AI SEO writers
As of October 29, 2026, Scalenut's cheapest paid plan is Starter at $59/month billed monthly, or $21/month billed annually, per its own pricing page. Both Scalenut and Paperboy write SEO articles, so the differences that matter are fact checking, Search Console and whether an agent can run it.
| Row | Paperboy | Scalenut |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | $49 a month | $59/month billed monthly, or $21/month billed annually |
| Fact checks claims against sources | Yes | Partly |
| Learns from Search Console | Yes | Partly |
| Publishes to your site for you | Partly | Yes |
| MCP, API or CLI for agents | Yes | No |
Side by side
Every cell links the page it came from, with the day we read it.
| Feature | Paperboy | Scalenut |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Researches, writes, fact checks and publishes SEO articles to your own site, then learns from Search Console. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | AI-SEO and GEO content platform with an expert-led managed service SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| Cheapest paid plan | Starter is $49 a month per site for 3 articles a week. Growth is $99 and Pro is $179. Yearly billing is two months free. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | Starter, $59/month billed monthly (5 articles, 5 optimizations, 5 keyword clusters, 10 tracked prompts per month). Annual billing is shown at $21/month in a limited Black Friday early-access offer that also triples limits. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| Free plan or trial | Yes The first article is free, no card. Any plan then starts with a 14-day trial (card required). SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | Yes 7-day free trial on the monthly plans (the page says Try 7 days for free). Card terms are not stated. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| Publishes to your site for you | Partly Posts directly to WordPress and Ghost. Other sites use a hosted blog, a signed webhook or a prompt that builds a blog in your code. No Shopify, Webflow, Wix or Squarespace connector. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | Yes Yes, from Plus. The plan list shows auto-publish to WordPress and Shopify. The WordPress Publisher exports drafts, schedules posts and publishes them. The Starter list does not show auto-publish. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| Fact checks claims against sources | Yes Every number and cited sentence is compared with the saved text of its source. An article that fails gets one rewrite, then is held for you. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | Partly No automated check of article claims is stated. A Citations feature helps you find credible sources to cite, and Copyscape plagiarism checking is integrated (not fact checking). On the VIP service, a human strategist verifies facts before publishing. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| Learns from Search Console | Yes Optional read-only Search Console connection. It picks topics from your impressions and reports clicks per article. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | Partly Partly. The Traffic Analyzer connects Google Search Console, shows performance and lets you pick pages to optimize. The help page looks old (footer says 2023) and does not describe an automatic refresh loop. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| Open source or self-host | Yes The engine is open source under AGPL-3.0. Self-host it with Docker and your own keys. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | Not listed No statement that the product is open source or self-hostable. No Scalenut GitHub org was found. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
| MCP, API or CLI for agents | Yes A remote MCP server with eight tools and a REST API with an OpenAPI file. The CLI is built in the open but not on npm yet. Agents pay with credits, $20 for 100. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 | No No API: a Scalenut help page says it does not offer one. No MCP server, CLI or Zapier connector found. The integrations page lists WordPress, Shopify, Semrush and Copyscape. SourceRead Oct 29, 2026 |
“Not listed” means we found no statement either way on the pages linked in that cell. It does not mean the answer is no. Vendors change their pages, so confirm before you buy.
The honest verdict
Sometimes the other tool is the better fit. Here is how to tell.
Pick Scalenut if
What Scalenut does well, from its own pages
Pick Paperboy if
Judge it before you pay anyone
Your first article is free with its full fact check, so you can judge it before you pay anyone.
Write my first article freeWhat you get
The four that decide it for most people, each with the source for the other side.
No automated check of article claims is stated. A Citations feature helps you find credible sources to cite, and Copyscape plagiarism checking is integrated (not fact checking). On the VIP service, a human strategist verifies facts before publishing (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026). Paperboy compares every number and cited sentence with the saved text of the page it links to. An article that fails gets one rewrite and is then held for you instead of published.
Partly. The Traffic Analyzer connects Google Search Console, shows performance and lets you pick pages to optimize. The help page looks old (footer says 2023) and does not describe an automatic refresh loop (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026). Paperboy reads Search Console, read-only, to choose the next topic and to report clicks and impressions per article.
