AI Detector pricing compared
What 5 ai detector tools actually cost — free tiers, the cheapest paid plan, and where each free plan runs out. Each figure is taken from the vendor’s own pricing page and dated, so you can see when we last checked.
| Tool | Free tier | Cheapest paid plan | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Originality.ai | No | $12.95//month · 2,000 credits/mo plan | 15 Jul 2026 |
| Copyleaks | No | $13/mo · $13/mo plan (name not shown on page) | 15 Jul 2026 |
| Sapling AI Detector | Yes | $15//seat/month · ENTERPRISE | 15 Jul 2026 |
| Winston AI | Yes | ₹410//month · Paid tier 1 | 15 Jul 2026 |
| GPTZero | Yes | ₹599//mo, billed annually · 300K words/mo plan | 15 Jul 2026 |
Prices are as published by each vendor and may be region-specific — many vendors price by country. Confirm on the vendor’s page before buying.
Sorted cheapest paid plan first. A “free tier” means there is a genuinely free plan — tap through to any tool to see the full tier breakdown and exactly where the free plan stops. We list no fabricated prices: where a vendor only quotes “contact sales” we say so.
What drives ai detector pricing
The unit here is words or documents scanned, and vendors express it two ways. Word-quota plans cap monthly throughput: GPTZero sells 300,000 words a month on one tier and 500,000 on Professional, so cost tracks how much text you push through. Credit-based plans do the same in another currency, Originality.ai bundles 2,000 or 15,000 credits a month where credits map to scanned content, and its higher tier exists purely for volume. On top of the scan quota sit two multipliers: per-seat charges for teams (Originality adds $8.62 to $19.04 per extra seat, Sapling $15 per seat, GPTZero prices per user) and heavy annual-billing discounts that make the monthly sticker misleading, Copyleaks' $13 and $74 tiers are annual-billed effective rates. Sapling and Copyleaks also split out a separate usage-based API plan, because programmatic detection at scale is metered differently from the seat-based web app.
How to choose on price
Estimate your monthly scan volume in words first, because every plan is a throughput bracket and the wrong one either throttles you or wastes a large quota. A teacher checking a class of essays needs a fraction of what a content agency vetting hundreds of articles does, and GPTZero's 300k-versus-500k-word split or Originality's 2k-versus-15k-credit split is exactly that decision. Add seats only for people who genuinely need to run scans, since per-seat charges stack on top of the quota. If you are integrating detection into a product or pipeline, price the separate usage-based API plans that Sapling and Copyleaks offer rather than buying web seats, since programmatic volume is metered for that purpose. The annual-billing trap is pronounced here, several headline monthly figures are annual-billed effective rates, so paying monthly costs more. Free tiers suit spot-checking a document or two but cap fast, and detection accuracy, not price, should anchor the final choice.
AI Detector pricing FAQ
Are detectors priced by words or by documents?
Usually by words or by credits that map to scanned text. GPTZero sells monthly word quotas (300,000 and 500,000), while Originality.ai uses credits (2,000 or 15,000 a month) that deplete as you scan. Either way the cost tracks total content volume, so estimate the words you check per month and choose the bracket that covers a busy period without leaving a large quota unused.
Do I pay extra per team member?
Yes, on most. Originality.ai charges $8.62 to $19.04 per additional seat, Sapling $15 per seat, and GPTZero prices per user on Professional. These per-seat fees stack on top of the scan quota, so only add seats for people who actually run detections. A shared single-seat plan can work for occasional checkers, while a team of active reviewers multiplies quickly.
Why does the monthly price look lower than expected?
Because several figures are annual-billed effective rates. Copyleaks' $13 and $74 tiers, and Sapling's $12 Pro, reflect paying a year upfront; the true month-to-month cost is higher. Read whether the headline assumes annual commitment before comparing, and only lock in the annual rate if your detection volume is steady across the year.
Should I use the web app or the API for detection?
The web app's seat-based plans suit manual checking, but if you are building detection into a product or bulk pipeline, use the separate usage-based API plans that Sapling and Copyleaks offer. API pricing is metered for programmatic volume, so at scale it is both cheaper and more appropriate than buying web seats you would automate against anyway.
See the full breakdown
Open any tool for its complete pricing tiers, free-tier limits, screenshot and honest review.