Frase Review 2024: The Definitive Content Writing Assistant?

Welcome to our Frase review.

Frase is an SEO content optimization platform that offers users a comprehensive toolset to upgrade their content.

The software helps your content rank and includes an AI writer, dedicated content research, as well as the ability to optimize new and existing content.

The key question: is it worth the money?

By the end of this review, you’ll know the answer, including whether it’s a good fit for your business.

We’ll dig into Frase’s capabilities, detail the plans available, and reveal what we think are the platform’s key pros and cons.

What is Frase?

Frase was founded in Boston, United States, in 2016. The tool works to boost SEO and drive conversions by utilizing your existing content and answering your site visitors’ questions.

Frase was one of the first SEO tools to use an in-house algorithm with machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) techniques that learn and develop ideas from the internet.

Today, the tool uses OpenAI’s GPT tech and plans to update further as new versions become available. Frase is used and trusted by over 30,000 businesses daily and is part of the Copysmith family.

While competition is fierce, Frase gives its users an entire SEO content workflow, AI writing tools, improves your organic traffic, site visibility, and enhances your rank on search engines all from one place.

You’ll find everything from robust research to generated content briefs, outlines, AI templates, and even the functionality to create your own custom-made AI tool within the platform.

But is it the best tool for your business?

Continue reading for a full breakdown of Frase. I’ll discuss the pros and cons and some Frase alternatives.

What features does Frase offer?

Frase is (primarily) all-in-one content research and AI writing optimization software. The key features worth knowing about include the following:

• Content editor
• Research panel
• Outline builder
• AI Write (AI writing tools)
• AI templates
• Optimize
• Chatbot
• Integrations

We’ll explore these features and give you a first-hand look at the tool.

Please note: Some of Frase’s features are only available in specific pricing plans. See the pricing section for a full breakdown of each tier.

Content editor

The content editor is clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate. Similar to Google Docs, it saves in real time, and the word count appears in the bottom left corner as you type. You can also view previous versions of a document by clicking on the menu at the top left.

I particularly like that you can drag and drop files from your computer and insert multimedia content with ease.

If you want to export the piece to a PDF or HTML, or have all your SERP results in an Excel file, click Export and select an option, like so (multimedia functionality has additionally been highlighted):

Similarly, sharing your content brief or the complete article is easy. Hit the green Share button, choose your sharing preferences, and copy the link:

Another functionality of note is the ability to set statuses and deadlines in each document, which doubles as a way to keep track of which section each team member is working on overall.

To set statuses within the editor, click on the top left collapsed menu and then Document Settings.

At the bottom of the form is Doc Status, and you can choose from five different groups: Researching, Writing, Optimizing, Completed, and Published.

Research panel

Arguably, one of Frase’s most vital features is its research panel, as it forms a solid basis for every article you create. Here you’ll find the top 20 SERP results from your “Target Search Query,” which gives significant insights into a competitor’s piece.

To create a new document, log in to the dashboard and click one of the “New Document” buttons on the right-hand:

Next, you’ll see a form called the document creation screen–you can click either Optimize existing content or Create a new document.

Underneath that is the Target Search Query. Here, you’ll write your longtail keywords, (a phrase over three words), and it’s usually a question or statement which serves as the title of your piece in the editor.

Afterwards, you need to pick the Country that the results will come from and the Language– both have drop-down boxes; click to select. The Save to Folder drop-down list lets you make a folder and organize your work.

At the bottom are Advanced settings, which are optional (it defaults to the top search results from Google if you skip this step). However, you can select results from a specific domain with ease.

Finally, click Create Document, and it’ll take you to the content editor. It should look something like this:

On the right-hand side, you’ll see the Research panel. At the top are six tabs: Overview, Headings, Questions, Stats, News, and Wiki, which update instantly upon clicking each.

For instance, the Stats tab lists cited research, and News pulls the latest stories from your keyword. Wiki gives you definitions, which is convenient for technical pieces.

In the highlighted quadrant is the average word count, number of headers, links, and images–these come from the top 20 SERP results and update as you write.

