Updated November 6, 2026
Surfer: Content editor that scores your draft against top-ranking pages. People look for alternatives when they need a lower price, a free plan or a better fit for a specific job.
These 3 tools cover similar ground. Each entry explains who it suits, how pricing works and what to watch out for.
| Tool | Best for | Pricing | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnswerThePublic | Content ideas and FAQ research | Freemium | Yes |
| Clearscope | Editorial teams that care about quality over volume | Paid | No |
| Frase | Writers who want fast research and briefs | Free trial | No |
AnswerThePublic turns search autocomplete data into maps of questions, prepositions and comparisons around a topic. It is a quick way to find content ideas and FAQ topics.
Limited free searches per day. Paid plans for more.
Who it suits: Content ideas and FAQ research.
Clearscope grades your content against the topics covered by top results and suggests relevant terms. Its simple interface and quality recommendations make it popular with larger editorial teams.
Paid plans.
Who it suits: Editorial teams that care about quality over volume.
Frase pulls the top search results for a keyword, summarises their headings and questions, and helps you build a content brief and optimise the draft. It is a lower-cost option for content optimization.
Paid plans with a trial.
Who it suits: Writers who want fast research and briefs.
Content optimization tools analyse the pages already ranking for a keyword and tell you which topics, terms and questions your page should cover. They are most useful for writers and editors producing content at scale.
Prices and features change often. Check each vendor’s website for current plans before you buy.
