Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Desktop website crawler for technical SEO audits, free for up to 500 URLs.
- Verified facts
- 4 of 4
- Alternatives ranked
- 6
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Screaming Frog SEO Spider
The Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop crawler that most technical SEOs keep installed. It crawls a website like a search engine and lists every URL with its status code, titles, meta descriptions, headings, canonicals, directives, redirects, structured data, page speed metrics and more, then flags hundreds of common issues. It can render JavaScript, compare crawls over time, check accessibility, connect to Google Analytics, Search Console and PageSpeed Insights, and extract custom data with XPath or CSS selectors. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs; a yearly licence per user removes the limit and unlocks scheduling, crawl comparison, integrations and other advanced features. It is extremely flexible but presents data as large tables, so it rewards people who know what they are looking for, and big crawls depend on your computer's memory. The UK company also makes a Log File Analyser. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Best for: Technical SEOs who want a fast, flexible crawler on their own machine.
Pros and cons
What works
- Free for small sites up to 500 URLs
- Extremely detailed and configurable crawls
- Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux
Why people leave
- Spreadsheet-style interface with a learning curve
- Large crawls limited by local memory
- Licence must be renewed every year
Top Screaming Frog SEO Spider alternatives
See all 6- 1
Sitebulb66.5A desktop and cloud crawler with clearer, prioritised audit reports.
- 2
JetOctopus62.6Cloud crawling and log analysis for large sites without local limits.
- 3
Lumar59.6Enterprise cloud crawler with monitoring for big site teams.
- 4SeSEO PowerSuite57.2
Desktop suite combining audits with rank tracking and backlinks.
- 5
Ahrefs55.3Its Site Audit crawls in the cloud on a schedule and ties issues to backlink and keyword data, with no desktop app to run.
Why people left Screaming Frog SEO Spider
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Screaming Frog SEO Spider, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers
Write a review of Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Screaming Frog SEO Spider: common questions
Is Screaming Frog SEO Spider free?
Screaming Frog SEO Spider has a free plan and paid plans. Free version: Up to 500 URLs (checked on Screaming Frog SEO Spider's own site).
Is Screaming Frog SEO Spider open source?
No, Screaming Frog SEO Spider is not open source.
What platforms does Screaming Frog SEO Spider run on?
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.
What are the best alternatives to Screaming Frog SEO Spider?
The highest-ranked Screaming Frog SEO Spider alternatives right now are Sitebulb, JetOctopus and Lumar. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.