Dashword vs Topic (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Dashword grades higher than Topic: 2.2 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dashword grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dashword
Content briefs and draft scoring, with an API and MCP server
Topic
Content briefs, outlines and a draft grader for SEO writers
Which one is for you
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 Topic if
- Fits if you write by hand and want a checklist from the top results
- Works for agencies producing 25 to 50 briefs a month
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want the article written for you, since it builds briefs and grades
- Pricey if you write a few pieces a month: 10 briefs cost $99
- Watch out: unused briefs roll over for only 1 month, and the trial is not free at $7
- Watch out: the pricing page has a summer sale banner from July 2021, annual prices need a call, and its AI ideas come from GPT-3
How we grade them
| 2.2GPADashwordFair | 1.6GPATopicWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStartup is $99 a month for 30 reports and 5 seats, the very start of this category's dearest tenth. Shared by a team of five that's about $19.80 a head, but one writer pays the lot. The 20% yearly discount means contacting the company. | D$99 a month for 10 briefs, $199 for 25, $299 for 50, where the dearest tenth of this category starts at $99. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo ongoing free plan, but a new account gets its first report free with no card, and scoring drafts stays free and unlimited. The API and MCP server work on free accounts too. | DA 7-day trial that costs $7 for 3 briefs, and no free plan. |
| Features | BBriefs from competitors' outlines, keywords and questions, live scoring, an AI writer with 100,000 words, ranking and traffic monitoring, and an API and MCP server for AI agents. The whole job, metered at 30 reports a month. | CBriefs, an outline builder, a draft grader, geo-targeting, and WordPress and Google Docs plugins. It researches and grades, and writing is up to you. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. A brief and a score are quick to read, but there's a site crawl to set up for monitoring and report credits to manage. | CNo store rating on record. A brief has to be turned into an outline and a draft before it pays off. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with a Google Docs add-on, an API and an MCP server for Claude, Cursor, Codex and OpenCode. No desktop or phone app. | CWeb only, with WordPress and Google Docs as the two named connections. |
| Best for | content briefs and draft scores for small teams | content briefs and draft grading for SEO writers |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dashword and Topic. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dashword starts at $99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Topic starts at $99 a month and scores 2.0.
Dashword scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other SEO content tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Dashword for less, and 51 score higher than Topic for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Dashword also covers long-form writing and rank tracking.
- Topic also covers research and keyword research.
At a glance
| Dashword | Topic | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $99 per month, billed monthly | $99 per month for 10 content briefs, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | First content report free, no credit card required | 7-day trial: 3 content briefs for $7 |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Issoudun Pte. Ltd. | Chia Labs Inc. |
| Price read from | dashword.com | usetopic.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Topic
- Plans are priced by brief count: 10, 25 or 50 a month, with only 1 month of rollover for unused credits.
- The pricing page shows annual rates of $80, $160 and $240 a month but sends buyers to contact the company for annual pricing.
- The pricing page still carries a summer sale banner that expired in July 2021, so its figures may be out of date.
- The pricing page says AI title and description ideas come from GPT-3, an older model.
Key features
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.
Topic
- Research from the top 30 results
- Enter a focus keyword and Topic collects the headings, questions and keywords found across the top 30 Google results.
- Outline Builder
- Curate the research into an outline, with AI-generated ideas for titles, descriptions and headings when you want a starting point.
- Content Grader
- Paste a draft, new or existing, to see which topics it is missing, and share the grader with writers who do not count as users.
- Geo-targeting and languages
- Briefs can target searches from any location, in English, French, German, Portuguese or Italian.
- WordPress and Google Docs plugins
- Plugins let writers use Topic inside WordPress and Google Docs instead of switching tabs.
Plans
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.
Topic
Starter$99
per month for 10 briefs, billed monthly
10 content briefs and optimizations a month, 1 user, a keyword research tool and 1 month of rollover.
Plus$199
per month for 25 briefs, billed monthly
25 content briefs and optimizations a month for in-house teams and agencies, with 3 users and 1 month of rollover.
Premium$299
per month for 50 briefs, billed monthly
50 content briefs and optimizations a month for agencies, with 5 users and 1 month of rollover.
EnterpriseCustom
For larger volumes or API access; the pricing page says to contact the company.
Ways to pay less
Dashword
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
Dashword's pricing FAQ offers a 20% discount for annual billing, arranged by contacting the company.
Topic
- Annual discount
20% off with annual billing
The pricing page says paying annually saves 20% and lists lower yearly rates, but annual pricing is arranged by contacting the company.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dashword or Topic?
As of Nov 12, 2026, they start at the same price. Dashword starts at $99 per month, billed monthly, and Topic starts at $99 per month for 10 content briefs, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Dashword or Topic?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Dashword nor Topic has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.