MarketMuse vs Topic (2026): which should you pick?

Pick MarketMuse if

• Fits if you plan topic clusters across a whole site, not one post at a time
• Works for agencies handing detailed briefs to outside writers

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to see a price before talking to sales, as no paid plan shows one
• Tight if you're staying free, at 10 queries a month with no inventory, tracked topics or briefs
• Watch out: only Strategy gets all nine brief types, and the other plans get the article brief
• Pricey if your team grows, since extra users and extra tracked topics are bought on top

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

MarketMuse

• Paid plan prices are not published; the pricing page asks you to book a demo.
• The Free plan has 10 queries a month and no site inventory, tracked topics or briefs.
• Only the Strategy plan has all nine brief types; the others get the article brief.
• Extra users and extra tracked topics are bought separately from the account's subscription settings.

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• The pricing page still carries a summer sale banner that expired in July 2021, so its figures may be out of date.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.

MarketMuse

Content inventory

Paid plans keep an inventory of a site's published pages and topics, updated automatically, with tracked topics you want to rank for.

Personalized difficulty

Scores each topic from 1 to 100 for how hard it is for your own site to rank, based on your existing coverage and performance.

Optimize editor

Grades a draft against a topic model of related subtopics, compares it with any of the top 20 ranking pages and has a generative AI writing aid.

Content briefs

Briefs with outlines, questions and linking suggestions in nine types, such as how-to, comparison and listicle. Lower plans get the article type only.

Content strategy documents

Generated documents that suggest topic clusters and a content plan, with keyword, intent and competitor data behind each recommendation.

Competitor and SERP analysis

SERP X-ray and the heatmaps show how the ranking pages cover a topic and where competitors leave gaps.

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.

MarketMuse

• Free$0

  1 user and 10 queries a month across the research applications. No inventory, tracked topics or briefs.

• OptimizeCustom

  1 user, 1 site inventory, 100 tracked topics, 100 queries, 5 article briefs and 1 strategy document a month. Price not published.

• ResearchCustom

  3 users, 1,000 tracked topics, unlimited queries, 10 article briefs and 3 strategy documents a month. Price not published.

• StrategyCustom

  5 users, 10,000 tracked topics, unlimited queries, 20 briefs a month in all 9 brief types and 5 strategy documents. Price not published.

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.

MarketMuse

No public discounts listed.

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.