Independent tool comparisons · Prices checked monthly
The same job, for less money.
Most marketing teams pay for a research tool, an optimisation tool and a writing tool separately. We read the pricing pages, the plan limits and the documentation, put every tool on the same monthly scale, and show what the leanest stack that still does the job costs today.
What is your stack costing you?
Tick what you pay for today. We show the difference against a single autonomous tool that researches, writes, scores and publishes.
List prices on monthly billing, checked September 2026. An autonomous tool replaces the content workflow (research, writing, scoring, publishing), not backlink or paid-search data. What it does and does not replace is set out in autonomous AI SEO tools compared.
Alternatives, by tool
One page per tool. Each covers the cheapest option, the best free option, the closest like-for-like, and who should not switch.
8 compared
Ahrefs alternatives
Cheapest, free, and closest match to Ahrefs Lite at $129/mo.
8 compared
Semrush alternatives
What actually replaces a $139.95/mo Pro seat.
8 compared
Moz Pro alternatives
What replaces a $99/mo Standard seat.
7 compared
Surfer SEO alternatives
Cheaper editors, free options, and tools that do the whole job.
6 compared
Jasper alternatives
Cheaper writers, and tools built for SEO instead.
7 compared
Frase alternatives
Now that the $15 plan is gone.
6 compared
Clearscope alternatives
Cheaper for one person, not always for a team.
4 compared
Rank Math alternatives
Yoast, AIOSEO and SEOPress, plus Content AI and MCP.
4 compared
Yoast SEO alternatives
Cheaper, free and multi-site options, and who should stay.
7 compared
Profound alternatives
AI visibility trackers you can buy without a sales call.
6 compared
Peec AI alternatives
Cheaper, free options, and what each one covers.
6 compared
Otterly AI alternatives
What to use instead of Otterly, and who should stay.
6 compared
Scrunch AI alternatives
Cheaper and free options, and where its own pages disagree.
Head-to-head
Two tools, one question. For when you have already shortlisted and need the tiebreak.
Ahrefs vs Semrush
The $129 vs $139.95 decision.
Ahrefs vs Moz
The $129 vs $99 decision.
Semrush vs Moz
The $139.95 vs $99 decision.
Surfer vs Frase
Close in price, different jobs.
Jasper vs Frase
A copy tool against a search tool.
Jasper vs Surfer
Brand copy or search optimizer?
Ahrefs vs Surfer
Research tool or content tool first?
Semrush vs Surfer
Where they overlap and where you pay twice.
Clearscope vs Surfer
The answer depends on team size.
Peec AI vs Profound
A published price against a demo call.
Otterly AI vs Peec AI
$29 against $95, and what the gap buys.
GrowGanic vs Outrank
The same $99, a different bet.
Rank Math vs Yoast
Almost the same price, a very different unit.
Guides & roundups
Best free SEO tools in 2026
Twelve free tools, with the real caps written down.
Best SEO tools for solo bloggers
Stacks at $0, ~$30, ~$50 and $100 a month.
Best SEO tools for agencies
Research, reporting, and the content bottleneck.
Cheapest SEO tools that still work
Ten tools ranked by real monthly cost.
Autonomous AI SEO tools compared
Cost per article, and what to check first.
SEO tool pricing, explained
Seats, credits, allowances: where the cost hides.
AI shopping visibility tools
Who tracks your products in AI answers, and what it costs.
Best SEO MCP servers
The protocol is free. The data behind it is not.
Best AI visibility tools
GEO and AEO tracking, on real self-serve pricing.
Semrush vs Ahrefs for AI visibility
What each tracks in AI answers, and what it costs.
Yoast to Rank Math migration
Step by step, with the checks and the two steps to leave last.
Rank Math MCP with Claude
Connect it in five minutes, and know what it can change.
Autonomous blogging tools
What they do, how to audit them, what to ask first.
Does Google penalize AI content?
The 2026 record, and what to plan for in 2027.
Review AI articles before publishing
An eight-check routine built on Google's fact-check rule.
Automate blog posts with AI
A DIY workflow, a plugin or an engine: what each needs and costs.
Refresh old blog posts automatically
Find decaying posts, tools that refresh them, and the risks.
Small business SEO automation
What to automate, what to keep, and what it costs.
Auto-publish AI articles to WordPress safely
Six safeguards: drafts, roles, revisions and review.
How many blog posts per week for SEO
What Google says about volume, and a pace you can review.
Shopify blog SEO tools
AI blog apps compared on their own listings and prices.
E-E-A-T in 2027
What Google documents, and how to write to it.
Rank Math schema guide
Setup, the types Google still shows, and what is retired.
SEO for AI search checklist
What Google says to do and skip, and which AI bots to allow.
WordPress SEO plugins for AI search
Rank Math, Yoast, AIOSEO and SEOPress on llms.txt, MCP and AI tracking.
Search Console and Bing AI reports
What the free reports show, and what they leave out.
AI SEO tools for WordPress in 2027
Plugin, assistant and content engine: three stacks by budget.
SEO content plan: first 90 days
What to set up, publish and measure on a new website.
AI-generated images and SEO
Alt text, metadata and licence terms to check.
BudgetPixel vs Magnific
Credits, models and cost per output, from their own pricing pages.
Claude Motion guide
Who gets it, the steps, a brief template, and Dashboards compared.
AI crawlers blocked by your server?
A 5-minute curl check that robots.txt will not give you.
Top 7 AI image and video generators
Compared on their own pricing pages, ordered by cost to start.
Higgsfield alternatives
Six cheaper AI video and image options, from their own pricing pages.
How to improve domain authority
Moz's score is not a ranking factor. What to improve instead.
How to get backlinks the legal way
Seven ways to earn links without paying for them.
AI crawlers in server logs
18 days of real log data from a new site, with the limits.
ChatGPT referral traffic
What broke in October, and how to measure it.
GEO vs SEO, explained
What's actually new, and what isn't.
Free ways to check your AI visibility
Before you pay for a GEO platform.
How we compare
The method, the pricing policy, the disclosure rules.
Try before you buy
Why trust these numbers
Every price has a date
A stale competitor price is the fastest way to mislead a reader. Prices are checked monthly and every page shows when. Several vendors restructured their plans in the past year: we say so when it matters.
One scale for every tool
Seats, credits, words and articles are converted to what you would actually pay per month, and wherever it matters, to cost per published article.
Documented, and labelled when hands-on
Comparisons are built from pricing pages, plan limits and product documentation. When a page includes first-hand use of a tool, it says so explicitly.
Free options always listed
Disclosure sits above the recommendation, and free tools that pay us nothing (like Google Search Console) are listed wherever they are the right answer.