Frase is a strong AI research and outlining assistant. Illumae extends that into full article generation, technical SEO, and automated publishing — at a comparable or lower price.
Frase is well regarded for content briefs and research — pulling together SERP analysis and AI-assisted outlines to guide a writer. Illumae covers similar research ground but carries it further through to a finished, published article, plus the technical SEO side (site audits, rank tracking) that sits outside Frase's scope.
How Illumae and Frase stack up across the content and SEO workflow.
| Feature | IllumaeBest all-round | FraseCompared |
|---|---|---|
| Content briefs & research | ||
| Full article generation | End-to-end | Via AI writer add-on |
| Automated publishing | ||
| Technical site audits | ||
| Rank tracking | ||
| Keyword research | ||
| Google Search Console | ||
| Content calendar & autopilot | ||
| Brand voice matching | ||
| Content gap analysis | ||
| Content decay tracking | ||
| Internal link mapping | ||
| Schema markup generator | ||
| Rank change alerts | ||
| Downloadable SEO reports | ||
| Content quality gate | ||
| Generation limits | Unlimited on paid domains | Credit-limited on lower tiers |
| Starting price (GBP) | £40/mo per domain | From ~£38-45/mo |
Comparison based on publicly available pricing and feature information as of 2026. Frase pricing varies by plan and credits.
Frase's SERP-based research and brief-building is mature and well-liked by teams who want a human writer working from AI-assisted research rather than a fully automated draft. If your team's process centers on writer-led content with AI as a research aid, Frase's workflow may fit more naturally.
Illumae removes the writer step entirely if you want it to, while adding technical SEO monitoring Frase doesn't offer. For solo founders or small teams without a dedicated writer, this closes the gap between "research done" and "content published."
Frase's credit-based tiers can become limiting for high content volume without upgrading; Illumae's per-domain pricing has no generation cap on paid domains, so cost stays predictable regardless of publishing frequency.
Illumae's AI Suggestions tool covers similar ground to Frase's research and brief-building — it analyses your keyword gaps and surfaces content ideas with plain-English reasoning for why each topic is worth writing about. Rather than producing a separate brief that a writer then works from, Illumae carries the research straight through to a finished article. If your team's process specifically needs a brief document handed to a writer, Frase's dedicated brief builder is more tailored to that workflow.
No. On Illumae's Pro plan (£40/month per domain), AI article generation is unlimited. There are no credits to run out of and no per-generation charges. The free plan includes 3 AI article generations so you can test the output before paying anything.
Illumae. Frase is designed to assist a human writer with research and outlining — it stops short of generating a finished, publishable article end-to-end. Illumae handles the entire pipeline: research, writing, quality checks, and publishing directly to your CMS. If you don't have a writer (or don't want to be one), Illumae closes the gap that Frase leaves open.
Yes. Illumae includes a full site audit tool (crawl, health score, prioritised fixes), rank tracking, Google Search Console integration, content decay monitoring, internal link mapping, schema markup generation, and rank change alerts — none of which Frase offers. Frase is focused on content research and briefs; Illumae covers the full SEO workflow.