What is the best alternative to Screaming Frog?

Sitebulb is the closest alternative if you want a desktop crawler, and it runs on Windows or Mac. For very large sites, cloud crawlers like JetOctopus or Lumar move the crawl off your computer.

Is there a free alternative to Screaming Frog?

Ahrefs Free includes Site Audit with 170+ issue checks for sites you have verified, and Bing Webmaster Tools includes a Site Scan audit. Screaming Frog itself is also free for crawls of up to 500 URLs.

Does Screaming Frog work on a Mac?

Yes. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider runs on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), as well as Windows and Linux. Sitebulb Desktop also runs on Mac, and every cloud crawler works in a Mac browser.

How much does Screaming Frog cost?

A licence costs $279 per user per year, and there is no monthly option. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs but cannot save crawls, render JavaScript or schedule crawls.

What is the difference between a desktop and a cloud SEO crawler?

A desktop crawler runs on your own computer, so you get full control but site size is limited by your machine. A cloud crawler runs on the vendor's servers, handles larger sites, runs on a schedule and is easier to share with a team.

Do SEO crawlers check whether AI crawlers can access my site?

Most test your site as a search engine sees it and do not flag rules that block AI bots like GPTBot. Check your robots.txt for AI user agents separately, for example with Terradium's free AI crawler checker.

Alternatives

Best Screaming Frog alternatives in 2026 (cloud, free, Mac)

Last updated 14 October 2026Prices checked 14 October 2026

A Screaming Frog alternative is any tool that crawls your website the way a search engine does and reports technical SEO problems: broken links, redirect chains, missing titles, duplicate content, blocked pages and slow or unrendered content. The options split into two groups. Desktop crawlers (like Screaming Frog itself and Sitebulb Desktop) run on your own computer. Cloud crawlers (JetOctopus, Lumar, Sitebulb Cloud and the audit tools inside Semrush and Ahrefs) run on the vendor's servers and are used in a browser.

When to switch from Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog's SEO Spider is the standard desktop crawler for a reason, and many teams never need anything else. It runs on Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux, and the paid licence's crawl limit is bounded only by your machine's memory and storage. It's worth looking elsewhere when one of these applies:

You're on the free version and hitting its limits. The free SEO Spider crawls up to 500 URLs, and it can't save crawls, render JavaScript, schedule crawls or connect to Google Analytics, Search Console or PageSpeed Insights. If you need any of those, you either buy the licence or pick a tool that includes them.
You don't want an annual licence. A licence costs $279 per user per year, and there's no monthly option. If you only audit a site a few times a year, a tool you already pay for (Semrush) or a free one (Ahrefs Free, Bing Webmaster Tools) may be enough.
Your site is too big for one laptop. A desktop crawler is limited by the computer it runs on. Cloud crawlers move that work to the vendor's servers.
You want the crawler to explain the results. Screaming Frog gives you the raw data and lets you build your own analysis. Some alternatives put more weight on prioritized, explained findings, which helps if SEO is one part of your job rather than all of it.
You need server logs next to the crawl. Log analysis shows which bots actually visit your pages, including AI crawlers. That needs either a separate log tool or a crawler that includes one.

Screaming Frog alternatives compared

Prices below come from each vendor's own pricing page on the date at the top. Each links to the source.

Tool	Type	Paid plans from	Free option
SitebulbVisual technical SEO auditor with prioritized 'Hints', sold as Windows/Mac desktop software or as a cloud crawler for teams.	SEO crawler (desktop + cloud)	$18/mo (Lite (desktop))Desktop, 1 user, 10,000 URLs per audit	14 days, no card trial
JetOctopusCloud crawler plus server-log analyzer for large sites and e-commerce catalogs, joining crawl, logs, GSC and GA4.	SEO crawler (cloud) + log analyzer	$459/mo (Growth)Billed quarterly; $349/mo billed yearly; no monthly plan	7 days, no card trial
Lumar (formerly Deepcrawl)Enterprise website-optimization platform (technical SEO, GEO, accessibility, QA) built on a high-speed cloud crawler.	SEO crawler (cloud, enterprise)	Contact sales (Enterprise)No public prices; quote on request	None
SemrushAll-in-one SEO and AI-search visibility platform for freelancers through agencies, sold as combined SEO + AI Search plans plus add-on toolkits.	All-in-one SEO suite	$139/mo (SEO)5 sites, 500 tracked keywords; $117.33/mo billed yearly	Free plan (10 reports/day)
Ahrefs Free (Webmaster Tools)Ahrefs' free tier for owners of verified websites: site audit, own-site backlink and keyword data, and privacy-focused web analytics.	Free SEO tool (site owners)	Free	Free for verified sites
Bing Webmaster ToolsMicrosoft's free webmaster console for Bing, now with AI Performance data on Copilot citations.	Free Microsoft tool	Free	Free

The alternatives

Sitebulb

SEO crawler (desktop + cloud) · $18/mo (Lite (desktop))

Sitebulb is the most direct alternative for people who like working with a desktop crawler. Sitebulb Desktop installs on Windows or Mac and crawls from your machine, and Sitebulb Cloud runs the same kind of audit from a browser for teams. Sitebulb Lite audits up to 10,000 URLs per audit, and Sitebulb Pro audits 500,000 URLs by default, which can be raised to 2 million. Sitebulb also offers an MCP server that brings crawl data into Claude and ChatGPT.

Pros

Desktop app for both Windows and Mac, plus a cloud version when you outgrow one machine.
Monthly billing on the desktop plans; yearly plans save 15%.
14-day free trial equivalent to Sitebulb Pro desktop, with no credit card.
MCP server for working with crawl data in an AI assistant.

