Both grade a draft against what ranks and add an AI-search score. Surfer goes deeper on keyword and topic research; the rebuilt Frase goes further into drafting, publishing, refreshing and AI tracking on a small budget.
Surfer SEO is built around its Content Editor: it grades drafts against the live SERP, researches keywords and topics, audits published pages, and tracks five AI engines from its Pro plan. Frase, rebuilt from scratch in February 2026, runs through to publishing: its agent drafts articles, publishes them to your CMS and republishes fixes, with AI search tracking on every plan. Choose Surfer SEO if keyword research and a deep editor matter most and you’ll pay for Pro. Choose Frase if you’re a small team that wants drafting, publishing and AI tracking for less.
Choose Surfer SEO if…
Keyword research with volume and difficulty is how you plan content
A team of three to ten works each draft by hand in one editor
You want Google AI Mode and AI Overviews tracked daily, and will pay for Pro
Choose Frase if…
You want drafts published straight to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity or Wix
You're one to three people and want AI tracking and an API from $39 a month
You'd like to try it for a week without entering a card
Rounds wonSurfer SEO 1, Frase 3, 3 drawsSurfer SEO 1Surfer SEO winsDrawDrawDrawFrase winsFrase winsFrase wins3 Frase
Every round names a winner and says why. Where the gap is too small to decide anything, it's a draw.
Surfer SEO 1, Frase 3, 3 draws1Surfer SEO winsDrawDrawDrawFrase winsFrase winsFrase wins3
Round 1
Draw
Content scoring
Draw: both grade drafts live against the ranking pages, with an AI-search score beside the SEO one. Ahrefs’ 2025 study found only weak links between content-tool scores and rankings, so treat either as a checklist.
Surfer SEO
Surfer’s Content Score is split into an SEO Score and an AI Search Score, whose Intent Alignment check reads the intro and facts. Its guidelines list entities with recommended placement and frequency, and you can edit the competitor list it scores against.
Frase
Frase gives a live SEO score against the pages ranking for the query, with a ranked list of what to add, and a separate GEO score with named fixes: a direct answer up top, the entities the topic expects, a citable fact. Its guidance works in topics and entities rather than term counts.
Round 2
Draw
Briefs & research
Draw: Frase’s research ends in a structured brief, while Surfer builds the outline inside its editor and adds a Topical Map on Pro.
Surfer SEO
Surfer’s Outline Builder sits inside the Content Editor, which analyzes the top-ranking competitors for the query. From Standard up, a shareable link lets writers without a Surfer seat edit the draft against live guidelines.
Frase
Frase reads the ranking pages for structure and word count, surfaces the gaps, and ends in a brief listing the headings, sections, keywords and sources to cover. Its free SERP analyzer runs the same kind of read without an account.
Round 3
Frase wins
AI writing & publishing
Frase, on volume and reach: 40 articles a month on Professional against 30 Surfer documents on Standard or Pro, published straight to your CMS.
Surfer SEO
Surfer AI writes a full article of 2,000 words or more in about 20 minutes, in 18 languages, and has added internal and external links since June 2026. Each one uses a Document, the same limit as a manual editor, and it reaches your site through the WordPress plugin, Contentful or Google Docs, from Standard up.
Frase
Round winner
Frase’s agent drafts full articles with images in your brand voice, 10, 40 or 100 a month by plan, in 70+ languages. It publishes to WordPress (filling Yoast and Rank Math fields), Webflow, Sanity, Wix or its hosted FraseCMS, and publishes on its own only if you switch that on.
Round 4
Surfer SEO wins
Keyword & topic research
Surfer, clearly: keyword research with volume, difficulty and clusters from Standard, a Topical Map from Pro, and the free Keyword Surfer extension.
Surfer SEO
Round winner
Surfer’s Keyword Research shows volume, difficulty and clusters from the Standard plan. Its Topical Map finds competitive gaps and semantic clusters from Pro, and the free Keyword Surfer Chrome extension covers 70 countries.
Frase
Frase’s Topic Clusters map pillar and supporting pages, detect gaps and suggest new clusters, alongside SERP and question research. Its current feature pages don’t show search volume or difficulty, so plan to bring demand data from another tool.
Round 5
Frase wins
Refreshing existing content
Frase, narrowly: Content Guard reads Search Console, drafts the fix and republishes it on your approval, and a site audit comes with every plan.
Surfer SEO
Surfer’s Content Audit reads Search Console for 10 to 500 tracked pages by plan and sends weekly opportunity emails, with rank-drop alerts from Standard. Auto-Optimize reworks a page in the editor; the site Audit and cannibalization report start at Pro, and republishing is yours to do.
