Smodin vs Writesonic: two AI writers, only one aimed at essays

Writing assistants help you write; essay generators write the essay for you.

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Smodin's AI Writer drafts essays, articles and research papers from a topic, lets you choose style, tone and length, and expands the next section on request. It sits in a bundle with AI chat, an AI content detector, a humanizer, a plagiarism checker, a rewriter, a summarizer and a translator.

Writesonic now calls itself an AI search growth engine for brands: “Win customers from AI search.” Its AI Article Writer produces “3,000 to 8,000 words” after analysing search results and competitor pages, and every paid plan pairs it with AI-visibility tracking and site audits. Its homepage and article writer page don't mention essays, students or academic use.

Writesonic is specific about its sourcing, at least on paper: “Every claim backed by a first-party source before publish”, from a bank that excludes competitor blogs and SEO-spam aggregators. Those are web pages chosen for marketing articles, though, not scholarly papers, and its article writer page lists no academic citation styles.

Smodin is vaguer. It says the writer can “Find high-quality sources” and cite them in APA or MLA, and that facts, data and statistics come out “100% accurate”, but it doesn't say where the sources come from. A Reddit user says its references “need a second look”.

Neither citation claim could be checked independently: Writesonic's needs an account, and Smodin's rests on its own word. A marketing agency's review of Writesonic calls its factual accuracy inconsistent; Smodin's users say its references and facts need checking by hand. Read every source either one gives you.

Neither tool describes feedback on a draft in the tutor sense. Smodin's nearest thing is checking: its bundle includes an AI content detector and a plagiarism checker. Writesonic's audits are site audits, part of its AI-visibility tooling.

Then there's the part of Smodin a student should think hardest about. Its plans promise to “detect and bypass top AI detectors” and “Highest humanization possible to bypass Turnitin-level detection”, and the humanizer page calls its output “undetectable”. Handing in that text as your own is an academic-integrity risk, and Smodin's own writer FAQ tells you to follow your institution's policies.

Smodin Starter is $12.99 a month, or $10 on annual billing, with limited writing output. Premium is $19.99, or $16 annually, for unlimited output and advanced humanization. Writesonic Starter is $79 a month billed annually for 15 AI articles, and Basic is $199; monthly-billed prices aren't shown. On annual billing, Writesonic's cheapest plan costs nearly five times Smodin Premium.

Neither publishes a free plan with stated limits. Writesonic lists none but offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card. Smodin lets you try its tools without signing up, though it publishes no free limits and its pricing page lists only the two paid plans.

Both draw billing complaints. Smodin users describe being charged for a full year when they expected monthly billing, and renewals they couldn't get refunded. On Trustpilot, Writesonic's reviewers report being charged after cancelling and refused refunds, often on annual plans. Smodin's reviews come with a warning label: Trustpilot says its rating “is unavailable due to a breach of our guidelines”.

Choose Smodin if you want an AI draft of an essay, cheap, with a summarizer, translator and plagiarism checker in the same subscription, and you'll verify every reference before it goes anywhere. Leave the humanizer alone.

Choose Writesonic if you're producing SEO articles for a brand and want AI-visibility tracking in the same plan. Use the 7-day trial to see the articles before committing to annual billing.

If what you want is help with an essay you'll write yourself, EthiWrite, which we make, is built for that instead. It cites only sources in your Library, and its Examiner Mode critiques your draft without rewriting a word. It formats citations in APA, MLA and Chicago only.

Can Writesonic write academic essays?

It can write long articles, but it's aimed at marketing content, and one user on SoftwareReviews says it “isn't very good at writing academic essays/articles”. Its sources are web pages, not scholarly papers.

Which is cheaper, Smodin or Writesonic?

Smodin. Its plans are $10 or $16 a month on annual billing; Writesonic starts at $79 a month billed annually.

Can I try Smodin or Writesonic for free?

Writesonic offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card. Smodin lets you try its tools without signing up, but its free limits aren't published.

Is Smodin's humanizer safe to use on coursework?

It's sold to get text past AI detectors, including Turnitin-level detection. Submitting that text as your own is an academic-integrity risk, and Smodin's own FAQ tells you to follow your institution's policies.

Do Smodin and Writesonic cite real sources?

Writesonic says it backs claims with first-party web sources it verifies, and Smodin says it finds sources without saying where. Writesonic doesn't cite from your own library, and a marketing agency's review of Writesonic, like Smodin's own users, warns that facts need checking.