Spook vs Byword

Bulk AI article writer with credit-per-article plans

Byword is a bulk AI article generator built for people who want to produce a lot of content quickly: paste a list of keywords or a CSV, get back finished articles with images and internal links, and push them to WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Ghost or HubSpot. Every article costs one credit, and plans run from 25 credits at $99 a month to unlimited at $1,999.

Spook is an SEO autopilot for a single site. It reads your Search Console data, picks the queries you can realistically win, writes and scores the article, and publishes it on a schedule. There is no credit budget to manage: one site is $60 a month for 30 published articles, with research, images, backlinks and publishing included.

Byword Starter is $99/month for 25 credits. Spook is $60/month per site for 30 published articles.

Start Spook for free Jump to the feature table

7-day free trial, no credit card. Prices read from byword.ai in September 2026.

Feature by feature

Spook vs Byword, row by row

Every row is checkable on both products' public pages. Last read in September 2026. If something has changed, tell us and we will fix the row.

Feature	Spook	Byword
Entry price	SpookYes$60/month per site, everything included	BywordPartlyStarter is $99/month for 25 credits; Standard is $299 for 80, Scale $999 for 300, Unlimited $1,999
Content volume included	SpookYes30 articles per site per month, written and published	BywordPartly25 articles/month on Starter (one credit per article), pooled across up to 5 domains
Full autopilot (research, write, publish)	SpookYesWinnable-query research, writing, SEO scoring and publishing run on a schedule you set	BywordPartlyBulk generation from keyword lists and a topical-map builder, but you choose the topics and trigger the runs
Keyword research	SpookYesLive SERP difficulty and Domain Rating checks pick queries your site can realistically rank for, included on every plan	BywordYesSeed-keyword research with volume, difficulty and CPC, plus SERP and competitor gap analysis
Google Search Console data	SpookYesOne-click OAuth per site; real clicks, impressions and positions feed topic selection and refresh alerts	BywordYesConnects for page-performance tracking, the Optimize feature and a Google Indexing tool
Auto-publishing integrations	SpookYesWordPress, Shopify, Ghost, Webflow, Payload and headless CMSs, Next.js template, or any site via webhook	BywordYesWordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Ghost, HubSpot CMS, Notion export, Zapier, webhooks
Review before it goes live	SpookYesPer site: publish live, or land as drafts in your CMS for a final look	BywordYesPublish as draft or live per integration
Backlink building	SpookYesSpook Network backlink exchange included, 100 credits per site per month	BywordNoNone - no exchange, outreach or network
AI visibility tracking (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews)	SpookYesWeekly checks across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews; gaps become planned articles	BywordNoNot offered
AI images in articles	SpookYesIncluded in every article, in a style you pick per site; optional inline images and YouTube video embeds per site	BywordYesBuilt into every article with automatic placement and custom styles
Languages	SpookYesAny language and market, chosen per site; articles follow that locale's grammar and spelling	BywordYes100+ languages
API, CLI and MCP for AI agents	SpookYesAgent API with OpenAPI spec, spook-cli on npm, and an MCP endpoint with 59 tools	BywordPartlyREST API on Standard ($299) and Scale only; no CLI or MCP server found
Multiple sites	SpookYesEach site is its own $60 plan; volume pricing drops to $45/site at 4+ sites	BywordYesCredits are pooled: 5 domains on Starter, unlimited domains from Standard up
Free trial	SpookYes7-day free trial, no credit card required	BywordPartlyFree account with 5 signup credits; whether a card is required is not stated publicly

Both sides

Where each one is the better pick

We would rather you choose right than choose us. These are the honest reasons to pick Byword, and the honest reasons to pick Spook.

Where Byword wins

Pooled credits across many domains
One Standard plan can feed 80 articles a month into any number of client sites. If you run an agency portfolio, that is cheaper than a per-site plan.
Programmatic SEO at scale
CSV keyword upload, topical-map generation, YouTube-to-article, glossary and listicle generators. Byword is built for hundreds of pages at once.
Team seats and white-label
Three to 25 seats, white-label options and a wide publishing stack including HubSpot and Notion make it a fit for content teams and agencies.

Where Spook wins

Topics come from your own search data
Spook cross-references your Search Console queries with live SERP difficulty and Domain Rating checks, so every article targets a query your site can actually win. Byword writes whatever keyword you paste in.
Truly hands-off publishing
Set a cadence per site and Spook researches, writes, scores against a 95-point SEO floor and publishes without you queueing runs.
Backlinks and AI visibility are included
The Spook Network backlink exchange and weekly ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews checks ship in the $60 plan. Byword has neither.
Cheaper for one site
30 published articles for $60 against 25 credits for $99, and the API, CLI and MCP server are included rather than gated behind a $299 tier.

The math

What 30 published articles a month costs

Same output, priced the way each product actually bills. Read from both pricing pages in September 2026.

Spook

PLAN: One site, $60/month
INCLUDES: 30 articles, research, publishing, backlinks

~30 articles / mo$60

One flat price per site. No seats, no credits, no add-ons for research or publishing.

Byword

PLAN: Starter, $99/month
INCLUDES: 25 credits (one article each)

~30 articles / mo$99+

Starter tops out at 25 articles. Thirty a month means buying extra credits or stepping up to Standard at $299 for 80.

The verdict

Which one should you pick?

BywordPICK IF

Pick Byword if you run content for many sites or clients, already know which keywords you want, and need to generate hundreds of pages from a spreadsheet with team seats and white-label reporting.

SpookPICK IF

Pick Spook if you own one site or a handful, do not want to manage credits or keyword lists, and want research, writing, publishing, backlinks and AI visibility running on their own for a flat $60 a month per site.

Spook vs Byword, answered

Not for a single site. Byword Starter is $99 a month for 25 article credits, while Spook is $60 a month for 30 published articles with research, images, backlinks and publishing included. Byword gets cheaper per article only on its $299 and $999 tiers, which pool credits across unlimited domains.

Yes. Byword has seed-keyword research with volume, difficulty and CPC data, SERP analysis and competitor gap reports. The difference is that you pick and paste the keywords. Spook picks topics automatically from your Google Search Console data and live ranking difficulty.

No. Byword has no backlink exchange, outreach or network feature. Spook includes the Spook Network backlink exchange in every plan.

Both. Byword's WordPress integration can auto-publish as draft, and Spook lets you choose per site whether articles go live or land as CMS drafts for review.

Both, with a catch. Byword's REST API is only on its Standard ($299) and Scale plans. Spook's Agent API, spook-cli and MCP server are included on every site plan.

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