VeriCite Plagiarism Checker: Is It Still Available in 2026?
11 min read
VeriCite is a plagiarism checker that many former Canvas and Moodle users may recognize; however, it hasn't been accessible for years. Turnitin purchased VeriCite in February 2018.
By the end of 2020, most VeriCite institutional customers had transitioned to SimCheck by Turnitin.
If you didn't realize that VeriCite has been discontinued, you may have searched here expecting to run a scan today. There is no working login page, free account, or public site for VeriCite because it no longer exists.
This guide will tell you what VeriCite was, what happened to VeriCite, how the similarity report worked, and what tools students and instructors can use today to check a paper for originality.
There is no public VeriCite login, and no free VeriCite scanner in 2026. Those who still require an independent second opinion can try a modern tool like Phrasly.
Status at a Glance
Question | Short answer |
Is VeriCite still available? | ❌ No |
Who acquired VeriCite? | Turnitin |
When was it acquired? | February 2018 |
What replaced it? | SimCheck, for many institutional customers |
Is SimCheck still active? | ✅ Yes, at some institutions |
Can individuals use VeriCite online? | ❌ No |
Is a similarity score proof of plagiarism? | ❌ No |
🔎 VeriCite is no longer available. Check your paper here instead.
VeriCite isn't the first checker to quietly disappear from classrooms.
This related article, Unicheck plagiarism checker,tells the story of another once widely-used checker that Turnitin eventually acquired.
What Happened to the VeriCite Plagiarism Checker?
VeriCite was sold to Turnitin in 2018. It has since been retired as customers migrated to Turnitin's SimCheck service.
At least one known migration resulted in VeriCite being turned off in 2020, and as of 2026, SimCheck is still listed as an option on some institutional Turnitin licenses.
There is no public web-based version of VeriCite currently. VeriCite was a privately held educational technology company before being acquired by Turnitin in February 2018.
Turnitin continued to operate VeriCite for several years before transitioning customers to Turnitin's SimCheck product. EdSurge reported the acquisition at the time, confirming the February 2018 deal.
A famously documented example of this Skagit Valley College.
Disabled VeriCite for new assignments starting in September of 2020, maintained read-only access to existing reports for several months after that, and disabled access to existing reports entirely in late December of 2020.
Students at Skagit Valley College needing help with the current tool can find SimCheck assistance through the school's official support portal.
Date | Event |
2014 | VeriCite founded as an education-focused similarity checker |
February 2018 | Turnitin acquired VeriCite |
2019-2020 | Institutions began transitioning to SimCheck |
September 2020 | Skagit Valley College turned off VeriCite for new assignments (documented case) |
December 2020 | Skagit Valley College removed read-only VeriCite report access (documented case) |
2026 | SimCheck remains available under some Turnitin institutional licenses |
These dates reflect a single example of institutional migration. They are not comprehensive of every VeriCite customer's migration timeline.
Different schools adopted different speeds, and a legacy Moodle product page for VeriCite does not necessarily mean the tool is active in 2026.
What Was VeriCite and How Did It Work?
VeriCite was a similarity checking tool designed for educational institutions. VeriCite integrated with learning management systems like Canvas and Moodle and allowed instructors to enable it on assignments as they saw fit.
Generated a similarity score along with the matching passages and sources. VeriCite would compare student submissions to online content as well as institutional repositories. VeriCite was a text-similarity tool; it was not an AI-writing detector.
VeriCite was an institutional text-similarity checker for schools and universities. It was built into learning management systems like Canvas as well as a Moodle plagiarism plugin where instructors could enable it for any given assignment.
When turned on, it compared a student submission to public web pages, licensed content, and an institutional repository, then generated a similarity score along with matched passages and their sources.
An archived University of Oregon VeriCite student guide shows how students once submitted papers and reviewed their reports.
However, if your LMS uses SafeAssign instead of VeriCite, this article on whether does SafeAssign check for plagiarism, which details how that tool works.
How Instructors and Students Used It
Designed for K-12 and higher education institutions rather than open individual sign-up.
Integrated directly into Canvas and Moodle workflows for instructors; controlled it per assignment.
Instructors switched it on for a given assignment, then students submitted directly through the LMS.
Produced a similarity score, matched sources against a student-paper database, and highlighted passages, but did not flag AI-generated writing.
VeriCite Was Not an AI Detector
This is worth stating again because we still see this misconception in search queries. VeriCite matched text to known sources; VeriCite did not examine writing style to look for AI-written content, as it was created before such tools were around.
