Quick Overview
EasyBib and Citation Machine, both part of Chegg’s family of educational tools, often lead users to wonder, “Is Citation Machine reliable?” as they offer similar user experiences and quality levels, reflecting their shared corporate lineage. However, our mystery shopping exercise revealed subtle distinctions between them. Citation Machine provides a broader range of subscription choices and a marginally superior overall user experience. In contrast, EasyBib stands out with its enhanced integration capabilities with text editors.
TOP services | Updated January 2024 |
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AHELP Citation
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Get free access |
BibMe
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Read review |
Citation Machine
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Read review |
EasyBib
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Read review |
CiteThisForMe
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Read review |
EasyBib | CitationMachine | |
Best fit for | Citing in the MLA style | Multi-style citation |
A*Help Score | 89 | 91 |
Citation Convenience | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The service is user-friendly and straightforward, yet certain citation functionalities are restricted to the paid version. | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ CitationMachine, in contrast, allows the comprehensive creation and editing of citations without imposing any limitations. |
Value for Money | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Under EasyBib’s free plan, users are restricted to MLA-style citations and a grammar checker that only identifies the first five errors. Access to a wider range of styles and additional services requires upgrading to a paid subscription. | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Citation Machine’s free version offers access to all citation styles, on the condition that ad blockers are disabled. To unlock extra features, users have the option to choose from two different paid subscription packages. |
Overall Experience | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ EasyBib offers integration capabilities with both Microsoft Word and Google Docs, enhancing convenience for a broad range of users. | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ CitationMachine’s integration is limited to Microsoft Word, offering a more focused but less versatile option. |
Comparing Value for Money: EasyBib vs CitationMachine
EasyBib | CitationMachine | |
Value for money | 20/25 | 21/25 |
Range of styles | 5/5 | 5/5 |
Citation sources | 7/7 | 7/7 |
Additional tools | 7/10 | 7/10 |
Pricing | 1/3 | 2/3 |
Comparing Overall Experience: EasyBib vs CitationMachine
EasyBib | CitationMachine | |
Overall experience | 21/25 | 20/25 |
Registration | 10/10 | 10/10 |
Website experience | 8/10 | 7/10 |
Support | 3/5 | 3/5 |
EasyBib VS CitationMachine: Which is Better for Citing?
As both services are related, they operate similarly and produce citations in an identical manner. Hence, the deciding factor for the superior service should be based on additional criteria beyond basic citation generation.
Results
SOURCE | STYLE | CITATION |
📚Book: “Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition” by Stephen D. Krashen | APA 7th edition | Krashen, S. (1999). Principles and practice in Second language acquisition. Phoenix ELT. |
📑 Article: “The Louisiana Purchase and South Carolina’s Reopening of the Slave Trade in 1803” by Jed Handelsman Shugerman | Chicago | Shugerman, Jed Handelsman. “The Louisiana Purchase and South Carolina’s Reopening of the Slave Trade in 1803.” Journal of the Early Republic 22, no. 2 (2002): 263. https://doi.org/10.2307/3125182. |
📽️ Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y361IwXpVc&ab_channel=ATARNotesHSC | MLA 9th edition | YouTube, YouTube, 12 June 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y361IwXpVc&ab_channel=ATARNotesHSC. Accessed 11 Oct. 2023. |
🌐 Webpage: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154874 | Harvard | Psychology: Definitions, branches, history, and how to become one (no date) Medical News Today. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154874 (Accessed: 11 October 2023). |
The Winner
These two platforms are closely ranked in the list of top online citation generators. Yet, when considering the aggregate of individual metrics and the overall Ahelp score, CitationMachine emerges as the superior choice between the two. Its more advantageous cost-effectiveness proposition enables it to edge out Easybib MLA citation generator by a narrow margin.
Main Specs
EasyBib | CitationMachine | |
> Range of styles | ||
APA | ✅ | ✅ |
MLA | ✅ | ✅ |
Chicago/Turabian | ✅ | ✅ |
Harvard | ✅ | ✅ |
multiple others | ✅ | ✅ |
> Citation sources | ||
books | ✅ | ✅ |
journal article | ✅ | ✅ |
websites | ✅ | ✅ |
video | ✅ | ✅ |
lecture | ✅ | ✅ |
image | ✅ | ✅ |
newspaper | ✅ | ✅ |
> Additional tools | ||
Plagiarism checker | ✅ | ✅ |
Grammar checker | ✅ | ✅ |
Text summarizer | ❌ | ❌ |
AI content detection | ❌ | ❌ |
Spellcheck | ✅ | ✅ |
Proofreading | ✅ | ✅ |
> Pricing | ||
Free account | YES | YES |
EasyBib Plus $9.95 | CitationMachine Plus $9.95 | |
EasyBib® Plus & Chegg® Study Pack $19.95 | ||
> Registration | ||
Required | NO | NO |
Trial period | ✅ | ✅ |
Functional personal account | ✅ | ✅ |
3-party login options | ✅ | ✅ |
> Website experience | ||
Exporting and Sharing | ✅ | ✅ |
Integration with Writing Software | ✅ | ✅ |
Saves user’s preferences | ✅ | ✅ |
Convenient on mobile | ✅ | ✅ |
Extensions | ❌ | ❌ |
Adds | A lot | A lot |
> Support | ||
FAQ | ✅ | ✅ |
Tutorials | ✅ | ✅ |
Live chat | ❌ | ❌ |
Contact form | ✅ | ✅ |
> Data retrieval | ||
manual | ✅ | ✅ |
auto | ✅ | ✅ |
> Search options | ||
URL | ✅ | ✅ |
DOI | ✅ | ✅ |
ISBN | ✅ | ✅ |
by author | ✅ | ✅ |
by title | ✅ | ✅ |
> Cite’s editing options | ||
quick style change | ✅ | ✅ |
copy in-text citation | ✅ | ✅ |
create bibliography entry | ✅ | ✅ |
share | ✅ | ✅ |
download works cited | ✅ | ✅ |
warns if info is missing | ✅ | ✅ |
> Citing scale | ||
whole book | ✅ | ✅ |
chapter/section | ✅ | ✅ |
introduction | ✅ | ✅ |
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