"Testing done by Deepak Gupta, TechZella.com",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Rank,Group,Tool,Tier used for ranked figure,Pricing model,Current entry price (verified),Price source to screenshot,Price checked on,Price status,Tool cost per article (basis),Words requested,Words delivered,Active human minutes to first draft,Generation time,Edit minutes (stopwatch),Total labor minutes,Factual errors found,Fabricated or broken sources (of 2 requested),Required H2s followed (of 7),Credits / tokens / words consumed,Premium multiplier applied,Publishable after edit,Hourly rate,Labor cost,Real cost per published article,Labor share of real cost,Test date,Tester notes
1,B - Per-article/credits,SEOWriting.ai,Free tier (5 articles) - priced at paid per-article rate,Per article / subscription; BYOK,~$0.31-$0.38/article (not reconfirmed),seowriting.ai/pricing,10-11-2026,Partly verified,$0.35 (per-article rate),1500,1690,5,3.5 min,31,36,1,1,7,1 article credit,No,Y,$40,$24.00,$24.35,98.60%,28-10-2026,Followed all 7 H2s. Error: said a cold compost pile is ready in 2-3 weeks. One of two statistics linked to a 404 page. Auto-generated meta description was 172 characters and had to be cut.
2,C - Subscription,ChatGPT,Plus $20/mo (GPT-6 Sol) - Go and Free in notes,Subscription,Free $0; Go $8; Plus $20 (monthly only); Pro $100/$200/$500,chatgpt.com/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified,$2.00 ($20 / 10 articles per month),1500,1580,6,1.4 min,30,36,1,0,7,1 prompt + 1 regeneration; no cap hit,No,Y,$40,$24.00,$26.00,92.30%,29-10-2026,"Plus: clean structure; overstated that onions and citrus must never be composted. Go (GPT-6 Luna): 1,470 words, 40 edit min, 2 errors, 1 invented source = $31.47. Free: 44 edit min, ads shown in sidebar = $33.33. Copy-paste reformatting of headings took ~6 min each run."
3,C - Subscription,Claude,Pro $200/yr (~$16.67/mo),Subscription,Free; Pro $20/mo or $200/yr; Max $100; Ultra $200,claude.com/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified,$1.67 ($16.67 / 10 articles per month),1500,1590,6,1.6 min,31,37,1,0,7,2 messages; no usage limit hit,No,Y,$40,$24.67,$26.34,93.70%,29-10-2026,Declined to invent sources and asked for links to verify - meant extra research time for the two required statistics. Error: stated the carbon-to-nitrogen target as 20:1 (most extension guides use ~25-30:1).
4,A - API,Google Gemini API (3.8 Flash / 3.1 Flash-Lite),3.8 Flash (promo rate),Pay per token,3.8 Flash $0.75/$3.75 per 1M (promo to 2026-12-31; $1.50/$7.50 from 2027-01-01); 3.1 Flash-Lite $0.25/$1.50,ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified via third-party,$0.0113 (1612 in / 2705 out tokens),1500,1640,4,0.4 min,36,40,1,0,7,"1,612 input / 2,705 output tokens (incl. 190 thinking tokens at low setting)",No,Y,$40,$26.67,$26.68,99.96%,30-10-2026,"Fastest generation. One statistic attributed to the wrong agency (counted as factual error). Flash-Lite secondary run: $0.0040 draft, 1,420 words, 44 edit min = $32.00. After Jan 1 2027 the 3.8 Flash draft roughly doubles to ~$0.023 - real cost barely changes."
5,B - Per-article/credits,eesel AI,Per-post rate (legacy figure),Was per post; now fixed monthly,Previously $4/post; vendor page now shows one fixed monthly price,eesel.ai/pricing,10-11-2026,CONFLICT,$4.00 (legacy per-post rate),1500,1950,5,6 min,30,35,1,0,7,1 post,No,Y,$40,$23.33,$27.33,85.40%,31-10-2026,Overshot length by 30%; trimming accounted for ~10 of the 30 edit minutes. Added a comparison table nobody asked for. Recalculate with the current monthly price before publishing.
