Buying guide
What SEO tools does a small blog actually need? Mangools, Frase and Semrush
A small blog needs three things from SEO software: ideas for what to write, help writing it so it covers what already ranks, and a way to see whether it worked. The three tools below each do mostly one of those jobs, and their entry prices differ by a factor of six. Paying suite prices for a job you can do with a cheaper tool, or for a tool you will not use, is the usual way this goes wrong. This page is built from each vendor's own pricing page and our full reviews. We have not used the tools ourselves.
The short version
| Our pick for | Product | From |
|---|---|---|
| Best for finding keywords and tracking positions on a budget | Mangools | $18.85 a month, billed yearly |
| Best for writing to what already ranks | Frase | $39 a month, billed yearly |
| Best once you outgrow both of the above | Semrush | $117.33 a month, billed yearly |
Prices checked October 2026 on each vendor's own page. They change — verify before you buy.
Best for finding keywords and tracking positions on a budget
Mangools $18.85 a month, billed yearly
Mangools bundles keyword research, search results analysis, rank tracking, backlink checks and site metrics, plus an AI search monitor, for the lowest entry price here. Basic allows 100 keyword lookups and 100 search results analyses per day, tracks 200 keywords with weekly updates, and has no extra seats. That is enough for one blog or a few. It does not help you write; it tells you what to write and how you are doing.
- Cheapest plan
- Basic, $18.85 a month yearly ($30.50 monthly)
- Daily limits
- 100 keyword lookups, 100 search results analyses
- Rank tracking
- 200 keywords, updated weekly
- Refund
- 48 hours, not on two consecutive subscriptions
Good
- Lowest entry price of the three
- Five tools in one subscription
- AI search monitor included
Not so good
- Daily limits cap heavy use
- No extra seats on Basic
Best for writing to what already ranks
Frase $39 a month, billed yearly
Frase does the second job: it looks at what already ranks for a topic, builds a brief, and scores your draft against it. The Starter plan includes 10 articles a month and one site, publishes to WordPress, Webflow, Sanity and Wix, and stops at its limits instead of billing overages. There is a 7-day free trial with no card. The ten-article ceiling and the single site are the things to check against how often you publish.
- Cheapest plan
- Starter, $39 a month yearly ($49 monthly)
- Limits
- 10 articles a month, 1 site, 1 seat
- Free trial
- 7 days, no card
- Next step up
- Professional, $103 a month yearly
Good
- The entry plan is a real plan, not a demo
- Stops at limits instead of billing overages
Not so good
- Ten articles a month is a hard ceiling
- The step to Professional is a large jump
Best once you outgrow both of the above
Semrush $117.33 a month, billed yearly
Semrush has the deepest keyword and competitor data of the three, and a free plan with no card for checking a few keywords. The cheapest paid plan monitors 5 websites and tracks 500 keywords daily, which is far beyond a single small blog. Our review calls paying for a large suite when you run one site the most common way it turns into poor value. It belongs on this list as the place you move to when the cheaper tools run out, not as the first purchase.
- Cheapest plan
- SEO, $117.33 a month yearly ($139 monthly)
- Tracking
- 5 websites, 500 keywords daily
- Free plan
- Yes, limited, no card
- Extra users
- From $45 a month each
Good
- Deepest data of the three
- A free plan to check a few keywords
Not so good
- $139 a month is the monthly floor
- Reports and extra users are metered add-ons
How we chose — and what we did not do
We have not physically tested these products. Plenty of sites imply that they have; we would rather tell you what this page is actually built on:
- Prices were read from each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026; the plan details come from our full review of each tool, linked in its section.
- We compared the cheapest paid plan of each, billed yearly, because that is the price a new blog is most likely to start on.
- We matched each tool to the job it mainly does — finding keywords, writing to what ranks, or measuring results — instead of ranking them against each other.
- We have not used any of the three, so we say nothing about how pleasant they are day to day.
Where hands-on testing matters more than specifications — how a strap feels after two hours, how a menu behaves in the cold — we say so in that product's section rather than guessing.
How to choose between them
Match the tool to the job, not to the brand
Mangools finds keywords and tracks positions. Frase helps you write a post that covers what already ranks. Semrush does a large part of both and more, at suite prices. If you only know which topics to write about and need a brief, Frase is the job. If you do not yet know what to target, Mangools is.
Start with the cheapest and let the limit tell you
Mangools Basic and Frase Starter both stop at published limits, and each has a refund window or trial. Use one on your real keywords. If you hit a daily limit within a week, that is the signal to move up; if you do not, you have saved the difference.
A free tool is part of the answer
Google Search Console is free and shows the real searches that already show your site in Google. It does not research keywords you do not rank for yet, which is the gap paid tools fill. Many small blogs need Search Console plus one paid tool, not three subscriptions.
Questions people ask
Do I need all three?
No. They overlap, and a small blog is usually served by Search Console plus one paid tool: Mangools if you are choosing what to write about, Frase if you are writing and want a brief.
Is Mangools enough for a new blog?
For keyword research and rank tracking on one or a few sites, often yes: Basic allows 100 keyword lookups a day and tracks 200 keywords. It does not help you write the posts.
Is Semrush worth it for one site?
Usually not as a first purchase: the cheapest paid plan is $117.33 a month on the yearly plan and is built to monitor several websites. Its free plan is enough to check a few keywords before you decide.