# Kafkai review (2026): is it worth paying for? > Search data for your AI: keywords, backlinks and competitors Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Kafkai is now a plugin (MCP) that connects an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT to search data, so questions about what a site ranks for, who links to it and who competes with it are answered from real numbers. It no longer sells the AI article writing it was known for. It is prepaid: credits are bought in packs and spent per question, with no monthly plan. - **Category:** Writing Tools - **Made by:** Kafkai Giken, Inc. - **Website:** https://kafkai.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want an article writer, because there is no writing tool of its own. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Kafkai is a paid product with a free trial, starting at ¥1,000 one-time top-up for 1,000 credits (¥1,100 with consumption tax). - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 1,000 free credits on signup, no credit card; credits are valid for 90 days. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | 1,000 credits | ¥1,000 one-time top-up, used as you go (¥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 (¥3,300 with consumption tax) | 3,000 credits with no bonus. | | 5,000 credits | ¥5,000 one-time top-up, used as you go (¥5,500 with consumption tax) | 5,000 credits with no bonus. | | 10,500 credits | ¥10,000 one-time top-up, used as you go (¥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 (¥22,000 with consumption tax) | 20,000 credits plus a 10% bonus. | Read from https://kafkai.com/en/pricing/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Kafkai before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - People who already work in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and want SEO data inside it - Occasional users who prefer paying per question over a monthly subscription - Online sellers checking Amazon and Google Shopping positions ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 1.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Kafkai gives an AI assistant search data: keywords, backlinks and competitors, paid by credits instead of a monthly plan. It has no writing tool of its own, it runs through MCP with about 30 minutes of setup, and credits expire after 90 days. - **Value for money: C.** Pay-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. - **Free plan and trial: C.** 1,000 free credits on signup with no card, valid for 90 days. - **Features: D.** Keyword, competitor and backlink research, with Search Console data and WordPress drafts. It needs an AI assistant to be useful and has no writing tool. - **Ease of use: D.** About 30 minutes of one-time MCP setup through an AI assistant. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and WordPress. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Kafkai's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among writing tools - Kafkai's GPA of 1.8 is higher than 5 of the 136 other writing tools we grade, and level with 12. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 71 of 136) and worst on features (D, above 0). The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/writing ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Kafkai you would be making search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 119 of the 136 other writing tools grade higher. - You could not: Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date. - You could not: An index of the links between billions of web pages. - You could not: Daily checks of where your pages rank in search results. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor among them. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, WordPress **Tags:** Keyword research, Backlink analysis, Rank tracking, AI features ## Alternatives - [Semrush](https://toolgpa.com/tools/semrush): SEO suite for keyword research, rank tracking and AI search visibility. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kafkai-vs-semrush) - [Ahrefs](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ahrefs): SEO toolset for backlinks, keyword research, audits and rank tracking. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ahrefs-vs-kafkai) - [SE Ranking](https://toolgpa.com/tools/se-ranking): SEO platform for rank tracking, audits, research and AI visibility. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kafkai-vs-se-ranking) - [Mangools](https://toolgpa.com/tools/mangools): Bundle of five SEO tools led by the KWFinder keyword research app. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kafkai-vs-mangools) - [DataForSEO](https://toolgpa.com/tools/dataforseo): Pay-as-you-go APIs for SERP, keyword, backlink and AI mention data. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/dataforseo-vs-kafkai) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://kafkai.com/en/ - https://kafkai.com/en/pricing/ - https://kafkai.com/en/features/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/kafkai Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).