If cost isn’t an issue, then Surfer SEO is the best tool to write and optimize your content, so it can rank higher on search engines and drive massive organic traffic.
But the headache here is choosing the best Surfer SEO pricing plan that suits your needs.
As a blogger, I use Surfer SEO to optimize my blog posts. I’ve published a review on Surfer SEO and have also done thorough research comparing its 3 pricing plans – Essential, Advanced, and Max including the custom plan.
So in this guide, I shared my findings to help you choose the best plan.
If you’re in a hurry, below is the summary of Surfer SEO pricing plans
Essential Plan ( $89/month) – Best for bloggers, affiliate marketers, freelance SEOs, digital marketers
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Advanced Plan ( $179/month) – Best for small businesses, content marketing and SEO agencies
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Max Plan ( $299/month) – Best for large marketing agencies
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Custom Plan ( Contact sales team) – Best for enterprises that want customized and personalized features
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Best content optimization tool
Has Content Editor, SERP Analyzer, Surfer AI Writer, Audit Tool, Keyword Research Tool, Shareable Link, Term Assistant, Plagiarism Checker, Organizational Seat. It integrates with Google doc, Jasper AI, and WordPress. Offers White Label Service and API.
Save up to $360 when you subscribe to yearly billing. Has a 7-day money-back guarantee.
Surfer SEO Essential Plan Review
The Essential plan is the cheapest plan Surfer SEO offers. It costs $89/month for monthly billing and $69/month for yearly billing – that’s $240 OFF.
It’s the most popular plan suitable for professionals who have medium SEO projects to manage. For example, I as a blogger use this plan because I have less than 1000 pages on my blog. It will serve affiliate marketers, SEO content writers, freelance SEO, and small businesses who want an affordable Surfer SEO plan.
Let’s look at its features.
Content Editor – Use this feature to generate an SEO content outline for any keyword you want to rank for, write content that satisfies user intent, close content gaps, and boost the ranking of your existing pages on Google. You are limited to only using the Content Editor for 15 articles per month. If you exhaust it and want an additional Content Editor, you pay $5/article.
Watch the video below to see how to use the Content Editor:
Keyword Research – Conduct keyword research to identify lucrative, low-competition, and high-search volume keywords you can easily rank for. With these, you don’t need keyword research tools like Ahrefs and Semrush. That’s like using a stone to kill two birds. On the Essential Plan, you can research a keyword for a maximum of 100 times per day. This is enough, and it means you can research for a keyword 3000 times a month.
Surfer AI – This is an AI writer that you can use to generate high-quality, optimized, and ready-to-publish SEO content. I tried it after Surfer released it in May 2023, and it can be compared to Content at Scale which many content marketers give positive reviews about. I’ve also compared Surfer SEO AI writer to Jasper AI to see which does better in terms of high-quality content.
Surfer AI writer is an add-on on Surfer which means it isn’t included in the monthly subscription you pay. It costs $29 for each article you write and it isn’t compulsory. So you can be on the Surfer Essential Plan and decide not to use Surfer AI – no issues with that.
Organization seat – 2 of your team members can have an account on Surfer SEO Essential plan subscription.
Shareable links – You can share links to your project with your team members, so they can view, comment or even carry out a task you assigned them on the project.
Plagiarism checker – Has an inbuilt plagiarism checker which you can access on Content Editor. It saves you the money you invest in plagiarism check tools like Copyscape.
Term Assistant – To optimize the content you have created in the Content Editor, the term assistant generates keywords that can influence ranking, so you can add them to your content.
Google Doc integration – Since many marketers type and format their content on Google Docs, Surfer decided to make things easier by integrating with Google Docs. With that, you can optimize the content you have on Google Docs with Surfer SEO without having to log in to your Surfer account.
WordPress integration – If you manage your content on WordPress, congrats because you can now optimize your blog posts or previously published pages with Surfer within the WordPress interface. Once you subscribe to the Essential plan, log in to your WordPress dashboard. Install Surfer plugin and integrate it. That’s all. You can now write, and optimize your content with Surfer.
Jasper – Before the launch of Surfer AI, Jasper had been integrating with Surfer SEO. This makes it easier for Jasper users to optimize their content for search engines. So if you use Jasper AI and you plan to subscribe to Surfer, that’s sweet. Integrate your Jasper account with Surfer, so you can access all Surfer features available on the Essential plan and use them to optimize the content Jasper writes for you.
Audit tool – This is an add-on that costs $49. You can use it to audit a maximum of 100 pages per month. This tool helps you identify SEO issues with your pages and also make recommendations that will improve their rankings.
SERP Analyzer – This is also an add-on that costs $29. It’s for you to analyze the top-ranking pages for the keyword you want to rank for. And get recommendations on how to structure, write, optimize your content, and build links to it, so you can rank higher on search results. You can do up to 100 SERP Analysis per day and it’s unlimited.
White Label – Use this feature to offer Content SEO services to your clients under your brand name while using Surfer SEO. This is also an add-on that costs $49.
API – Use the API to integrate Surfer SEO into your applications and workflow. This add-on costs $29.
Surfer SEO Advanced Plan Review
The Advanced Plan is suitable for mid-sized teams. By this I mean content marketing agencies, SEO agencies, and startups that want more content optimization features. You pay $179/month for monthly billing and $149 for yearly billing. So you save up to $360 if you subscribe to the annual plan of this pricing plan. If you’re a medium-scale business that wants to play long in the SEO game, the yearly billing will save you costs.
Let’s look at the features of Surfer SEO Advanced Plan.