Frase
Round winner
Content Guard reads Search Console, drafts a fix and republishes on approval, or automatically if you opt in, on 10, 75 or 300 pages by plan. Site Audit checks technical, content and AI-readiness issues, cannibalization included, metered at 50 to 1,000 pages a month.
Round 6
Draw
AI search tracking
Draw: Frase tracks more prompts per dollar and on every plan, while Surfer covers all five of its engines, Google AI Mode included, from Pro.
Surfer SEO
Surfer’s AI Tracker comes with every plan from Standard, which tracks 25 prompts on ChatGPT weekly. Pro tracks 50 prompts daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, with mention gap, sentiment, exact answers and fan-out queries.
Frase
Frase’s AI Visibility tracks daily on every plan: 50 prompts on ChatGPT and Google AI on Starter, 200 adding Perplexity on Professional, 500 adding Claude and Gemini on Scale. It reports cited URLs and their positions, sentiment, 40+ countries and competitor benchmarks; fixes are a separate step.
Round 7
Frase wins
Pricing & value for a small team
Frase, for a small team: it starts lower, includes AI tracking, site audits and the API on every plan, and its trial needs no card.
Surfer SEO
Surfer’s Discovery plan is $49 a month billed yearly and doesn’t include AI tracking, keyword research or integrations, so Standard, at $99 with three seats, is the realistic entry. Its 7-day Pro trial takes a card and converts to a paid plan unless you cancel.
Frase
Round winner
Frase Starter is $39 a month billed yearly with one seat, AI tracking and 5,000 API requests; Professional is $103 with three seats, close to Surfer Standard. Its 7-day trial needs no card, and overage stays off unless you turn it on.
Your situation
Which one fits you?
Three questions. The pick updates as you answer, and tells you why.
Your pick
VS
Answer the questions and the better fit for your situation shows up here.
Feature by feature
Everything else, in 18 rows
Where a product isn't built for something, the cell says what it's built for instead.
IncludedIncludedPartly, or as an add-onPartly, or as an add-onNot what it's built forNot what it's built for
Capability
Surfer SEO
Frase
Optimize & write
Live content score
Surfer SEO
Included
SEO Score and AI Search Score against the SERP
Frase
Included
SEO score plus a separate GEO score
Term & entity guidance
Surfer SEO
Included
Entities with placement and frequency targets
Frase
Partly, or as an add-on
Topics, questions and expected entities; no term counts
Briefs & outlines
Surfer SEO
Included
Outline Builder; shareable editor links from Standard
Frase
Included
Research ends in a structured brief
AI article drafting
Surfer SEO
Included
Surfer AI in 18 languages; shares the Documents limit
Frase
Included
Agent drafts with images; 10, 40 or 100 a month
Languages
Surfer SEO
Included
Editor: all languages · AI writing: 18
Frase
Included
70+ languages, per Frase
Research & refresh
Keyword research
Surfer SEO
Included
Volume, difficulty and clusters from Standard
Frase
Partly, or as an add-on
SERP and question research; volume not documented
Topic mapping
Surfer SEO
Partly, or as an add-on
Topical Map, from Pro
Frase
Included
Topic Clusters: pillars, gaps, suggestions
Content audit & decay
Surfer SEO
Included
Search Console audit of 10–500 pages; rank-drop alerts
Frase
Included
Site Audit on every plan, metered by pages
Refresh & republish
Surfer SEO
Partly, or as an add-on
Auto-Optimize in the editor; you republish
Frase
Included
Content Guard drafts fixes, republishes on approval
Internal linking
Surfer SEO
Partly, or as an add-on
Inserts up to 10 links in one click, from Pro
Frase
Partly, or as an add-on
Suggestions from Professional
AI search
AI visibility tracking
Surfer SEO
Included
From Standard; daily on 5 engines from Pro
Frase
Included
Every plan; engines added by tier
Engines covered
Surfer SEO
Included
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews
Frase
Included
ChatGPT, Google AI, Perplexity; Claude, Gemini on Scale
Sentiment & competitor gaps
Surfer SEO
Included
Mention gap and sentiment
Frase
Included
Sentiment and competitor benchmarks
Publishing & plan
Publishes to your CMS
Surfer SEO
Partly, or as an add-on
WordPress plugin, Contentful, Zapier from Standard
Frase
Included
WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix, FraseCMS
Auto-publishing
Surfer SEO
Not what it's built for
Not its focus: optimize, export, monitor
Frase
Included
Agent publishes on its own if you switch it on
API & MCP
Surfer SEO
Partly, or as an add-on
API from Peace of Mind; MCP in beta from Pro
Frase
Included
REST API, MCP server and CLI on every plan
Seats
Surfer SEO
Included
1, 3, 5 or 10 by plan
Frase
Partly, or as an add-on
1, 3 or 5; extra seats $29 a month
Free trial
Surfer SEO
Partly, or as an add-on
7 days of Pro; card required, auto-converts
Frase
Included
7 days, no card; Professional features, capped
Pricing
What each one costs
Published list prices, read from both pricing pages on September 21, 2026.
