Essay vs EssayGenius
Essay
essay.app
EssayGenius
essaygenius.aiSide by side
| Figure | Essay | EssayGenius |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8/mo | $9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 4 |
| Spec score · AI Essay Writers | 9.0 (#5) | 8.0 (#21) |
| Collaboration | Shared documents support guest view or comment access, comments and positive or corrective highlights. | Users can share a link so a friend, tutor, or teaching assistant can comment beside the draft. |
| Exports | The plans page lists exports to PDF, Word, Docs, and Markdown. | Free supports Word and PDF export; Pro also supports Markdown, HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS, and EndNote export. |
| Integrations | Zotero is the documented external integration and can synchronize a user’s reference library. | The homepage says users can import citations and bibliography details from their Zotero library. |
| Privacy | Essay’s privacy policy says personal information is collected and used with consent for providing its services, and identifies its basis as PIPEDA and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code. | Essays are stored locally in the browser by default, and the policy says content is sent to AI providers only for requested AI features. |
| Support | The site lists [email protected] for support and contact. | The Help Center covers product workflows, billing, account questions, integrity, trust, and data topics, and provides an email contact option. |
Plans
EssayGenius
- FreeFree
- Pro (monthly)$10 a month
- Pro (Semester Pass)$40, paid once
- Pro (annual)$108 a year
In their own words
Essay
Essay is a structured writing platform for planning, drafting, editing, citing, and sharing written work. Its tools include outlines, a distraction-free drafting space, rewriting, and reordering. Writers can collect research in notes, organize it, and link it to an essay or outline. They can share work with friends, teachers, or peers, using feedback categories to guide review. Essay also supports citations, reference management, bibliography formatting, and academic exports. Listed export formats include PDF, Word, Docs, and Markdown; Pro includes Zotero integration and academic export. The Free plan allows 3 essays, a 5,000-word count, 12 notes, and 10 personalized topic recommendations. Core costs $8 USD per month billed annually, while Pro costs $12 USD per month billed annually. Essay is available on iOS and the web. Its roadmap lists working offline as a live feature and native Android and iOS apps as planned. The site presents Core for everyday writers and Pro for academics and researchers, with uses including dissertations, proposals, creative writing, and research papers.
EssayGenius
EssayGenius is a web workspace for students writing academic essays and other claim-and-evidence work. It combines research, drafting, citation, and revision assistance. Uploading an assignment brief can produce an outline, argument map, and thesis direction. Academic source discovery uses OpenAlex and Crossref, with citations linked to source papers; Zotero users can import citation and bibliography details. Pro adds full-draft review, citation integrity checks, voice tools, paper analysis, and research-backed quick actions. Drafts can be shared by link for comments from a friend, tutor, or teaching assistant. Essays are stored locally in the browser by default; the site says drafts remain usable offline and sync after reconnection. The Free plan costs $0/forever and includes unlimited essays, 10 AI messages monthly, 30 inline suggestions monthly, one full essay draft, and Word/PDF export. Pro plans are $10/mo, $40 every 4 months, or one $108 payment for 12 months. The tool is not built for fiction, poetry, code, or formal proofs.