Surfer SEO and Frase are two tools that have gained a lot of popularity in recent times.
Both tools are known for their content optimization capabilities and have solid track records for producing rank-ready content.
However, they lack different features and share a few similar ones, leaving you in a dilemma about which one is right for you.
If we take a deeper look at both of these tools, we can spot a few significant differences that can help you know which tool serves you better.
In this blog, we will take a deep dive into these tools and compare their features one-on-one to highlight the differences and similarities.
Let’s get going!
Surfer SEO Overview
Surfer SEO is an on-page SEO optimization tool that can help you with keyword clusters, site content audits, SERP analysis, and AI writing.
Surfer is popularly known for its content editor, also known as an optimizer. It recommends accurate NLP (natural language processing) terms and heading suggestions that can increase the ranking potential of your content.
The tool analyzes the top-ranking pages of the target keyword to find similarities and provide suggestions like average word count, headings, paragraphs, and images.
Surfer sources content suggestions, like key terms and content structure, from the top-ranking pages. Hence, it allows you to customize the competitor lists. You can add and remove pages according to your preference to outcompete specific competitors.
As for the content creation part, Surfer integrates with Jasper AI to generate AI content. If you already have a Jasper subscription, you can access the Surfer editor from there. However, if you don’t, Surfer charges extra for AI articles and has not included this function in their standard plans.
Besides the content editor, Surfer also helps you with keyword planning. The auto-clustering feature gives you access to multiple sets of keyword clusters in a few minutes as soon as you enter the seed keywords. Moreover, it only provides individual keyword research insights with the Chrome Extension; you cannot access them within the tool. So, it is best to pair up Surfer SEO with keyword research tools.
Key Features of Surfer
- Keyword cluster creator
- Real-time content optimizer
- Content audit tool
- SERP analysis
- Keyword research tool (Chrome extension)
Pros of Using Surfer
- Powerful content editor that provides accurate suggestions.
- Competitor customization is beneficial for users who are aiming to outcompete particular top-ranking pages.
- Auto-keyword cluster saves the manual time spent on grouping keywords.
- SERP Analyzer summarizes similarities and differences between top-ranking pages.
- Content audit helps optimize old content for better performance.
- Intuitive interface that both novices and seasoned professionals can use.
- Integrates with Jasper AI to create content
- The Chrome Extension helps in finding individual keyword insights.
Cons of Using Surfer
- Does not have auto-optimization features.
- Doesn’t provide you with insights about where competitors are using the NLP or key terms in their content.
- Limited keyword insights as it does not provide extensive keyword data.
- Wears a higher price tag; hence, individuals and small content teams may find it unaffordable.
- Add-ons quickly increase the overall price you pay every month to access the full potential of the tool.
- AI articles are expensive and charged separately.
- Overlapping features that provide the same information as others.
Pricing
What do users think about Surfer SEO?
Frase Overview
Frase is an AI-powered content optimization tool that helps you create SEO-friendly articles. It uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to analyze competitors' content, identify relevant topics and keywords, and provide suggestions for improving your chances of ranking higher.
Key Features
- Content Research
- Content Outline
- AI Writer
- Content Optimizer
- Keyword Search
Frase Content Research tool simplifies your entire content research by providing all your competitor's content and top-ranking page insights under one tab.
All the Google SERP insights are categorized into Outline, Headings, Questions, Stats, News, and Wiki. Moreover, you can access competitors' domain authority and backlink count details under the overview tab (only available for Pro-add-on users). This helps you to consider all the factors contributing to ranking higher in the SERP.
As for outline creation, Frase reviews the top 20 SERP pages to create an outline and gather research points for a search query. You can also manually select headings and subheads from the top-ranking page and curate an outline based on competitors' blogs.
One of Frase’s unique features is its automated content briefs. However, the relevancy of the brief ultimately depends on the outline. Users must manually add or eliminate sections to create a relevant outline that meets their target audience's knowledge level.
Next off, Frase AI Writer is one of the popular writing tools as it helps users quickly generate the first draft for their content brief. It follows the instructions provided under each section and curates relevant content. You can even give specific instructions to the AI like writing tone to be followed and specific information to include and exclude in the content.
Similar to Surfer, Frase has a content optimizer that suggests a list of key terms to include in content to make it rank-ready. It also shows how competitors have used those terms in their content.
Moreover, this tool scores a piece of content based on key term usage and keyword density. In addition to that, you can find competitors' content scores. This helps you decide on a score for your content that has the potential to compete with top-ranking pages.
It also presents a heatmap to show how often a keyword has been used in the top 20 ranking pages. When you know the shared similarities in search results, it becomes easier to find the sweet spot and mimic best practices to create content that ranks higher.
Finally, the topic planner helps users quickly find all the topics of long tail keywords that competitors are ranking for. Users can also view the keyword volumes, sub-topics supporting a seed keyword, and monthly search volume details.