Surfer SEO
Tiered by seats, metered in Documents
Starts at
$59/month· $49/mo billed yearly
Discovery
1 seat, 120 documents a year, 10 tracked pages; no AI tracking
$59/mo
$49/mo yearly
Standard
3 seats, 30 documents a month, 25 ChatGPT prompts weekly, keyword research
Surfer’s trial needs a card and converts to a paid plan unless you cancel; yearly plans are charged upfront, and unused limits don’t roll over. Extra prompts and tracked pages cost more (Pro from 50 to 100 prompts shows +$51), Rank Tracker is still a separate add-on, and AI Search Analytics is tracking only, with no Content Editor. Frase’s Starter stops at its limits; on Professional and Scale, overage is off by default and costs $5 an article on Professional if you turn it on. Extra Frase seats are $29 a month, and FraseCMS hosting is free with a badge or $19 to $99 a month. Prices quoted for either tool before 2026 describe retired plans.
A third option · from the team that wrote this page
If you want articles delivered, not a platform to operate
Surfer and Frase both assume someone at the controls: Surfer’s editor grades the drafts writers work on, and Frase’s agent drafts and publishes inside a workspace you configure. Rankbox, which publishes this comparison, is for teams that want a fixed set of finished articles. It maps the questions your buyers ask, writes long-form articles from live web research with the sources cited, scores every draft for SEO and AI-answer readiness, and delivers them on a schedule through its publishing API, at $49.50 a month for 30 articles. For research depth your writers use, Surfer is still the better buy; for an agent and site audits you steer, Frase is.
Maps the questions your buyers ask, starting from your site and category
Writes long-form articles from live web research, with the sources cited
Scores every draft for SEO and AI-answer readiness before it goes out
Delivers finished articles on a schedule through its publishing API
Yes, at the entry level. Frase Starter is $39 a month billed yearly or $49 monthly and includes AI tracking and the API; Surfer Discovery is $49 or $59 and includes neither. With three seats they’re close: Surfer Standard is $99 or $119, Frase Professional $103 or $129. Both pricing pages were checked on 21 September 2026.
QIs Frase still worth it after the 2026 rebuild?
It’s worth judging as a new product, because it is one. “The New Frase”, announced on 2 February 2026, was a ground-up rebuild that added an agent that can auto-publish, hosted FraseCMS, Content Guard, AI Visibility, an MCP server and a CLI. Most public reviews describe the old app, so independent evidence on the current one is thin; its 7-day trial needs no card, which makes it cheap to check.
QDoes Surfer SEO include AI search tracking?
Yes, on every plan from Standard up; since 18 May 2026 its AI Tracker is part of the plans, not an add-on. Standard tracks 25 prompts on ChatGPT weekly, and Pro tracks 50 prompts daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews. Discovery has no AI tracking, and the separate AI Search Analytics plan sells tracking alone from $82 a month billed yearly.
QDo Surfer SEO and Frase have an API or MCP server?
Both do, on different plans. Frase includes its REST API, MCP server and CLI on every plan, with 5,000 to 50,000 API requests a month by tier. Surfer’s API is on Peace of Mind and Enterprise, and Surfer MCP, in beta since 11 August 2026, is rolling out to Pro, Peace of Mind and Enterprise.
QWhich has a free trial without a credit card?
Frase. Its 7-day trial needs no card and gives Professional’s features, capped at 5 articles, 50 audit pages and 25 AI prompts. Surfer’s 7-day trial gives Pro access but asks for card details at checkout and converts to a paid plan unless you cancel. Neither offers a free plan.
QWhich is better for keyword research?
Surfer. From Standard up it includes keyword research with search volume, difficulty and clusters, adds a Topical Map on Pro, and offers the free Keyword Surfer Chrome extension. Frase’s current pages document topic clusters and SERP and question research, without search-volume or difficulty figures.
QWhich supports more languages?
Frase claims more: 70+ languages, written natively rather than translated. Surfer’s Content Editor works with any language, and Surfer AI writes full articles in 18.
QWho owns Surfer and Frase?
Neither is independent. Positive, a French group, acquired Surfer in October 2025, and the product is now branded Positive Surfer. Frase is operated by Copysmith AI, Inc., which announced its acquisition of Frase in October 2022.