10 Best AI Tools for Writing Winning Dissertations – Free Options Included

Ankit Agarwal
Ankit Agarwal

Marketing Head

 
January 6, 2025
17 min read

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are transforming the way students approach learning and academic tasks. > ### Read this before you use any AI tool on a dissertation

Unauthorised use of AI in assessed work is academic misconduct at most institutions, and editing the output does not change that. The University of Oxford's Mathematical Institute policy for MSc dissertations states: "Unauthorised use of artificial intelligence is the presentation of work produced wholly, or in part, by AI as your own... Use of AI in the process of preparing work for summative assessment without authorisation is still academic misconduct, even if the student amends the AI output." Consequences "range from mark deductions in minor cases of bad academic practice to expulsion from the university in extreme cases" (University of Oxford, retrieved 2026-09-02). SOURCED

Before using anything below: read your own institution's policy, use AI only where it is permitted, and declare the use. Declaring permitted use is the step that protects you. Policies differ by university, by department and sometimes by module.

A joint report from Hopelab, Common Sense Media and the Center for Digital Thriving at the Harvard Graduate School of Education found that among 14-22 year olds who had used generative AI, "the most commonly reported uses of generative AI were for getting information (53%) and brainstorming (51%)" (Common Sense Media, retrieved 2026-09-02). SOURCED Note the population: young people generally, not postgraduates writing dissertations.

Separately, the Digital Education Council's 2024 Global AI Student Survey — 3,839 bachelor's, master's and doctoral students across 16 countries — found "the majority of students (86%) said they use artificial intelligence in their studies," with the most common uses being searching for information (69%), checking grammar (42%), summarising documents (33%), paraphrasing (28%) and creating a first draft (24%) (reported by Campus Technology, retrieved 2026-09-02). SOURCED ANALYSIS — an earlier version of this article credited the survey to Campus Technology, which reported rather than conducted it, and listed use cases including "avoid plagiarism" and "craft citations" that appear nowhere in the research. By improving research depth and writing efficiency, these tools ultimately contribute to better grades and academic success.

This article explores the 10 best AI tools for students, including free options that are accessible on any budget. Whether you need help with brainstorming, organising ideas, or analysing data, these tools are designed to make your dissertation-writing experience more efficient and rewarding.

What Are Some of the Best AI Tools for Students? 10 Top Picks for 2025

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become prevalent in different industries, and the educational industry is no exception. As a student in today's rapidly evolving digital era, you will most likely be on the lookout for ways to enhance your academic productivity. Not only can these tools save you valuable time, but also assist you in completing other personal/professional chores on time. The AI tools for students that we are going to discuss here are easy to use; however, they lack a human touch in the papers they craft. ANALYSIS — an earlier version of this article recommended commercial dissertation-writing services here and linked to one. That recommendation has been removed. Paying someone to write your dissertation is contract cheating, and since April 2022 it has been a criminal offence in England to provide, arrange or advertise such services to students in post-16 education (Department for Education, retrieved 2026-09-02). SOURCED For legitimate help, use your supervisor, your institution's academic skills service, or its writing centre. Coming back to the core topic of discussion, let’s dive deeper into further details now.

1. Jasper AI

If you are a marketing student, you can take the maximum benefit of using Jasper AI for help. Using this tool, you can create end-to-end marketing assets from a single brief. Furthermore, you can also test your comprehension of different topics. Students utilise this tool to create anything from press releases to blog posts to Google ads and landing pages. Instead of making everything manually, you can use this tool and generate all that you need. Best For: Marketing students to make different copies and pages for marketing purposes Pricing: For creators, the monthly charges are $49 per user per month, while for the pro version, it is $69 per user per month.

Standout Features

● Creates marketing assets in seconds ● Can automate the correspondence of emails ● You can add a browser extension ● AI art generation ● Students can write dissertations, essays, and other long-form content using this. While you may not have to create different campaigns right off the bat, you can use it to create landing pages, social media posts, blog posts and other marketing material. Furthermore, by using Jasper AI, it’s possible to create stunning images to use in the dissertations. You can even create hyper-realistic images and save them for use in any paper you want.

