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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Ahrefs vs Frase vs Writesonic

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Best overall

Ahrefs

4.4

From $29/mo

Frase

4.0

From $49/mo

Writesonic

3.7

From $79/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best overallEasiest to use

Pick it if: Marketers and business owners who want to see what competitors rank for and find keywords worth chasing.

Best value

Pick it if: Small marketing teams, freelancers and agencies who write SEO content and want research, briefs and drafts in one place.

Pick it if: Marketing teams and agencies that want to measure and improve how AI assistants talk about their brand.

Ahrefs scores highest overall, but Frase gives you more for your money. Which one is right comes down to what you value most.

Overview

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
In one lineKeyword research, backlink checks and site audits in one toolkit.Researches, briefs and drafts SEO articles, and tracks if AI search cites you.Tracks how AI search talks about your brand and writes SEO content to improve it.
Pricing modelFreemiumPaidPaid
Starting price$29/mo$49/mo$79/mo
Free plan Yes No No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
Overall rating4.4Winner4.03.7
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.0
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
5.0
4.5
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
3.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
4.0
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
Access & platform
Free plan Yes No No
Mobile app No––
Desktop app No––
Browser extension Yes––
API access Yes Yes–
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes––
Understands images No––
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations No Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No Yes Yes
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score8/ 177/ 176/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
Plans

Ahrefs Free

Free

Checking the health and backlinks of a site you own.

Starter

$49/mo, or $39/mo billed yearly

One person writing a few articles a month.

Starter

$79/mo billed yearly

A single brand testing AI visibility.

Starter

$29/mo

Occasional keyword research on a tight budget.

ProfessionalOur pick

$129/mo, or $103/mo billed yearly

Small teams publishing weekly.

Basic

$199/mo billed yearly

Small teams tracking more questions.

LiteOur pick

$129/mo

A business doing its own SEO seriously.

Scale

$299/mo, or $239/mo billed yearly

Agencies running several sites.

GrowthOur pick

$399/mo billed yearly

Teams actively working to raise AI visibility.

Standard

$249/mo

Freelancers and small agencies.

Enterprise

Custom

Large teams needing white-label and SSO.

Enterprise

Custom

Large brands and agencies.

Advanced

$449/mo

Agencies and in-house teams with many sites.

Enterprise

$1,499/mo billed yearly

Large companies that need SSO and unlimited data.

Which plan to pickStart on Ahrefs Free to audit your own site. If you want to research competitors and keywords every week, go straight to Lite; the Starter plan's credits run out too quickly to be useful for more than the odd lookup. Each plan includes one user, and extra seats cost $40 to $80 a month.Professional is the plan most teams settle on, because Starter's 10 articles a month runs out quickly. Try the 7-day trial on two or three real articles before paying.Start on Starter to see where you stand in AI answers. Growth is the plan for teams who will act on the findings each month, because that is where sentiment and suggested fixes come in.

Key features

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
Standout features
  • Site Explorer
  • Keywords Explorer
  • Site Audit
  • Rank Tracker
  • Brand Radar
  • MCP server
  • SERP research and briefs
  • AI drafting in your voice
  • Content scoring
  • Content Guard
  • AI visibility tracking
  • API, MCP and CLI
  • AI visibility tracking
  • Competitor comparison
  • Sentiment
  • SEO article writer
  • Site audits
  • Action Center

Pros and cons

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
Pros
  • The most trusted backlink index in the industry
  • Cleaner and faster to learn than Semrush
  • Site Audit explains problems in plain language
  • Free plan covers your own site properly
  • Official MCP server for Claude on Lite and above
  • Fast, thorough content briefs
  • Cheaper than Clearscope and Surfer at the entry level
  • Covers Google and AI search in one tool
  • API, MCP and CLI on every plan
  • One of the most complete AI search visibility trackers
  • Shows competitors and cited sources, not just your own score
  • Pairs tracking with content and suggested fixes
  • Free trial without a card
Cons
  • Lite at $129 a month is steep for a small business
  • The Starter plan's credits run out fast and it has no API or MCP access
  • No free trial for the paid plans
  • Extra users cost $40 to $80 a month each
  • Traffic figures are estimates and can be well off for small sites
  • AI drafts need editing to sound human and be accurate
  • Starter limits are tight
  • Rebuilt in 2026, so the newer features have little track record
  • Past complaints about slow replies on billing issues
  • Expensive for small businesses, especially month to month
  • Lower plans track only three AI platforms
  • Long record of complaints about charges after cancelling and refused refunds
  • Credits and usage limits that do not roll over
  • Old lifetime-deal customers were cut off from newer features

Who each one is for

AttributeAhrefsFraseWritesonic
Best for
  • Keyword research
  • Competitor traffic estimates
  • Backlink analysis
  • Technical site audits
  • Content gap analysis
  • Building SEO content briefs fast
  • Drafting articles from a brief
  • Answering the questions searchers ask
  • Tracking citations in AI search
  • Tracking brand mentions in ChatGPT and Gemini
  • Comparing AI visibility with competitors
  • Writing content aimed at AI citations
  • Site audits for SEO
You'll find it used by
  • SEO specialists
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Content teams
  • Content marketers
  • SEO freelancers
  • Agencies
  • Small business owners
  • B2B software teams
  • Marketing teams
  • SEO agencies
  • B2B software companies
  • E-commerce brands

Questions people ask

Which is better, Ahrefs, Frase or Writesonic?

Ahrefs scores highest overall in our ratings (Ahrefs 4.4/5, Frase 4.0/5 and Writesonic 3.7/5). Ahrefs is best for keyword research and competitor traffic estimates. Frase is best for Building SEO content briefs fast and drafting articles from a brief. Writesonic is best for tracking brand mentions in ChatGPT and Gemini and Comparing AI visibility with competitors.

Which is cheaper, Ahrefs, Frase or Writesonic?

Ahrefs: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $29/mo. Frase: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Writesonic: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $79/mo.

Which is easier to use, Ahrefs, Frase or Writesonic?

Ahrefs rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Marketers and business owners who want to see what competitors rank for and find keywords worth chasing.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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