Frase is the fastest way to create data-driven content briefs. It pulls the top 20 Google results for your keyword, extracts headings, stats, and questions, then builds a structured outline in under 2 minutes. If research and briefing slow down your content team, Frase pays for itself in time saved. It's not as strong on real-time content scoring as Surfer SEO, but the research workflow is unmatched.
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Content Research | 9.2/10 | Best-in-class SERP analysis and brief generation |
| Brief Quality | 8.8/10 | Comprehensive headings, stats, and question extraction |
| AI Writing | 7.2/10 | Functional but below Jasper/Writesonic quality |
| Content Optimization | 8.0/10 | Good topic coverage scoring, weaker than Surfer NLP |
| Ease of Use | 8.2/10 | Clean interface, slight learning curve for full features |
| Value for Money | 7.6/10 | Solo plan too limited; Basic plan is the sweet spot |
Frase is an AI-powered content research and optimization platform built specifically for SEO writers. Unlike general AI writers (Jasper, Writesonic), Frase starts from the SERP — it scrapes Google's top 20 results for your target keyword and distills them into a structured content brief: key headings, statistics, frequently asked questions, and topic coverage gaps.
The core workflow: enter a keyword → Frase builds a brief → you (or Frase's AI writer) fill in the sections → Frase scores your content against the SERP competitors. It's a research-first tool, not a raw content generator.
This is Frase's killer feature. Enter "best CRM software 2026" and within 90 seconds you have: the average word count of top-ranking articles, the most common H2/H3 headings, all People Also Ask questions, key statistics cited across sources, and a content score baseline. Tasks that would take a human researcher 2-3 hours take Frase under 2 minutes.
The brief export to Google Docs or PDF is clean — useful for agencies handing briefs to freelance writers. Team collaboration features let multiple editors work on the same document simultaneously.
These two tools are frequently compared but serve slightly different primary use cases. Frase excels at the research and briefing phase — before writing starts. Surfer SEO excels during writing — real-time NLP scoring as you type. Many high-output content teams actually use both: Frase to build the brief, Surfer to optimize as they write.
If forced to choose one: if your bottleneck is research and brief quality, choose Frase. If your bottleneck is content ranking despite being well-researched, choose Surfer SEO.
All plans include a $1 trial for the first 5 days. Annual billing saves ~20%.
Best for: Content agencies that brief freelance writers, in-house SEO teams building topic clusters, and anyone whose content bottleneck is research time rather than writing speed.
Not ideal for: Solo bloggers on tight budgets (the Solo plan's 4 articles/month limit is restrictive), teams already satisfied with Surfer SEO's research features, or users who primarily need an AI writing assistant.
After testing Frase across 3 months of real content production, here is the workflow that consistently delivers the best results for SEO-focused bloggers and content teams.
Step 1 — Brief Generation (5 minutes): Enter your target keyword and let Frase scrape the top 20 SERP results. Review the auto-generated headings, identify which questions competitors answer, and note the average word count across top-ranking pages. Tasks that would take a human researcher 2–3 hours are done in under 5 minutes. The SERP data Frase pulls is reliably current — it reflects what is ranking today, not cached data from months ago.
Step 2 — Outline Customization (10 minutes): Drag and drop headings from competitor pages into your brief structure. Add your unique angle — your own data, counter-arguments, or specific expertise the top results lack. The brief becomes your article's working skeleton. Teams can share this brief directly with freelance writers as a Google Doc or PDF export, removing the back-and-forth of brief clarification.
Step 3 — Content Optimization (ongoing as you write): As you draft, Frase's content score tracks which topics you have covered and which are still missing. Aim for a score above 65 for competitive keywords. The optimization panel highlights exact terms and phrases from top-ranking pages that your draft should include to compete on topic coverage.
Best Pairing: Use Frase for brief creation and research, then paste your outline into Surfer SEO's Content Editor for real-time NLP scoring as you write. This two-tool stack — roughly $200/month combined — replaces a full-time content researcher and speeds up time-to-publish on well-optimized articles significantly. Teams already using Surfer who add Frase report cutting total research-to-publish time by 40%.
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