2. Rytr

Rytr is one of the best AI tools for students, and they can use it for a wide array of projects. Students can write emails, autocomplete their sentences, rewrite their essays, improve their writing, and check grammar when using this tool. The AI auto-complete feature ensures that you are not spending hours looking at a blank page on your screen again. All you need to do is start a sentence, and this tool will finish it automatically. Also, it makes sure that the text you are writing is 100% grammatically correct. Best For: Free AI writing help that can be used for assignments, essays and other kinds of documents Pricing: The basic plan is free, while the pricing of the unlimited plan starts from $9 per month. The price for a premium version per month is $29.

Standout Features

● Auto-completion of AI-generated text ● Grammar and plagiarism checking ● Improvements in texts ● A free plan for students ● Unlimited content generation once you sign up for a paid plan Apart from everything else, Rytr's grammar checking tool ensures that you can reword all the sentences, emails, or even paragraphs. This feature comes in handy when you have to rewrite the paper per the feedback of your professor or fine-tune the writing before you submit the papers. The best thing is that you can use the tool for free (although there is a character limit).

3. Murf AI

Using Murf AI, students can generate different voiceovers in 20+ languages from any of the existing text. You can also get AI voiceovers with a human touch that you can use in your dissertation. ANALYSIS — an earlier version of this article cited a "25% of students" figure to a student-accommodation company's blog, which itself gives no source. It has been removed; see the Digital Education Council survey above for a figure with a stated sample. Using this tool, you can clone your voice and get a voice-over in seconds. You can make corrections in this tool wherever necessary. Best For: All the students who need quick AI translations and fast voiceovers Pricing: There is a free version and the price for the paid version starts from $23/month

Standout Features

● Dubbing of audios ● Voice cloning features ● Offers AI translations ● The new AI voice generation has more realistic and custom translations ● Best to be used by animation and filmmaking students This is one of the best AI tools for college students who are studying foreign languages because it can translate speech as well. Using this, you can hear different sentences, phrases and even entire videos. Using the features of this tool, students can potentially improve their pronunciation and vocabulary.

4. QuillBot

Quillbot is an online writing platform that uses the power of AI to paraphrase different sentences and provide different suggestions for synonyms. It can help you rephrase different sentences online and makes it easier for students to express their ideas uniquely. It is the best for students who want to perfect their writing and need help with the summarisation of pages full of notes. Best For: Doing the paraphrasing of different sentences online Pricing: Premium for $9.95/month; the free version has basic features as well

Standout Features

● It can be used in multiple modes ● Allows users to have multiple extensions ● Flexible and smooth to use If you are confident in your writing skills but want to ensure that everything you have written is grammatically correct, Quillbot is the way to go. It produces fluent output. ANALYSIS — a paraphrasing tool does not make text plagiarism-free, and an earlier version of this article said it did. Paraphrased source material still requires citation, and undeclared AI paraphrasing of your own draft is itself misconduct under the policy quoted at the top of this article. Using the premium version, you can do unlimited text generation and paraphrasing in 5 different languages. This way, you can proofread your article to perfection. For added assurance, you can also explore some of the best AI detectors, compiled by Cybernews, to help identify AI-generated content and maintain authenticity.

5. Pictory AI

This is the best AI tool for students to create or edit videos for their presentations and assignments. What’s unique about this tool is that it helps you create videos from images, music, scripts, and even blogs. It’s also possible for you to create subtitles and generate captions/audio to add to your videos with a few clicks. Best For: Generating brilliant videos for presentations and assignments Pricing: There is no free version and the pricing for the paid version starts from $19/month

Standout Features

● Making video transcripts ● Closed captions and subtitles ● AI video generators ● Variety with adding subtitles and texts ● Custom text styles This tool is an excellent choice for students who are working on any form of video project for their dissertations. There is a free trial and several royalty-free video resources and music tracks. You can also generate the transcripts of videos with one click and work on different aspects of college work. This app is best used for different short films and other video projects.

6. Otter.ai

Otter.ai is one of the best AI tools for students, offering seamless lecture recording and transcription services immediately. You can ensure effective text conversion at an impressive rate of 160 per minute while you focus on your studies. Furthermore, it can be integrated with different online applications, hence enhancing its usability. If you need to take notes for dissertations and online recordings, Otter AI will do it for you. Best For: The transcription of meetings, conversations and meetings in real-time Pricing: The basic version is free. The pro version is $10/month per user, and the business version is $20/month per user.

