Contadu vs Scalenut (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Contadu if

• Fits if you run an agency planning and scoring content for several client sites
• Works for writers working in languages other than English

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want a free plan, as there's only a 7-day trial
• Tight if you run more than 5 sites, since Freelance stops at 5 projects
• Skip it if you need extended API access or your own CMS in the editor, which wait on Enterprise at $293 a month
• Watch out: the same company sells NeuronWriter, which covers much of the same ground

Pick Scalenut if

• Fits if you publish a steady stream of blog articles with AI help
• Makes sense if you want article writing and AI answer tracking in one account

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're on Starter, at 5 new articles, 5 optimizations and 5 clusters a month
• Watch out: there are no refunds once the 7-day trial is over
• Skip it if you need daily AI answer checks, as prompts are checked weekly and Perplexity needs Professional at $199
• Pricey if you want internal links, audits or auto-publishing, which start at Plus for $89 a month
• Watch out: yearly prices only show as a time-limited Black Friday deal, with no regular yearly price

Contadu

• There is no free plan, only a 7-day trial; a refund can be requested within 30 days for the first plan bought.
• Each plan caps content strategies, content writer analyses, AI words and projects; Freelance stops at 5 projects.
• Editor integration with your own CMS and extended API access come only with Enterprise.
• The company also sells NeuronWriter, which covers much of the same ground.

Scalenut

• Annual plans are sold only at a time-limited Black Friday price at present; the regular annual price is not shown.
• There is no free plan, and the refund policy rules out refunds once the 7-day trial is over.
• AI answers are checked weekly, not daily; Starter and Plus cover only ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews.
• Internal linking, content audits, auto-publishing, Social UpReach and the backlinks marketplace start at Plus.

Contadu

Content strategy planner

Builds a content plan from competitor analysis, with topical maps, keyword clusters, keyword details and coverage gaps against rival sites.

NLP terms and entities

The Content Writer editor suggests terms drawn from the top Google results and the people, places and events they mention, with entities in 19 languages.

AI writing and Content Designer

Generates articles and outlines enriched with NLP terms, from built-in or custom templates; your own OpenAI or Anthropic key lifts the plan's word limit.

Plagiarism and internal links

The editor checks text for plagiarism, within a monthly allowance, and suggests internal links between related pages.

Tasks and reporting

Assign content tasks with due dates to colleagues or outside writers, and produce reports on content quality, competition and progress.

Chrome extension and WordPress

The extension brings recommendations into Google Docs, WordPress and Shopify editors, and the WordPress integration imports and exports posts.

Scalenut

AI Visibility

Tracks a set of prompts weekly in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, plus Perplexity on Professional, with insights on AI bot traffic.

GEO article writer

Cruise Mode drafts articles from keyword and SERP research, with tone of voice settings and AI images included in each plan's monthly allowance.

Content optimizer

Scores existing articles against the ranking pages with NLP terms and a content score, and suggests the changes to make.

Keyword planner

Groups keywords into topic clusters; Professional adds an advanced planner and cannibalization analysis.

Content audit and internal linking

From Plus, audits a set number of pages a month for topic gaps and suggests internal links between them.

Social UpReach and backlinks

From Plus, Social UpReach follows Reddit threads by keyword and subreddit, and a marketplace sells backlinks.

Contadu

• Freelance$37

  per month, billed annually ($47 billed monthly)

  5 content strategies, 50 content writer analyses, up to 150,000 AI words, 5 projects, 100 plagiarism checks and 1,000 backlink checks.

• Business$77

  per month, billed annually ($97 billed monthly)

  10 content strategies, 100 content writer analyses, up to 300,000 AI words, 10 projects, 200 plagiarism checks and 10,000 backlink checks.

• Agency$149

  per month, billed annually ($187 billed monthly)

  25 content strategies, 250 content writer analyses, up to 500,000 AI words, 25 projects and 500 plagiarism checks.

• Enterprise$293

  per month, billed annually ($367 billed monthly)

  50 content strategies, 500 content writer analyses, up to 750,000 AI words, 50 projects, editor integration with your own CMS, extended API access and onboarding.

Scalenut

• Starter$59

  per month, billed monthly

  1 domain, 10 prompts checked weekly in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, and 5 new articles, 5 optimizations and 5 keyword clusters a month.

• Plus$89

  per month, billed monthly

  2 domains, 4 team members, 25 prompts, 30 articles and 30 optimizations a month, a 200-page audit, internal linking and auto-publishing.

• Professional$199

  per month, billed monthly

  Unlimited domains and members, 100 prompts with Perplexity added, 75 articles a month, 1,000-page audits, cannibalization checks and a CSM.

• VIP ServiceCustom

  Done-for-you work by a dedicated strategist, writers, editors and AI agents, with backlinks and weekly reports. Sold after a strategy call.

Contadu

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with yearly billing

  Contadu's pricing page lists yearly billing at 20% off: Freelance is $37 a month billed yearly instead of $47 billed monthly.

Scalenut

• Other savings

  Black Friday early access: 65% off annual plans

  For a limited time, annual Starter is $21, Plus $31 and Professional $70 a month, with 3x usage limits. No end date is given and the deal is non-refundable.