This guide will help you understand the key differences between various SEO tools like Outranking, Frase, Jarvis, Surfer, and MarketMuse. While these tools do not allow for a perfect apples-to-apples comparison, we can compare some key strengths and weaknesses. We are the only Best SEO content generator for creating long-form content or any web content that needs to be optimized for organic traffic. comparing optimization and writing capabilities in this post.
Let’s get right to it!
Table of Contents
Summary of How Outranking is different and more efficient
Content Scoring Methodology
Content scoring is one of the major features of Outranking and well most other tools but Outranking does this differently. Scoring in Outranking is based on many on-page content elements and is more comprehensive and with better data that gives a complete idea of how you should approach and optimize your content.
Optimization Scoring Parameters
Outranking scores more parameters than any other content optimization tools. At Outranking we believe that great content isn’t always infused with a keyword X number of times. We believe great content should be optimized for semantic terms, uniqueness, structure, depth, and coverage. Most tools heavily rely on or only rely on NLP terms as a parameter to score their content.
AI Models and Capabilities
Outranking uses a combination of GPT-4 and proprietary trained models to assist you with researching, structuring and writing content using AI. Outranking can find research using automated semantic research and gather up to 10 sources for how you should approach a section to ensure its comprehensiveness.
AI Assisted Workflow
AI works great, but putting AI to work and consistently creating great content requires a workflow that many are still trying to figure out. Outranking’s SEO content editor is designed to adapt to AI assisted writing workflows that get you to the place where you can start adding value right away. Going from title to the first draft is a breeze. Sure you will need to learn some ins and outs of the platform but once you master some basic skills, you’d cut the time it takes you to create VALUE ADDED content in one third the time. If you are looking for one click 100% ready to publish drafts, Outranking isn’t going to be the right choice for you. We emphasize quality over quantity.
First Draft and Writing Personalization
For brands and agencies working with clients, personalization of content to ensure it follows their brand and style guidelines is of the utmost importance. Outranking uses default style guides that can be templatized to personalize the output of the first draft.
Keyword Clustering
Unlike SurferSEO and Scalenut, Outranking clusters keywords based on common SERPs in real time. Then it runs additional analysis on top of it to find allintitle, backlinks, competitors and finally calculate the probability of ranking the keyword. Using this information you can build your content inventory. Outranking allows clustering of up to 100K keywords using import utility.
Some plans of Outranking come with the Strategist feature and have some additional capabilities listed below.
Internal link optimization – Find internal link suggestions using page rank and topical authority model.
Website content audit – Crawl sitemap URL and find content related issues on the website.
Workflow management – assign content creation tasks to team members and manage workflow in Google Doc.
Big Picture Comparison of Outranking Vs Surfer, Frase, Marketmuse, Clearscope, Scalnut and Semrush Writing Assistant
Core Features
Outranking
SurferSEO
Frase
Clearscope
Marketmuse
Scalenut
Semrush writing assistant
SEO Title Generation
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
AI Assisted Outlines
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
AI Assisted First Drafts
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
AI Assisted Content Briefs
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Modular Section Writing
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
GPT- 4 Integration
Yes
Yes
No, GPT-3.5
No
No, GPT-3.5
No, GPT-3.5
No
AI Drafts Using Multiple Sources
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Style Guide Personalization
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Plagiarism Checker
Yes
Yes
Partial
No
No
Yes
Yes
Comprehensive Optimization
Yes, more on-page factors
Yes, some on-page factors
No, only NLP terms
No, only NLP terms
No, only NLP terms
Yes, some on-page factors
Yes, some on-page factors
Automatic – Optimization
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Semantic Terms
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Term Map Visualization
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Competitors Metrics Visualization
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes, but it is not part of the workflow.
Advanced SERP Analysis Data
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Google Doc Integration
Yes, native sync
Using Plugin
Using Plugin
Using Plugin
No
Using Plugin
Yes
WordPress Integration
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Publishing Options for Different Formats
Yes
Partial, no markdown
Partial, no markdown
Partial, no markdown
Partial, no markdown
No
Yes
Document Management System
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Team Workflow Management
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Internal Link Suggestions
Yes, markdown, clean HTML, files download
Yes, based on Google search operator method
No
No
Yes, based on PageRank and topical authority model
No
Yes, based on the Google search operator method
Outranking Vs. SurferSEO, Frase, MarketMuse, Clearscope, Scalenut, and Semrush Writing Assistant
1. Content Scoring Methodology
Outranking
Content scoring goes beyond simply optimizing NLP terms. Title, uniqueness, structure, depth of outlines, comprehensiveness, semantic keywords, and many more factors come into play to ensure that produced content has the highest ranking potential.
