All AI tool reviews
16 hands-on reviews of AI tools used by marketing agencies. Filter by category, sort by what you care about, search for a specific tool.
Showing 1–12 of 16 reviews.
Semrush Review: Still the Heavyweight, Still Worth the Price (2026)
We've used Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz across 30+ client retainers. Here's why Semrush still earns the seat in 2026 — and where it falls short.
Canva Review: The AI Design Suite Agencies Actually Use Every Day
We run 6 client social accounts through Canva Pro. One designer, 60+ assets per month, 4 brand kits. Here's what the AI features actually deliver, where they fall short, and whether the $15 Pro seat justifies itself on day one.
Surfer SEO Review: The Content Optimizer Most Agencies Actually Keep
We optimized 22 client posts in Surfer over six weeks. Half ranked top-10 inside two months. Here's what works — and what we wish were better.
Make Review: The Visual Automation Platform That Replaces Zapier for Complex Agency Workflows
We migrated 14 agency Zaps to Make over six weeks. 11 rebuilt in Make outperformed the originals in reliability and cost. Here's which workflows Make genuinely wins, which ones to keep in Zapier, and the one scenario type where Make pays for itself in week one.
ActiveCampaign Review: The CRM + Email Automation Stack for Agencies Serious About Retention
We migrated two client email programs from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign. Open rates went up 9 points. Unsubscribe rate dropped 40%. The automation capability difference is that significant. Here's the honest breakdown of who ActiveCampaign is actually for.
Frase Review: The Brief-First SEO Tool That Pays for Itself
We ran 18 SEO content briefs through Frase across three agency clients over five weeks. Brief-creation time dropped 78%. Here's where Frase wins, where Surfer still wins, and which one your stack actually needs.
Jasper AI Review: Is It Still Worth It for Marketing Agencies in 2026?
We ran Jasper through a full agency onboarding — three clients, two campaigns, one cranky senior strategist. Here's the honest verdict.
SE Ranking Review: The $52 Semrush Alternative That Covers 90% of Use Cases
We used SE Ranking as the primary SEO platform for three agency clients over 90 days, replacing Semrush entirely. Rank tracking and site audit held up. Keyword research had gaps. White-label reporting saved 2 hours per client per month. Full verdict inside.
Buffer Review: Still the Sanest Social Scheduler for Small Agencies
We managed 14 client channels through Buffer for 90 days. The publishing engine is rock solid, the AI captions are decent, and the per-channel price actually adds up nicely.
Writesonic Review: The AI Writer That Actually Scales for Agencies
We ran 30 client content pieces through Writesonic over four weeks — blog posts, ad copy, landing pages, and email sequences. Here's where it genuinely outperforms Jasper, where it falls short, and whether the $16 entry price holds up at agency volume.
Notion Review: The Agency Wiki We Always Come Back To
We migrated from Notion to ClickUp, then partially migrated back. Here's the honest breakdown of what Notion does best and what it should never be asked to do.
Looker Studio Review: Free, Powerful, and Still Frustrating in 2026
We migrated 11 client reporting dashboards from Whatagraph and AgencyAnalytics to Looker Studio. Here's what we kept, what broke, and what we'd do differently.