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Best AI detector in 2025


As AI-generated content becomes increasingly common, the ability to distinguish between human and machine-created text is more important than ever. From academic institutions concerned about originality to online news publications and literary platforms evaluating submissions from contributors, AI detectors play an ever-important role in ascertaining the authenticity of content.

But, not all AI detectors are reliable. Many of them inaccurately flag human-written content as AI-generated. I worked closely with the Cybernews research team to assess the leading AI detectors available today. Drawing on extensive research and testing, I’ve sought to rank the best AI detectors in 2025.

Best AI detector - shortlist

What is an AI detector?

AI detectors are designed to check whether a text, such as an article, essay, or code, was human-written or generated by AI systems like ChatGPT, Google Bard, Claude AI, and others.

AI detectors analyze text for patterns that may feel "robotic” or different from authentic human writing. For example, AI tools tend to produce content with consistent phrasing or a specific structure. AI detectors rely on techniques such as natural language processing (NLP) to break down text, stylometric analysis to examine writing style, and entropy analysis to gauge how random or structured the content is.

With AI-generated content showing up everywhere these days (e.g., essays, social media, and even news), AI detectors are essential to weed through the flood of machine-produced material.

The Best AI detectors – our detailed list

This next section will provide in-depth reviews of the best AI detectors. I analyze the 5 top AI detectors in detail and rank them to give you a clear overview of what each one offers.

1. Copyleaks – best overall AI detector with a 99% accuracy rate

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Starting price:$9.00/month
Accuracy:99%
Free version:Yes
Top features:AI insights, source code detection, LMS and API integrations

If you’re looking for a dependable AI detector, Copyleaks AI content detector is my top pick. According to the company, this tool has been in development since 2015.

Copyleaks claims its AI detection tool has an accuracy rate of over 99% and a false-positive rate of just 0.2%. It’s an excellent pick for educators, businesses, and creators who need a reliable tool to check for AI-written content. It seems to keep pace with newer AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini.

Features

One of Copyleaks’ most compelling features is its AI Insights, which explains why a text is flagged. This added layer of transparency is unique and can be helpful for users trying to navigate borderline cases.

Copyleaks supports more than 30 languages, and its capabilities extend beyond standard text detection, with paraphrased content detection and AI-generated code analysis, which is not commonly found in similar tools.

User experience

Getting started is simple. A free account grants you 5 credits to test its functionality, and uploading text or files is simple. I also appreciate the platform's customizable settings, which let you focus on AI-created content detection, plagiarism detection, or both.

Its seamless integration options, from APIs to LMS platforms and browser extensions, make it useful for different workflows. The tool performs best with longer text samples, but even shorter pieces result in useful, detailed insights.

User reviews

The user feedback I read online reflects a mix of experiences. Many users praise the tool’s accuracy and advanced features like AI Insights. However, some say they got false positives, particularly with shorter pieces or creative writing.

Price

If you’re an educator, business owner, or creator looking to verify content authenticity, Copyleaks is worth trying. Its plans start at $9.00 per month (billed annually), and a bundled option with a plagiarism detector is available for $13.99 monthly. For larger organizations, Copyleaks also offers enterprise options with API integrations.

2. Grammarly – best AI detector with integrated writing tools

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Starting price:$12.00/month
Accuracy:Not specified
Free version:Yes
Top features:AI percentage scoring, citation formatting, integrated grammar tools

Do you want to improve your writing while ensuring originality? Grammarly, known for its suite of tools that help users refine and polish their writing, also has an AI detector tool.

Simply put, the AI detector highlights what percentage of your text might be AI-generated text and lets you tweak your work as needed. Beyond detection, Grammarly also offers brainstorming, rewriting, and proofreading tools.

Features

According to Grammarly, its AI detector analyzes patterns within the text, providing insights into potential AI usage. It does not guarantee 100% accuracy (nor does it state its accuracy rate), but it offers a transparent way to assess content. Furthermore, it provides insights into why it marks a phrase, sentence, or paragraph as AI-written content.

