Frase alternatives in 2026: five picks, with prices and best uses

TL;DR

• The best Frase alternative is Contengi if you want research, on-brand drafting, and publishing in one place, Surfer if you write to an optimisation score, and Clearscope if your priority is tracking existing pages in Google and AI answers.
• Frase starts at $39 a month billed yearly, or $49 month to month, for one seat, 10 articles, and 20 AI Visibility prompts, and Professional is $103 a month billed yearly for three seats.
• Contengi researches what ranks, writes from a brand knowledge base, and tracks brand mentions across five AI engines, from $50 a month plus your own Anthropic key.
• MarketMuse suits topic planning at scale, with a free plan and paid plans by demo, and Writesonic pairs AI articles with daily AI search tracking from $79 a month billed annually.
• Run one keyword through two tools and compare the brief, the draft, and the time it takes you to publish.

Replacing Frase is like replacing a Swiss Army knife. Before you buy anything, work out which blade you open every day and which ones you've never pulled out.

This post covers why people look for Frase alternatives, what each option costs in 2026, and which part of the Frase job each one does best. We built Contengi, so it goes first, and each of the others is a strong pick for something we don't do. The rest are in no specific order.

Why do people look for Frase alternatives?

Frase covers SEO research, briefs, AI drafting, content optimisation, and AI visibility tracking in one tool. Starter is $39 a month billed yearly, or $49 month to month, for one seat, one site, 10 articles, and 20 AI Visibility prompts. Professional is $103 a month billed yearly for three seats and 40 articles, and Scale is $239 a month billed yearly for five seats and 100 articles.

People switch for different reasons. Some want drafts that sound like their brand with less editing, some want deeper topic planning, and some only ever used the optimisation score. Neither of these needs are wrong, and each one points to a different tool.

Frase alternatives at a glance

1. Contengi: best for when you want the brief, the draft, and the publish in one place

Contengi is an agentic content platform for founders and teams of one to five. The SEO blog writer researches the keyword, studies what ranks, and writes from sources you approve, then sends the post to WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Framer, or a custom site. Every agent reads a brand knowledge base a strategist builds with you, and a hard-rule linter checks each draft before you see it.

Search Console reads turn into update plans, and LLM tracking checks whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity mention your brand, with mention rate, share of voice, citation rate, and position. Pricing is from $50 a month with no seats, plus your own Anthropic key, and it's in beta.

There's no content score or term-by-term optimisation editor in Contengi, so if your team writes to a score, keep one of the tools below for that step.

Choose it if: you want Frase's research step joined to on-brand drafting and publishing, without paying per seat.

2. Surfer: best for when you write to an optimisation score

Surfer is the closest like-for-like swap for Frase's optimisation side, with one-click content optimisation and an AI writing assistant called Surfy on every plan. Discovery is $49 a month billed yearly for 120 documents and one seat, Standard is $99 a month billed yearly for 360 documents and three seats, and AI prompt tracking starts on Standard with 25 prompts refreshed weekly. Pro at $182 a month billed yearly adds internal linking, custom voices, and 50 prompts refreshed daily.

Choose it if: your writers like a live score to aim for while they edit. For more options in this lane, compare Surfer SEO alternatives.

3. Clearscope: best for when you want to track pages across Google and AI answers

Clearscope centres its plans on tracking queries and pages, and it's very good at it. Essentials is $129 a month with 50 tracked queries, 50 pages, 20 Discoveries, and 20 Drafts, and every plan includes unlimited users and query tracking across ChatGPT and Gemini. Business is $399 a month, monthly plans have no minimum contract, and there's a 14-day free trial.

Unlimited users makes it friendly for teams where writers, editors, and clients all need a login.

Choose it if: you have a library of pages to protect and want to see where they show up in search and AI answers.

4. MarketMuse: best for when you plan topics at scale

MarketMuse is built for content planning, using patented topic modelling to suggest what to cover. The free plan includes 10 queries a month, and Optimize adds 100 queries, 100 tracked topics, five content briefs, and a site inventory. Paid plan prices aren't public, so you book a demo to get a quote, and Strategy unlocks all nine brief types for five users.

Choose it if: you're mapping a whole topic area and want the planning done before anyone writes.

5. Writesonic: best for when AI search visibility is the number you report on

Writesonic pairs AI articles with daily tracking of how your brand appears in AI answers. Starter is $79 a month billed annually, with 50 prompts tracked daily across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews, 15 AI articles a month, and 10 site audits, for one user and one project. Basic at $199 a month billed annually covers two users and 25 articles.

Choose it if: you report on how often AI tools mention you, and you want the articles and the tracking on one bill.

How to choose a Frase alternative

1. List the Frase features you used last month. Research, briefs, drafting, optimisation, and AI visibility tracking each point to a different tool.
2. Pick one keyword you need to rank for. Choose something with a clear search intent and a few strong competitors.
3. Run it through two tools. Compare the brief, the draft, and the sources each one used.
4. Time the edit to publish. The tool that gets you to a post you'd publish fastest wins.
5. Check the draft for AI tells. Paste it into the AI slop cleaner before you trust any score.
6. Check what AI crawlers see. Load the published page in the AI bot view to confirm the text AI search reads is the text you wrote.

If you're weighing the wider field, there are also standalone AI tools for SEO content briefs.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Frase alternative?

Contengi is the best pick if you want research, on-brand drafting, publishing, and AI mention tracking in one platform. Surfer is the closest swap for content scoring, and Clearscope suits teams tracking existing pages across Google and AI answers.

Is there a cheaper alternative to Frase?

Surfer Discovery costs $49 a month billed yearly, against Frase Starter at $39 billed yearly or $49 month to month, so the two start close. MarketMuse has a free plan with 10 queries a month.

How much does Frase cost in 2026?

Frase Starter is $39 a month billed yearly or $49 month to month, Professional is $103 billed yearly or $129 month to month, and Scale is $239 billed yearly or $299 month to month. Enterprise is custom.

Is Frase still worth it?

Frase is worth it if you use most of its features, from research and briefs to optimisation and AI visibility tracking. If you only use one or two, a specialist tool or an all-in-one content platform will fit better.

How does Contengi compare with Frase?

Contengi researches what ranks, writes in your brand voice from a strategist-built knowledge base, and publishes to your site, from $50 a month with no seats. Frase adds a content score and optimisation editor, priced by seats and articles from $39 a month billed yearly.