Kafkai vs Mangools (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Mangools grades higher than Kafkai: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Kafkai grades higher on platforms. Mangools grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Mangools
Bundle of five SEO tools led by the KWFinder keyword research app
Which one is for you
Pick Kafkai if
- Fits if you already work in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and want search data inside it
- Works for one-off research projects, since you pay as you go
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want an article writer, because there is no writing tool of its own
- Not for you if you don't use an AI assistant over MCP
- Tight if you want rank tracking, since research runs only when asked
- Watch out: prices are in yen with Japanese consumption tax, and credits expire after 90 days
Pick Mangools if
- Fits if you're a blogger who mostly needs keyword ideas and difficulty scores
- Works for local keyword research down to city level
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need daily rankings, as they update weekly below the Agency plan at $97.70
- Not for you if you want technical site audits, which none of the five tools does
- Tight if you research in bursts, since lookups are capped per 24 hours, 100 on Basic
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $61 for Basic against $37.70 billed yearly, with refunds only within 48 hours
- Too light for teams on Basic, which has no extra seats; sub-users on higher plans share one set of limits
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAKafkaiWeak | 2.0GPAMangoolsFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPay-as-you-go credits in yen: ¥1,000 buys 1,000 credits, enough for one project with one competitor. It isn't a monthly plan, so it can't be set against the category cleanly. | CBasic is $37.70 a month on yearly billing ($61 monthly), exactly this category's middle. That buys 100 keyword lookups a day, 200 tracked keywords and 500 AI prompts. Paying monthly costs a lot more, and refunds only run for 48 hours. |
| Free plan and trial | C1,000 free credits on signup with no card, valid for 90 days. | CA free plan with no card: 5 keyword lookups every 24 hours, each showing 15 related keywords. Enough to see how it works, not enough to do research. There's no trial of the paid plans. |
| Features | DKeyword, competitor and backlink research, with Search Console data and WordPress drafts. It needs an AI assistant to be useful and has no writing tool. | CKeyword research down to city level, SERP checks, rank tracking, backlinks from Majestic's index, domain metrics and AI answer tracking on every plan. The gaps: rankings update weekly except on Agency, and none of the five tools audits your site. |
| Ease of use | DAbout 30 minutes of one-time MCP setup through an AI assistant. | CNo rating on record. The tools are pitched at bloggers, but daily lookup caps and setting up rank tracking take some getting used to. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and WordPress. | CWeb plus a browser extension, with Looker Studio the one integration on the listing. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | search research for an AI assistant | keyword research for bloggers |
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: Kafkai and Mangools. How we grade
Where they differ
At a glance
| Kafkai | Mangools | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | ¥1,000 one-time top-up for 1,000 credits (¥1,100 with consumption tax) | $37.70 per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Free plan, no card needed: 5 KWFinder lookups per 24 hours, each showing 15 related and 5 competitor keywords, plus the free mini tools. |
| Free trial | 1,000 free credits on signup, no credit card; credits are valid for 90 days | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Kafkai Giken, Inc. | Mangools (CodeCat s.r.o.) |
| Price read from | kafkai.com | mangools.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Kafkai
- Prices are in Japanese yen and include Japanese consumption tax; the checkout works out tax from the billing address.
- Credits expire 90 days after they are granted or bought.
- It does not track rankings on a schedule; research runs only when asked.
- It is used through an AI assistant over MCP, with a roughly 30-minute one-time setup, and has no writing tool of its own.
Mangools
- Rank tracking updates weekly except on the Agency plan, which updates daily.
- Basic has no extra seats; sub-users on Premium and Agency share the parent account's limits.
- Lookups reset every 24 hours, so heavy research days can hit the cap.
- Refunds are offered only within 48 hours of a payment.
Key features
Kafkai
- Keywords and content gaps
- Lists the keywords a site ranks for with position and monthly search volume, and the keywords competitors rank for that it does not.
- Competitor finding
- Returns the sites that rank for the same searches and how far their keywords overlap with yours.
- Backlinks
- Shows who links to a site, new and lost links by date, and the sites that link to competitors but not to you.
- Search Console for your own site
- After you prove the domain with a DNS record, pages and searches losing clicks can be read through the same AI.
- Amazon and Google Shopping checks
- Shows where a product appears in Amazon and Google Shopping results for a keyword, in the supported countries, at 5 credits per keyword.
- WordPress drafts
- Your AI writes the article and Kafkai sends it to a WordPress site as a draft; Kafkai itself does not write or store articles.
Mangools
- KWFinder
- Find keyword ideas with search volume and a keyword difficulty score, by keyword or by the domain that ranks, for locations down to city level.
- SERPChecker
- Inspect localized search results with SERP features and metrics for every ranking page; each check counts as one SERP lookup.
- SERPWatcher
- Track rankings for 200 to 1,500 keywords; updates are weekly, or daily on the Agency plan. Desktop and mobile count separately.
- LinkMiner and SiteProfiler
- Browse a site's backlinks, drawn from Majestic's index, and get an overview of any domain's SEO metrics.
- AI Search Watcher PRO
- Included in every plan: monitor up to 500 prompts across several AI models, with unlimited monitors and multiple checks per prompt.
Plans
Kafkai
1,000 credits¥1,000
one-time top-up, used as you go (Â¥1,100 with consumption tax)
1,000 credits, enough for one project with one competitor, per the features page.
3,000 credits¥3,000
one-time top-up, used as you go (Â¥3,300 with consumption tax)
3,000 credits with no bonus.
5,000 credits¥5,000
one-time top-up, used as you go (Â¥5,500 with consumption tax)
5,000 credits with no bonus.
10,500 credits¥10,000
one-time top-up, used as you go (Â¥11,000 with consumption tax)
10,000 credits plus a 5% bonus.
22,000 credits¥20,000
one-time top-up, used as you go (Â¥22,000 with consumption tax)
20,000 credits plus a 10% bonus.
Mangools
Free$0
5 keyword lookups per 24 hours with 15 related and 5 competitor keywords per lookup.
Mangools Basic$37.70
per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly)
1 user, 100 keyword and 100 SERP lookups per 24 hours, 200 tracked keywords updated weekly, 100,000 backlinks a month, 500 AI prompts.
Mangools Premium$52.70
per month, billed annually ($81 billed monthly)
3 extra seats, 500 keyword and SERP lookups per 24 hours, 700 tracked keywords updated weekly, 500,000 backlinks a month.
Mangools Agency$97.70
per month, billed annually ($141 billed monthly)
5 extra seats, 1,200 keyword and SERP lookups per 24 hours, 1,500 tracked keywords updated daily, 1.2 million backlinks a month.
Ways to pay less
Kafkai
No public discounts listed.
Mangools
- Annual discount
Save up to 35% with annual billing
Mangools' FAQ puts the saving from annual plans at up to 35%. Basic is $452.40 a year billed annually against $61 a month billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Kafkai or Mangools?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Kafkai starts at ¥1,000 one-time top-up for 1,000 credits (¥1,100 with consumption tax), and Mangools starts at $37.70 per month, billed annually ($61 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Kafkai or Mangools?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Mangools has a free plan. Kafkai does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Kafkai and Mangools run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Mangools lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.