Introduction to AI Copywriting Tools: Understanding Type.ai and Copy.ai
The emergence of AI-powered writing assistants has professional writers rethinking how to approach their craft. It's long been understood that a first draft is an exercise in self-loathing, a way for writers to lay their insecurities bare as they wonder what made them think this was a career they could succeed at.
There's a reason why Hemingway advised to "write drunk, edit sober."
AI drastically changes this dynamic. These sophisticated tools leverage advanced language models to help create everything from marketing copy to long-form content. But the real victory here isn't the output of text; it's the way this text can spur a copywriter's own stuck mind back into creative mode—and different tools take different approaches.
Type.ai represents a newer entry into the AI writing space, distinguished by its flexible approach to language models and writer-centric interface. Meanwhile, Copy.ai has established itself in the industry, focused more on workflows and marketing automation than the act of creation itself.
Brief Overview of Type.ai
Type.ai sets itself apart as a tool built for writers in any vertical. By focusing on the mechanics and style of prose, rather than rules and conventions of different industries, Type remains a flexible solution in any context. Writers will appreciate the control they maintain—they're never at the mercy of the underlying LLM. In fact, they can choose the one that works best for them.
Through its unique dual-model approach, offering users the choice between ChatGPT and Claude as their underlying AI engine. This flexibility allows writers to leverage the strengths of different language models depending on their specific needs. Type operates by default in "Power Mode," which uses the latest models of ChatGPT (4o) and Claude (3.5 Sonnet). For quicker responses, disabling power mode reverts to older/smaller language models.
Brief Overview of Copy.ai
Copy.ai has built its reputation in the AI writing space on fine-tuned models based on OpenAI's GPT-3. As the platform grows, so do its capabilities. The platform currently offers access to ChatGPT's 3.5, 4, and 4o, as well as several versions of Anthropic's Claude: 3 (Sonnet, Haiku, and Opus), and 3.5 Sonnet.
Type.ai vs Copy.ai: Key Differences and Features
The fundamental technological difference between these platforms lies in their approach to AI models. Type.ai's distinctive feature is its focus on making the writing process more efficient. There are a number of ways it emphasizes real-time collaboration between human and AI: in-line suggestions and contextual awareness help maintain flow during writing sessions.
Rather than churning out complete articles that need heavy editing, Type.ai aims to augment the writer's natural process, like a writing partner who's always ready with a suggestion. Of course, Type can churn out complete articles, too, minus the need for heavy editing.
That's because it offers the ability to attach documents and URLs as a supplement to the writing prompts you give it. Providing Type with sourced facts, style references, and your own insight and knowledge means your first draft is that much closer to being your final draft.
Copy.ai, alternatively, has recently gone all-in on as a full funnel marketing platform, going far beyond simple content creation. What this means is that Copy.ai is now officially overkill for copywriters who just want a modern tool to make the job of writing less of a hassle.
While freelance writers—even those who strictly work in marketing—might find Copy.ai too much for them, marketing teams will not. Whether they're an agency or a company's in-house marketing team, Copy.ai's new "go to market" AI tools focus more on workflow automation, with added tools for lead generation/processing and CRM-like features for prospects.
Unique Features of Type.ai
Type.ai's standout characteristic is its all-in-one interface, which provides writers with more control over their documents and AI assistance. This feature particularly benefits writers who understand the subtle differences between AI models and wish to leverage specific strengths for different writing tasks. The platform also emphasizes maintaining the writer's voice while providing AI assistance, rather than completely automating the writing process.
Type.ai also stands out for the way it allows productive collaboration between writers and the AI. Users can highlight specific sections of text and ask for suggestions to improve it, accepting and rejecting things as they see fit. Its document review feature is like having an on-demand editor living inside your document. Again, any corrections or suggestions are presented for the writer's approval before it's committed to the page.
With a library of features, and the ability to save writing prompts, writers can approach their daily tasks more systematically than ever before, but without sacrificing the creative process to get there.
Unique Features of Copy.ai
Having evolved from a simple writing tool into what they call a "GTM AI solution"—that's "go to market" for the acronymically challenged—Copy.ai has grown into a tool that streamlines everything from marketing to sales to operations.
