A Surfer SEO alternative for small teams: Conterity vs Surfer, from their own pages
Surfer is a content optimization platform: you write or generate a draft in its editor and it scores the draft against the pages that rank. Conterity is a researched SEO writer, with an AI team that plans the keywords on its AI Team plans: it picks keywords your site can reach, writes from your approved facts and hands you an article ready to paste into any site. This comparison uses what each company lists publicly, including where Surfer is ahead. Surfer’s details come from surferseo.com/pricing as of 22 October 2026; prices and features change, so check both before you decide.
Choose Surfer if you or a writer already produce content and want a live score against the top results, large document allowances, daily AI-visibility tracking across several AI models, a plagiarism checker and a Chrome extension. Choose Conterity if you want the keyword chosen, the article researched and written in your voice from facts you approved, numbers never invented, and the result ready to paste into your site, from $19 a month for 50 articles.
At a glance
| Compared | Conterity | Surfer (as listed) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Researched SEO writer, plus an AI team that plans and writes articles each week | Content optimization platform with an AI writing assistant |
| Starting price | Writer $19 a month (50 articles); Free plan with 5 articles | Discovery $49 a month billed yearly (120 documents) |
| Picks keywords | Yes: topical map with intent and difficulty, sized to your site | Topic and content ideas; coverage gaps on Pro |
| Research before writing | Google “People also ask”, related searches, autocomplete | Real-time SERP analysis and content score |
| Facts and numbers | Only from your approved proof points, notes or supplied sources | Not described on the pricing page |
| Brand voice | Approved Brand Brain from your website | Brand Knowledge; custom voices on Pro |
| Publishing | Copy, Word file or Google Docs after your approval; works with any site | Integrations listed on Standard and above |
| AI search visibility | Weekly checks with Claude (plus OpenAI, Perplexity and Gemini when enabled), AI Team plans and Free | Tracks AI prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews and others, from Standard |
| Bulk pages | One page per city, service or competitor: 30 a month on Writer Pro and AI Team | Not listed |
Pricing compared
| Plan | Price per month | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Conterity Free | $0 | 5 articles a month, one website |
| Conterity Writer | $19 ($14 billed yearly) | 50 articles a month, topical map |
| Conterity Writer Pro | $49 ($39 billed yearly) | 150 articles and 30 bulk pages a month, 3 sites, content gap analysis |
| Conterity AI Team | $99 ($79 billed yearly) | 40 articles a month planned for you, 30 bulk pages, AI visibility, one brand |
| Surfer Discovery | $49 billed yearly | Create or optimize 120 documents, track 10 pages |
| Surfer Standard | $99 billed yearly | 360 documents, 25 AI prompts tracked weekly, integrations, plagiarism checker |
| Surfer Pro | $182 billed yearly | Adds internal linking, coverage gaps, cannibalization report, 50 prompts daily |
| Surfer AI Search Analytics | $82 billed yearly | AI-visibility tracking only: 50 prompts refreshed daily |
Surfer’s pricing page lists yearly-billed prices; monthly billing costs more. The two products count differently: Surfer counts documents you create or optimize, Conterity counts finished articles. Conterity’s current prices are always on the pricing page.
How each one works
Surfer: score a draft against what ranks
You choose a keyword, open the content editor and write, or let its AI assistant draft. Surfer compares your text with the top results and scores it on terms, structure and length as you go. Higher plans add internal linking suggestions, coverage gaps, a cannibalization report and AI-visibility tracking.
Conterity: plan, research, write from your facts, approve
You approve a Brand Brain drafted from your website once. A topical map sets out pillars and supporting topics, each with a keyword checked for difficulty. For each article the writer reads Google’s questions and related searches, builds the outline, and writes in your voice, using numbers only from your proof points, notes or supplied sources. You approve it and it is ready to paste into your site.
In short: Surfer helps a writer hit the target. Conterity chooses the target and writes to it.
Where Surfer is stronger
A live content score
Surfer’s editor scores a draft against the top results as you type. Conterity does not give a content score.
Volume of documents
Plans include 120 to 360 documents or more a month, created or optimized. Conterity’s Writer plans include 10 or 30 finished articles.
AI visibility across more models
Surfer lists tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews, refreshed daily on higher plans. Conterity checks weekly with Claude, plus other providers when enabled, and does not track AI Overviews.
Tools around the editor
A plagiarism checker, a Chrome extension, an AI humanizer and rank-drop detection are listed. Conterity has none of these.
Where Conterity is stronger
It chooses the keyword
Topics come from Google research about your buyers, and keywords out of your site’s reach are marked before you write.
Facts you can stand behind
Numbers only from your approved proof points, notes or supplied sources; a marked placeholder when there is none.
Written in your voice, ready to paste
From an approved Brand Brain, with internal links into your site, and ready to paste into your site when you approve.
A lower entry price
Writer is $19 a month for 50 articles, and the Free plan writes 5 articles a month without a card.
Keywords planned for you
On the AI Team plans a planner picks each week’s keywords from search volumes and how established your site is, and the writer turns them into articles.
Which one fits your situation
| If you… | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Have writers and want to optimize their drafts | Surfer |
| Want the keyword picked and the article written for you | Conterity |
| Need a content score or a plagiarism checker | Surfer |
| Are in a claims-sensitive market and cannot risk invented numbers | Conterity |
| Need daily AI-visibility tracking across several models | Surfer |
| Want the keywords picked and the articles written each week | Conterity AI Team |
| Want to start under $50 a month | Conterity Writer |
You can also use both: write and approve with Conterity, then open the article in Surfer’s editor if you want a score before you publish.
Frequently asked questions
Is Conterity a Surfer SEO alternative?
How does pricing compare?
Does Conterity give a content score like Surfer?
Does Conterity track AI visibility like Surfer?
Is there a free version?
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