SurferSEO
Content scoring is mostly about NLP terms and the number of times the terms have been used in the content. Title, outlines, and depth are important to some extent, but these optimizations don’t impact the scoring much on their platform.
Frase
Content scoring is all about covering NLP terms and the number of times each term is used in the ranking pages. Comprehensive optimization of on-page is out of scope for Frase.
MarketMuse
Content scoring is all about covering NLP terms and the number of times each term is used in the ranking pages. Comprehensive optimization of on-page is out of scope for Marketmuse from a scoring perspective.
Clearscope
Content scoring is all about covering NLP terms and the number of times each term is used in the ranking pages. Comprehensive optimization of on-page is out of scope for Clearscope.
Scalenut
It’s hard to evaluate their scoring due to its copycat nature. It originally appeared to be a SurferSEO clone, then an Outranking clone, and now has become a copy of both products. The product’s SEO scoring is the least trustworthy.
Semrush Writing Assistant
Comprehensive SEO scoring which unlike most products is not heavily emphasised on NLP terms optimization. It scores for readability, uniqueness (like Outranking), and structure of the content to a great extent. Having light tough on NLP terms optimization makes the approach of Semrush less robust.
2. Optimization Scoring Parameters
Outranking
Title, Headings, Word Count, Uniqueness, Comprehensiveness, Internal and external links, Lists, Statistics, Tables, Videos, Anchor text, Images, Alt tags, Sementic, featured snippets, and related keywords.
SurferSEO
Title, Headings, Word Count, Comprehensiveness, Images, Alt tags, Sementic and related keywords.
Frase
Title, Headings, Word Count, Comprehensiveness, Images
MarketMuse
Comprehensiveness (NLP terms). Their SERP X-ray includes more benchmarks
Clearscope
Title, Headings, Word Count, Comprehensiveness, Images, Readability
Scalenut
Title, Headings, Word Count, Comprehensiveness, Images
Semrush Writing Assistant
Title, Headings, Word Count, Comprehensiveness, Images, Readability, Lists
3. AI Models and Capabilities
Outranking
Outranking uses GPT-4 and AI to perform semantic searches to find the right information that can serve as valuable background research prior to writing the initial AI draft. Outranking can pull semantically relevant information from up to 10 sources to write comprehensively about a topic.
SurferSEO
SurferSEO uses GPT-4 and information gathered from ONE source to write the draft. This is more like spinning because no net new information is obtained as background research.
Frase
Frase uses GPT-3.5 and uses information gathered from ONE source as a SUMMARY to write the draft. This is more like redeveloping the section based on an understanding of a summary. This can result in some facts being untrue and missing details because no net new information is obtained as background research.
MarketMuse
Marketmuse uses GPT-3.5 and does not use information gathered as part of background research. Makes all drafts practically useless with no facts and sources to back them.
Clearscope
No AI writing capabilities
Scalenut
Scalenut uses GPT-3.5 and uses information gathered from ONE source to write the draft. There may or may not be semantic relations as it uses traditional phrase search engines to gather background data. First drafts generated are suboptimal since it does not use the latest AI Model.
Semrush Writing Assistant
No AI writing capabilities
4. AI Assisted Workflow
Outranking
Outranking has a complete workflow to generate titles, outlines, and first drafts using its AI-assisted workflow.
SurferSEO
SurferSEO allows generation of drafts based on credits, meaning that once the draft is generated, there’s no way to modularly build out the sections that one may need to rewrite or rebuild.
Frase
Frase allows draft generation but lacks a streamlined workflow to write titles, outlines, refine prompts, and produce polished drafts.