Their central feature, "Workflows," is exactly what it sounds like: automated processes that handle repetitive tasks so teams can focus on the fun stuff. Need to create content, process leads, or manage deals? Set up a workflow once, and let the AI handle the heavy lifting.
The platform has three main parts working together: "Tables" (think super-smart spreadsheets that keep all your data organized), "Actions" (the building blocks that make your workflows actually work), and "Brand Voice" (ensuring everything sounds like your company, not a robot).
Instead of its users having to cobble together a dozen different AI tools, Copy.ai built everything into one platform.
Collaboration Features: Teamwork Made Easy
Modern content creation often requires team collaboration, and both platforms address this need differently.
Type.ai, because it's more focused on the writer's experience, keeps its collaboration options to a minimum. Writers often work alone, and the AI chat was created with this in mind. Still, writers aren't hermits, and they'll want to have other humans look at their work, too. For this reason, Type makes it easy to publish and share documents, as well as to export them to multiple formats.
Copy.ai was built for teams, so it makes sense that it has robust features that allow multiple users to work on projects simultaneously, share templates, and maintain consistent brand voices across team members. The need to collaborate in this way is one of the more compelling reasons to look at Copy.ai as a solution.
Usability and User Experience
Let's look at how these platforms approach the user experience, considering their different target audiences and intended use cases.
Getting Started: Initial Setup and Onboarding
The onboarding experience differs significantly between the two platforms. Type.ai emphasizes getting writers working quickly with minimal setup required: log in and start typing. If you've ever used a word processor, you'll need no help in getting comfortable in Type's main screen.
While some of its more advanced AI features might not be totally self-explanatory, and there aren't any help files, the AI chat assistant is there to help with more than writing. You can just ask it how to do something.
Copy.ai provides a more structured onboarding process that includes tutorial content and template exploration. Because of the more complicated functions of its platform, Copy.ai also maintains an online help center with a software Knowledge Base.
User Interface: Which is More Intuitive?
Type.ai's interface focuses on simplicity and direct access to writing tools. As we've said, if you've used a word processor—and what writer hasn't?—you'll be at home with Type. And if you're ever lost, you can just ask the AI assistant that "lives" in the sidebar.
Copy.ai provides a more feature-rich environment with a much steeper learning curve. To compare it to Type would be unfair, given how different their objectives are. However, at least one reviewer did mention that Jasper—Copy.ai's closest competitor—isn't as easy to use and doesn't look as good.
Content Templates and Use Cases: Long-form vs Short-form
Copy.ai discontinued its extensive template library a little more than a year ago. While this seems like a strange direction for a platform aimed at automation to go, it was replaced with something similar: an AI chat assistant with a prompt library.
The prompts in this library act as templates: choose the prompt that closely aligns with what you're trying to create: paid ads, TikTok Scripts, email marketing campaigns, a social media post, etc. By choosing the prompt and providing some variables, Copy.ai can quickly generate content that's unique every time.
Type.ai takes a more flexible approach: a template library provides a great starting point for structuring content. You can also save the prompts that you write for later re-use. By using a combination of templates and prompts, you can have precise control over the structure of the document and the tone of the writing voice you use.
You can also attach a document to your draft-generating prompts in Type as a style reference. If you have a series of posts that will all be structured the same—say, for a bunch of book reviews—you can attach one to each new review you're going to write to have Type mimic the format.
Performance and Content Quality
Content Generation: Precision and Creativity
Both platforms demonstrate strong capabilities in content generation, which makes sense because they're both relying on the same LLMs. Though Copy.ai offers a wider variety of choices for the underlying LLM, both platforms offer the latest, most advanced models.
This means that the greater number of options in Copy.ai don't necessarily reflect an advantage. If you and your friend both have the same 2024 Rivian R1T, you wouldn't say your garage is better equipped because it also contains a 1959 Edsel.
Ultimately, when it comes to pure content generation capabilities, both platforms stand on equal footing. The quality and accuracy (or lack thereof) of their outputs are comparable, making the choice between them more about workflow preferences and specific feature needs rather than raw performance. Writers can confidently choose either platform knowing they'll have access to powerful, state-of-the-art content generation tools.
