Topic review (2026): is it worth $99 a month?
Content briefs, outlines and a draft grader for SEO writers
Black Friday: is there a Topic sale?
Topic report card
Weak · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for content briefs and draft grading for SEO writers
Topic builds a brief from the top 30 Google results and grades your draft against it. It starts at $99 a month for 10 briefs, and the pricing page still carries a sale banner from 2021.
Who Topic is for
- Fits if you write by hand and want a checklist from the top results
- Works for agencies producing 25 to 50 briefs a month
Who Topic is not for
- 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
Why Topic gets a 1.6
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- DValue for money$99 a month for 10 briefs, $199 for 25, $299 for 50, where the dearest tenth of this category starts at $99.
- DFree plan and trialA 7-day trial that costs $7 for 3 briefs, and no free plan.
- CFeaturesBriefs, an outline builder, a draft grader, geo-targeting, and WordPress and Google Docs plugins. It researches and grades, and writing is up to you.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. A brief has to be turned into an outline and a draft before it pays off.
- CPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with WordPress and Google Docs as the two named connections.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Topic's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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Paste this where you want the badge. It links here and follows the grade if it changes. About badges
<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/topic-seo#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/topic-seo.svg" alt="Topic: 1.6 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Topic stands among SEO content tools
Topic's GPA of 1.6 is higher than 2 of the 93 other SEO content tools we grade, and level with 4.
It stands best on features (C, above 1 of 93) and worst on value for money (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $99 a month, against a middle price of $47 for the category: 66 of the 86 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 51 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 94 SEO content tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Topic’s own letter is outlined.
- DValue for moneyAbove 0 of 93, level with 21
- DFree plan and trialAbove 19 of 93, level with 22
- CFeaturesAbove 1 of 93, level with 46
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 93, level with 88
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 1 of 93, level with 27
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 87 SEO content tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Topic, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Topic 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: 87 of the 93 other SEO content tools grade higher. It costs $1,188 a year.
What you could not
- Search volumes for millions of keywords, gathered and kept up to date.
- A library of papers and sources to search.
- A score built from what the top results for each keyword cover.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- Sharing with other people, which means accounts and invitations.
What this rests on. Topic’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Topic?
Topic builds content briefs from the top 30 Google results for a focus keyword, listing the headings, questions and keywords to cover. Editors turn the research into an outline, then run a draft through a Content Grader that points out topical gaps. The homepage says Topic has joined the CafeMedia family.
Worth knowing
- 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
- 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.
Topic pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Topic is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $99 per month for 10 content briefs, billed monthly.
- Starts at
- $99 per month for 10 content briefs, billed monthly
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 7-day trial: 3 content briefs for $7
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99per 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 | $199per 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 | $299per month for 50 briefs, billed monthly | 50 content briefs and optimizations a month for agencies, with 5 users and 1 month of rollover. |
| Enterprise | Custom | For larger volumes or API access; the pricing page says to contact the company. |
Read from usetopic.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Topic before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discount20% 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.
Stated on usetopic.com
Works with
Topic alternatives
- Topic vs MarketMuse
Free plan
- Topic vs Page Optimizer Pro
From $40/mo
- Topic vs Dashword
Free trial · from $99/mo
- Topic vs Content Harmony
Free trial · from $50/mo
- Topic vs Rankability
Free trial · from $97/mo
Common questions
Does Topic have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Topic is listed for Web.
Does Topic have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Topic is listed for Web.
Is Topic open source?
Topic is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026.