Clearscope vs Frase: Which One Do You Actually Need?
Same job, different price and philosophy. Clearscope produces the cleaner report and is the easier hand-off to a writer who does not do SEO; Frase bundles research, outlining and drafting into one workflow for well under half the entry cost. Quality of guidance favours Clearscope, value favours Frase.
The short answer
- Choose Clearscope if writers need unambiguous guidance and the report itself is the deliverable.
- Choose Frase if you want research, outline and draft in one place and the entry price matters.
Pricing
Published list pricing, verified 2026-08-08. Confirm on each vendor's own page before buying; both reprice more often than most comparison articles are updated.
Clearscope
- Essentials$129/mo
- Business$399/mo
- Enterprisecustom
Frase
- Starter$49/mo ($39 annual)
- Professional$129/mo ($103 annual)
- Scale$299/mo ($239 annual)
Frase repriced during 2025-2026 — the entry tier moved from $15 to $49. Comparisons still quoting $15 are out of date.
Feature by feature
| Capability | Clearscope | Frase |
|---|---|---|
| Content briefs from SERP data | ||
| AI writing in the editor | ||
| On-page content scoring | ||
| Keyword database and volume research | ||
| Backlink index and link analysis | ||
| Rank tracking | ||
| Technical site audit | ||
| Topic/authority modelling across a site | ||
| Publishes finished articles to your CMS |
Where Clearscope wins
- The cleanest term guidance in the category — reports are readable by writers with no SEO background.
- Unlimited users and projects on every plan, which is unusual here.
- Editorial teams consistently rate the report quality above cheaper equivalents.
Where it falls short
- The most expensive entry point of the pure optimization tools, at roughly 5x NeuronWriter.
- No keyword database, backlink index or rank tracking.
- Report allowances, not seats, are the real constraint.
Where Frase wins
- The brief-to-draft workflow is tight: SERP analysis, outline, then a scored draft without leaving the editor.
- Cheapest serious option here at the entry tier.
- Small surface area, so a writer is productive on day one.
Where it falls short
- No keyword database, so it assumes you already decided what to write about.
- No rank tracking, so it cannot tell you whether the work paid off.
- Nothing for backlinks or technical SEO.
Who neither of these is right for
Both are editors. Neither decides your strategy or delivers the finished article.
That is the gap FirstSearch fills: it researches, writes and delivers finished articles straight to your CMS. It is not a better Clearscope or a cheaper Frase; it is a different answer to the same frustration. Our own engine produced these results on hpspelet.se if you want to see the output before deciding.
See how it worksFrequently asked questions
Is Clearscope or Frase better?
Same job, different price and philosophy. Clearscope produces the cleaner report and is the easier hand-off to a writer who does not do SEO; Frase bundles research, outlining and drafting into one workflow for well under half the entry cost. Quality of guidance favours Clearscope, value favours Frase.
Can Clearscope replace Frase?
Only partly. Frase is a content optimization tool, and Clearscope is a premium content optimization tool. Where they overlap you can drop one; where they do not, you cannot. Choose Frase if you want research, outline and draft in one place and the entry price matters. Choose Clearscope if writers need unambiguous guidance and the report itself is the deliverable.
Which is cheaper, Clearscope or Frase?
Clearscope starts at $129/mo and Frase starts at $49/mo ($39 annual), as published on 2026-08-08. Compare the tier you would actually use rather than the entry price: usage limits differ more than headline cost, and both vendors have repriced recently enough that older comparisons are unreliable.
Do I need both Clearscope and Frase?
Only if you are doing both jobs at volume. Both are editors. Neither decides your strategy or delivers the finished article.
Do Clearscope or Frase write and publish articles for me?
Neither does. Both are tools you operate: they tell you what to write and score what you wrote, but a person still has to write the article and put it on the site.