Underneath, if you scroll down, is the outline of your competitor’s complete article. You can get a snippet of what they’ve included in every section, including the ability to insert it into the editor using the Paste icon or by clicking on a specific part that you like:

The Headings tab next to the Overview tab lists all headings and enables you to paste them in.

One of Frase’s top features is the ability to automate the content brief using its AI. To begin, underneath the quadrant, click Automate Content Brief.

Next, you’ll see a checklist of options, click what you want to add and whether you want it to be List or Table, and once finished, click Insert Brief into Editor:

It took seconds to generate a brief, and the selected sections in the above image were ordered. Frase is very helpful in that you can include topics and keyword clusters for content creation ideas and planning.

I especially like that you can include the Questions section in the brief and access it from the Questions tab. It contains questions that your target audience want to be answered, provides inspiration from People Also Ask, and shows you questions from Quora and Reddit.

As you can see below, some parts need tweaking, like filling in the target audience and editing the typography, and then you can send it out to your writers in around five minutes.

All in all, Frase’s AI is impressive and will undoubtedly speed up content brief creation.

The SERP Visualizer is also a great feature that gives more in-depth competitor metrics such as domain, backlinks, and topic score so you can build out a content strategy:

It’s yet another useful part of the Frase toolset that helps you to visualize your overall content plan.

Outline builder

Frase offers two ways to create an outline using AI. I’ll start with the custom way. Both options are in the Outline section, where you’ll see your competitor’s framework from Google’s SERP results, side by side, by using the horizontal scrollbar to view.

You can also click to highlight the headings in green, and there’s the option to edit the heading itself for a more personalized outline.

To start, click the Outline section in the top right corner and Explore Headings like so:

Frase has a search bar for filtering down keywords and displays them by heading types and questions.

Next, click on the headings you want for your outline. They’ll appear on the right-hand side in a list. To rearrange the order, you can drag and drop them. You can also alter the size and title, like so:

Click Save Outline and then the Paste button. All of your headings will appear in the editor. Here’s one I made earlier:

Now let’s compare and see how the AI outline builder fares. To begin, click Generate Heading Ideas with AI, wait for it to finish, and then click the Paste button:

The results and speed were decent–it took only a few seconds. It did need some formatting and editing, but that’s standard, and AI isn’t perfect:

Both options use AI to streamline the outline creation process, and if you’re short on time, the AI outline generator can help.

Another excellent feature within the Outline tab is the ability to write a complete draft using the existing outline that you’ve saved. Click Generate Draft, and the AI will generate an article from scratch:

If you want the whole article, click Paste Into Editor. Frase allows you to paste certain parts using the Paste icon, or if you don’t like a section, click the Redo icon, and the AI will rewrite it:

I thought the AI did a solid job. The spacing needs improvement, but it’s a minor niggle that’s simple to remedy:

Naturally, sections will need editing to suit your voice (and bespoke style guide) too.

AI Write

AI assistants can expand on your points, write introductions, and rephrase paragraphs. AI doesn’t replace humans but works as an accompaniment to them.

Before we delve into what Frase AI Write can do, setting realistic expectations is paramount. I’m guilty of diving in without watching Frase’s videos and misusing the Write button, which expands upon what you’ve already written (but it does not really work with just a title and minimal input).

I strongly recommend viewing Frase’s Crash Course for free or accessing the Help videos from within the platform–they’re excellent resources.

The text I used above is written from Frases’s AI from the outline draft. From there, highlight the text and click Write about this. The AI writing tool continues a new paragraph using what you’ve already written, which is great when you have writer’s block.

Here’s my result:

Pin

Frase’s AI does stay on topic and is consistent. However, it’s repeated itself with ‘over the centuries,’ and the structure and cadence need some work. This result may be due to not feeding it enough original writing.

