Recommendation Apps & Software

Useful AI Essay Writer

For Whom/What:

College Student looking for help generating outlines and drafts

Budget:

$

Requirements:

Fully understand prompts and contextualized

Cite sources or help with references

Avoid sounding like a robot

Help with formatting (MLA/APA/etc.)

Extra Details:

Hey everyone, I’m looking for the best AI-powered essay writer — something that actually produces coherent, well-structured content (not just keyword soup). Whether it’s for brainstorming, outlining, or even full-on draft writing, I’d love to hear what tools have worked for you. I’ve tried ChatGPT and a few browser extensions, but I’m curious if there’s anything more specialized or underrated that’s worth paying for. Open to both free and premium options. Thanks in advance!

bearmama
6 hours ago

ChatGPT-4 (especially with the ‘pro’ subscription) is still my go-to. It’s not marketed as an essay writer, but with the right prompts, you can get outlines, intros, arguments, and even citations (just double-check them). I usually feed it my thesis and bullet points, and it turns it into a full draft I can edit down.

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Jenna P
5 hours ago

I’ve been using Jasper AI, and it’s honestly solid if you’re willing to pay. It’s really good at generating long-form content with structure. You can give it a prompt, tone, and even specific points, and it builds out a surprisingly readable draft. Not perfect, but a great starting point for essays.

The strength of Jasper lies in its content structure templates (like Blog Post Intro, Paragraph Generator, etc.), tone flexibility — it can go from formal academic to casual conversational, and speed — it generates paragraphs in seconds. 

It’s not perfect for strict MLA/APA formatting, but if you’re using it as a writing assistant to get unstuck, expand ideas, or build out drafts, it’s fantastic.

I write a draft by going to "Documents" → “Start from scratch” or use the “One-Shot Blog Post” template. 

Let’s say I'm writing: "Why Climate Change Should Be Treated as a Global Emergency". Type something like this in the editor:> Write an introduction paragraph for an argumentative essay about why climate change should be treated as a global emergency.

Once Jasper builds out a draft, I go through and tweak any repetitive or filler content and adjust tone or vocabulary if needed. 

Jasper isn’t free — plans start around $49/month for Creator, but you get access to long-form writing tools, command mode, and branded voice customization (for business users).

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