Should I use Frase or Surfer?

Use Frase if you want an AI agent to draft, publish and refresh articles across your CMS with API access on every plan; use Surfer if your writers need a live Content Score inside Google Docs or WordPress.

Is Frase cheaper than Surfer?

Yes at the entry and top tiers — Frase Starter is $39/month billed yearly ($49 monthly) against $49 ($59) for Surfer Discovery, and Frase Scale is $239 ($299) against $299 ($359) for Surfer Peace of Mind. In the middle, Surfer Standard ($99 billed yearly) is slightly cheaper than Frase Professional ($103).

Can Surfer replace Frase?

Yes for teams whose writers optimize drafts in an editor, since Surfer covers briefs, AI drafting, internal linking and content audits. Teams that rely on Frase's one-click publishing to Webflow, Sanity or Wix should check Surfer's integrations (WordPress, Google Docs, Contentful, Zapier), and Surfer's API requires Peace of Mind.

Does Frase have a free trial?

Yes — Frase offers a 7-day trial with no credit card, including MCP, CLI and API access. Surfer's 7-day Pro trial needs a card and converts to the plan chosen at checkout unless cancelled.

Do Frase and Surfer track AI search results?

Yes, both do: Frase tracks AI citations on every plan, starting with ChatGPT and Google AI, and Surfer tracks brand mentions from its Standard plan (ChatGPT only, weekly), with daily tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews from Pro.

Frase vs Surfer (2026)

By Noahlast updated October 26, 2026

Verdict: Choose Frase if you want one tool to research, draft, publish and refresh SEO articles across WordPress, Webflow, Sanity or Wix, with API, MCP and CLI access on every plan. Choose Surfer if your writers need a live Content Score inside Google Docs or WordPress, plus a plagiarism checker and a higher document cap at the top tier. The deciding factor is workflow: Frase automates publishing and refreshes from $39/month billed yearly, while Surfer centers on its scored editor from $49/month billed yearly.

Frase

A content platform that researches, drafts, scores, publishes and refreshes SEO articles and tracks AI-search citations, for content marketers and agencies running one to ten sites.

Pricing: From $49/mo
License: Paid

Best for Publishing new SEO blog posts and refreshing decaying ones on WordPress, Webflow, Sanity or Wix from a single queue, with every draft and fix waiting for human approval.

Visit frase.io Read our review

Surfer

An AI SEO content platform that scores drafts against the pages ranking on Google and tracks brand mentions in AI answers, for content teams and agencies.

Pricing: From $59/mo
License: Paid

Best for Briefing and optimizing blog articles so in-house or freelance writers hit SERP-based targets inside a shared, scored editor in the browser, Google Docs or WordPress.

Visit surfer.ai Read our review

Which should you choose?

Choose Frase if…

wins 3/6 use cases

You want to publish in one click to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix or FraseCMS, which is free up to 100,000 page views a month
You want decaying pages caught and fixed: Frase Content Guard monitors rankings and traffic and drafts a revision for your approval
You need API, MCP and CLI access on every plan, from 5,000 to 50,000 requests a month; Surfer keeps API access for Peace of Mind ($299/month billed yearly)
You want more AI prompts at mid-tier: Frase Professional tracks 200 prompts across ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity for $129/month, Surfer Standard 25 weekly ChatGPT prompts for $119/month
You want a trial without a credit card and a Starter plan that stops at its limits instead of billing overages

Choose Surfer if…

wins 3/6 use cases

Your writers work in Google Docs or WordPress and need a live Content Score out of 100 against the pages that rank
You want a plagiarism checker, an AI humanizer and one-click Auto-Optimize in the same subscription
You need high volume: Surfer Peace of Mind allows up to 500 documents a month under its fair-use cap, while Frase Scale includes 100 articles a month
You want AI-answer tracking without content tools, which Surfer sells as AI Search Analytics for $95/month ($82 billed yearly) with daily refresh
You hand drafts to external writers through shareable editor links that need no Surfer login

