QuillBot vs Merlin AI
Plans, free access, limits and intended use side by side, taken from each vendor’s own pages. No score and no winner: the facts show where the two differ.
Change tools
AI paraphraser with grammar, summarizer, plagiarism and AI-detection tools
Read the fair use terms before you buy a year of Pro
- Free access
- QuillBot: Free access
- Merlin AI: Free access
- Paid from
- QuillBot: USD 7.50 a seat a month; $89.95 a seat billed every 12 months
- Merlin AI: USD 15 per seat a month
- Plans listed
- QuillBot: 3
- Merlin AI: 3
- Public API
- QuillBot: Not confirmed
- Merlin AI: Not confirmed
Where QuillBot and Merlin AI differ
On the listed facts these two look alike. The plans, limits and screenshots below show where the details part ways.
Head to head
Each value from the tool’s profile and the vendor’s own pages
| QuillBot | Fact | Merlin AI |
|---|---|---|
| Access and price | ||
| Free access availableFree · USD 0 | Free accessSame | Free access availableMerlin Free · USD 0 |
| USD 7.50 a seat a month; $89.95 a seat billed every 12 monthsTeam (2-10 seats) | Lowest listed paid plan | USD 15 per seat a monthMerlin Teams · billed $180 yearly |
| Free; Premium $8.33/month billed annually; Team from $7.50/seat | Pricing model | Free $0; Pro $19 a month, billed yearly |
| 3 | Plans listedSame | 3 |
| Not confirmed | Public API | Not confirmed |
| Not confirmed | Card to start | Not confirmed |
| Not confirmed | Open source | Not confirmed |
| What it is for | ||
| Students and writers who rewrite their own short passages and want to review each change | Built for | Trying several AI models from one account, mainly through a browser extension |
| Writing & content | CategorySame | Writing & content |
| Platforms |
|
| Works with |
|
| How current | ||
| Profile sources checked | ||
| Prices confirmed · Oct 7, 2026 | Pricing checkSame | Prices confirmed · Oct 2, 2026 |
Official source check for both tools. No hands-on testing and no score: “Differs” marks a documented difference, not a better tool.
Plans and prices
QuillBot
Prices confirmed · Oct 7, 2026- FreeUSD 0
- PremiumUSD 8.33 a month billed annually
- Team (2-10 seats)USD 7.50 a seat a month; $89.95 a seat billed every 12 months
Merlin AI
Prices confirmed · Oct 2, 2026- Merlin FreeUSD 0
- Merlin ProUSD 19 a monthbilled $228 yearly
- Merlin TeamsUSD 15 per seat a monthbilled $180 yearly
Strengths and limits
QuillBot
Strengths
- A usable free paraphraser: Free paraphrases up to 125 words at a time in two modes, enough to rework a sentence or short paragraph without paying.
- Changes are visible and adjustable: The synonym slider, word-level synonyms and change colors let you accept or reject edits instead of taking a whole rewritten passage.
- Team seats are cheaper per writer: The Team page lists $7.50 a seat a month for 2-10 seats billed every 12 months, below the individual $8.33 annual rate.
Limits to plan around
- Only the annual price is on the pricing page: The pricing page read showed $8.33 a month billed annually; the help center confirms monthly and quarterly plans but not their prices, and says price depends on region and currency.
- Limits differ across tools and platforms: Plagiarism checks have a monthly word cap and summaries a per-run cap even on Premium, and the pricing page says limits may vary across platforms.
- Detector results can be wrong: QuillBot's own help center says its AI detector can flag human-written text.
Merlin AI
Strengths
- Several model families in one account: The pricing page lists models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek and xAI, so you can compare answers without separate sign-ins.
- Works where you already browse: The Chrome extension offers summarizing and writing on the page you are viewing, alongside web, desktop and mobile apps.
- A Free plan to try first: Free costs $0 with limited access to basic and Plus-level models, so you can test before paying.
Limits to plan around
- Fair use limits sit behind unlimited: The terms end service for the rest of the month above $100 of usage cost and for the day above $16, and the plan table does not state this.
- Extension sends visit data: The privacy policy lists page URL, previous URL, referrer and user ID among data sent to Merlin's servers.
- No API and a 100k context: The pricing page says there is no direct API access and the Pro context window is currently 100k tokens.
See both products
Start from your task, not from a winner.
Run both tools on the same real task, then compare the result, how much editing it needs and how fast it uses your plan’s allowance.
How we reviewChange this pair
Choose tools
Choose two tools below. You can replace either selection at any time.
Audio & voice
Automation
Coding
Data & spreadsheets
Images & design
Presentations
Research & sources
Video & editing
Website builders
Writing & content
Comparing tools from different categories is fine, and often useful — a writing assistant and a research tool solve different halves of the same job. The table will show you exactly where they diverge.
Questions about comparing tools
How does the comparison work?
Add two tools to the comparison tray from any tool card, then open this page. The table pulls each tool's verified plan details, platforms, strengths and limits from its profile, so both columns carry the same kind of evidence, with a separate source-check date for each tool.
Do you declare a winner?
No. The table sets two tools against each other on documented facts, not on a score. Which one wins depends on your task, your budget and your usage volume — three things we cannot see from here.
Why are some cells empty or marked unverified?
Because we could not confirm that detail on the vendor's own pages. Rather than filling the gap with a figure from elsewhere, we mark it and say why on the tool's profile.
Can I compare more than two tools?
Not at once. Two columns keep the differences readable and force a real decision. Remove either selected tool to replace it, or clear both to start a new pair.
Every figure in the table above comes from the linked profile, where the source and the verification date are listed. Browse all tools or read the editorial policy.