The features available on the Surfer SEO Essential plan are similar to what you have on the Advanced plan. The difference is that the Content Editor limit is 45 articles every month, and you pay $3 for additional Content Editor. Another is that the organizational seat is 5.
- Keyword Research is the same 100 per day
- Surfer AI writer which is a Pay As You Go Add-on is $29/month
- Every other feature or add-on available on the Essential plan is also available here.
Surfer SEO Max Plan Review
The Max plan is the most advanced plan you can get on Surfer. It’s for enterprises and agencies that don’t want limitations. It costs $299/month for monthly billing and $249/month for yearly billing.
The features of the Max plan are similar to what you get on the Advanced plan. However, there are a few differences. For example, the Content Editor feature is generous in that you can use it to plan up to 90 articles per month. And the organizational seat is extended to 10. Also, the Audit, SERP Analyzer, White Label, and API add-ons are free on the Max plan.
Surfer SEO Custom Plan Review
The Custom plan is meant to tailor Surfer SEO features to the needs of your business. Go for it if the Essential, Advanced, and Max plan doesn’t meet your requirements. The amount you pay per month or year depends on the personalized features you want. Keep in mind this is a custom plan and as such will be way more expensive than the Max plan.
Let’s look at its features.
The Content Editor, Organizational seat, and Surfer AI writer are customized to your needs. Let’s assume you have a 50-member team, and you want each of them to have access to your Surfer SEO account, Surfer engineers will get it done. It could also be that you want unlimited use of Content Editors to plan your article. They can help you set it up.
There are other differences between the custom plan and other paid plans of Surfer.
Dedicated customer success manager, personalized product training, quarterly business review meetings, premium support, legal assistance, PO, and annual invoicing, are advanced features you get on the custom plan that aren’t available on the Essential, Advanced, and Max plans.
Also, you enjoy every feature available on the Max plan.
If you’re interested in this plan, get started by talking to the sales team.
When I click on the “Let’s Talk” button, a form pops up where I’m asked to enter my full name, business email address, company name, how many articles I’d like to write a month, and other things I would like to add.
Surfer SEO Pricing Comparison Table
| Features | Essential Plan | Advanced Plan | Max Plan |
| Content Editor Limits Per Month | 15 Articles | 45 Articles | 90 Articles |
| Keyword Research Limit Per Day | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Organizational Seat | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| Plagiarism Checker | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shareable Link | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add-ons ( SERP Analyzer, Audit Tool, WhiteLabel Sevices, API,) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly Billing | $89 | $179 | $299 |
| Yearly Billing | $69 | $149 | $249 |
| Customer Support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integration ( Jasper, WordPress, Google Docs, ) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Surfer AI Writer ( Pay As You Go) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Surfer SEO Essential Plan vs Advanced Plan: Which should I choose?
Now you know the features of each of these plans, let’s look at the difference between Surfer Essential plan and Advanced plan.
Content Editor– Essential plan allows for 15 articles per month while the Advanced plan allows for 45 articles per month.
Organizational Seat – On Advanced plan, you can have 5 seats while on Essential plan you can have only 3 seats.
Bottom line: Go for Essential Plan if you have up to 15 articles to write and optimize monthly. If you have up to 45 articles, choose the Advanced plan.
Surfer SEO Advanced Plan vs Max Plan: What’s the difference?
There’s much difference between the Max plan and the Advanced plan. While the Advanced plan allows you to write, plan, and optimize a maximum of 45 articles per month using the Content Editor, the Max plan extends it to 90 articles per month.
Also, the Max plan offers more organizational seats (10) compared to the 5 seats you get on the Advanced plan. In addition, the Audit, SERP Analyzer, White Label, and API add-ons which are paid on Advanced plan are free on the Max plan.
Bottom line: Go for Advanced plan if you have less than 50 content to plan in a month. Choose the Max plan if you have over 50 content to plan in a month and also want to enjoy all the add-ons for free.
Surfer SEO Max Plan vs Custom Plan: What’s the difference?
With a custom plan, you get personalized features of Surfer tailored to the needs of your business. For example, you can have unlimited content editors, Surfer SEO AI writers, and organizational seats. These features on the Max plan have limits. Also, the custom plan has unique features like premium support, legal assistance, PO, and annual invoicing.
Bottom line: Go for the Custom plan if you’re a large enterprise that wants customized Surfer features. Stick to Max plan if you’re also a large business that wants to enjoy all the add-ons Surfer offers for free, plus the features available on the Advanced plan.
Pros and Cons of Surfer SEO
Pros
- Has core features you need to create and optimize your content, so it can rank higher on SERPs
- Saves you the cost of purchasing keyword research, plagiarism checker and page analysis, and other SEO tools
- Has a 7-day money-back guarantee
- Has a free Chrome extension for keyword research – Keyword Surfer
- Offers discounts for annual subscription
- Integrates with popular content and word-processing tools
Cons
- Pricing plans can be expensive for a beginner on a tight budget
Surfer SEO pricing review on Reddit
I jumped on Reddit to get a feel of what Surfer SEO users say about it. And many of them agree that it’s the best content optimization tool except that the pricing plans are expensive.
Most of the users on Reddit testified to the ability to plan, write, edit, and optimize your content using the Content Editor. Some are thinking of Surfer SEO alternatives like WhisperSEO and Writerzen saying that Surfer’s pricing is more suitable for businesses and agencies that have the budget.
What’s Surfer SEO?
Surfer SEO is an advanced website content optimization tool you can use to optimize blog posts, sales, and marketing copy for them to rank higher on search result pages and drive massive organic traffic.