Here’s another example using the Expand tool. This time I used my own writing, seeding the AI with an idea. The AI-generated writing is highlighted in red, and I feel that it’s done a much better job. It’s guided the writer with a potential way forward:

With Frase’s AI Write, you can also use Transitions to expand your writing–it’ll start the new paragraph with your chosen transition. There are six groups to choose from, each with individual options: Addition, Contrast, Sequence, Condition, Result, and Summary:

The Transition tool is particularly useful when you’re writing a formal piece, need to recap, or change the subject. I tried out “However,” and here are the results:

The AI created an authentic blend that mixed my tone, contrasting and including other related topics.

The Rewrite tool is particularly good if you want to paraphrase a section or freshen it up.

Here’s an example that I’ve written with the original version highlighted in yellow.

To begin, click the Rewrite tool and Sentence by Sentence or Paragraph by Paragraph; underneath are three AI-generated options:

The AI gives you more generated options if you click between the three tabs. To select an option, click the Paste icon.

You can also select Short or Creative. As the names suggest, Short shortens my sentence, and Creative sounds emotive and involves the reader:

I feel the creative option’s tone came across like a sales page or tabloid newspaper, but depending on your content, it’s worth exploring.

AI templates

Frase offers a selection of AI writing templates, with SEO-optimized templates such as snippets, blog introductions, how-to articles, a listicle generator, copywriting templates, and even YouTube video ideas.

To access the templates, click Tools from within the AI Write section (on the second tab) and scroll to select the template that suits your needs:

Here’s an example of a Frase AI template in action; I selected the “List Of Questions” template and asked a question, then set the creativity like so:

The response appeared on the right-hand side with the option to paste it. You can also click Load more for more suggestions. My question was generic, but the answers were contextual and made sense:

In total, Frase offers 35 AI templates, not including the hundreds of AI tools designed by the Frase community itself.

If you like to tinker, Frase also enables you to build a custom-made template yourself. To start, scroll down to the bottom of Tools in the AI Write tab and click “+ New Custom tool”, and name it, like so:

You’ll be brought to a configuration page to design your own AI tool. I won’t detail all the steps as it’s a lengthy process (yet still one that’s worth pursuing); the more you put in, the more you get out.

For those purely focused on AI writers: Writesonic may be a better fit as it offers more AI templates.

The ability to create specific AI tools, and use those created by other users, are unique features of Frase that other SEO tools don’t offer.

Optimize

Frase provides content optimization based on SERP research where you can view your Topic Score, which is organized by Top Topics, Clusters, Long Tail Keywords, Titles, and Headers. You can import a draft from elsewhere or scrape the content from a URL.

The more you include, for example, Top Topics, the higher the score. The goal is to get your Topic Score past the yellow indicator to surpass the average score of your competitors and produce quality, high-ranking, and topically relevant content.

Like a traffic light system, red is the area that needs the most attention, yellow needs minor improvement, and green means you’ve got it covered:

Although Frase’s Optimize is essential, Surfer SEO’s on-page optimization is better arranged.

That said, Frase additionally provides a heatmap. A welcome addition when viewing your content alongside competitors:

You’ll be able to view a list of external links used by competitors in the additional Links tab too.

Chatbot

Frase provides a chatbot that can help with your writing. To access it, click the AI Write tab and then Chat. You can ask it to create an outline, conclusion, or anything related to your article, such as an FAQ:

We’ve covered the features of Frase Content, but Frase also offers another service: Frase Answers, which features a custom-built chatbot to answer site visitors’ questions (from within your site).

To access Frase Answers on the main dashboard, click on Switch to explore this functionality like so:

The feature works by crawling the information on your site and learning from it.

Integrations

Frase offers direct integrations with Google Docs (an add-on), Frase Summarizer (a useful Chrome Extension), WordPress itself, and Google Search Console (GSC).

Frase works in tandem with GSC and extracts your site’s performance and KPI metrics such as Ranked Pages, Clicks, and Impressions. At the same time, Frase’s AI provides recommendations to improve your SEO.

With GSC, you’ll be able to track organic growth, see potential keyword opportunities, and categorize every page by status. Filtering data is a game changer as you can easily plan your content strategy, see lost positions, or view where you have the potential to trend.

