It’s not straightforward. There’s no fixed “this costs £100 for a student” price that you can simply pay. In fact, you cannot typically buy a Turnitin licence just for yourself as an individual user.
The company clearly states that individuals cannot purchase accounts for similarity detection. Turnitin’s pricing is based on institutions (schools, universities) negotiating a contract.
Things that affect the cost include the number of students, the services and features you want (basic similarity check versus full feedback and AI detection), and the region or institution type.
Some pricing data suggests that institutions pay something like $4–$7 per student per year (or equivalent) in certain cases, though these are rough figures and vary a lot.
An example to illustrate
For instance, a contract document lists for the “Feedback Studio with Originality” version a minimum purchase for a large institution of around US $ 6,700 for an enterprise license covering a set number of users.
Another source quotes that one US university system paid about $1.79 per student for the base service and about $6.50 per student when AI detection was included.
What this means for you
If you’re a student, you’ll likely access Turnitin via your school or university using your own Turnitin student login. If your institution has a licence, your teacher or the assignment submission platform will integrate it and you’ll submit your work through that.
If you’re an educator or admin, you’ll need to contact Turnitin for a quote. They will ask about your institution’s size, number of students, how many assignments you expect, and which services you want. Then they’ll give you a custom cost.
Why the lack of a simple “price list”?
There are a few reasons. The service depends on scale — an institution with 500 students versus one with 50,000 students will have very different pricing. The features differ — some licences include feedback tools, peer review, grading, AI detection, code checking, and so on.
More features mean higher cost. Region and institution type matter too — K-12 versus higher education, domestic versus international, all play a role. Turnitin keeps its exact pricing under wraps, at least publicly, and you must request a quote directly from them.
Final takeaway
If you ask “how much does a Turnitin account cost?” the honest answer is: it depends. For an individual student, you’re probably not buying it yourself — your school covers it.
If you’re setting it up for a school, expect to negotiate and pay something based on the number of users and the features included, maybe in the ballpark of a few dollars per student per year as a rough guide.