Its seamless integration with Grammarly’s grammar and style suggestions makes it a helpful tool for those who want everything in one place. Additionally, it includes citation features that allow users to acknowledge AI use where applicable, formatted in common academic styles.

User experience

Getting started with Grammarly’s AI detector is not difficult. You can check up to 2,000 words for free or integrate the tool into Grammarly Premium for more extensive text reviews. The interface is easy to navigate, and Grammarly provides clear feedback on originality and writing quality.

Grammarly also prioritizes privacy and security, ensuring your data is handled responsibly. Grammarly is the best choice for writers, students, and professionals seeking an all-in-one tool that balances writing assistance with basic AI detection.

User reviews

The feedback I’ve seen online is mixed. Some users find the tool helpful for flagging patterns typical in AI content, while others say its detection can be inconsistent, especially with shorter or highly nuanced writing.

Price

Grammarly’s monthly plans start at $12.00, and a free version is available for limited use. The company also offers an Enterprise package that adds everything in Pro plus BYOK encryption, dedicated support, data loss prevention, and more.

3. GPTZero – best AI detector for in-depth text analysis

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Starting price:$10.00/month
Accuracy:Not specified
Free version:Yes
Top features:Advanced scan reports, integration with educational tools, high security for enterprise users

GPTZero is designed to spot AI-generated text, and I believe it’s worth considering. The tool was launched in 2023 by a university student to address concerns about AI usage and academic plagiarism.

According to the company, millions of people worldwide, including educators, writers, and business professionals, use GPTZero to help maintain originality in their work. The tool can identify text written by popular AI models like GPT-4, Claude, LLaMa, Gemini, and ChatGPT, as well as “new AI models.” It also provides easy-to-understand insights.

Features

One key feature of GPTZero is its Advanced Scan, which examines text for complexity (perplexity) and sentence variation (burstiness). These metrics can help distinguish AI-generated text from human-written content. The tool also uses a seven-layer detection system to improve accuracy and minimize false positives. It marks suspected AI-generated text in different colors to help users track and refine their work efficiently.

It comes with a plagiarism checker and an AI Vocabulary Tracker that highlights terms linked to AI. GPTZero also has a Writing Feedback feature, which provides feedback on readability, sentence length, and overall simplicity.

User experience

Getting started with GPTZero is straightforward. It is designed to work well with various popular platforms, such as Google Docs, Canvas, and Moodle, making it a good choice for both academic and workplace environments. It also offers an API.

User reviews

While many users like GPTZero’s practical insights, some pointed out that it is easy to fool the detector by adding grammatical errors or rephrasing text. Overall, I think GPTZero is best for educators.

Price

GPTZero’s free plan covers up to 10,000 words each month. If you need more, its premium plans start at $10.00 monthly and offer greater word limits and added features. Organizations can go for the Enterprise plan ($24.99), which includes advanced security features like encryption and single sign-on (SSO).

4. Hive – best AI detector for enterprises

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Starting price:Free
Accuracy:Not specified
Free version:Yes
Top features:AI detection for text, images, videos, and audio, Chrome extension, real-time analysis

Hive was created by a team of innovators. Its AI-generated content detection suite debuted in 2023. It is different from the competition because it detects AI-generated text as well as audio and video media.

Hive is perfect for developers and businesses since it offers advanced pre-trained AI solutions for text and media understanding, moderation, and multilingual translation.

Features

Hive’s basic AI text detector service lets you input text up to 8,192 characters long into its “best-in-class” detection systems but requires at least 750 (ideally 1,500) characters for optimal accuracy. It then delivers a probability score, and highlights suspected AI-generated elements. That’s pretty much all there is to it.

For images and audio, it can identify media created by AI models like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion. I think this is innovative and a big plus.

I found it valuable that Hive provides content moderation, multilingual support, and advertising intelligence. It also includes content moderation options that enable organizations to flag AI content and even enforce site-wide bands or filtering mechanisms. This makes it a valuable tool for platforms that manage user-generated content.