Brand Voice and Customization Options
Maintaining consistent brand voice is crucial for professional writers. Copy.ai provides robust brand voice settings and the ability to save brand guidelines within the platform.
This isn't just a bolt-on feature - brand voice sits at the heart of Copy.ai's usefulness. Their brand voice tools let you define and store multiple voice profiles, complete with tone settings, vocabulary preferences, and even specific phrases to use or avoid. These profiles can then be applied across any content you generate, ensuring consistency whether you're writing blog posts, social media updates, or email campaigns.
Type.ai doesn't have any "Brand Voice" tools, per se, though its prompt-saving feature is flexible enough to use in this way. If you focus a prompt only on the voice that you want Type to use, the content can be described at length in a brief that you attach to the prompt.
Especially in marketing settings, your briefs should be thorough and contain all the content points the output needs to hit. For example:
If your brief contains a detailed outline, several facts/statistics/metrics you want to appear in the final output, and some personal insights/experiences you'd like to include, Type can take all that and write it out in the voice your saved prompt describes.
Pricing
These pricing structures are current as of January, 2025:
Type.ai
Type.ai offers a straightforward pricing model, priced at $29 per month (billed annually) or $23 per month (billed monthly), this plan includes:
- Access to Type's AI text editor, generator, and writing assistant
- Unlimited documents
- Access to the newest, most powerful AI models, including GPT-4/GPT-4-Turbo and Claude 3.5 Sonnet
- Priority support via Discord and email
- Free 14-day trial with a money-back guarantee
Copy.ai
Copy.ai offers multiple pricing options to accommodate various user needs:
- Free Plan: Ideal for individuals starting with AI-powered solutions, this plan includes: 1 seat, 2k words in chat, Access to ChatGPT 3.5 & Claude 3, Copy.ai Brand Voice & Infobase
- Starter Plan: Designed for teams seeking enhanced capabilities, this plan is priced at $49/mo, or $36/mo when billed annually. It includes: 1 user seat, Unlimited words, Unlimited Brand Voices, Unlimited entries to Infobase, Prompt Improver
- Team Plan: Suitable for larger teams, this plan is available at $249/mo, or $186/mo when billed annually. It offers: 5 user seats, All features included in the Starter Plan, 2k Workflow Credits/mo, 15+ Marketing Workflows, 15+ Sales Workflows, Workflow Builder Access
Custom Enterprise plans are also available for larger teams with more specific needs.
Please note that pricing and features are subject to change. For the most current information, it's advisable to consult the official websites of Copy.ai and Type.ai.
Which One Should You Choose? Final Thoughts and Recommendations
The choice between Type.ai and Copy.ai largely depends on your specific needs as a writer.
Type.ai could be the preferred option if you prefer a more straightforward writing assistance approach. Its dual-model capability provides unique advantages for writers who want more control over their AI assistance. Because it was designed for writers of any kind of content, it's a more flexible solution able to assist in a variety of use cases.
Copy.ai might be the better choice if you're primarily focused on marketing content—and need ways to automate your workflows. It's especially useful for larger teams, while lone wolf types might find it to be overkill for their needs. Its proven track record and robust feature set make it a reliable choice for marketing-focused writers, though,
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best AI tool for marketing copywriters?
The best tool depends on your specific needs. Copy.ai's marketing-focused prompt library and features make it particularly strong for marketing copywriters, while Type.ai's flexibility might better suit those who need varied content types and want more control over the final output.
Is AI replacing copywriting?
AI is not replacing copywriting but rather augmenting human creativity. These tools serve as assistants that can enhance productivity and provide inspiration while still requiring human oversight and expertise.
Does Copy.ai use GPT-4?
Yes, Copy.ai utilizes GPT-4 as part of its AI capabilities. It integrates multiple AI models, including GPT-4 and Anthropic's Claude, to enhance content generation and provide users with a versatile writing assistant.
This integration allows Copy.ai to offer advanced features and maintain flexibility in adapting to the latest AI advancements, ensuring high-quality outputs for various content creation needs. It also makes it competitive with over tools, like Type.ai, which offer users a choice of the best model for their needs.