Frase vs Surfer: feature comparison

Feature	Frase	Surfer
Free tier	No7-day trial, no credit card	No7-day Pro trial, card required
Starting price	Yesfrom $39/month billed yearly, $49 monthly (Starter)	Yesfrom $49/month billed yearly, $59 monthly (Discovery)
Mid tier	Yes$103/month billed yearly, $129 monthly (Professional): 3 seats, 5 sites	Yes$99/month billed yearly, $119 monthly (Standard): 3 seats
Top self-serve tier	Yes$239/month billed yearly, $299 monthly (Scale): 5 seats, 10 domains	Yes$299/month billed yearly, $359 monthly (Peace of Mind): 10 seats
Content volume	Yes10, 40 or 100 articles a month; optional overage $4-$5 per article	Yes120 or 360 documents a year; up to 500 a month on Peace of Mind
Draft scoring	Yesseparate SEO and GEO scores on every draft	Yeslive Content Score out of 100 against ranking pages
AI drafting	YesAI agent drafts in your brand voice	YesSurfer AI and Surfy assistant, custom voice
Publishing	Yesone click to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix or FraseCMS	Partialworks inside WordPress, Google Docs and Contentful
Content refresh	YesContent Guard drafts fixes, on 10 to 300 pages by plan	YesContent Audit; rank-drop alerts from Standard
AI-answer tracking	Yesevery plan: 50, 200 or 500 prompts; Claude and Gemini on Scale	Yesfrom Standard (25 weekly ChatGPT prompts); daily across all models from Pro
API, MCP and CLI	Yeson every plan, 5,000-50,000 requests/month	PartialMCP from Pro ($182/month billed yearly); API on Peace of Mind only
Plagiarism checker and humanizer	Unknown	Yeshumanizer on every plan; plagiarism checker from Standard
Languages	Yeswrites natively in 70+ languages	Unknown
Seats and collaboration	Partial1 to 5 seats; extra seats $29/month on Professional	Yes1 to 10 seats; shareable editor links for writers without a login
Agency reporting	Partialexportable client reports on Scale; white-label on Enterprise	Partialwhite-label on Enterprise
External ratings	Yes3.7/5 from 66 reviews (Trustpilot); 4.8/5 from 307+ reviews (G2, cited by Frase)	Yes4.2/5 from 223 reviews (Trustpilot)

Frase vs Surfer: pricing

Every tier both tools publish, as we last checked them — not just the entry price.

Frase

StarterBilled monthly ($39/month billed yearly); 1 seat, 1 site, 10 articles and 50 audit pages a month, 50 AI Visibility prompts on ChatGPT and Google AI, Content Guard on 10 pages; holds at its limits with no overage billing.$49/mo
ProfessionalBilled monthly ($103/month billed yearly); 3 seats, 5 sites, 40 articles and 250 audit pages a month, 200 prompts with Perplexity added, Content Guard on 75 pages, content calendar and internal linking; extra seats $29/month, optional overage at $5 per article.$129/mo
ScaleBilled monthly ($239/month billed yearly); 5 seats, up to 10 domains, 100 articles and 1,000 audit pages a month, 500 prompts with Claude and Gemini added, Content Guard on 300 pages, exportable client reports; optional overage at $4 per article.$299/mo
EnterpriseCustom seats, domains and limits; white-label reports and branded client portal, SSO/SAML, SLA, dedicated account manager, 24 months of history.Custom

Verified October 23, 2026Latest pricing

Surfer

DiscoveryBilled monthly ($49/month billed yearly); 120 documents a year on annual billing, 10 tracked pages, 1 seat, 1 brand workspace, Surfy assistant and humanizer; no AI prompt tracking.$59/mo
AI Search AnalyticsBilled monthly ($82/month billed yearly); tracking only: 50 AI prompts refreshed daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, mention gaps and sentiment, 5 brand spaces, 5 seats, MCP. 100 prompts cost $185/month.$95/mo
StandardBilled monthly ($99/month billed yearly); 360 documents a year on annual billing, 50 tracked pages, 3 seats, 1 brand workspace, 25 AI prompts tracked weekly in ChatGPT only, plagiarism checker, rank-drop alerts, WordPress, Google Docs, Contentful and Zapier integrations.$119/mo
ProBilled monthly ($182/month billed yearly); 360 documents a year, 200 tracked pages, 5 seats, 5 brand workspaces, 50 AI prompts tracked daily across all models, 1-click internal linking, content gap ideas, 10 custom templates, cannibalization report, MCP.$219/mo
Peace of MindBilled monthly ($299/month billed yearly); unlimited documents under a fair-use cap of 500 a month (6,000 a year), 500 tracked pages, 10 seats, unlimited brand workspaces, 100 AI prompts tracked daily, API access, dedicated success manager.$359/mo
EnterpriseCustom limits and pricing; SSO, white-label, advisory program, legal onboarding and priority support.Custom