User experience

Hive is scalable to meet various needs, from small to enterprise-level projects. Developers will benefit from the API integration and tools for training and managing datasets, which, in my opinion, broadens its appeal. It can be useful in several industries, such as education, advertising, and e-commerce.

User reviews

From the reviews I have seen, users appreciate Hive’s AI detection across various formats. However, some noted occasional false negatives, especially with modified or low-quality AI-generated visuals.

Price

You can access Hive’s AI detector without creating an account via its Chrome extension, which detects AI text and media in real time as you browse the web. Hive offers a pay-as-you-go pricing structure for enterprises.

5. Winston AI – best AI detector with content certification

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Starting price:$12.00/month
Accuracy:99.98%
Free version:Yes
Top features:HUMN-1 certification, API integration, advanced AI, and plagiarism detection

Winston AI is yet another AI detector launched in 2023. It takes things further with its HUMN-1 Certification, which lets you show off that your work is 100% human.

Winston AI gives you a badge for your website, and with AI content being everywhere, that is a good feature. Readers may trust it more, and Google might like it as well.

Features

Winston AI claims 99.98% accuracy. According to the company, it flags paraphrased and “humanized” AI-generated content, too, which is an area where many detectors fall short. Plus, it’s not limited to text. Winston AI can even scan images, deepfakes, and even handwritten notes. It uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to achieve this.

Furthermore, it has an AI Prediction Map that breaks down your content, sentence by sentence, to flag bits that might look AI-generated. It’s useful, for sure, but it’s not perfect. People have said the tool can sometimes overdo it, flagging human-written content as AI.

The company claims its detector can catch content generated by several AI systems, such as ChatGPT (including GPT-4), Google Gemini, LLaMa, Claude, and others.

User experience

Trying out Winston AI is easy. It’s got a 14-day free trial, which gives you 2,000 credits. I think teachers and editors will appreciate this tool.

User reviews

I didn’t find many user reviews for Winston AI. Writers who mix AI with their own work say it can be strict. Still, for anyone who cares about content credibility, it’s hard to argue against.

Price

You can stick with Winstom’s $12.00/month Essential plan or one of the more expensive ones (such as Elite for $32/month) if you need more features like advanced plagiarism detection, team tools, HUMN-1 website certification, and more. The integration options in higher-tier packages are solid, too, whether it’s APIs, PDFs, or whatever your workflow needs.

The Best AI detectors compared

The table below highlights key features of the 5 best AI detectors above to help you compare them at a glance.

AI detector nameStarting priceAccuracy (%)Free versionTop features
Copyleaks AI Detector$9.00/month99%YesAI insights, source code detection, LMS, and API integrations
AI Detector by Grammarly $12.00/monthNot specifiedYesAI percentage scoring, citation formatting, integrated grammar tools
GPTZero$10.00/monthNot specifiedYesAdvanced scan reports, perplexity, and burstiness metrics, integration with educational tools
Hive AI-generated Content DetectionFree, pay-as-you-go plan for enterprisesNot specifiedYesMulti-format AI detection (text, images, videos, audio), Chrome extension, real-time analysis
Winston AI$12.00/month99.98%YesHUMN-1 certification, multi-format detection (text, images, handwritten notes), advanced OCR

While all these AI detectors have a free version, their functionality will differ from that of the paid versions. Hive is one exception to that rule.

Overall, I think it is worth purchasing at least one tier above the free version, as you will usually get many more features and capabilities. This is especially important if you are an educator or writer.

I also believe it is important to try different AI detectors to see which one best suits your needs. Remember, the most expensive product is not always the best option.

Our methodology for testing AI detectors

Together with the Cybernews team, I carefully evaluated several AI detectors closely, combing through the information on their websites and checking user reviews to see how they perform in the real world. Here's a glimpse into the criteria I used to rank these tools:

  • Accuracy: I assessed each detector's reliability in identifying AI-generated content, including paraphrased or “humanized” text. I selected tools with minimal false positives and errors.
  • Features: I picked tools that offer extra functionality, such as language support and multi-format detection, and those with premium tiers that offer advanced plagiarism detection, sentence-level detection, and API support.
  • Ease of use: I analyzed the user-friendliness of different AI detectors and selected tools that are as seamless to use.
  • Cost: I picked tools that are affordable and offer the best value for money.
  • Customer support: I picked companies with a reputation for responding to users promptly and offering useful support.