6,B - Per-article/credits,Autoblogging.ai,Starter $19/mo (40 credits),Credits / subscription,From $19/month,autoblogging.ai/pricing,10-11-2026,Entry price verified,$1.90 ($19 / 10 articles per month; $0.48 if all 40 credits used),1500,1820,6,5.5 min,33,39,2,0,6,1 credit,No,Y,$40,$26.00,$27.90,93.20%,28-10-2026,Merged 'Greens vs browns' into the bin section. Errors: said meat and dairy are fine in a tumbler; called newspaper ink toxic. $0.13/article Enterprise claim not tested.
7,A - API,OpenAI API (GPT-6 Luna / GPT-5.4 mini),GPT-5.4 mini (reasoning = none),Pay per token,GPT-6 Luna $0.10/$0.50; GPT-5.4 mini $0.75/$4.50 per 1M tokens,developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified (5.4 mini official; Luna third-party),$0.0124 (1640 in / 2480 out tokens),1500,1610,4,0.7 min,38,42,1,1,7,"1,640 input / 2,480 output tokens",No,Y,$40,$28.00,$28.01,99.96%,30-10-2026,"One source URL pointed to a real university domain but the page did not exist. GPT-6 Luna secondary run: $0.0013 draft, 1,380 words, 52 edit min, 3 errors = $37.33 - cheaper model, more expensive article."
8,B - Per-article/credits,Machined,Launch plan (~$20/mo yearly for 10 articles - unconfirmed),Subscription (article bundles),Plan prices not captured; 7-day free trial of Launch plan,machined.ai/pricing,10-11-2026,Partly verified,$2.00 (assumed $20 / 10 articles),1500,1740,6,8 min,34,40,2,0,5,1 of 10 article slots,No,Y,$40,$26.67,$28.67,93.00%,03-11-2026,Built its own cluster-driven outline and dropped 'Fixing common problems' and FAQ; re-added by hand. Errors: listed dog waste as OK for home compost; said worms are required for any bin.
9,C - Subscription,KoalaWriter,From $25/mo bundle,Bundle subscription,From $25/month (bundle of six Koala products),koala.sh/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified on vendor page,$2.50 ($25 / 10 articles per month),1500,2060,5,4 min,35,40,2,0,7,"4,120 words charged (2,060 x 2 premium-model multiplier)",Yes (2x),Y,$40,$26.67,$29.17,91.40%,04-11-2026,Added two extra H2s from live SERP data. Premium model doubled word consumption - would hit allowance in half the expected articles. Error: said bokashi is a type of aerobic composting.
10,A - API,Mistral API (Large 3 / Small 4),Large 3 at $0.50/$1.50,Pay per token,Large 3 $0.50/$1.50 (CONFLICT: some trackers $2/$6 or $2/$5); Small 4 $0.15/$0.60,mistral.ai/pricing,10-11-2026,CONFLICT,$0.0044 (1650 in / 2390 out tokens),1500,1560,4,0.9 min,41,45,2,1,7,"1,650 input / 2,390 output tokens",No,Y,$40,$30.00,$30.00,99.99%,31-10-2026,"Cheapest draft in the test. Stiff, list-heavy prose took longest of the APIs to edit. Small 4 secondary run: $0.0016 draft, 49 edit min = $35.34. At $2/$6 the draft would be ~$0.018 - real cost unchanged to the cent."
11,E - No longer cheap,Writesonic,7-day free trial; priced at Starter $79/mo annual,Subscription (AI search visibility platform),Starter $79/mo annual or $99 monthly; Basic $199/$249; Growth $399/$499,writesonic.com/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified (multiple Sept-Oct 2026 sources),$7.90 ($79 / 10 articles per month),1500,1870,5,4.5 min,30,35,1,0,6,1 trial article,No,Y,$40,$23.33,$31.23,74.70%,05-11-2026,"Good draft quality, but subscription now buys AI-visibility tracking, not just writing. Article allowance caps volume - cost per article rises if you use fewer slots. Dropped the FAQ H2."