What’s more, Frase offers internal link recommendations from your Google Search Console data.

To install GSC, go to the dashboard, and on the left-hand side, select SEO Tools.

From there, click GSC Content Analytics:

Finally, click Integrate Google Search Console.

How much does Frase cost?

Frase offers three core plans: Solo, Basic, and Team, in addition to the Pro Add-On. Naturally, each plan includes differing features, benefits, and usage limits.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them.

The Solo plan starts at $12.66 per month (if you’re paying yearly) or $14.99 on the monthly payment model. It comes with the following features:

• One user seat
• The ability to write and optimize 4 articles for your web pages (per month)
• 4000 Frase AI words (per month)
• Automated content briefs
• Free GSC integration
• Team project folders
• Project status settings
• Custom templates
• Content editor (SEO-optimized content)
• AI outline builder
• Content scoring

The Basic plan starts at $38.25 per month (if you’re paying yearly) or $44.99 on the monthly payment model. It includes all of the features of the Solo plan in addition to the following:

• The ability to write and optimize 30 articles per month
• The ability to send and share editable links in documents

The Team plan starts at $97.75 per month (if you’re paying yearly) or $114.99 on the monthly payment model. It comes with all of the features of the Solo and Basic plans, including:

• Three user seats
• The option to purchase additional seats for $25 per month, per seat
• The content optimization tool enables you to write and optimize unlimited articles

The Pro SEO Add-On is available on all plans and includes the following:

• Unlimited access to Frase’s AI writing assistant, AI Write
• Unlocks domain authority and backlink data on the top SERP results
• Access to monthly search volume for keywords in the outline builder

Not sure if Frase is the right fit? There’s a 5-day $1 trial available.

Frase’s pros and cons

Frase is a top-notch writing tool, but it has weaknesses too. Here’s a brief round-up of what we thought were Frase’s biggest pros and cons.

Frase pros

• AI SERP research. From creating a new document using a longtail keyword to using SERP research that updates in real time, as well as the option to automate a content brief with a single click, there’s a lot on offer.
• Outline builder. Enables you to create an outline by analyzing competitors, and then you can design your own with ease. After creating your outline, you can also generate a complete first draft using AI.
• AI Write. Comes with a content editor and the ability to optimize old and new content. Use AI Write to continue paragraphs, shorten sentences, and even automatically rewrite sections to minimize writer’s block.
• Chatbot. This feature can assist in creating article ideas, writing an introduction, and more. You can create your own Chatbot with Frase Answers to gain topical authority in your niche (so visitors remain on your site).
• Google Search Console integration. Get AI recommendations for internal links; extremely useful for site audits as well as studying your SEO statistics.

Frase cons

• The Pro Add-On. It’s essential if you want unlimited AI words, generated content, and detailed SERP research. The limitations without it are somewhat notable.
• Basic keyword research. Frase doesn’t have a designated keyword research tool compared to its competitors.
• Only a few integrations. Compared to other providers, only four integrations are available with Frase Content.

Frase alternatives

Looking for some Frase alternatives or want to compare? Check out these other great SEO tools before we head to our Frase review conclusion:

• Scalenut | Our review —  An AI-enabled SEO and marketing tool that’s the best direct alternative to Frase with competitor research, AI-assisted writing, and optimization.
• SE Ranking | Our review — The best all-in-one solution that provides content optimization; it now offers an AI writing feature too. Real value for money.
• Surfer SEO | Our review — The best option for those needing an excellent content optimization and research platform to increase their organic traffic. Create SEO-optimized content in a flash.

Final thoughts on Frase

That concludes our Frase review.

Overall, Frase is one of the best AI content creation and writing tools available and offers a lot of hidden functionality within its features.

We particularly like the content editor as it’s easy to use, features simple navigation between tabs, and the AI assistant can guide writers as they create new pieces.

You can also supercharge your output with generated content briefs and outlines and save valuable time with SERP research.

We’d recommend Frase if you’re a solopreneur, startup, or even a large business–if utilized well, the sky’s the limit.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

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