some websites use a tricky policy: when you input your text, they report that there are serious problems with it but do not specify which. To see your mistakes, you will have to register with them and pay.

• Check word count limitations.

In most checkers, you are required to copy and paste your essay into a text box. The number of characters you can input is limited. The exact limit can vary greatly across websites – from 2,000 to 25,000 characters. Be attentive; some websites set their limits in characters, while others in words.

Always check the character limit before pasting your essay. It can be disappointing to find out that your text is too large to fit in. In this case, consider using another free tool. Checking your essay by parts is less effective for the reason stated below.

• Check the number of text limitations.

Most free programs allow you to check only a limited number of texts per day – typically from one to three. To run a checker more times, you will need to create a paid account. However, this can hardly be a problem unless you have to check multiple essays in a day or your paper is an extremely large one. Fortunately, there are lots of free online checkers on the Web with a variety of options, so you can always find one that best fits your needs.