10 Best Content Writing Tools I Tried Myself

AI tools content writing tools can help you conjure up ideas, build outlines, and even draft the content itself.

The challenge is finding the right platform for the job. Lots of AI writing tools claim to produce quality content, but still, many of these are notoriously prone to hallucinations and making mistakes — which, if left unchecked, can hurt your reputation with both readers and search engines.

I tested dozens of the best content writing tools to find out which serve as ideal partners in supporting your content strategy and how you can use them to write your articles. Here are the top picks.

How I researched the best content writing tools

I spent a few weeks testing signing up for and testing different content writing tools, putting them through their paces as a regular user would, and determining if they held up.

Here’s everything that I looked for:

• Content quality: Quality was my primary concern when evaluating these tools. I considered how well each tool maintained logical flow and coherence throughout longer pieces, whether it accurately followed specific instructions (such as maintaining certain structural requirements), and its ability to adapt to different tones and styles.
• Research capabilities: I analyzed the different tools to determine if they managed proper research.
  Could they pull accurate information from the web?
  Did they let me choose which websites to use as sources?
  Would they properly cite where they got their facts?
  This was particularly important because if a writing tool can't get basic facts right, it doesn't matter how pretty the writing is.
• SEO performance: While not my main focus, I did evaluate basic SEO capabilities. I checked whether the tools could integrate keywords naturally, create SEO-friendly headings and meta descriptions, and offer suggestions for improving search visibility.
  However, I weighted this less heavily than content quality and usability.
• What other users had to say: I know my experience isn't universal, so I dug through hundreds of reviews on G2 and other social media platforms like Reddit to see what real users loved and hated.

1. ChatGPT

ChatGPTs latest models make it an extremely capable content writing tool.

Its search feature (toggle option beneath the chat bar) is particularly useful during the research phase — you can ask questions and get answers with cited sources from the web.

This solves one of the biggest issues older models struggled with: hallucination.

ChatGPT’s Canvas mode is built for content writing.

It opens your article in a split-screen view, letting you highlight text, make manual edits, or ask the AI to revise specific sections.

I've found that the more details you provide about the tone, style, and dos/don'ts, the better the resulting content will be.

You can also request sources for certain parts after the content has already been generated.

Another approach is to use custom GPTs.

These are essentially AI tools of their own, built to cater to your requirements. You "train" a GPT with your own information, such as including any of your existing content as samples and any detailed content requirements.

These don’t lose context like regular chats do, meaning you won’t have to constantly reiterate points while working on your articles.

You also have the option to explore GPTs created by other users. There are plenty of writing options available, so if you're not interested in creating your own, you can try one of these.

On the downside, ChatGPT doesn’t offer any native SEO features.

While you can ask the tool for keyword suggestions, I wouldn’t recommend relying on them, they’re often random and not backed by data.

Alternatively, you can feed the tool your own keywords and prompt it to include them in the content, but this method can still be a hit or miss.

For example, when I instructed ChatGPT to include six keywords, it only included five. On a larger scale, that gap can become more noticeable.

The most reliable workaround is using Surfer’s ChatGPT and Google Docs integration via its Chrome extension. It brings Surfer’s content optimization features right into your ChatGPT Canvas, so you can track keyword usage and improve SEO in one platform.

G2 Score: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Pulls in real-time sources from the web
• Highly customizable since it's prompt-based
• You can train a custom GPT with your own data

Cons:

• Custom GPTs are only limited to ChatGPT Plus users
• Takes expericence and practice to refine your prompts for the best output

2. Perplexity pages

Perplexity is a popular AI-based search engine, and its Pages feature uses these search capabilities to help you create articles from scratch.

To start, you only have to enter the title of your article.

Perplexity will then generate an initial draft for you, including a cover image (which you can swap out from the options provided), an introduction, and the first few headings.

If you don't like any part of the content, you can highlight said section and prompt the tool to make changes.

You can also drag and drop the headings if you're not a fan of the placement.

All information provided underneath headings is cited in typical Perplexity fashion. Underneath each section, you’ll find an option to add a new one.

