Draftback

Name: Draftback
Rating: 3.6758620689655177 (145 reviews)
Author: https://draftback.com

Watch the writing process unfold - play back a Google Doc as if it were a movie

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Draftback is a powerful Chrome extension that allows users to play back the revision history of any Google Doc they can edit, visualizing the writing process like a movie. With over 500,000 users, it’s widely used by educators to detect plagiarism and identify the use of AI tools such as ChatGPT. Once installed, a Draftback button appears in the Google Docs toolbar, enabling you to play, pause, rewind, and view the entire evolution of your document at actual speed.

Draftback ensures full privacy by storing all document data locally in your browser without transmitting any sensitive information to external servers. It features a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, making it accessible for both individuals and institutions. Additionally, the extension provides insights into writing patterns and time spent, offering valuable analytics for writers and teachers alike. For more information and support, visit draftback.com or contact support@draftback.com.

Extension Education Productivity Privacy & Security Developer Tools

By:

https://draftback.com

Users:

300,000 -100,000

Rating:

3.68

(145) 2 new ratings

Version:

0.0.24 Last updated: 2025-04-17

Creation date:

2020-08-01

Risk:

Permissions:

identity
identity.email
storage

Host permissions:

*://docs.google.com/*
https://accounts.draftback.com/*

Size:

938.00KB

Email:

js*****@gmail.com

URLs:

Website ,Privacy policy

Full description:

Source:

Chrome Web Store

Updated:

19 hours ago

Ranking

# 971 ▼ 121

Other rankings

#22314 in Workflow & Planning ▼ 36

#5 in document keyword 30

#7 in google docs keyword 52 ▼ 3

#15 in trial keyword 22

#18 in replay keyword 14 ▼ 4

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User reviews

Draftback is appreciated for its capability to help educators track writing processes, detect plagiarism, and manage group documents, previously offered for free. However, recent introduction of steep subscription fees has caused widespread dissatisfaction, particularly among teachers. Users also report technical issues such as failure to display revision graphs, incomplete rendering, and limited support beyond Google Docs. Complaints about price hikes and reliability problems have led some to seek alternative free tools, negatively affecting user perception despite the extension's useful core features.

Pros

Helps teachers monitor student writing process and catch plagiarism or AI abuse.
Previously free and accessible, providing valuable insight into document revisions.
Useful for managing group-shared documents and collaborative work.
Provides graphs and statistics on document edits."
Has excellent functionality in showing document revision histories.

Cons

Recently introduced a costly subscription fee ($100/year or $9.99/month), upsetting many users, especially educators.
Some users experience issues with document graphs and statistics not displaying or rendering properly.
Limited compatibility; works mainly with Google Docs but not effectively with Google Slides or Sheets.
Loading times can be long, and graphs or videos sometimes fail to show, making the tool unreliable.
Charging model perceived as greedy and exploitative, leading some users to seek free alternatives.

Recent reviews

This is a great product that I use regularly as a college professor to keep my students honest. Sometimes documents don't seem to render properly, so that is the only reason I am giving it 4 stars. It's very useful. Kind of annoying to see a bunch of whiners on here complaining about paying (gasp!) for a product. I've interacted with the developer before and he ran it free for years. It takes a fair bit of his time. And he's not allowed to charge for it? There's no other free program out there that does it as well as this, as far as I know.

Bl*****, 2025-06-12

Great extension. I used it for a whole month! Then, I had to subscribe which made me want to crash out and cry. It was good until it wasn't.

Ev*****, 2025-06-10

Yet another case of a developer adding absolutely nothing to their product then randomly making it paid. I have been using this for free, no improvements were made, and now ya wanna charge 100 bucks for...what? Looks like I am making the jump to Process Feedback. Twas good while it lasted. I wish you the best of luck, James Somers!

So*****, 2025-06-02

View all user reviews ›

Extension safety

Risk impact

Risk impact measures the level of extra permissions an extension has access to. A low risk impact extension cannot do much harms, whereas a high risk impact extension can do a lot of damage like stealing your password, bypassing your security settings, and accessing your personal data. High risk impact extensions are not necessarily malicious. However, if they do turn malicious, they can be very harmful.

Draftback requires a few sensitive permissions. Exercise caution before installing.

Risk impact analysis details

Critical Request access to the following domains: {{requestedDomains}}
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Risk likelihood

Risk likelihood measures the probability that a Chrome extension may turn malicious. This is determined by the publisher and the Chrome extension reputation on Chrome Web Store, the amount of time the Chrome extension has been around, and other signals about the Chrome extension. Our algorithms are not perfect, and are subject to change as we discover new ways to detect malicious extensions. We recommend that you always exercise caution when installing a Chrome extension.

Draftback is probably trust-worthy. Prefer other publishers if available. Exercise caution when installing this extension.

Risk likelihood analysis details

Medium This extension was updated in the past 3 months. New updates may not be stable or safe.
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Low **** ********* *** ***** **** **** * ****** **** ***** ********** *** **** ****** ** ** ****** *** *****
Good **** ********* *** **** **** *******

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