Moreover, the Outline Builder generates auto-suggested keywords and a list of questions from Quora, Google, and other social tools to build a relevant outline. You can find different variations for one seed keyword and get topic ideas to create a content plan and generate organic traffic.
Pros
- Team collaboration tools like document sharing, project status update settings, and team project folders help users manage their content teams easily.
- Integration with Google Docs and WordPress allows users to introduce the tool to their workflow quickly.
- Templates like blog introductions, how-to blog posts, Sentence Rewriters, Feature-benefit converters, etc., help users create and edit content for better engagement.
- Community support provided within the tool is another huge advantage.
- It also offers SEO add-ons like GSC content analytics, outline builder, Wikipedia Content Map, and topic planner.
- Frase has a Chat-based AI language model to fetch quick answers for impromptu questions.
- The Frase team conducts webinars and workshops frequently to keep the readers updated about industry trends and product updates.
- Google Search Console integrations allow users to monitor their content performance and get internal link suggestions to optimize content.
- Frase has an Article Rewriter that helps users rewrite an entire article in just a click.
Cons
- The absence of a keyword research tool restricts users from finding easy content opportunities that provide them a better chance to rank higher.
- The lack of a Keyword Cluster tool restricts users from achieving topical authority in their industry.
- High reliance on competitors' content for optimization and keyword suggestions will not be beneficial in the long run.
- The tool focuses not on entire on-page SEO but emphasizes keyword density and usage.
- Lack of advanced SEO tools like keyword explorer, content cluster creator, advanced on-page SEO suggestions, etc., are major drawbacks.
- The absence of short-form templates restricts users from leveraging the tool to create social media and other short-form content.
These are the top factors you should weigh side by side before opting for Frase paid plans.
Pricing
They also offer add-ons like keyword search volume, SERP data enrichment, and unlimited Frase AI writing for $35. You can only access the AI writer as a pro-add, meaning you need to purchase a base plan and a Pro-Add-On.
What do users think about Frase?
- G2 ratings - 4.9/5 stars
- Capterra ratings - 4.8/5 stars
- Product Hunt ratings - 4.9/5 stars
What are the main differences between Surfer SEO and Frase?
The main difference between Surfer SEO and Frase is that Surfer offers a robust keyword planner, optimizer, and content audit tools, while Frase is more focused on helping users generate AI content and optimize it for better performance. On the flip side, Surfer AI content writer is not as powerful and feature-intense as Frase AI.
Surfer SEO vs. Frase: Keyword Planner & Audit Tools
Surfer SEO's keyword planner gives you multiple sets of keyword clusters, helping you to uncover keywords (both SERP-based and semantic) that you can target with your content. The Chrome Extension provides individual keyword data while you surf the SERP page.
On the other hand, Frase does not support such a function. Even though they have a keyword research tool, it does not stand equal to Surfer SEO as it only provides individual keyword data that you can access using various free keyword research tools.
Moreover, Surfer SEO offers you a content audit tool that you can use to refresh your old content pieces based on SEO suggestions. Whereas Frase does not offer such a tool.
Surfer SEO vs. Frase: Content Writer
Both Surfer SEO and Frase had AI-powered content writers and complementary research tools. However, Surfer does not offer in-depth writing or SERP insights as Frase.
For instance, users find Frase’s outline and brief creator tool more effective as it provides AI assistance at every step of the process.
Even though Surfer offers SERP analysis, it does not provide a simplified competitor content structure like Frase.
As for content writing, Surfer integrates with Jasper to enable users to create AI content. However, you have little control over the AI output as there is no brief creation process. One-click content creation restricts users from customizing their content as per their requirements. With Frase, you gain more control over content output as you can easily edit your brief, which acts as a guide to the AI.
What’s Missing in both Surfer SEO and Frase?
With Frase, you’re restricted to limited SEO and AI functions. Whereas Surfer SEO only offers content optimization features and complementary SEO features like content audit and competitors' content insights via audit and SEPR analysis.
While both tools share some useful features, they fail to integrate with your content workflow effectively and offer a comprehensive solution that can minimize the manual time spent on planning, creation, and optimization.
Surfer SEO and Frase both lack the following features:
- Providing both keyword lists and clusters
- Ranking Trends Tracker
- Comprehensive SEO content report
- Easy-to-use long-form content creator
- Auto-content Optimizer
- Featured Snippet Suggestions
- In-depth-competitor insights
- Traffic analyzer to keep tabs on your content
- Robust Keyword planner
If you’re a content writer, marketer, SEO or content head, you would know that all the above-mentioned features play an important role in your content workflow.
That’s why Scalenut is designed to cement the features gap at a much more affordable price. It helps you to plan your entire SEO content strategy, create an SEO blog in less than 5 minutes, optimize for better ranking and track your SEO performance over time.
