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Comparison · researched 15 September 2026

Frase vs Surfer

By Advik Jain, Co-founder & CEO, Optivus Technologies · Published 12 September 2026 · Updated 15 September 2026

Frase and Surfer are the two best-known content optimisation tools, and both now track AI search. Frase is research-first and runs through to publishing. Surfer is optimisation-first, built around its content score.

The verdict

Frase covers more of the workflow with less commitment: research to publishing, site audits and backlinks, billed monthly with a trial. Surfer has the more developed content score and drafts that link sources as they write, on yearly plans.

Choose Frase if

You want research, drafting, audits and publishing in one tool, billed monthly, with a trial first.

Choose Surfer if

Your writers work to a content score that covers AI search, and you want unlimited documents on the top plan.

At a glanceFraseSurfer
Starting price for AI tracking$49/mo$82/mo, yearly
AI engines on that planAt least 1 of 7At least 3 of 7
RefreshDailyDaily
Score, by our published rules76 of 10062 of 100

Scores are calculated by our published rules, not assigned.

Feature by feature

What each tool does today, on the plans named in each row. Not described means the vendor’s pages do not mention it, which is not the same as the product lacking it.

FeatureFraseSurfer
AI engines on the cheapest tracking plan
ChatGPTYesYes
ClaudeNoUnclear
GeminiNoYes
PerplexityNoUnclear
AI OverviewsUnclearYes
AI ModeUnclearUnclear
CopilotNoUnclear
Research and writing
Research that ends in a briefBriefs and topic clustersTopical Map
Content scoreGoogle and GEOUnified SEO and AI
AI drafts link sources as they writeNot describedYes
Drafts per month10, 40 or 100 articlesUnlimited on Peace of Mind
Tracking
How often AI answers are re-checkedDailyDaily on Pro and up
API or MCP accessMCP and CLIAPI and MCP
SEO and publishing
Site audit and backlinksYesNot described
Ranking decay monitoringContent GuardNot described
Buying
Starting price for AI tracking$49/mo$82/mo, yearly
Free trial7 daysNone listed
BillingMonthly or yearlyYearly only
Security certification in its own nameSOC 2 Type IINone attributed to Surfer
Sources and details for every rowWhat each cell is based on, and the plan it refers to

AI engines on the cheapest tracking plan

Research and writing

Tracking

SEO and publishing

Buying

Need drafts cited to your own documents?

Veritas, which we build, drafts from a knowledge graph of your documents with every knowledge-based claim cited, scores drafts live and tracks five AI engines. It bills per workspace in rupees, so try it on one domain first.

Start your 7-day free trial See pricing

What a year costs

The cheapest published plan that fits each team, over twelve months, with seat fees and required add-ons. Where no published plan fits, the note says why instead of guessing.

ToolOne marketer, one brand1 seat, 50 tracked prompts, 1 brandTeam of five, one brand5 seats, 100 tracked prompts, 1 brandAgency, three brands10 seats, 300 tracked prompts, 3 brands
Frase$588lowest$2,244lowest$5,328lowest
Surfer$984$3,588No published fit1
  1. 1No published plan tracks the prompts this setup needs; larger volumes are arranged with the vendor.

Bars share one scale across the whole table, so cost growth shows as well as rank. A figure far above the rest is marked off scale.

How each figure was worked outPlan, seats and add-ons behind every number

One marketer, one brand

  • Frase: Starter at $49 a month, over twelve months
  • Surfer: AI Search Analytics at $82 a month, over twelve months

Team of five, one brand

  • Frase: Professional at $129 a month, 2 extra seats at $29 each, over twelve months
  • Surfer: Peace of Mind at $299 a month, over twelve months

Agency, three brands

  • Frase: Scale at $299 a month, 5 extra seats at $29 each, over twelve months
  • Surfer: No published plan tracks 300 prompts; larger volumes are arranged with the vendor.

Standard monthly rates, without annual discounts unless a vendor publishes only a yearly price. Taxes, overage and negotiated terms are excluded. Indian rupee figures are converted at 95.2 INR to the US dollar, a rate we maintain by hand and review periodically. It is an approximation, not a live rate, and Veritas bills in rupees.

Veritas is not part of this comparison, but its prices are published if you want to weigh it too.Start a 7-day trialSee pricing

Side by side, question by question

Research and briefs

For new content from scratch, Frase is quicker.

Edge: Frase

Fraseedge
SEO research that ends in a brief, with topic clusters mapped around each topic.
Surfer
Topical Map for content angles and Content Audit for gaps in existing pages.

Scoring and optimisation

Surfer’s scoring is more developed.

Edge: Surfer

Frase
Content optimisation for Google and GEO optimisation for AI citation.
Surferedge
A unified AI SEO Content Score with Intent Alignment guidelines and an Auto-Optimize that makes fewer, more targeted edits.

AI drafting

Frase leans on brand context, Surfer on linked sources.

Even

Frase
An AI agent drafts with your brand in context, with brand voice controls; articles are capped at 10, 40 or 100 a month.
Surfer
Surfer AI generates branded articles and inserts internal and external source links as it writes; documents run from 120 to unlimited by plan.

