Best SEO Tools for Bloggers in 2026: My Actual Stack
I have tested virtually every SEO tool marketed to bloggers. Here is what I actually use in 2026 — and what is worth paying for.
My Stack (What I Actually Pay For)
Frase.io — $44/month
My primary SEO tool. Here is why:
- Content briefs in 90 seconds from target keywords
- SEO optimizer that scores my articles against ranking factors
- SERP analysis replacing what I used to pay Ahrefs $99/month for
- AI writing assistant for first drafts
The combination replaces three separate tools at a fraction of the cost.
Systeme.io — $0/month
My funnel and email platform. Yes, it is technically an all-in-one marketing tool, but the email automation and landing page builder are genuinely useful for SEO lead capture.
- Free plan is genuinely free
- Zero transaction fees on affiliate sales
- Basic email sequences that work
What I Stopped Paying For
Ahrefs at $99/month: Too expensive for a solo blogger. Frase SERP analysis covers 80% of what I used Ahrefs for.
SurferSEO at $69/month: Frase optimizer does the same job. No reason to pay for both.
SEMrush at $119/month: Never justified the cost for my use case.
The Free Tools I Still Use
- Google Search Console (obviously)
- Google Analytics 4 (obviously)
- UptimeRobot free plan for monitoring
- Dev.to for content publishing (free, decent DA)
What a Beginner Should Do
Month 1-3: Free tools only. GSC, GA4, UptimeRobot.
Month 4+: Add Frase.io when you have 10+ articles and need to optimize systematically.
Never pay for SEO tools before you have content to optimize. The tool does not rank your site — your content does.
The Math
Frase.io Solo plan: $44/month
If one article improvement earns $50/month in affiliate revenue, Frase pays for itself.
One well-placed affiliate link on a page ranking for a commercial keyword easily earns $50-200/month.
The ROI is real if you are publishing consistently.
Try Frase.io — Start Optimizing Your Content
Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link.