12,B - Per-article/credits,theStacc,Blog SEO $99/mo (30 articles) - 3-day trial,Done-for-you content service,Blog SEO $99/mo for 30 articles; modules from $49/mo; managed from $749/mo,thestacc.com/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified (vendor + third parties),$9.90 ($99 / 10 articles used; $3.30 if all 30 used),1500,1880,8,Queued ~19 hours,27,35,1,0,5,1 of 30 monthly articles,No,Y,$40,$23.33,$33.23,70.20%,04-11-2026,Cannot paste a fixed brief - entered keyword plus notes; tool generated its own outline (5 of 7 required H2s). Lowest edit time in test. Real cost at full 30-article use = $26.63. Best for local businesses wanting hands-off volume.
13,C - Subscription,SurgeGraph,Spark $33/mo (annual; 3000 credits),Subscription / credits,"Spark $33/mo; Scale $66/mo; Signature $108/mo (annual, changed Nov 3 2026)",surgegraph.io/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified via third-party tracker,$3.30 ($33 / 10 articles per month),1500,2240,9,9 min,37,46,2,0,6,~210 of 3000 monthly credits (est.),No,Y,$40,$30.67,$33.97,90.30%,05-11-2026,Old $14.69 36-month deal no longer shown. Overshot by 49% with three SERP-derived sections that went off-topic (garden soil testing). Product now marketed as an AEO/AI-visibility platform.
14,B - Per-article/credits,ContentBot,Starter $9/mo (50000 words),Subscription / prepaid words,"Starter $9/mo (50k words); Premium $29 (150k); Premium+ $49 (400k); Prepaid $0.50 per 1,000 words",contentbot.ai/pricing,10-11-2026,Verified via multiple third parties,$0.90 ($9 / 10 articles per month),1500,1710,7,2.5 min,44,51,2,1,7,"6,840 words (1,710 generated + 5,130 for plagiarism check at 3x)",No,Y,$40,$34.00,$34.90,97.40%,06-11-2026,"Plagiarism check consumed 3x the article length - 50k words covers ~7 checked articles, not 33. Repetitive phrasing across sections. Old '$1 per 1,000 words' figure is outdated."
15,D - Editors (not writers),Wordtune,Plus (~$13.99/mo - unconfirmed),Freemium rewriter,Free/Plus/Unlimited; paid price not reconfirmed,wordtune.com/pricing,10-11-2026,Partly verified,$1.40 (assumed $13.99 / 10),1500,1500,47,n/a (assembled manually),22,69,1,0,7,38 rewrite actions,No,Y,$40,$46.00,$47.40,97.00%,06-11-2026,"No one-shot article generation. Wrote skeleton paragraphs and expanded each with rewrite suggestions - 47 active minutes before editing. Good editor, wrong tool for this job."
16,C - Subscription,Rytr,Free tier for test; priced at ~$9/mo Unlimited,Subscription,"Free (10,000 chars/mo); paid ~$7.50-$9/mo (not reconfirmed)",rytr.me/pricing,10-11-2026,Free tier verified,$0.90 ($9 / 10 articles per month),1500,1140,18,~6 min cumulative,58,76,3,2,7,"~9,800 characters (nearly all of free monthly allowance)",No,Y,$40,$50.67,$51.57,98.30%,27-10-2026,Generated section by section - 18 active minutes to assemble. Fell 24% short of length. Both statistics had invented sources. Errors: C:N ratio 10:1; glossy magazines fine to compost; compost ready in 2 weeks.
Not ranked (editor),D - Editors (not writers),Grammarly,Free (100 AI prompts/mo),Freemium editor,"Free (100 AI prompts/mo); Pro $12/mo annual, $20 quarterly or $30 monthly",grammarly.com/plans,10-11-2026,Verified via multiple Oct-Nov 2026 sources,$0.00,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,9 of 100 monthly prompts,No,N/A,$40,N/A,N/A,N/A,07-11-2026,Workflow test: used as the edit step on the GPT-5.4 mini draft. Edit time fell from 38 to 32 min (saves ~$4.00 per article at $40/hr). Caught 14 grammar/clarity issues; caught zero factual errors.
Not tested,E - No longer cheap,Copy.ai,None available self-serve,Enterprise workflow platform,"~$1,000/mo reported (not reconfirmed); now positioned as an 'AI OS' for workflows",copy.ai/prices,10-11-2026,Positioning verified,N/A,1500,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,07-11-2026,Not tested: no self-serve article-writer plan at a budget price. Listed to correct outdated 'cheap Copy.ai' claims on competing pages.