Verified October 23, 2026Latest pricing

Frase vs Surfer pricing: which costs less?

Frase costs less at the entry level, $39/month billed yearly ($49 monthly) against Surfer's $49 ($59), and at the top self-serve tier, $239 ($299) against $299 ($359), while Surfer Standard undercuts Frase Professional slightly in the middle at $99 versus $103 billed yearly.

The two meter different things. Frase counts articles: 10 a month on Starter, 40 on Professional and 100 on Scale, with optional overages at $5 or $4 per article, and Starter stops at its limits instead of billing overages. Surfer counts documents: 120 a year on Discovery and 360 on Standard and Pro under annual billing, and up to 500 a month on Peace of Mind under fair use; unused documents never roll over, and annual plans are charged upfront. Surfer's tracking-only AI Search Analytics plan costs $95/month ($82 billed yearly).

Which is better for AI search visibility, Frase or Surfer?

Frase includes AI-answer tracking on every plan and more prompts at the middle tier, 200 on Professional across ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity, while Surfer tracks daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews only from Pro ($182/month billed yearly) or on its tracking-only AI Search Analytics plan.

Surfer Discovery has no prompt tracking, and Surfer Standard tracks 25 prompts weekly in ChatGPT only. Surfer Pro tracks 50 prompts daily across all models and Peace of Mind 100, and Surfer AI Search Analytics adds mention gaps and sentiment for 50 daily prompts at $95/month ($82 billed yearly). Frase tracks 50 prompts on Starter in ChatGPT and Google AI, 200 on Professional with Perplexity added, and 500 on Scale with Claude and Gemini, and gives every draft a GEO score for AI citation.

Which is better for writers, Frase or Surfer?

Surfer is built around the writer, with a live Content Score out of 100, Auto-Optimize and an editor that runs inside Google Docs and WordPress, while Frase is built around a pipeline in which an AI agent drafts, scores, publishes and refreshes articles for approval.

Surfer's Content Editor analyzes the ranking pages (500+ signals, per Surfer) and updates guidelines for structure, length, terms and entities as writers type; shareable editor links let external writers work without a Surfer login, and Surfer adds a plagiarism checker and AI humanizer. Frase writes natively in 70+ languages, scores each draft for Google and for AI citation, publishes to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix or FraseCMS, and by default waits for approval before any change goes live.

Which has better reviews, Frase or Surfer?

Surfer rates higher on Trustpilot, 4.2/5 from 223 reviews against Frase's 3.7/5 from 66, while Frase cites 4.8/5 from 307+ G2 reviews.

Frase's Trustpilot reviewers report inconsistent features, slow support and lifetime-deal buyers who say they lost access or were left behind when the platform was rebuilt. Surfer's Trustpilot reviewers report price increases, expired credits and charges after cancellation; Surfer's 7-day Pro trial needs a card and converts unless cancelled, while Frase's 7-day trial needs no card. Surfer reports 150,000+ customers in 159+ countries, including ClickUp, Lenovo and Shopify.

Strengths and weaknesses

Frase

Pros

SEO and GEO scores on every draft show what is still missing for Google and for AI citation before anything publishes.
Publishes directly to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity and Wix, or to FraseCMS, which is free up to 100,000 page views a month.
MCP server, CLI and API on every plan, from 5,000 to 50,000 requests a month, including during the trial.
7-day trial with no credit card, and Starter stops at its limits instead of billing overages.
Writes natively in 70+ languages rather than translating.