To do this, Perplexity asks for a few inputs: the writing style (concise or detailed) and a short prompt explaining what you want the new section to cover.

You'll also find the option to add an image here. Perplexity searches the web for relevant visuals, or if you're on the paid plan, you can generate one using AI.

However, I did notice that it wasn't the best at following tone guidelines. Even when I asked for a more conversational or approachable style, the changes were minimal.

It also doesn't have any native SEO features. You will either have to manually add keywords, or use another dedicated tool for the job.

G2 rating: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Cites all its sources
• Searches the internet for relevant images
• Built specifically for writing, so it's super easy to work on

Cons:

• Images can sometimes be copyrighted
• Not the best at following tone guidelines

3. Claude AI

Claude is another generative AI tool that's gained popularity for its content writing features. Like with other platforms, you prompt Claude to write your article and provide the necessary context to get started.

What sets it apart, though, is the ability to choose a writing style: normal, concise, explanatory, or formal.

Keep an eye out for these, since Claude tends to shift to the concise mode for users on the free version when it's experiencing high demand. I've found the normal mode generally gets you the best results.

An extension to this feature is the option to create a custom style. You can paste in content you're proud of, and Claude will learn to mimic its tone and style.

Or, you can just describe how you want your content to sound.

Claude will polish up your input and remember your preferences moving forward. I tried this feature out with an example article, and Claude managed to do quite a decent job at the style I had specified.

The interface is nice to work with, too.

Like GPT’s AI writing software, Claude opens your article in a split-screen view, with options to highlight specific sections and ask the AI to improve or elaborate on them.

It makes the writing process much easier to manage both your chat and the article without constantly scrolling up and down.

The biggest drawback is the free version's lack of access to the latest information.

Since it doesn't connect to the internet, you can't ask about recent events or developments.

If your content depends on current data or recent releases, I recommend considering other tools or upgrading to one of Claude’s paid plans.

G2 rating: 4.3/5

Pros:

• Options to create a custom tone and style
• Writer-friendly interface
• Great at following instructions

Cons:

• Claude might lock free users out during high demand
• The free version doesn't have access to the internet

4. Google Gemini

Gemini is Google's very own AI platform. It can also serve as a great tool for content writing.

Like ChatGPT, it has a Deep Research mode for when you need to analyze the web for information, and a Canvas mode to help create content.

Its research process works a bit differently from other tools.

When you ask a question, Gemini outlines the exact steps it will take to find the information. You can review and adjust this workflow before it begins.

Once research starts, it takes a couple of minutes for the tool to generate a report. Gemini shows its thinking process and lists the websites it's reviewing during this time.

For example, when I asked a relatively simple question like “best training shoes,” it pulled data from over 100 websites. Once done, it generated a detailed article on the topic.

I’d recommend polishing up the details and improve any sections that need work.

Alternatively, you can skip the research process entirely and generate an article directly in Canvas from the get-go, but doing so means you won’t get sources for specific information, risking hallucination.

Canvas works similarly to GPT and Claude.

You get a split-screen view of your article, with options to make manual edits or ask for specific changes to sentences or sections. What sets Gemini apart, though, is its dedicated feature for suggesting improvements.

You can scroll through these and choose to accept or reject them.

Once done, you can either copy the article or export directly to Google Docs.

G2 rating: 4.4/5

Pros:

• Extremely thorough deep research mode
• Get suggested improvements for your article
• Export content directly to Google Docs

Cons:

• Articles generated in Canvas don't include cited sources

5. Surfer

Surfer is content writing platform built to help writers, marketers, and agencies create and repurpose blog content.

Ideal for long-form content creation, Surfer's Content Editor doesn’t just generate copy — it optimizes your content based on real-time SEO data so your pages rank for their target queries.

Surfer offers 3 different writing tools in it's content suite that cover your content marketing needs.  

1. Surfer AI for long-form content

Surfer AI is an advanced AI writer to create articles that are fully optimized for SEO and tailored to your target keyword.