Contemporary services that combine source matching with an AI detector, like Phrasly, fulfill a role VeriCite was never designed to serve.
Can You Use the VeriCite Plagiarism Checker Free Online?
There is no VeriCite plagiarism checker free account or VeriCite plagiarism checker online free in 2026.
The company retired its public-facing product years ago; any Moodle page or outdated tutorial video you find is old. Ignore any unrelated site that tells you to create a VeriCite account; instead, use a supported checker.
VeriCite no longer accepts document submissions of any kind.
The old Moodle listing and archived video tutorials are historical pages, not a live product.
Be cautious of any unrelated site borrowing the VeriCite name to collect uploads or personal data.
Neither SimCheck nor Turnitin Similarity can usually be accessed unless your school or institution purchases an account, so neither is a public VeriCite plagiarism checker online tool.
Need to check a paper without a school login? Paste or upload your work to Phrasly, review the highlighted matches and source links, and fix citation problems before you submit.
VeriCite Vs SimCheck Vs Turnitin Similarity
VeriCite has been retired. SimCheck was the direct successor in many VeriCite migrations, and continues to be offered actively under some institutional Turnitin licenses today.
Institutions using platforms like Sakai can find official setup instructions in Turnitin's guide on configuring Originality, Similarity, and SimCheck.
Turnitin Similarity is the overall current product relied on by the majority of schools and organizations. All three create a similarity report uploaded through an LMS. None have open public sign-up.
Western Washington University, for example, currently confirms it uses SimCheck by Turnitin for plagiarism detection in Canvas.
Feature | VeriCite | SimCheck | Turnitin Similarity |
Status in 2026 | ❌ Discontinued | ✅ Active for some licenses | ✅ Active |
Main audience | Schools & universities | Schools & universities | Schools, universities, orgs |
Individual public access | ❌ Not available | ❌ Generally no | ❌ Institution-provided |
LMS integration | Historically Canvas & Moodle | Canvas & institutional workflows | Canvas, Moodle, others |
Main output | Similarity report | Similarity report | Similarity report |
Relationship | Acquired & retired | Successor in many migrations | Current core Turnitin product |
Which One Will You Actually Encounter?
If your school happens to still operate a plagiarism checker today, chances are good it's SimCheck or Turnitin Similarity instead of VeriCite.
Here's a quick test: Navigate to your LMS assignment page.
If it still references VeriCite by name but nothing appears when you submit your paper, ask your instructor to find out what actually replaced it.
For a broader view of options, see this list of Turnitin alternatives.
What Did a VeriCite or SimCheck Similarity Score Mean?
A similarity score indicates how much text matches. It does not determine if plagiarism was committed. Proper citations, quotes, and common sentences can all increase your score.
There is no percentage that is automatically safe. Your teacher and school's policy decide if a match is acceptable, so analyze your sources, not a number.
A similarity score reports the amount of matching text. It does not determine if plagiarism has occurred. Quotes, bibliography pages, and common phrases can all increase the score. There is no magic safe percentage.
Turnitin even says so right on their website. They state that academic judgment by the instructor determines if a match is actually an issue.
For a deeper breakdown of how this works from the student side, see Turnitin's own guide on understanding the similarity score.
Proper quotations and bibliographies can create matches and increase the score.
A low score never guarantees every idea was cited responsibly.
A high score never proves misconduct on its own.
Look at your individual matched sources rather than focusing on hitting one target percentage.
If you're wondering whether close paraphrasing counts as matching, this explainer on paraphrasing plagiarism walks you through that question.
What Can You Use Instead of VeriCite in 2026?
If your institution has plagiarism coverage, utilize the SimCheck/Turnitin Similarity workflow that you have been assigned instead of looking for a plagiarism check similar to VeriCite (no longer available).
If you prefer an independent, no-login solution to plagiarism detection, then current self-service tools will serve you better.
Check out this list of the best plagiarism checkers for more comparisons, including options like PapersOwl plagiarism checker if you require heavy editing.
Your situation | Recommended direction |
Your school already provides plagiarism checking | Use the assigned SimCheck or Turnitin Similarity workflow |
You need to scan a paper independently, no login | Use Phrasly's self-service plagiarism checker |
You need academic editing plus a check | Consider a research-focused editing service |
You need LMS-wide institutional deployment | Talk to Turnitin or another institutional provider directly |
Phrasly's plagiarism checker is one solution built specifically for this independent use case that functions as an open plagiarism checker free, for students like VeriCite once did for institutions.
