Three principles drive every product decision: companion to existing tools, no AI markup, fixes that ship — not just diagnoses.
Most SEO tools want to be the only thing installed. That's a sales strategy, not a customer benefit. Our research with 200+ agencies showed the same pattern: they have Yoast or RankMath running and will not switch. They want a tool that respects that decision and fills the gaps neither plugin handles — AI search readiness, structured data depth, and the technical fixes those plugins flag but don't auto-apply.
AI-SEO tools typically charge $99–499/mo and bury the fact that you're paying 3–5× the actual API cost. We took a different bet: you bring your own Anthropic and DataForSEO keys, we give you the tooling, you see exact spend per scan. The plugin license is one-time. The AI cost is whatever your providers charge — which is usually pennies per audit.
Every other audit tool tells you what's wrong and stops there. Of our 43 checks, 37 are auto-fixable from the queue without leaving wp-admin. Every fix is logged, reversible, and shows the exact diff. We treat 'one-click fix' as the floor, not the ceiling — bulk fixes, scheduled fixes, and queue export are all standard.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Auto-fixes | BYOK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEO Merlin · Freelancer | $199 | $0 | $0 | 37 / 43 | Yes |
| Yoast Premium | $99 | $99 | $99 | ~6 | No |
| RankMath Pro | $79 | $79 | $79 | ~8 | No |
| AIOSEO Pro | $199 | $199 | $199 | ~10 | No |
| Surfer SEO | $1,188 | $1,188 | $1,188 | 0 | No |
| Frase | $540 | $540 | $540 | 0 | No |
* Pricing as of April 2026. Auto-fix counts based on public documentation.
“We dropped a $400/mo Surfer subscription and got better technical coverage. The auto-fix queue is the killer feature — diagnoses are cheap.”
“It's the first SEO tool that doesn't fight Yoast. We installed it on 23 client sites in an afternoon. Zero conflicts.”
“BYOK was the unlock. I see exactly what an audit costs me — usually pennies. No more 'AI tax'.”
“Schema validation alone replaced two paid tools. The reports look like something I'd ship to a client without rebuilding.”
Find them in 90 seconds. Fix the auto-fixable ones in another two minutes. Free forever.