With Surfer AI, you can:

• Select from multiple content formats like blog articles, product comparisons, or reviews
• Customize the tone of voice using one of 13 available styles
• The tool supports content generation in 11+ languages, including English, Spanish, French, and German.

For more control, Surfer offers advanced options where you can add specific instructions, reference URLs, or detailed notes to guide the AI during content creation.

2. Surfy for copywriting

If you prefer more creative control, Surfy a powerful copywriting assistant helps you research, refine, and rewrite specific sections of your content.

Just highlight the text you want to edit, or use as a starting point before instructing Surfy.

3. Repurposing content

Surfer's content repurposing tool can transform long-form blog posts into a variety of engaging social media content while retaining your brand voice and adapting the tone and length to suit each channel.

The tool can extract highlights, quotes, statistics, and actionable tips to create platform-specific formats like LinkedIn posts and Instagram updates by analyzing the structure and key points of your article.

Instead of creating new content from scratch, you amplify what you already have — making it easier to stay active across platforms and drive more traffic back to your site.

Surfer assigns a Content Score to show how well your writing is optimized, using key SEO elements as benchmarks.

You can also use Surfer’s Internal Linking tool to connect relevant pages from your site directly within the article. The Terms panel helps you naturally incorporate suggested keywords and phrases.

Surfer also provides tools for AI detection and humanization, ensuring your content reads naturally while staying optimized.

So in effect, Surfer is an all-in-one content writing, repurposing and editing tool.

G2 rating: 4.8/5

Pros

• Surfer analyzes data from hundreds of thousands of words across high-ranking pages to ensure your article is both relevant and competitive. This makes it easier to produce content that performs well in search results.
• It also allows you to repurpose your long-form content into bite-sized posts for social media.

Cons

• Unlike standalone writing tools, Surfer's subscription includes a suite of content writing tools and can therefore be more expensive than lone tools.

6. Ryter

Ryter is a dedicated AI writing platform that can help you create a range of business content.

It comes with a user-friendly interface and gives you plenty of options on laying out what your article will cover before you start generating content.

You’ll choose a language, pick a use case (like blog content or social media posts), and decide how many versions of the article you want to create.

It also lets you set the tone -- there are over 20 styles to choose from, or you can create your own custom tone using other sample writings if you’re going for something more specific.

You build your content heading by heading.

Rytr can help you create an outline and suggest what to include under each section, but generating content for each heading individually will yield the best results.

Other than this small hitch, most of the writing process feels familiar if you’ve used other tools. You can prompt it to make changes, tweak the word count, adjust the tone, and so on.

Ryter also comes with a few basic SEO features. You can give it a list of keywords, and it'll work them into the article for you.

There's also a Chat mode that works much like other conversational AI tools, with the exception that it can't access the internet.

Even the training data seems a bit outdated. For example, when asked about the last game the Pakistan cricket team won recently, Ryter pointed to a match from 2021.

That’s pretty off, despite the team’s admittedly poor track record as of late.

This makes Ryter a poor research partner, so you’ll need to double-check any information it gives you.

G2 Score: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Choose from a range of tone styles, or create your own
• Generate multiple variants in one go
• Chat mode for a more conversational approach
• Comes with a few SEO features

Cons:

• The AI model is outdated
• Requires you to generate content one heading at a time

7. Jasper

Jasper AI is a veteran among content generation tools. It comes with over 50 templates for different types of writing tasks.

Getting started is pretty straightforward.

If you need a blog post structure, you can use their outline template. Just enter your topic and Jasper spits out subheadings for your article.

When you want a complete article, you can move to one of their more specialized templates.

I tested this with a piece on "Best SEO Practices" using their Documents template, and it handled the task well enough.

Jasper also has a ChatGPT-style assistant that appears when you type '/'.

This lets you ask for specific changes like "make this section more casual" or "add information about mobile SEO" without having to regenerate the entire article.

It comes with a clean and intuitive interface that's easy to get used to.

You can either work with the outline you generated earlier or just let the assistant create content from scratch based on your instructions.