Cons

Only 10 articles a month on Starter and 40 on Professional; overages cost $5 per article on Professional and $4 on Scale.
AI Visibility covers ChatGPT and Google AI on Starter; Perplexity needs Professional, and Claude and Gemini need Scale.
Starter keeps current data only, with no reporting history; Professional keeps 3 months.
White-label reports and client portals are Enterprise-only, so agencies on Scale get plain exportable reports.

Surfer

Pros

Content Score and live guidelines give writers a concrete target for terms, structure and length on every draft.
Works inside Google Docs and WordPress (free plugin), and shareable editor links let external writers work without a Surfer login.
One subscription covers briefs, AI drafting (Surfer AI and Surfy), plagiarism checks, internal linking and content audits.
AI Tracker reports mention gaps, sentiment and cited sources for tracked prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI answers.
Annual billing saves up to 17% (up to $720 a year), with the full year's limits granted upfront.

Cons

No free plan; the 7-day Pro trial needs a card and converts to the plan chosen at checkout unless cancelled.
Unused documents and limits never roll over, and annual plans are charged upfront for the whole year.
No backlink analysis, so link research still needs a separate tool such as Ahrefs or Semrush.
Trustpilot reviewers (4.2/5 from 223 reviews) report price increases, expired credits and charges after cancellation.

Which fits your use case?

Use case	Pick	Why
Content team publishing to Webflow, Sanity or Wix	Frase	Frase publishes in one click to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix or FraseCMS; Surfer works inside WordPress, Google Docs and Contentful.
Agency with freelance writers working in Google Docs	Surfer	Surfer's editor runs inside Google Docs, and shareable editor links let external writers work without a Surfer login.
Site with many older posts losing rankings	Frase	Frase's Content Guard watches rankings and traffic and drafts revisions for approval, on 10 to 300 pages by plan, then republishes to the CMS.
High-volume publisher producing hundreds of pieces a month	Surfer	Surfer Peace of Mind allows up to 500 documents a month under fair use for $299/month billed yearly; Frase Scale includes 100 articles a month for $239/month billed yearly.
Developer team automating content through an API	Frase	Frase includes API, MCP and CLI access on every plan, from 5,000 requests a month; Surfer's API needs Peace of Mind ($299/month billed yearly).
Brand team that only wants AI-answer monitoring	Surfer	Surfer AI Search Analytics is a tracking-only plan: 50 daily prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews for $95/month ($82 billed yearly).

Neither a match?

Both lists carry verified pricing and honest weaknesses for every option.

7 alternatives to Frase 6 alternatives to Surfer

Popular comparisons

Frase vs Surfer: migration FAQ

Should I use Frase or Surfer?: Use Frase if you want an AI agent to draft, publish and refresh articles across your CMS with API access on every plan; use Surfer if your writers need a live Content Score inside Google Docs or WordPress.
Is Frase cheaper than Surfer?: Yes at the entry and top tiers — Frase Starter is $39/month billed yearly ($49 monthly) against $49 ($59) for Surfer Discovery, and Frase Scale is $239 ($299) against $299 ($359) for Surfer Peace of Mind. In the middle, Surfer Standard ($99 billed yearly) is slightly cheaper than Frase Professional ($103).
Can Surfer replace Frase?: Yes for teams whose writers optimize drafts in an editor, since Surfer covers briefs, AI drafting, internal linking and content audits. Teams that rely on Frase's one-click publishing to Webflow, Sanity or Wix should check Surfer's integrations (WordPress, Google Docs, Contentful, Zapier), and Surfer's API requires Peace of Mind.
Does Frase have a free trial?: Yes — Frase offers a 7-day trial with no credit card, including MCP, CLI and API access. Surfer's 7-day Pro trial needs a card and converts to the plan chosen at checkout unless cancelled.
Do Frase and Surfer track AI search results?: Yes, both do: Frase tracks AI citations on every plan, starting with ChatGPT and Google AI, and Surfer tracks brand mentions from its Standard plan (ChatGPT only, weekly), with daily tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews from Pro.