Clearscope Alternative: Get Complete Content Plans for Less
Clearscope is excellent for content optimization - but at $170/month for just 20 reports, many teams are looking for alternatives. Here's why Topical Map AI is the best Clearscope alternative for content planning and topic research.
Quick Comparison:
- Clearscope: Content optimization tool - $170/mo for 20 reports
- Topical Map AI: Content planning tool - $29/mo for 30 topical maps
- Key difference: Clearscope optimizes single pages; Topical Map AI plans your entire strategy
Why Teams Leave Clearscope
Clearscope is a fantastic tool for optimizing content. But teams often look for alternatives because:
- $170/month for 20 reports: That's $8.50 per content report
- No topic discovery: You need to already know what to write about
- Page-by-page focus: No holistic content strategy view
- Limited reports: Even the Business plan ($350/mo) only gets 50 reports
How Topical Map AI Solves These Problems
Topical Map AI takes a different approach - instead of optimizing individual pages, it plans your entire content strategy:
- Complete topical maps: Generate 800-1,200 keywords organized into clusters in 60 seconds
- Topic discovery: Find all the topics you should cover in your niche
- Content briefs included: Every topic includes a structured content brief
- Affordable pricing: $29/month for 30 maps - that's $0.97 per topical map
Feature Comparison: Clearscope vs Topical Map AI
| Feature | Clearscope | Topical Map AI |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Content optimization | Content planning |
| Topic discovery | No | Yes - 800-1,200 keywords |
| Topic clustering | No | Yes - AI-powered |
| Content grading | Yes (A++ scale) | No |
| Real-time editor | Yes | No |
| Content briefs | Yes | Yes |
| Visual topic map | No | Yes |
| Entry price | $170/month | $29/month |
The Smart Workflow: Use Both Tools
Clearscope and Topical Map AI actually work best together. Here's the workflow many content teams use:
Combined Strategy:
- 1. Topical Map AI: Generate a complete topical map of your niche
- 2. Topical Map AI: Prioritize topics by search volume and difficulty
- 3. Topical Map AI: Export content briefs for your writers
- 4. Writers: Create content following the briefs
- 5. Clearscope: Optimize final drafts before publishing
This way, you use Topical Map AI for strategy (what to write) and Clearscope for execution (how to optimize). You'll need fewer Clearscope reports because your content is already well-planned.
Pricing: Clearscope vs Topical Map AI
| Plan | Clearscope | Topical Map AI |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | No | 1 free map |
| Entry | $170/mo (20 reports) | $29/mo (30 maps) |
| Business | $350/mo (50 reports) | $59/mo (100 maps) |
| Cost per output | $8.50 per report | $0.97 per map |
When to Choose Each Tool
Choose Clearscope when:
- - You already have a content strategy and know what to write
- - You need to optimize existing underperforming content
- - Your team needs real-time writing feedback
- - You're focused on improving content quality scores
Choose Topical Map AI when:
- - You need to plan a content strategy from scratch
- - You want to discover all topics in a niche
- - You're building topical authority systematically
- - You need content briefs for a writing team
- - Budget is a concern ($29 vs $170/month)
The Bottom Line
Clearscope and Topical Map AI solve different problems:
- Clearscope = "How do I make this article rank better?"
- Topical Map AI = "What articles should I write to dominate this topic?"
For most teams, starting with Topical Map AI makes sense - plan your strategy first, then consider Clearscope for optimization when you're publishing regularly.
Plan your content strategy in 60 seconds