How to identify the best AI detector

Here are some things you should consider when choosing an AI detector:

  • Accuracy rate: If an AI detector isn’t accurate, why even use it? Look for tools with proven high accuracy rates (if possible). For instance, the top options above are quite reliable in this regard. This minimizes false positives (flagging human text as AI) and errors or misses (failing to detect AI-generated material).
  • Speed: Speed is essential for managing large volumes of work or satisfying quick turnaround times, especially for professionals (educators, writers, companies). However, speed should not compromise accuracy. Ensure the AI detector you choose can detect AI-generated content quickly and accurately.
  • Interface: Choose an AI content detection tool with a neat and tidy interface that’s easy to navigate. Too much clutter or unclear elements can slow you down or distract you from the task.
  • Integration: Ensure the AI detector can easily integrate with tools you rely on, such as a plagiarism checker, learning management systems (LMS), or document editors like Google Docs. API support is also important for developers and enterprises.
  • Free vs. paid options: Ensure the tool has a free version or trial period for testing and experimentation. This will allow you to assess the tool's performance before committing to it.

Can you trust an AI detector’s results?

Trusting the results of an AI detector completely isn’t a wise decision. This is because AI detectors are known to sometimes (and unpredictably) produce false positives or negatives.

A false positive means the detector incorrectly labeled human-written text as AI-generated. On the other hand, a false negative means that the detector failed to identify AI-generated content and mistakenly classified it as human-written. A false positive can unfairly penalize someone who has written their own content, while a false negative allows AI-generated content to pass as human-written.

A 2023 study from Stanford University found that AI detectors often mislabeled essays written by non-native English speakers as AI-generated because they misinterpreted the linguistic patterns common among these writers. This caused a high rate of false positives.

This study shows that trusting AI detectors outright isn’t wise. These potential biases could unfairly impact people in academic or professional settings.

Ultimately, AI systems have inherent flaws, such as the potential for false positives and false negatives. AI language models are constantly evolving, which makes it difficult for AI detectors to catch all the patterns reliably. I recommend using AI detector results as a guide and not as definitive proof that a text is AI-generated or human-written.

What are the pros and cons of AI detectors?

Like everything under the sun, AI detectors have their pros and cons. While they have become essential in an era where AI-generated content is ubiquitous, they have some serious downsides that you must consider. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros

  • Time-saving: AI detectors can scan content faster than humans. This can help educators, editors, and professionals who deal with text to save time.
  • Transparency: AI detectors help support authenticity by identifying AI-generated content. This is especially valuable in academia, journalism, and other fields.
  • Versatility: AI detectors are very versatile. They can be applied across multiple industries, including academia, marketing, and law.

Cons

  • False positives and negatives: Unfortunately, AI detectors can have false positives and false negatives. This can unfairly lead to misunderstandings and scrutiny, especially in academic or professional environments.
  • Limited sophistication: As AI systems are updated and become more complex, the task of AI detectors becomes much more difficult. For an AI detector to continue to be effective, it has to be constantly updated.
  • Cost: Looking for a top-quality free AI detector with all the bells and whistles? Unfortunately, you’ll have to pay a fee to access the full suite of features that AI detectors offer. This is a barrier for anyone with a tight budget.

Other AI tools you might be interested in:


A final word on the best AI detector

It’s important to reiterate that no AI detector is perfect. However, some of the best-performing ones on the market, like those on my list, stand out for their ability to detect AI-generated content accurately.

My top pick, Copyleaks, claims a 99% accuracy rate and offers features like AI Insights and code detection. It's also competitively priced, starting at $9.00 per month. Copyleak’s integration options make it suitable for educators, businesses, and content creators.

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