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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Clearscope vs Frase vs Google Search Console

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

Clearscope

3.9

From $129/mo

Frase

4.0

From $49/mo

Google Search Console

4.0

Free to start

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Easiest to use

Pick it if: Content teams and agencies publishing SEO articles every week who want writers to hit a clear quality bar.

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

Best value

Pick it if: Anyone with a website. There's no reason not to set it up.

Overview

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
In one lineGrades your content against what ranks and tracks whether AI search mentions you.Researches, briefs and drafts SEO articles, and tracks if AI search cites you.Google's free report on how your site shows up in search, AI results included.
Pricing modelPaidPaidFree
Starting price$129/mo$49/moFree
Free plan No No Yes
Works with Claude Code No Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

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

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
Overall rating3.94.04.0
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.
4.0
4.5
3.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
3.5
4.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
2.5
4.0
5.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
3.5

Feature comparison

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

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
Access & platform
Free plan No No Yes
Mobile app–– No
Desktop app–– No
Browser extension No– No
API access– Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes No
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files–– No
Understands images–– No
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations– Yes No
Learns your brand or style– Yes No
Works in many languages– Yes Yes
Capabilities score3/ 177/ 175/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
Plans

EssentialsOur pick

$129/mo

Small content teams publishing weekly.

Starter

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

One person writing a few articles a month.

FreeOur pick

Free

Every website owner, with no exceptions.

Business

$399/mo

Larger teams and agencies.

ProfessionalOur pick

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

Small teams publishing weekly.

Enterprise

Custom

Big publishers with security needs.

Scale

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

Agencies running several sites.

Enterprise

Custom

Large teams needing white-label and SSO.

Which plan to pickEssentials is enough for most teams; buy extra pages or drafts as add-ons before jumping to Business. Use the 14-day trial on real articles to see if the grades change your results.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.There's only one plan and it costs nothing. Verify every site you own, including subdomains, and add your marketing person or agency as a user so they can see the data too.

Key features

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
Standout features
  • Content grading
  • Topic exploration
  • Page monitoring
  • Drafts
  • AI search tracking
  • Google Docs and WordPress add-ons
  • SERP research and briefs
  • AI drafting in your voice
  • Content scoring
  • Content Guard
  • AI visibility tracking
  • API, MCP and CLI
  • Performance report
  • Indexing report
  • URL inspection
  • Issue alerts
  • Core Web Vitals
  • API access

Pros and cons

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
Pros
  • Simple, clean interface that writers pick up quickly
  • Good-quality term recommendations
  • Unlimited users on every plan
  • Works inside Google Docs and WordPress
  • 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
  • Real data from Google rather than estimates
  • Completely free with no traffic or user limits
  • Catches indexing and mobile problems you'd never notice yourself
  • Shows when your pages appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode
  • An official API that Claude Code can read
Cons
  • High price for small businesses, with no free plan
  • Tight monthly limits on pages and drafts at the entry price
  • Fewer extras than Surfer (no full site audit)
  • AI search tracking only covers a couple of assistants
  • 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
  • Only covers your own site, so no competitor research
  • Data lags by one to two days
  • The reports assume you know SEO terms like impressions and canonical
  • Query data is sampled and hides some long-tail searches for privacy

Who each one is for

AttributeClearscopeFraseGoogle Search Console
Best for
  • Making sure articles cover a topic fully
  • Keeping a team of writers consistent
  • Refreshing pages that are slipping
  • Checking if AI search mentions your brand
  • Building SEO content briefs fast
  • Drafting articles from a brief
  • Answering the questions searchers ask
  • Tracking citations in AI search
  • Seeing which searches bring visitors
  • Finding indexing problems
  • Seeing when you appear in AI Overviews
  • Submitting sitemaps
You'll find it used by
  • Content marketing teams
  • SEO agencies
  • Freelance writers
  • B2B software companies
  • Content marketers
  • SEO freelancers
  • Agencies
  • Small business owners
  • B2B software teams
  • Business owners
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Developers

Questions people ask

Which is better, Clearscope, Frase or Google Search Console?

They tie on our overall rating (Clearscope 3.9/5, Frase 4.0/5 and Google Search Console 4.0/5). Clearscope is best for making sure articles cover a topic fully and keeping a team of writers consistent. Frase is best for Building SEO content briefs fast and drafting articles from a brief. Google Search Console is best for seeing which searches bring visitors and finding indexing problems.

Which is cheaper, Clearscope, Frase or Google Search Console?

Clearscope: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $129/mo. Frase: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Google Search Console: It's free to use.

Which is easier to use, Clearscope, Frase or Google Search Console?

Clearscope rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Content teams and agencies publishing SEO articles every week who want writers to hit a clear quality bar.

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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