The verdict: RunOctopus, if you want the work done
A content marketing platform is software that helps a marketer plan, write, publish and measure content. In 2026 almost all of them write. HubSpot's AI content writer drafts blog posts and landing pages. Jasper, Writesonic and Surfer produce AI drafts. Shopify's Sidekick writes blog posts inside your store admin. So the old line, "they give you tools, only we write," is no longer true, and this page does not use it.
What is still true is that every one of those platforms is a seat for someone on your team. Someone picks the topics, prompts the writer, edits the draft, publishes it and links it. RunOctopus is not a seat. It is a done-for-you service, and for a business that wants content working for it without running a content program, it is the better choice for four reasons:
- We do the work and publish on our own. Ollie (our AI) and our team research, write, publish and link the pages on your site, on Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce or Wix. Nothing waits on you. You can read anything that went live and ask for changes.
- We know your catalog and services. Ollie reads your real products, collections and service pages before writing, so pages are built around what you sell and link into the pages that sell it.
- Proven on real clients. On All Angles Creatures, weekly Google clicks went from about 600 to about 1,400 between July 28 and October 10, 2026. On The Grub Company, a site that earned 36 to 54 Google clicks a month for thirteen months reached 258 in September after 350 articles (ads ran in the same weeks, and the study says so). On Florida Realtor Careers, 530 of 727 new pages appeared in Google within 16 weeks.
- Fully automated, and built from real inputs. Ollie does the work automatically from start to finish, and our team keeps watch. Every page is built from real inputs, not generic AI text: your own catalog or services, your own search data, the real questions buyers ask AI assistants, and facts checked before anything publishes. An AI writer given a keyword produces generic text about that keyword.
Platforms help your team make content. RunOctopus makes it, publishes it and links it for you. If that is the job you are hiring for, see what an AI search optimization service includes and compare it with the platforms below.
Platform comparison
Prices are the entry prices each vendor publishes today. Yearly billing is cheaper on most of them.
| Platform | Writes drafts? | Publishes to your site? | Tracks AI answers? | Who runs it | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot Content Hub | Yes. AI writer for blogs, landing pages, social posts | Yes, on HubSpot's own CMS | Not as a core feature | Your marketing team | Professional $450/mo yearly ($600 monthly) |
| Semrush | Yes, through its content tools (sold separately) | No. You publish | Yes, inside its plans | An SEO specialist | $139/mo (SEO plan) |
| Surfer | Yes. Editor plus AI writing assistant | Via WordPress and Google Docs integrations. You publish | Yes. AI Tracker, also sold alone | A writer or editor | $49/mo yearly |
| Jasper | Yes. Brand-voice drafts and agents | No. You publish | On Business plan (GEO agents) | Your marketing team | $69/seat/mo ($59 yearly) |
| Writesonic | Yes. 15 to 50 AI articles a month by plan | You publish | Yes. 3 engines, 9 on Enterprise | A marketer or writer | $79/mo yearly |
| Shopify Sidekick | Yes. Blog posts, product descriptions, pages | Yes, inside Shopify, when you click publish | No | You, in the admin | Included with Shopify plans |
| RunOctopus (Ollie) | Yes. Researched pages built from your catalog and services | Yes. Published and linked on your site without waiting on you | We report where ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini name you | Our team and Ollie | $497/mo, one plan |
Who does each step
Content marketing is five jobs in a row. The platforms help with each one. The question is who still has to sit down and do it.
HubSpot Content Hub
HubSpot is the all-in-one choice: CMS, blog, landing pages, email, CRM and reporting in one account. Content Hub Professional is $450 a month billed yearly ($600 monthly) with three core seats, and it includes an AI content writer that drafts blogs, landing pages and social posts. HubSpot also offers a free AI content writer and agents under its Breeze brand. Its reporting can tie content to leads and revenue, which is its real strength.
The catch for most small businesses is that you publish to HubSpot's CMS, so your content lives on HubSpot rather than inside your Shopify or WordPress site, and your team still plans, edits and runs the program. HubSpot syncs data with Shopify (customers, orders, products) but does not publish articles to a Shopify blog.
Semrush
Semrush, now owned by Adobe, is the research heavyweight: keyword data, competitor analysis, site audits and AI answer tracking built into its plans. Plans start at $139 a month (SEO), with Starter at $199 and Pro+ at $299. Semrush sells content tools that draft AI articles separately. For a trained SEO specialist it is hard to beat. For an owner without that background, it is a lot of data and a lot of decisions. See our Semrush comparison for the detail.
Surfer
Surfer is a content editor that scores a draft against the pages already ranking, with an AI writing assistant, 1-click internal linking on its Pro plan, and an AI Tracker that follows ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI answers and Gemini. Plans run from $49 to $299 a month billed yearly. It works with Google Docs and WordPress. A writer gets real value from it, and the writer still writes and publishes. Our Surfer comparison goes deeper.
AI writers: Jasper, Writesonic and Copy.ai
Jasper is the brand-voice writer for marketing teams. Pro is $69 per seat a month ($59 yearly), and its Business plan adds GEO and research agents. Writesonic now pairs an AI article writer (15 to 50 articles a month by plan) with AI answer tracking, from $79 a month billed yearly. Copy.ai was bought by Fullcast in October 2025 and now sells itself as a sales and go-to-market platform rather than a blog writer. All of them produce drafts quickly. None of them knows your catalog unless someone feeds it in, and someone still edits, publishes and links. Compare Jasper and Writesonic in detail.
Shopify Sidekick
If you sell on Shopify, you already have an AI writer. Sidekick (Shopify's assistant, which took over the old Shopify Magic text tools) writes blog posts, store pages and product descriptions from the admin, and it is included with Shopify plans. For a quick product description it is the obvious first stop. It writes what you ask for, one piece at a time. It does not plan a library of pages, research what buyers and AI answers are asking, or report on where AI names you.
Who should pick a platform instead
Pick a platform if you have a marketer or writer who wants to do the writing in-house. HubSpot suits companies that want one system for CRM, email and content and have a team to run it. Semrush suits an SEO specialist. Surfer suits writers who want a scoring editor. Jasper and Writesonic suit teams that want fast drafts and will edit them. Sidekick is enough if you only need product copy now and then. If none of that describes you, and you want the pages researched, written, published and linked for you, that is the work RunOctopus does. For how a service compares with hiring an agency, see what to expect from an AI SEO agency.
Every major content platform writes now, and each one still needs a person to run it. RunOctopus is the better choice for a business that wants the content done: we do the work and publish on our own, we build from your real catalog and services, every page comes from real inputs rather than generic AI text, and we publish our client results, misses included.