MarketMuse
No workflow
Clearscope
No AI writing capabilities
Scalenut
Scalenut allows draft generation, but its workflow is designed primarily for individuals who create content on their own and are willing to learn the various techniques available for generating content in numerous ways. It provides a decent experience for individual content creators, however, it may not be well-suited for agencies or brands seeking more collaborative or specialized content creation processes. The writing approach in Scalenut draws inspiration from some of the better tools on the list.
Semrush Writing Assistant
No AI writing capabilities
5. First Draft and Writing Personalization
Outranking
Outranking’s Custom Style Guide feature enables agencies and users to build reputable processes around creating specific types of content or following specific guidelines. For example, “write in UK English,” “use first-person voice,” “how to talk about a brand,” etc.
SurferSEO
SurferSEO allows the tone of voice as a content personalization utility. This may not be enough for people writing in various different tones and styles. You can build sections in the style or formatting you want, hence extensive editing and rewriting are always needed.
Frase
Frase allows tone of voice as a content personalization utility, this may not be enough for people writing in various different tones and styles. You can build sections in the style or formatting you want, hence extensive editing and rewriting are always needed.
MarketMuse
No workflow
Clearscope
No AI writing capabilities
Scalenut
Allows tone personalization like SurferSEO and most other tools, unlike Outranking, which can do personalized writing based on custom or default style and brand guides.
Semrush Writing Assistant
No AI writing capabilities
6. AI Writing Flexibility
Outranking
With Outranking, you can generate individual sections or complete drafts automatically, providing flexibility in approaching content and writing in a more practical manner.
SurferSEO
With Surfer you cannot generate individual sections this gives lesser flexibility in approaching the content writing in a more practical manner where often you want to write small parts of the content.
Frase
With Frase, you can generate individual sections in a more practical manner where often you want to write small parts of the content.
MarketMuse
No additonal tools
Clearscope
No AI writing capabilities
Scalenut
With Scalnut you can generate individual sections in a more practical manner where often you want to write small parts of the content.
Semrush Writing Assistant
No AI writing capabilities
7. Keyword Clustering
Outranking
Keyword clustering in Outranking is based on understanding SERPs and grouping keywords that have at least 3 ranking URLs common for a given keyword. This ensures you get an accurate representation of all the keywords that fall into the same group.
SurferSEO
Keyword clustering in Surfer is based on grouping common terms found in the primary keyword. They may or may not be semantically related and hence you will need to run a different analysis to figure out if grouping of those keywords makes sense.
Frase
No keyword clustering feature
MarketMuse
Keyword clustering is based on entities and common terms found in them. While Marketmuse uses proprietary AI to extract entities, it’s not data-driven. These keywords grouped may or may not be semantically related.
Clearscope
No keyword clustering feature
Scalenut
Keyword clustering in Scalenut is copied from SurferSEO (apparent in its UI) and is based on grouping common terms found in the primary keyword. They may or may not be semantically related and hence you will need to run a different analysis to figure out if grouping of those keywords makes sense.
Semrush Writing Assistant
Keyword clustering in Semrush is based on an understanding of SERPS and grouping keywords that have at least 3 ranking URLs common for a given keyword. This ensures you have an accurate representation of all the keywords that fall into the same group.
8. Data Gathered
Outranking
1. Allintitle count
2. Volume, CPC, Difficulty
3. Backlinks for top pages for each query
4. Search console data mapping with cluster keywords
5. Probability of ranking a keyword
SurferSEO
1. Volume, CPC, Difficulty
Frase
No keyword clustering feature
MarketMuse
1. Volume, CPC, Difficulty
Clearscope
No keyword clustering feature
Scalenut
1. Volume, CPC, Difficulty
Semrush Writing Assistant
1. Volume, CPC, Difficulty
2. Backlinks for top pages for each query (Separate call and need additional steps)
9. Base Pricing
Outranking
5 Documents $29/Month Includes AI Writing (Unlimited)
SurferSEO
30 Documents $89/Month Does not include AI Writing
Frase
4 Documents $14.99/Month Doesn’t include AI Writing (limited)
MarketMuse
4 Documents $14.99/Month Doesn’t include AI Writing (limited)
Clearscope
20 Documents $170/Month No AI Writing capabilities
Scalenut
5 Documents $39/Month Limited AI writing 100k words
SemrushWriting Assistant
5 Projects $129.95/Month Does not include AI Writing