European plagiarism checkers: who really owns them, and where your text goes

Compilatio is a French SAS registered in Annecy and based in Chavanod, in the Alps. It started in 2005 at the request of teachers and now sells three products: Studium for students, Magister and Magister+ for institutions, and Letimio for professionals. The site is available in several languages, but the company and the contract are French.

Studium runs on credits, with no subscription. One credit covers 250 words: 20 credits (5,000 words) cost €4.99, 80 credits (20,000 words) €12.99, 160 credits (40,000 words) €19.99 and 400 credits (100,000 words) €34.99. Credits stack and last 6 months. AI detection (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) is part of the report.

What happens to your document. Compilatio says Studium documents are never reused, never sold and never visible to teachers, even through Magister: the two databases are separate. One gap: the website is hosted by OVH in Roubaix, France, but the official pages we read do not say where the analyses themselves are stored. If the document is confidential, ask before you upload.

Free option. Your first analysis is free but partial: it shows the 3 main sources found. Students at partner institutions get 40 credits a year, so ask your library first.

The catch. Review sites rate Compilatio poorly, mostly over AI detection: one user reports a human-written text flagged at 88% AI and an AI text at 0%. Treat the AI score as a hint. The similarity score also needs context: a law paper packed with quoted statutes can show 10% to 50% similarity with no plagiarism at all.

Tip: budget for two passes. For a 20,000-word dissertation, the 160-credit pack (€19.99) covers a first check and a second one after edits, against €25.98 for two 80-credit packs.

Best for a student checking a thesis before submission who wants a European company and a draft their teacher will never see. Not for a team checking dozens of texts a month.

PlagAware is based in Neu-Ulm, Germany, and is the clearest publisher in this list about data. It states that all plagiarism checks are carried out exclusively by PlagAware, on servers located in Germany (Nuremberg). A German university compared it favourably with Turnitin on GDPR in 2023.

For individuals it is prepaid, no subscription: S at €12.99 (100 pages), M at €24.99 (250), L at €39.99 (500), XL at €89.99 (1,500). That takes the price per page from about 13 cents down to 6. Organisations pay a yearly licence: from €79 a year for businesses and from €189 a year for education. A new account can check up to 10 pages for free.

The catch. An AI detector is mentioned on the site with no detail on how it works, and we found no page listing which languages the checker supports well.

Tip: spend the 10 free pages on your own English text with a well-known quote slipped in. If PlagAware flags the quote, you know it reads your language before you pay.

Best for a business or freelancer who wants a European publisher and named servers. Not for anyone who needs a detailed AI-detection report.

Lucide.ai is published by PIXELGRID SAS, a Paris company. Its legal notice names every layer: the site runs on Scaleway infrastructure located in France, the detection engine sits with IKOULA, and encrypted backups are with OVH. Its API and MCP server (to plug Lucide into an AI assistant) are hosted in France too.

Lucide is mainly an AI detector, which is where its 4.1 score comes from, but plagiarism checking is included in every plan and in the pass. You can upload up to 50 documents at once (PDF, DOCX, DOC, ODT).

Price. One credit is about 100 words. Découverte: 100 credits, 1 user, €12 a month (€10 billed yearly), capped at 1,500 words per analysis. Essentiel: 400 credits, 2 users, €36 (€30 yearly). Avancé: 2,000 credits, 5 users, €150 (€125 yearly). Extra user: €7 a month. The 30-day pass costs €19 (150 credits) or €39 (400 credits).

The catch. AI detection only works in French, so for English coursework or content it is the wrong tool. There is no free trial either.

Best for a team that writes in French and wants plagiarism, AI detection and French hosting in one place. Not for English or Spanish texts.

Letimio is what Compilatio Copyright became: the old address redirects to letimio.net, and the brand promises "the same technologies, the same know-how". It targets people who publish: newsrooms, publishers, content agencies.

It sells credit packs: 100 credits for €80, 300 for €180, 800 for €380, which takes a credit from €0.80 to €0.475. AI detection is included. There is a free demo, but no trial.

The catch. A credit covers up to 250 analysed words, but usage varies by type of analysis, and the page does not say clearly whether prices include VAT. Ask for an estimate on your own texts before buying the big pack.

Tip: book the demo with one of your own published articles, so you judge the report on a real case.

Best for a publishing team that wants Compilatio's technology on a professional contract. Not for students: Studium is far cheaper.

Scribbr gives a postal address on Singel in Amsterdam, so it often lands on "European" lists. Its own terms say it is "owned and operated by Learneo, Inc.", a Delaware company, and its plagiarism checker runs on Turnitin technology.

That is also its real value: Turnitin does not sell to students, so Scribbr is the easiest way to see what Turnitin will see. A free overview (300 words minimum) flags matches; the full report is paid per check: €14.95 up to 7,499 words, €24.95 from 7,500 to 49,999, €34.95 above that.

What happens to your document. Scribbr says uploads are never added to its comparison database. But its terms add that buying a check lets Scribbr store the document in a "protected and private" database that only Scribbr can access and schools cannot see. Your text still sits with a US-owned company.

Tip: the word bands are strict. A 7,600-word paper costs €10 more than a 7,400-word one, so trim the bibliography from the count if your school allows it.

Best for a student whose university runs Turnitin. Not for anyone who wants a European tool end to end.

StrikePlagiarism (Plagiat.pl, Poland) is the institutional choice: EU servers, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, on-premise installation, and a European Union body among its users. It publishes no price for individuals, so we do not rank it, but a university or public body should ask for a quote.

Draft & Goal is a Paris start-up founded in 2022 with a free AI detector. We found no reliable source confirming a plagiarism check, so it stays off this list. For AI detection, see our AI detectors for teachers.

PlagScan (Germany) and Ouriginal (Sweden, formerly Urkund) were Europe's answers to Turnitin until Turnitin bought them. PlagScan ended private plans in 2024 and went offline in early 2026, moving customers to Turnitin. Ouriginal stopped at the end of 2025, and Swedish and German universities replaced it. Many "European" lists and wiki pages still name both.

Copyleaks is headquartered between Tel Aviv and New York, and we found no confirmed EU hosting. Turnitin and iThenticate are American; iThenticate costs $125 per manuscript before tax. Planning to move away from it? Read our Turnitin alternatives.