The Scalenut pages we read do not say (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026). The Paperboy engine is open source under AGPL-3.0 and runs with Docker and your own keys.
No API: a Scalenut help page says it does not offer one. No MCP server, CLI or Zapier connector found. The integrations page lists WordPress, Shopify, Semrush and Copyscape (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026). Paperboy ships a remote MCP server with eight tools and a REST API with an OpenAPI file (the CLI is not on npm yet), so Claude Code, Cursor or n8n can run it.
Try it
You do not have to switch. Run Paperboy on one site, read the fact check, and compare it with what you get from Scalenut.
Keep Scalenut running. Nothing to cancel to try Paperboy.
Paste your site address. The first article is free, no card.
Read the fact check. Every number and cited sentence is compared with the saved text of its source.
Pick a plan only if you want more. Cancel with one button on the Billing page.
https://paperboyseo.com/start?url=yoursite.comThe engine is open source under AGPL-3.0. Self-hosting for your own sites is free; you pay your own model bill. Self-host docs.
About Scalenut
Scalenut describes itself as an AI-SEO platform that pairs AI agents with GEO experts to help brands rank and get cited in AI search. (its own description, read Oct 29, 2026)
The homepage now leads with expert-led services and AI agents. The pricing page shows a time-limited Black Friday early-access offer on annual plans (65% off and 3X limits), so annual prices may change. The old help.scalenut.com site returns HTTP 410; docs moved to www.scalenut.com/helpdoc.
| Plan | Price | What the page says it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $59/month billed monthly, or $21/month billed annually (limited Black Friday early-access offer) | Monthly: 5 articles, 5 optimizations and 5 keyword clusters per month, 10 tracked prompts (ChatGPT, Google AIO), 1 workspace. Annual offer: 3X limits (15 each). |
| Plus | $89/month billed monthly, or $31/month billed annually (early-access offer) | Monthly: 30 articles, 30 optimizations and 30 clusters per month, 200 pages audited, 25 prompts, 2 workspaces, 4 team members, auto-publish to WordPress and Shopify, internal linking, backlinks marketplace. Annual offer: 3X limits. |
| Professional | $199/month billed monthly, or $70/month billed annually (early-access offer) | Monthly: 75 articles, optimizations and clusters per month, 1,000 pages audited, 100 prompts (adds Perplexity), unlimited workspaces and team members, cannibalization analysis, dedicated CSM. Annual offer: 3X limits. |
| VIP Service | Custom | Dedicated senior strategist, team of writers and editors, 7 AI agents, research, strategy, content development, backlinks, technical audits, defined SLAs |
From Scalenut's pricing page, read October 29, 2026. Paperboy's own prices are on our pricing page.
FAQ
As of Oct 29, 2026, Scalenut lists Starter $59/month billed monthly, or $21/month billed annually; Plus $89/month billed monthly, or $31/month billed annually; Professional $199/month billed monthly, or $70/month billed annually. scalenut.com is the source, so confirm there before you buy.
No automated check of article claims is stated. A Citations feature helps you find credible sources to cite, and Copyscape plagiarism checking is integrated (not fact checking). On the VIP service, a human strategist verifies facts before publishing (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026).
Yes, from Plus. The plan list shows auto-publish to WordPress and Shopify. The WordPress Publisher exports drafts, schedules posts and publishes them. The Starter list does not show auto-publish (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026).
The Scalenut pages we read do not say (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026).
No API: a Scalenut help page says it does not offer one. No MCP server, CLI or Zapier connector found. The integrations page lists WordPress, Shopify, Semrush and Copyscape (scalenut.com, read Oct 29, 2026).
Sources
Every cell above links the page we read, and every date is the day we read it. Facts about Scalenut come from Scalenut's own pages only. Facts about Paperboy come from pages on this site. If something is wrong or out of date, write to hello@paperboyseo.com and we will fix it and change the date.
Keep going
Paste your address. In under ten minutes you read a finished, fact-checked article written for your site. Free, no card.
Prefer to run it yourself? Self-host it (repo coming soon). Using an agent? Add the MCP server.