Standout Features

● Helping journalists in the transcription of different interviews ● Can record notes for the best and most productive reporting purposes ● Can assist students in summarising lectures and taking notes ● Makes the revision and study of course material even easier It is a powerful AI tool that can help you improve your productivity and save time. Students widely use it for the summarisation and transcription of different online meetings. It can automatically generate reminders and task lists for the needs of students and assign them action items from meetings. The team members can comment, highlight and tag each other in notes.

7. OpenAI

ChatGPT is the suite of AI tools by OpenAI, having an image generation model like DALL-E and other language models like GPT. Students around the globe use it widely for idea generation, brainstorming, enhancing problem-solving abilities and simplifying different complex concepts. Natural Language Processing skills of this tool also enable students to get answers while simply typing a question. Best For: Getting help with finding answers to burning academic questions and developing critical thinking skills Pricing: The pricing depends on the model you are using and the number of words you produce. You can visit OpenAI to check the latest pricing of their services.

Standout Features

● Students can get documents written per their needs ● They can generate artwork based on the custom instructions of the tool ● The platform can be used to adjust the structure, language and tone of different sentences ● Has an extensive library of research papers available online ● Can enhance the research and writing capabilities of students You can take this platform as a beacon for the progress of students and to measure their responsible growth. For students, it presents a golden opportunity to become an active part of the artificial intelligence revolution. Using the features of this app, students can better deal with the opportunities and challenges of the modern academic world.

8. Grammarly

Grammarly is an online tool that offers comprehensive AI-powered assistance with the technical aspects of writing. It detects and suggests different corrections for spelling, syntax, style, grammar and tone errors. Furthermore, GrammarlyGo is a generative AI tool which can mimic the writing styles of students and help them brainstorm different ideas. Best For: Detecting issues and mistakes in a written draft of text Pricing: $12/month; the free version is quite basic

Standout Features

● It has a user-friendly interface ● The free version is quite comprehensive in nature ● The desktop application and browser extensions are easy to use ● It offers a seamless writing experience for whatever you have to type ● It can provide people with accurate suggestions for real-time corrections Overall, this tool provides the readers with a chance to improve their sentence structures. Grammarly has developed its AI, which can contextually understand the text and help users write accordingly. You can easily integrate it with your browser or Word to make your writing flawless. International students, in particular, can use it for their own benefit.

9. Brainly

You can use this tool as Reddit for academia. Experts, students and academics around the globe use this tool, and according to ClickUp, the database of this resource now has more than 250 million answers to all kinds of questions asked online. Brainly was developed in collaboration with the GPT-4 technology of Open AI. The latest AI features of this tool employ the vast knowledge base to make your learning journey more vibrant, efficient and tailored. Best For: Getting answers to all kinds of questions under the sun Pricing: The basic version is completely free to use, while the plus version costs around $24 per year per user.

Standout Features

● Students can go for the ‘simplify’ feature to get straightforward definitions. ● They can choose the ‘expand’ option to get a complete breakdown of the course materials. ● The information presented will be reliable. ● It encourages consistent learning by introducing a gamification element in the application. ● You can use the search functionality to deliver the most relevant answers ● Students can also delve deeper into different topics from around the world The main aim of this app is to accelerate the learning and understanding process of students in this dynamic and digital age. It empowers students to get instant homework help and enriches the comprehension of their subject knowledge. Furthermore, you can bridge the knowledge gap in the classroom while using this platform. However, some of the features of this application are hidden behind a paywall, which is usually not accessible to all students.

10. Picsart

Picsart is a powerful AI tool for students as it helps them quickly turn all their visions into reality. Using this app, students can generate a lot of images and videos and edit their existing assets. Furthermore, it also allows students to create engaging gifs for presentations and assignments online. Not only that, students can also edit different parts of the images and make them suitable enough to be used in academic papers. Best For: AI photo editing and photo clicking Pricing: There is a free version, and the price for the paid version starts from $5 per month

Standout Features

● AI image generation ● The presence of a stock library and different templates ● Numerous photo and video editing options ● Image and video generation using AI ● A rich library of royalty-free assets online This application can be valuable to students, especially for those whose papers involve video or photo editing. In addition to being an editor, this AI tool can be used to make gifs, videos and photos. It is particularly best for marketing students as they can create pictorial essays using the features of this software. You can also generate demo images from scratch from this app.