Their current product page says no institutional account is needed. Just paste text or upload PDF, DOCX, TXT.
Claimed features of the company include providing a similarity score, highlighted matches, and a "source-by-source" breakdown with links to sources. They claim to scan against 10B+ web pages and academic papers.
Phrasly claims uploaded text will never be stored or indexed. Text will not be stored or shared, and is deleted after scanning. These scores are generated by Phrasly based on its own internal product claims, not from an independent test.
Please note that Phrasly does not guarantee your school's SimCheck or Turnitin Similarity will produce the same exact score.
How to Check Your Paper with Phrasly?
Paste text or upload a supported file to Phrasly Plagiarism Checker, and click "Run Scan".
Read your similarity score, click through each link to view matched sources, and check the highlighted text.
Here's the "how to use VeriCite to check my plagiarism" score question for a plagiarism checker that works (today). Cite any missing sources or paraphrase the passage using your own words, then run the final draft again before you submit.
Open the Phrasly Plagiarism Checker.
Paste your text or upload a PDF, DOCX, or TXT file.
Start the scan.
Review the overall similarity score.
Open each matched source and read the highlighted passage.
Add missing citations or rewrite the passage in your own words.
Scan the revised final draft again before you submit.
👊 The goal is not to force the score down to zero. The goal is to make sure every borrowed word or idea is quoted, paraphrased, and cited properly.
A percentage alone cannot tell you whether a citation is correct. Run your final draft through Phrasly, inspect every matched source, and resolve the passages that need attribution before you submit.
What If Canvas or Moodle Still Mentions VeriCite?
A stale VeriCite link within Canvas or Moodle is nearly always from a discarded assignment, help page, or duplicated course shell, not a functional instrument.
Reach out to your teacher or LMS administrator and inquire if they use SimCheck, Turnitin Similarity, or something entirely different. Don't try logging into an outdated VeriCite account.
Learn more about how today's LMS plagiarism checks work in this Canvas plagiarism checker guide.
The course may still contain an old copied assignment or help-page reference.
Contact your instructor or the LMS administrator directly.
Ask which current checker, SimCheck, Turnitin Similarity, or another service, is actually active.
Old VeriCite reports are very likely no longer accessible, even if the assignment page still names the tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is VeriCite plagiarism checker still available in 2026?
Turnitin purchased VeriCite in 2018, and most schools/phirms transitioned from VeriCite by 2020. As of 2026, there is no public login, free account option, or working scanner.
What replaced VeriCite?
SimCheck was the immediate successor utilized in many VeriCite migrations and currently still runs under certain institutional Turnitin licenses.
Is VeriCite the same as Turnitin?
No! VeriCite was actually a standalone company that was acquired by Turnitin in 2018. They offered related products after the acquisition, but it was not the same tool. VeriCite has since been retired.
Can students use VeriCite for free?
No! VeriCite is not accepting submissions. Students can use a current free student self-service tool like Phrasly to get a free, independent pre-check.
Is SimCheck still available?
Yes, if your school's Turnitin license covers it. It's offered through the school, not as a product you can publicly sign up for.
Did VeriCite detect AI-generated writing?
No! VeriCite was developed years before generative AI tools were widely used. VeriCite is a text-similarity checking tool. It matches submissions against existing sources; it does not analyze writing to detect if it was generated by AI.
What is a good VeriCite or SimCheck similarity score?
There is no one magic safe percentage. Matches show how much of your text aligns with other sources, and quotes, citations, and common language can increase your score even when you're not plagiarizing.
An instructor's judgment on each match matters more than the number itself. This addresses VeriCite checking for plagiarism questions some of you are still asking about how an old score compares to a new SimCheck one.
Likewise applies to any successor to the VeriCite plagiarism checker service (e.g., running a Grammarly plagiarism checker scan to compare).
The Bottom Line
✅ VeriCite had a real run in Canvas and Moodle classrooms for years. It has been gone since Turnitin folded it into SimCheck. If you were looking for the old tool, use whichever checker your school currently assigns.
If you want an independent look at your own paper first, Phrasly's free plagiarism checker can flag matches and citation gaps before you submit anything official.
Written by
Muhammad Usman Ali
Pakistan
Muhammad Usman Ali is an experienced SEO content writer with 3+ years of professional writing experience. He specializes in AI tools, AI detection technologies, and search engine optimized content.
