Turnitin vs DrillBit vs iThenticate: Which Do Indian Universities Use?

Short answer: many Indian universities check theses and dissertations with DrillBit, which the government's ShodhShuddhi programme has provided to higher education institutions since October 2023. Turnitin is used by universities and colleges that buy their own licence, mostly for coursework. iThenticate is Turnitin's tool for researchers, journals and publishers. All three are plagiarism checkers first; AI writing detection is an extra that depends on the product and the licence your institution has.

If your department tells you to "get a plagiarism report", this guide explains what that report is, which tool is likely behind it, how the UGC similarity levels work, and what an AI detector can and cannot add.

The three tools at a glance

Sources: ShodhShuddhi (INFLIBNET), DrillBit, Turnitin on AI detection in iThenticate 2.0, Turnitin AI writing report requirements.

DrillBit and ShodhShuddhi

ShodhShuddhi is the Ministry of Education's plagiarism-check initiative run by the INFLIBNET Centre in Gandhinagar. It started in 2019 with Ouriginal (formerly Urkund). That contract ended on 30 September 2023, and from 1 October 2023 INFLIBNET has offered DrillBit-Extreme to higher education institutions under the same programme, with full service from 1 November 2023 (ShodhShuddhi).

In practice this is why so many PhD scholars and postgraduate students in India now receive a DrillBit report: the university library or research cell runs the thesis through it before submission. ShodhShuddhi access is given to institutions, so ask your library or research cell how to submit your work.

Turnitin

Turnitin is the best-known plagiarism checker worldwide. In India it is used mainly by institutions that buy a licence, often inside the learning platform where you upload assignments. Depending on the licence, Turnitin can also produce an AI writing report, which is separate from the similarity score. That report only appears when the file meets Turnitin's conditions, such as at least 300 words of long-form prose in a supported language (Turnitin). Our guide Can Turnitin detect AI in a PDF? covers what it reads and skips.

iThenticate

iThenticate is Turnitin's product for research integrity: journals, publishers and research offices use it to check manuscripts before publication. Turnitin has added AI writing detection to iThenticate 2.0, available as a licensed add-on, and reports it as a separate percentage from the similarity score (Turnitin). If a journal asks for an iThenticate report, they usually run it themselves.

How the UGC similarity levels work

The UGC (Promotion of Academic Integrity and Prevention of Plagiarism in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2018 set four levels of similarity for research work. University policies quote them like this (MANUU code of ethics):

Your university's own policy decides exactly what happens at each level, so read it before submitting. These percentages are about similarity to existing sources, not about AI writing.

Plagiarism check vs AI check: not the same thing

A plagiarism checker asks: was this copied from somewhere? An AI detector asks: was this written by an AI model? A thesis can be fully original and still partly AI-written, or written by you and still match published sources too closely. That is why some reports now show two separate numbers.

ProofAI is an AI detector, not a plagiarism checker. It cannot produce the similarity report your university requires, and it does not replace DrillBit, Turnitin or iThenticate. What it can do is let you check your own chapters for AI-like passages before you submit, for free, and see which sentences look AI-written. You can upload a PDF or Word file to our document checker, or see how we compare in Turnitin alternatives in India.

A checklist before you submit your thesis

1. Ask which tool your university uses and what similarity level it accepts.
2. Fix citations first: quotes in quotation marks, every source in the reference list. Most high similarity scores come from missing citations, not copying.
3. Paraphrase properly in your own words and cite the source anyway.
4. Check your own writing for AI-like passages if you used AI tools for drafting or language help, and rewrite those parts in your voice.
5. Keep your drafts and notes. If a report is questioned, version history is the best proof of your own work.
6. Disclose AI use where your university or journal asks for it.

What these tools cannot do

No plagiarism or AI checker is a judge. Similarity tools can match properly cited text or common phrases; AI detectors can wrongly flag human writing, especially formal or non-native English. Results should start a review by a person, not end one. If you think a report is wrong, ask your supervisor or the research cell to look at the highlighted passages with you.

FAQ

Which plagiarism checker do Indian universities use?
Many use DrillBit, provided free to eligible higher education institutions through INFLIBNET's ShodhShuddhi programme since October 2023. Others license Turnitin for coursework, and journals often use iThenticate.

Is DrillBit better than Turnitin?
They serve similar purposes with different databases and licences. What matters for you is which one your university requires, because that is the report it will accept.

Does DrillBit check for AI writing?
DrillBit describes its platform as covering plagiarism detection and AI content integrity. Whether your report includes an AI check depends on your institution's setup.

Can I use ProofAI instead of a UGC plagiarism report?
No. ProofAI checks for AI writing, not similarity to sources, so it cannot replace the plagiarism report your university asks for. Use it to check your own drafts for AI-like passages before submitting.

What similarity percentage is allowed for a PhD thesis in India?
Under the UGC 2018 regulations, up to 10% similarity is Level 0 with no penalty. Your university's policy has the final word.

Conclusion

For most Indian theses the report will come from DrillBit through your university, for coursework it may be Turnitin, and for journal papers iThenticate. Get your citations right, keep your drafts, and if you used AI tools along the way, check and rewrite those passages in your own words before the official check.

Originally published on ProofAI.