Is ChatGPT the Best AI?

ChatGPT is currently one of the best AI systems available. As per ZDNet, the free version of ChatGPT was supercharged by OpenAI in May 2024. This supercharge solved the pain points of this chatbot and made it one of the most reliable options among all the other AI tools available on the market. It has a lot of helpful features for the students, including the following: ● Composing emails ● Essays ● Making lists and resumes ● Has knowledge of STEM subjects ● It is quite conversational. ● Excellent writing skills ● It’s accessible and versatile in nature ● This tool can handle a wide range of tasks, including writing in different content formats. ● Allows contextually relevant and highly nuanced responses Using this tool, one can handle a range of tasks, including writing different contact formats, answering questions and engaging in tough conversations. It runs on OpenAI's GPT-4o family of models (OpenAI model documentation, retrieved 2026-09-02). SOURCED An earlier version of this article referred to "GPT-04," which is not a model OpenAI publishes. Students can use it to generate images and do many other creative tasks. It’s really easy for everyone to use. However, you should keep in mind that you have to use this platform for authentic purposes only. Avoid using it for unethical purposes, and don’t cheat by using ChatGPT.

What AI Tool Do Students Use?

Depending on their needs, students use a lot of AI tools to fulfil the requirements for their dissertations. The most commonly used tools by students are chatbots and search engines supported by artificial intelligence. Using these resources, students can write, streamline or enhance their academic journeys. Some of the most commonly used AI gadgets and tools are listed here: ● Grammarly: It’s a writing assistant that helps students improve their work by correcting style, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. ● Otter.ai: This is a transcription tool that allows students to focus on understanding and learning by reducing the need to take notes. ● Gradescope: This is an online platform which uses AI to assist educators grade the work of students with more efficiency. ● Brainscape: It’s an AI tool that assists students in creating flashbacks to optimise their learning. ● QuillBot: Students can use QuillBot to paraphrase the text that is pasted into it. ● Copyscape: Using this tool, you can check plagiarism by comparing the work of students to already published texts. ● Chatbots:Trello: This is a project management tool that utilises AI to assist students in organising their tasks. ● Google Scholar: Students can use the AI-powered algorithms of this resource to locate relevant research papers and academic articles for themselves.

Conclusion

This was all about the top 10 AI tools that students can use to write winning dissertations. Popular AI tools are becoming increasingly indispensable for students. They can harness the power of artificial intelligence to refine the writing process of their papers. With that being said, it is apparent that there is a difference between the papers crafted by humans and those written by the best AI tools for students. If you need help, go to your supervisor first, then your institution's academic skills or writing support service. Both can review drafts and improve your work without putting your degree at risk — which commercial dissertation-writing services do, and which this article previously and wrongly recommended. Lastly, it will be best if you use AI tools and search engines as a means to get model assistance with your papers. Also, do not forget to cross-check the information you get before submitting it to your professors.

Related reading

How This Guide Was Sourced

Written and maintained by the LogicBalls editorial team (logicballs.com). Disclosure: LogicBalls builds AI writing tools. That is exactly why the guidance at the top of this article matters: we have a commercial interest in you using AI, and you have an academic interest in using it only where your institution permits it and declaring it when you do.

Sources, retrieved 2026-09-02:

Substantial corrections. An earlier version of this article stated that AI tools are "far from being considered cheating" for dissertations — the opposite of the default policy position, with no caveat anywhere in the piece. It recommended and linked two commercial dissertation-writing services, which is contract cheating and, in England, criminal to provide or advertise. It described a paraphrasing tool as ensuring "plagiarism-free text." And it misattributed two surveys, inventing use cases including "avoid plagiarism" that appear in neither.

All of that has been corrected. If you read an earlier version of this article and acted on it, speak to your supervisor.

No LogicBalls telemetry is used in this guide.

Ankit Agarwal
Ankit Agarwal

Marketing Head

 

Ankit Agarwal is a growth and content strategy professional focused on building scalable content and distribution frameworks for AI productivity tools. He works on simplifying how marketers, creators, and small teams discover and use AI-powered solutions across writing, marketing, social media, and business workflows. His expertise lies in improving organic reach, discoverability, and adoption of multi-tool AI platforms through practical, search-driven content strategies.

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