Considering technology constantly evolves, academic environments have changed in terms of technology from previous years, particularly in relation to writing assistant tools. There are a variety of online writing assistant tools that may be used as writing assistants when creating essays. Thus, the objective of this research is to figure out students’ perceptions of using online writing assistant tools in their writing and to find out the factors that influence the students in utilizing online writing assistant tools to assist their writing.

The researcher applied a qualitative-descriptive approach. The research's subjects included 31 students of ELESP Batch of 2019 students at Lambung Mangkurat University. The researcher used purposive sampling in this research. The researcher used a questionnaire as the primary instrument, with interviews and documentation as supporting instruments.

The results showed that most of the students agreed that online writing assistant tools (translation, paraphrasing, and proofreading tools) are helpful in assisting them in writing. They receive much help from these tools that are compatible with their own needs and expectations. They do not rely on these tools excessively either. However, a few students stated that they rarely use the tools because they are worried it will make them lazy and addicted. They believe that their writing lacks originality because it is not solely from their own efforts. Additionally, in this research, the factors that influenced the students in utilizing online writing assistant tools are divided into two parts, internal factors and external factors. Internal factors can be considered as linguistics problems, which include limited vocabulary and grammar comprehension, punctuation, spelling, and structure organizing problems (topic development and ideas organization). Meanwhile, external factors consist of insufficiency of motivation and inadequate time. Based on the data that has been analyzed, the researcher concluded that students consider employing online writing assistant tools positively. Additionally, In order to ensure better results, it is also suggested that students understand the fundamentals of essay writing before using the tools.