AI visibility tracking

Both refresh daily on their tracking plans; Surfer adds AI Mode, Frase adds Claude at its top tier.

Edge: Surfer

Frase
ChatGPT and Google AI on Starter, Perplexity on Professional, and Claude and Gemini on Scale.
Surferedge
ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode and Perplexity, daily on Pro and above and weekly on Standard; none on Discovery.

Publishing, SEO extras and terms

Frase is easier to try and covers more of the workflow.

Edge: Frase

Fraseedge
Site audits, backlinks, Content Guard, publishing to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix and FraseCMS, plus MCP and a CLI, billed monthly or yearly with a trial that needs no card.
Surfer
An API and MCP server and a WordPress plugin, with yearly billing on every published plan and no trial listed.

What would change our verdict

  • Surfer publishing seat counts per plan and a trust centre of its own.
  • Surfer publishing seat counts per plan, which would let the cost comparison cover teams on Surfer as well as solo writers.
  • Either product adding per-claim citation back to documents you supply, which neither describes today.

Questions people ask

Is Frase or Surfer better?

Frase for speed from research to published page, and for breadth, including site audits, backlinks and CMS publishing. Surfer for the depth of its content score and daily AI tracking. Writers who already know the Surfer score rarely want to give it up.

Which is cheaper?

Both start at $49 a month, but Frase’s $49 is month to month while Surfer’s is billed yearly, on prices read 11 September 2026. At the top self-serve tier both are $299, with Frase capped at 100 articles and Surfer offering unlimited documents.

Which has better AI visibility tracking?

Both refresh daily: Frase on every plan, Surfer on Pro and above. Surfer covers Google AI Mode; Frase covers up to five engines, with Claude and Gemini on its Scale plan.

Do they connect to AI tools?

Both offer MCP. Frase also has a CLI for Claude and Cursor; Surfer has an API with full Content Editor control.

The full reviews

Every feature, price, pro and con, each fact linked to the vendor page it came from.

Frase: full reviewResearch, briefs, drafting and optimisation for Google and AI search, now with site audits, backlinks and its own CMS.

Frase

Content optimization and AI visibility

Best for: Writers and small content teams who want research, drafting, optimisation and publishing in one low-cost tool.

Frase began as a SERP research and brief tool and now covers the loop from research to publishing: topic clusters, an AI agent that drafts with your brand in context, brand voice, content optimisation for Google, GEO optimisation for AI citation, site audits, backlinks with drafted outreach, Content Guard for ranking decay, and its own FraseCMS.

AI visibility tracking covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Google AI across its plans, widening as the price rises. It publishes to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity and Wix, and connects to Claude and Cursor through MCP and a CLI.

What it does

  • SEO research that ends in a brief, and topic clusters mapped around each topic.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • An AI agent that drafts with your brand in context, plus brand voice controls.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Content optimisation to score and lift pages for Google, and GEO optimisation to tune content for AI citation.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Site Audit to find and prioritise gaps, and Backlinks to find link gaps and draft outreach.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Content Guard, which catches ranking decay and ships the fix.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Publishing to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity, Wix and FraseCMS, and MCP and CLI access for Claude and Cursor.source, 12 Sept 2026

Pros

  • The most complete research-to-publish loop among content optimisers, at a low entry price.
  • Monitors decay on published pages, not just drafts in progress.
  • Integrations and MCP access suit teams already working in Claude or Cursor.

Cons

Pricing

  • Starter
    $39/mo billed yearly; 1 seat, 1 domain, 10 articles a month
    $49/mo
  • Professional
    $103/mo billed yearly; 3 seats, 5 domains, 40 articles a month
    $129/mo
  • Scale
    $239/mo billed yearly; 5 seats, up to 10 domains, 100 articles a month
    $299/mo
  • Enterprise
    Custom

Trial: 7 days, no credit card. source, 11 Sept 2026

Recent changes

  • Frase now presents itself across SEO and AI search, listing AI visibility tracking, GEO optimisation, FraseCMS and MCP access beside its original research and brief tools. source, 12 Sept 2026

Ratings, as the vendor states them

Not the right fit for: Teams that need every claim traced to their own documents, or high monthly volume without article caps.

frase.io
Surfer: full reviewThe best-known content score, now split into SEO and AI Search, with an AI Tracker and AI drafting that links sources as it writes.

Surfer

Content optimization and AI visibility

Best for: Content teams who write to a score and want AI search optimisation and daily tracking in the same editor.

Surfer describes itself as an AI Visibility Platform. Its Content Editor scores drafts in real time with a unified score that shows SEO on one side and AI Search on the other, fixed with Auto-Optimize, and Surfer AI generates branded articles, inserting internal and external links to sources as it writes rather than afterwards.

AI Tracker, launched in June 2025, measures mentions, position, sentiment and cited sources across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, refreshing daily on Pro and above and weekly on Standard. Content Audit, Topical Map, an API and, since August 2026, an MCP server round out the product.

