Citation Machine
Citation Machine is a web service for creating citations, getting writing feedback, and checking assignments for plagiarism.
What Citation Machine is
Citation Machine is a web service for creating citations, getting writing feedback, and checking assignments for plagiarism. It lists thousands of citation styles, including MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard, and lets users export bibliographies or works cited pages to Google Drive or Microsoft Word. An account can keep citations together in one place. The Writing Assistant provides feedback on spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and flow, and includes paraphrasing. Its plagiarism checker compares writing with billions of sources and reports the percentage of similar language. The Citation Machine Plus offer lists plagiarism scans, 7,000+ citation styles, 400+ advanced grammar errors, and in-text citations. It advertises a free 3-day trial that can be canceled anytime. The site also provides formatting guides and examples for citation styles and citation types. Its style directory identifies high school, college, and university students, teachers, and independent researchers among its audiences. Help Center and support pages are linked, and Citation Machine identifies itself as a Chegg service.
Good
- Lists styles including MLA, APA, Chicago, and Harvard.
- Exports bibliographies to Google Drive or Microsoft Word.
- Writing Assistant covers grammar, clarity, and flow.
- Offers a free 3-day Plus trial.
- Provides citation formatting guides and examples.
Watch out
- The advertised Plus trial lasts three days.
- Plagiarism scanning is listed among Plus features.
- Saving citations in one place requires an account.
Who it suits
Citation Machine may suit students, teachers, and independent researchers who need citation generation or writing feedback. It also offers plagiarism checking and formatting guidance for assignments.
Verdict
Citation Machine brings citation generation, writing feedback, plagiarism checking, and formatting guides together in a web service. The Plus trial is free for three days, and users should note that saving citations requires an account.
Plans and prices
From Citation Machine's own pricing page, checked 9 Oct 2001.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Citation Machine® Plus | Free | Free 3-day trial · plagiarism scans · 7,000+ citation styles · 400+ advanced grammar errors · in-text citations |
| Free citation generator | Free | Citation generation · thousands of styles · ads |
| Chegg Writing subscription | $9.95 a month | Unlimited paper scans · plagiarism detection against billions of sources · expert proofreading · 200+ grammar checks · citations in 7,000+ styles · after free 3-day trial; auto-renews monthly until cancelled |
The facts
Each one read from Citation Machine's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Acquisition news
- Chegg announced its 2016 acquisition of Imagine Easy Solutions, the company behind Citation Machine, for $42 million upfront and deferred consideration.checked 15 Oct 2001
- API availability
- A third-party API directory reports that Citation Machine does not provide a public data API; its listed endpoints are scraping services supplied by Anakin.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Audience
- The Citation Machine style directory says it serves high school, college, and university students, teachers, and independent researchers.checked 9 Oct 2001
- Bibliography export
- Bibliographies can be exported to Google Drive or Microsoft Word.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Citation saving
- Users can create an account to save citations in one place.checked 9 Oct 2001
- Citation styles
- The service supports thousands of citation styles, including MLA, APA, Chicago and Harvard.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Guides
- Citation Machine publishes guides covering formatting, annotated bibliographies, works-cited pages, in-text citations, grammar and plagiarism.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Integration
- The product advertises Google Drive and Microsoft Word export integrations.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Licence
- No open-source licence is published for Citation Machine; Chegg filings describe proprietary information and systems.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: ad blocking
- PissedConsumer reviewers report pop-up and ad-blocking problems that can prevent use of the free version.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: advertising
- Trustpilot reviewers repeatedly complain that intrusive ads make the free service difficult to use.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: citation accuracy
- Grafiati alleges significant citation errors, incorrect bibliography ordering and formatting that may not match style requirements.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: paywall
- Reviewers report that full plagiarism results and other useful capabilities require a paid subscription despite free advertising.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: plagiarism accuracy
- The same review reports user concerns about false positives and missed paraphrased plagiarism.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: plagiarism coverage
- A review says the checker does not have the full institutional Turnitin database and may miss matches professors can detect.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Limit: report depth
- Independent review coverage characterizes plagiarism reports as less detailed than institutional tools.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Plagiarism checker
- Its plagiarism tool compares writing with billions of sources and reports matching language percentages.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Plus features
- The Plus offer lists plagiarism scanning, 7,000+ citation styles, 400+ advanced grammar errors, and in-text citations.checked 9 Oct 2001
Where it runs
- Limit: device compatibility
- Codeless lists poor device compatibility and English-only operation among product drawbacks.checked 15 Oct 2001
The company
- Maker founded
- Chegg was incorporated in Delaware in July 2005.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Maker headquarters status
- Chegg reported San Francisco, California as its principal executive office and said it no longer maintained a U.S. corporate headquarters office after December 31, 2025.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Maker legal name
- The parent company is legally named Chegg, Inc.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Maker workforce
- Chegg reported 595 employees at December 31, 2025, including 564 full-time and 31 part-time workers.checked 15 Oct 2001
- Owner
- Chegg identifies Citation Machine as one of its Chegg Writing properties.checked 15 Oct 2001
Alternatives to Citation Machine
- 1
BibGuru
Free planWebExtensionmacOSWindows7.6From $4.99 a month - 2
CitePlain
Free planWebExtension7.3From $3.25 a month - 3
Cite This For Me
Free planAndroidiOSWebExtension7.2From £6.99 a month - 4
Petal
Free planWebExtension6.9From $2.55 a month - 5
Bibcitation
Free planWebExtension6.6Free plan - 6
CitApp
Free planWebExtension6.699 SEK, paid once