Dashword vs Surfer (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Dashword if

• Fits if your team hands briefs to writers and checks drafts before publishing
• Works for teams writing with AI agents that want a scoring step through MCP

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you work alone, as $99 a month is the same for one person as for five
• Tight if you write more than 30 new pieces a month, since each keyword report uses a credit and Business starts at $349
• Watch out: there's no ongoing free plan, only one free report
• Watch out: after cancelling you keep your data but can't make new reports
• Watch out: the 20% yearly discount isn't offered at checkout, so you have to contact them

Pick Surfer if

• Fits if you write articles meant to rank and want a score to aim for, from $49 a month
• Works for writers who draft in Google Docs or WordPress and want the guidelines there

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to try it without a card, since the 7-day trial needs one and becomes a paid plan unless cancelled
• Pricey if AI answer tracking is why you're here: Discovery has none, and Standard at $99 tracks 25 prompts weekly in ChatGPT only
• Not for you if you need a full SEO suite, as its research and audits are about content
• Watch out: on yearly plans credits reset once a year, and unlimited documents fall under a fair usage policy
• Pricey if you need the API, which needs Peace of Mind at $299 a month, Enterprise or an add-on

Dashword

• Plans run on report credits: 30 a month on Startup and 100 on Business; each new keyword report uses one.
• There is no ongoing free plan; a new account gets one free report, though scoring drafts stays free.
• The 20% annual discount is set up by contacting the company rather than chosen at checkout.
• After cancelling you keep access to your data but cannot create new keyword reports.

Surfer

• Discovery has no AI prompt tracking and one seat; Standard tracks 25 prompts weekly in ChatGPT only.
• On annual plans, credits reset once a year, and unlimited documents fall under a fair usage policy.
• The trial needs a card and becomes a paid plan after 7 days unless cancelled; it is for new accounts only.
• API access needs Peace of Mind, Enterprise or an API add-on.

Dashword

Content brief builder

Collects competitors' outlines, keywords and questions for a keyphrase into a brief you can edit and share with writers in one click.

Content scoring

Scores a draft in real time against the report's terms, questions and target length. Scoring is free and unlimited; only new reports use credits.

AI Writer

Drafts content from a report; the Startup plan includes 100,000 words.

Content monitoring

Crawls your site to import pages, tracks their rankings, refreshes keyword reports weekly and alerts you when a page loses traffic.

API and MCP server

Every account, free ones included, can create reports and score drafts from Claude, Cursor or its own code through the REST API or MCP.

Google Docs add-on

An add-on in the Google Workspace Marketplace brings Dashword's optimization into Google Docs.

Surfer

Content Editor and Content Score

Write or paste an article and get live guidelines on terms, structure and length, scored against the pages that rank for the topic.

AI writing assistant

Surfy drafts and edits inside the editor, with an AI detector, humanizer, plagiarism check and 1-click optimization of existing text.

AI visibility tracking

Track set prompts in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, with mention gaps and brand sentiment.

Content Audit and drop alerts

Monitor 10 to 500 published pages, get alerts when rankings drop and suggestions for which articles to refresh.

Keyword research and Topical Map

Plan clusters of related articles around a topic, and check search results with the SERP Analyzer.

Keyword Surfer extension

A free Chrome extension shows search volume and keyword ideas on Google results; another brings Surfer's guidelines into Google Docs.

Dashword

• Startup$99

  per month, billed monthly

  30 content reports a month, 5 user seats, content briefs, AI Writer with 100,000 words, and the API and MCP server.

• Business$349

  per month and up

  100 content reports a month, 10 user seats, AI Writer, bulk report creation and single sign-on.

Surfer

• Discovery$49

  per month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly)

  1 seat, 120 documents to create or optimize, 10 tracked pages, AI writing assistant and humanizer. No AI prompt tracking.

• AI Search Analytics$82

  per month, billed yearly ($95 billed monthly)

  AI visibility only: 50 prompts tracked daily across all models, mention gaps and sentiment, 5 brand spaces, 5 seats and MCP.

• Standard$99

  per month, billed yearly ($119 billed monthly)

  3 seats, 360 documents, 50 tracked pages, 1-click optimization, plagiarism checks and 25 prompts tracked weekly in ChatGPT.

• Pro$182

  per month, billed yearly ($219 billed monthly)

  5 seats, 360 documents, 200 pages, 50 prompts daily across all models, 5 brand spaces, internal linking, cannibalization report and MCP.

• Peace of Mind$299

  per month, billed yearly ($359 billed monthly)

  10 seats, unlimited documents under fair use, 500 pages, 100 prompts daily, API access and a dedicated success manager.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom limits, SSO, white-label, advisory program and tailored onboarding, through sales.

Dashword

• Annual discount

  20% off with annual billing

  Dashword's pricing FAQ offers a 20% discount for annual billing, arranged by contacting the company.

Surfer

• Annual discount

  Save up to 17% with yearly billing

  Surfer's pricing FAQ gives up to 17% off for annual plans, paid upfront: Pro is $182 a month billed yearly instead of $219 billed monthly.