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ToolGPA

Frase vs Surfer

We give Frase a 2.4 GPA and Surfer a 2.2, out of 4.0. Frase grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

Frase

AI content agent that drafts, publishes and refreshes articles

Free trial · from $39/mo
Full detailsfrase.io

Surfer

Content editor that scores articles for search and AI citations

Free trial · from $49/mo
Full detailssurferseo.com

How we grade them

2.4GPAFraseFair2.2GPASurferFair
Value for money
CGraded against other content editors. Starter is $39 a month billed yearly ($49 monthly) for 1 seat, 1 site and 10 articles a month. Cheaper than Surfer's $49 and far under Clearscope's $129, but twice NeuronWriter's $19.
CGraded against other content editors. Discovery is $49 a month billed yearly ($59 monthly) for 1 seat and 120 documents: more than Frase's $39 and NeuronWriter's $19, well under Clearscope's $129. Standard, with 3 seats, is $99.
Free plan and trial
CNo free plan, but the 7-day trial needs no card and gives you Professional features, capped at 5 articles and 50 audit pages.
DNo free plan. The 7-day trial gives new accounts Pro, but it needs a card and turns into a paid plan unless you cancel. The free Keyword Surfer extension is a small consolation.
Features
BResearch, drafting with SEO and GEO scores, publishing to four CMSs or its own hosted one, Content Guard rewriting slipping pages, AI citation tracking and an MCP server, CLI and API. The whole content job and then some.
BA live Content Score and guidelines, an AI writer with humanizer and plagiarism checks, keyword research, topical maps, content audits with drop alerts and AI answer tracking. The whole content job, though Discovery has no AI prompt tracking.
Ease of use
CNo rating on record. The agent does a lot for you, but connecting a CMS, choosing what it may publish on its own and approving revisions all take setting up.
CNo rating on record. Writing against a score is easy to grasp, but topical maps, audits and the AI tracking spaces are more to learn.
Platforms and integrations
BWeb, publishing to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity and Wix, and run from Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor through MCP, a CLI and an API. No desktop or phone app.
BWeb plus Chrome extensions, one bringing the guidelines into Google Docs. It connects to WordPress, Zapier, Contentful, Jasper, ChatGPT and Claude; the API needs Peace of Mind or an add-on. No desktop or phone app.
Best fordrafting and publishing articles for youscoring articles as you write them

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: Frase and Surfer. How we grade

Price against what you get

Frase starts at $39 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Surfer starts at $49 a month and scores 2.7.

They score the same, and Frase starts $10 a month lower. Of the other SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Frase for less, and none scores higher than Surfer for less.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0$5$10$20$50$100$200More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessFraseSurfer

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
The full chart of SEO tools, and the best at every price

Where they differ

  • Frase starts at $39 per month, billed yearly ($49 billed monthly). Surfer starts at $49 per month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly).
  • Only Surfer lists a browser extension.
  • Frase also covers AI agents.
  • Surfer also covers keyword research.
In commonWebPublic APIAI featuresLong-form writing

At a glance

FraseSurfer
PricingFree trialFree trial
Starts at$39 per month, billed yearly ($49 billed monthly)$49 per month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly)
Free planNoneNone
Free trial7-day free trial of Professional features, no credit card; capped at 5 articles and 50 audit pages7-day free trial with Pro access for new accounts; card required, converts to the chosen plan
Web
Browser extension
Made byFraseSurfer Sp. z o.o.
Price read fromfrase.iosurferseo.com
CheckedOct 17, 2026Oct 17, 2026

Who each one suits

Frase

  • Small teams that want articles drafted and published with little hands-on work
  • Content leads refreshing pages that are losing Google traffic
  • Agencies running content for up to 10 client sites

Surfer

  • Writers and content teams producing articles meant to rank
  • Agencies refreshing existing client content at volume
  • Brands that want to see whether AI chat tools cite their pages

Worth knowing

Frase

  • Starter stops at its monthly limits; overages are optional on Professional and Scale at $5 or $4 per extra article.
  • Extra seats cost $29 a month each on Professional and Scale.
  • Reporting history is current only on Starter, 3 months on Professional and 12 months on Scale.
  • White-label reports and a branded client portal need the custom-priced Enterprise plan.

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.

Key features

Frase

Research and drafting
Frase studies the pages that rank for a topic, then drafts and optimizes an article with SEO and GEO scores and generated images.
Publishing agent
Push finished posts to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity or Wix, or let the agent publish on its own for content types you choose.
Content Guard
Watches 10 to 300 published pages for falling Google rank or traffic, writes a revision and republishes it once you approve.
AI Visibility
Monitors daily whether ChatGPT and Google AI cite you; Professional adds Perplexity and Scale adds Claude and Gemini.
FraseCMS
A hosted or headless CMS included free up to 100,000 page views a month; paid tiers at $19 or $99 a month add room and drop the badge.
MCP server, CLI and API
Run Frase from Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor, with 5,000 to 50,000 API, MCP and CLI requests a month by plan.

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.

Plans

Frase

  • Starter$39

    per month, billed yearly ($49 billed monthly)

    1 seat, 1 site, 10 articles and 50 audit pages a month, 50 AI prompts in ChatGPT and Google AI, 10 pages watched for decay.

  • Professional$103

    per month, billed yearly ($129 billed monthly)

    3 seats, 5 sites, 40 articles and 250 audit pages, 200 AI prompts adding Perplexity, content calendar and internal links.

  • Scale$239

    per month, billed yearly ($299 billed monthly)

    5 seats, 10 domains, 100 articles and 1,000 audit pages, 500 prompts adding Claude and Gemini, client-ready reports.

  • EnterpriseCustom

    Custom seats and limits, white-label reports, a client portal, SSO and an SLA, through sales.

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.

Ways to pay less

Frase

  • Annual discount

    Save 20% with yearly billing

    Frase's pricing page takes 20% off for yearly billing: Professional is $103 a month billed yearly instead of $129 month to month.

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.

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