This flexibility comes in handy when you need to include specific talking points or adjust the tone to match your brand voice.

G2 score: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Lots of templates for different use cases
• Create different custom brand voices
• Collaborate with your team on the same Jasper account

Cons:

• Doesn't come with a free plan

8. Writesonic

Writesonic is an SEO-focused AI platform, with plenty of other tools in its stack, including an AI writer for creating blog posts.

Once you've signed up for an account and entered basic information about your website (domain name, target country, etc), you can then start with the AI writer.

There are two primary modes to go about this: 10-Steps Article and Instant Article.

The 10-step mode gives you more control over the structure and content, while the instant article is great if you prefer the tool to handle most of the heavy lifting with minimal input from your end.

As the name suggests, the 10-steps mode has ten individual steps you must fulfill to give Writesonic a clear picture of what you want in your article.

This includes the article type (listicle, how-to, etc), the primary/secondary keywords, subheadings to include, your target audience, and more.

You can either upload your own research for Writesonic to use or let it scan the web and conduct an in-depth analysis of its own. You’ll still have control over which sites it looks through, though.

Writesonic also lets you set a custom tone and style for your article. You can do this by uploading sample content you like or linking to articles you’re a fan of.

Once done, you can choose what to include in the final draft—anything from expert quotes and images to CTAs and internal or external links.

Once in the editor, you can make adjustments to the article as you see fit, either manually or with the help of Writesonics AI tools.

These range from simple fixes like adjusting tone and structure to bigger changes like modifying keyword density.

G2 score: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Modes for the level of input you want in article creation
• You can provide your own sources for research
• Create custom tone and styles
• Create SEO friendly content

Cons:

• Doesn't offer a free plan

9. Copy AI

Copy.ai is another powerful AI writing tool with plenty of other content marketing features. What sets it apart is its workflow features and the ability to automate content creation.

You can set up triggers that prompt Copy ai to execute a pre-built workflow. However, since we're mostly concerned with its content writing features, we'll focus more on the tools' chat mode, which is similar to GPT and Gemini's Canvas, with a few differences.

It supports all GPT and Claude models, though the free version only gives you access to GPT-3.5 or Claude Haiku. It's particularly good at research, the tool can access the internet to find the latest information and cite sources when needed.

You can move this directly to your content editor, which opens in a split-screen view alongside the chat.

You can either write your own prompt to generate an article or use the tool’s prompt library found among the three options underneath the chat text box.

It includes a range of ready-made templates for different use cases, including blog writing.

Here, you’ll also find a brand voice option, where you can upload your existing content for Copy ai to learn from and mimic your style in future drafts.

What I found lacking were the editing features for already generated content.

Say you create an article and want to restructure a section.

To do so, you’ll need to copy that part back into the chat and prompt the tool to make changes, rather than simply highlighting it in the editor and tweaking it from there, like you can with some other tools.

G2 score: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Comes with a prompt library
• Allows you to create your own brand voice
• Really good at research

Cons:

• The free plan is limited to older AI models
• AI editing features are limited

10. Grammarly

Grammarly is a widely used grammar checker, trusted by just about anyone looking to polish their writing—content writers and business professionals alike.

While not a long-form content writing tool in the traditional sense, it does have a few features that make it a worthy mention.

That’s not to say it’s completely lacking in AI generation features. Grammarly offers a solid generative writing tool that can either improve your existing content or create something new from scratch.

If you’re using Grammarly directly on their website, this feature appears in a chat window on the right side of your screen.

From there, you can insert the content into your document or prompt the tool to make further edits.

You can also set a custom tone for your writing. While it doesn’t let you train the tool using your own samples like some more advanced platforms do, you can still give it specific instructions on the tone you're aiming for.

Besides that, Grammarly also provides suggestions on how you can improve sentence structure or better word suggestions as you write.

G2 score: 4.7/5

Pros:

• Comes with a Chrome extension
• Provide suggestions to improve content in real time
• Has an AI chat feature

Cons:

• Not a dedicated long-form content writing tool