What it does

  • Content Editor with a unified AI SEO Content Score: SEO on one side, AI Search on the other, with Auto-Optimize.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Surfer AI, which inserts internal links and external links to authoritative sources as it writes.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • AI Tracker across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, refreshing daily on Pro and above and weekly on Standard.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Recommendations that act on AI Tracker insights inside the editor.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Content Audit for weak pages and content gaps, and Topical Map for content angles.source, 12 Sept 2026
  • An API with full Content Editor control and score endpoints, and an MCP server for AI agents.source, 12 Sept 2026

Pros

  • The most widely used content score, now covering AI Search as well as SEO.
  • Tracker findings feed straight into editor recommendations, so measurement and fixes share a screen.
  • Daily refresh on Pro and above, and Google AI Mode is tracked.

Cons

  • The $49 Discovery plan does not include AI visibility tracking. source, 11 Sept 2026
  • Every published price is billed yearly, and no free trial is listed. source, 11 Sept 2026
  • Backlink tools and a technical site crawl are not described on its product pages; Content Audit reviews content rather than crawl health. source, 12 Sept 2026
  • Surfer AI’s source links point to your pages and the open web; its pages do not describe citations to documents you upload. source, 12 Sept 2026

Pricing

  • Discovery
    $588 a year; 120 documents; no AI visibility
    $49/mo billed yearly
  • Standard
    $1,188 a year; 360 documents; 25 prompts weekly, ChatGPT only
    $99/mo billed yearly
  • Pro
    $2,184 a year; 360 documents; 50 prompts daily
    $182/mo billed yearly
  • Peace of Mind
    $3,588 a year; unlimited documents; 100 prompts daily
    $299/mo billed yearly
  • AI Search Analytics
    $984 a year; tracking only, 50 prompts daily
    $82/mo billed yearly

Trial: None listed on the pricing page. source, 11 Sept 2026

Recent changes

  • June 2026: unified SEO and AI Search content score, Intent Alignment guidelines, smarter Auto-Optimize, auto-linked sources and a new API. source, 12 Sept 2026
  • August 2026: Surfer MCP launched, and Recommendations began acting on AI Tracker insights. source, 12 Sept 2026

Ratings, as the vendor states them

  • Surfer’s homepage states 4.8 out of 5 from 500+ G2 reviews and 4.9 out of 5 from 400+ Capterra reviews. source, 12 Sept 2026

Not the right fit for: Teams that want monthly billing, a trial first, or backlinks and technical audits in the same tool.

surferseo.com
How the scores are calculatedThe arithmetic behind each score
ToolWeighted scoreCriteria scoredStrongest criterion
Frase767 of 8Refresh frequency
Surfer628 of 8Refresh frequency

Eight rules, each applied to the published facts in the reviews and weighted to a total out of 100. The rules and weights are set out in our methodology.

How we researched this pageMethod, what each vendor does not publish, and the update log

What each vendor does not publish

Where a figure below is missing, the charts say so rather than estimate it.

Frase
  • Frase does not say whether “Google AI” on its plans means AI Overviews, AI Mode or both.
  • Frase Starter includes one seat with no published price for more, so it is not costed for teams.
Surfer
  • Surfer does not publish how many seats each plan includes.
  • Surfer’s AI Search Analytics plan names ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews “and other AI models” without listing the rest.

How we researched this page

Every fact about a tool other than Veritas comes from that vendor’s own pricing page, product pages, documentation or announcements. Each one is linked where it appears, with the date we read it.

We build Veritas and use it every day. We have not run paid accounts of every other tool on this page, so we describe what each vendor publishes rather than scores from tests we did not run. Where a capability was not described on a vendor’s pages, the table says exactly that, which is not the same as saying the product lacks it.

G2, Capterra and TrustRadius blocked our automated reads, so any rating shown is the figure the vendor publishes about itself, labelled as such.

Prices and plans change. We re-read every vendor page at least every 90 days and record what changed in the update log below.

The scores and cost figures on this page are calculated, not assigned. Our full methodology sets out every rule, what each criterion is worth, and where our evidence runs out.

Disclosure. Veritas is our product. It appears on this page because it competes in this category, and we have tried to state its limits as plainly as anyone else’s. If anything here is wrong or out of date, write to support@getveritas.io and we will correct it and note the change in the log.

Update log

  1. 15 September 2026Corrected: Surfer’s standalone AI Search Analytics plan names three engines. Earlier versions counted five.
  2. 15 September 2026Corrected: Frase publishes AI visibility prompt allowances of 50, 200 and 500 by plan, with daily monitoring. Earlier versions said neither was published.
  3. 15 September 2026Corrected: this page said Surfer refreshes AI tracking more often. Frase refreshes daily on every plan, so both refresh daily on their tracking plans.
  4. 15 September 2026Rebuilt verdict first: a short verdict with calculated figures, an engine-by-engine coverage grid and yearly cost charts, with full reviews, specs and method folded below. The intro was shortened; no facts were removed.
  5. 12 September 2026Published.

How this page was made. Veritas is our product. This page was written with AI assistance and checked against the vendor pages linked beside each fact, on the dates shown. Scores and costs are calculated by our published rules.

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