Scalenut is engineered to fit precisely into your content production workflow and increase your overall content efficiency by automating cluster creation, first draft creation, and optimization efforts.
Similar to Surfer and Frase, Scalenut has an intuitive interface that you can easily navigate within a few minutes.
Comparatively, Scalenut has a more robust keyword planner, content creation and competitor analysis tools than Surfer and Frase. If you are looking for a comprehensive content marketing platform that offers both SEO and AI solutions, Scalenut is your best bet and here’s why.
How Can Scalenut Help?
Scalenut is an AI-powered content optimization platform designed to streamline your content creation process and improve your search engine rankings.
With real-time content analysis and optimization recommendations, Scalenut offers advanced features to enhance your content's performance.
Here’s how Scalenut helped a leading Pharmaceutical brand add 100K traffic to their website.
Scalenut offers
- Keyword Planner and Cluster Creator
- Outline Generator
- Cruise Mode (Article Writer)
- Content Optimizer
- SEO Content Editor
Keyword Planner
The Scalenut Keyword Planner helps you achieve topical authority in your industry and specific niche. You can insert your niche topic in Scalenut’s Keyword Planner to generate a report that groups relevant keywords together.
This report lets you view metrics like relevance, CPC, and search volume under one tab. You do not need to juggle between multiple columns or tabs as you do in SEO tools like Ahrefs or Ubersuggest to find relevant metrics that matter to you.
If you are a content writer, sometimes you might just have one seed keyword to target. In that case, you will need a list of relevant keywords to target. That’s why the Scalenut content editor suggests relevant key terms that your competitors’ content is currently ranking. This allows you to easily outcompete your competitors without doing hours of manual research.
Content Outline Generator
In Scalenut, you can create an AI-generated outline automatically or build a custom version by comparing top-ranking web pages under a single tab. With this information in one place, you can easily find content gaps, add frequently asked questions, and restructure your outline with the drag-and-drop option within minutes.
Moreover, Scalenut provides additional features like writing points and social listening tools to generate questions from forums like Quora, Reddit, and search results. This ultimately reduces the time taken to search and create an outline manually.
Cruise mode
Scalenut has an in-built AI writer to help you create quality long-form content at scale. The cruise mode function allows users to generate the first draft of their outline in less than 5 minutes. Once you have the first draft, compare it with your competitor's content. This helps you see what points and subheadings you have missed. Instead of juggling multiple tabs, you can find all your competitor's content under the research tab.
Moreover, you can fine-tune the AI-generated copy in Cruise mode using the rephrase, shorten, or expand options. You can generate additional information for each section using the write and instruct tools in the editor tab. Altogether, this gives you complete control over AI and allows you to generate brand-relevant content within minutes.
Content Optimizer
One of the biggest obstacles for content writers and bloggers is producing rank-ready content. You might be spending hours and hours ensuring every piece of content you publish is optimized to rank on Google or other search engines.
However, manually checking the keyword density and finding relevant keywords to target can be a hassle. In situations like this, a reliable content report can boost your confidence that a piece of content is optimized for search. That's why Scalenut's Content Optimizer grades your content to generate a score and necessary suggestions to help you find a place at the top of the SERP.
Moreover, you can use the fix-it button to auto-optimize your content based on the suggestion list. This eliminates manual editing time and acts as a supporting tool to fine-tune your content.
SEO Content Editor
Scalenut has advanced NLP and machine learning technologies to help you create content that ranks on the first page of the SERP for target keywords. You can see real-time NLP scores and custom SEO suggestions to improve your content.
Scalenut's SEO editor evaluates your content from different angles, like keyword density, links, content depth, key terms, and more.
Pricing
Who can benefit from Scalenut?
- SEO strategists are managing a team of writers.
- Content heads who are responsible for creating content briefs
- Writers who run a small team
- Writers who create SEO-based long-form blogs and articles
- Marketers who manage social media channels and content editing activities
What do users think about Scalenut?
- G2 review - 4.7/5 stars
- Product hunt review - 5/5 stars
- Capterra review - 4.8/5 stars
Which is the Best Tool?
By now, you will have an idea of the features of each SEO tool. This gives you more clarity about your requirements and what each tool offers.
If your core priority lies in AI content creation, Frase might be your ideal choice.
Surfer is an ideal option if you’re looking for a cluster creator and content optimization tool.
However, if you’re looking for a comprehensive AI SEO tool with content creation and planning capabilities within an affordable price range, Scalenut is your best bet.
Scalenut offers all the features and functionalities that Surfer SEO and Frase have for just $79 per month. Even Scalenut’s Pro plan only costs $149 per month.
If you want to know how Scalenut can help you streamline your content efforts and drive traffic to your website, feel free to hop on this 7-day free trial to play around with the tool. This will give you an idea if Scalenut can meet your demands.
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