Cons

Lite's 10,000-URL cap per audit is low for larger sites, so many teams will need Pro.
Sitebulb Cloud is a separate, more expensive product from the desktop plans.
No free version after the trial, unlike Screaming Frog's 500-URL free tier.

Best for: Mac and Windows users who want a desktop crawler with a monthly plan, and a path to the cloud later.

JetOctopus

SEO crawler (cloud) + log analyzer · $459/mo (Growth)

JetOctopus describes itself as a cloud-based technical SEO platform built for large websites and e-commerce catalogs. It joins crawl data with server logs, Google Search Console and GA4. Its log analyzer shows which bots crawl your site, including Googlebot, GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot, which makes it one of the few crawlers on this list that shows AI crawler activity from real traffic.

Pros

Crawling and log analysis in one tool, so you can see which pages bots actually visit, not just which ones they could.
Every plan includes all modules, unlimited projects and unlimited seats.
Runs in the cloud, so site size isn't limited by your computer.
7-day free trial with full module access, up to 10,000 URLs crawled, no credit card.

Cons

No monthly billing: plans are billed quarterly or annually (annual saves 25%).
The entry plan costs far more than a Screaming Frog licence, so it only makes sense for sites that need the scale or the logs.
Log analysis needs access to your server logs, which some small teams don't have.

Best for: large sites and e-commerce catalogs that want crawl data and bot logs side by side.

Lumar (formerly Deepcrawl)

SEO crawler (cloud, enterprise) · Contact sales (Enterprise)

Lumar, formerly Deepcrawl, is an enterprise website-optimization platform built on a cloud crawler, covering technical SEO, GEO, accessibility and QA. Lumar says its crawler reaches up to 450 URLs per second non-rendered and 350 rendered, in its own tests. It also tracks brand visibility across AI engines: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Claude.

Pros

Built for very large sites and teams that need high crawl speed.
Technical SEO, accessibility and AI visibility tracking in one platform.
SOC 2 Type 2 certified, which matters for enterprise procurement.

Cons

No public prices: you fill out a form for a tailored quote.
No free trial or free version listed.
More platform than most small teams need for a periodic site audit.

Best for: enterprise teams that want a managed, sales-led crawling platform with AI visibility tracking.

Semrush

All-in-one SEO suite · $139/mo (SEO) · Free plan (10 reports/day)

Semrush is an all-in-one SEO suite, and its Site Audit tool is included in the entry SEO plan alongside Position Tracking. The entry SEO plan covers 5 websites and 500 keywords tracked daily. If your team already pays for Semrush, its Site Audit is the cheapest Screaming Frog alternative because it costs nothing extra.

Pros

Site audits sit next to daily rank tracking, so you can prioritize fixes on the pages that rank.
Runs in the cloud, so it works the same on Mac and Windows.
Free plan (1 demo project, 10 reports per day) and a seven-day free trial of paid plans.

Cons

Expensive if a crawler is all you need.
Extra users start at $45/mo each.
Less control over crawl configuration and data extraction than a dedicated desktop crawler.

Best for: teams that already use Semrush and want audits without another subscription. See our Semrush alternatives if the suite is the part you'd replace.

Ahrefs Free (Webmaster Tools)

Free SEO tool (site owners) · Free · Free for verified sites

Ahrefs Free (formerly Ahrefs Webmaster Tools) gives free access to Site Audit, with 170+ issue checks, for an unlimited number of websites you've verified you own. It also includes Site Explorer data for your own site and Web Analytics. The limit is 5,000 crawl credits per verified project per month.

Pros

Free, with no time limit.
Unlimited verified websites, which suits freelancers and owners of several small sites.
Own-site backlink and keyword data alongside the audit.

Cons

Only covers sites you've verified. Auditing a prospect's or competitor's site needs a paid Ahrefs plan.
5,000 crawl credits per project per month won't cover a large site.
Fewer crawl settings and exports than a dedicated crawler.

Best for: site owners who want a free, regular cloud audit of their own sites.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Free Microsoft tool · Free · Free

Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft's free console for Bing, and it includes Site Scan, a technical audit of your site. It also covers IndexNow URL submission, keyword research and backlink reports, and it can import verified sites directly from Google Search Console. Its AI Performance report (in public preview since February 10, 2026) shows how often your site is cited in Microsoft Copilot and Bing's AI-generated summaries.

Pros

Free, and quick to set up if you already use Search Console.
Technical audit plus first-party data on citations in Copilot and Bing AI summaries.
IndexNow support for getting changed pages recrawled quickly.

Cons

Only for sites you've verified.
Site Scan is a basic audit next to a dedicated crawler.
The AI Performance report is still a preview.

Best for: anyone who wants a free second audit and a look at AI citations in Microsoft's products.

Desktop vs cloud crawlers

The biggest decision isn't which brand to pick. It's where the crawl runs.

Desktop crawlers (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb Desktop) install on your computer. You get full control over crawl settings, your data stays on your machine, and the price is usually lower. The trade-off is that a big crawl ties up your computer, and the size of the site you can crawl depends on its memory and storage. Scheduled crawls only run when the machine is on.

Cloud crawlers (JetOctopus, Lumar, Sitebulb Cloud, Semrush Site Audit, Ahrefs Site Audit) run on the vendor's servers. They handle larger sites, run on a schedule without your laptop, and are easier to share with a team, since everyone opens the same project in a browser. They usually cost more per month, and you have less control over exactly how the crawl behaves.

A practical rule: if you audit sites of a few thousand pages and like digging into raw data, a desktop crawler is enough. If your site has hundreds of thousands of URLs, or several people need to see the results, go cloud.

The Mac angle

Mac users have more choice than they used to. Screaming Frog runs natively on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), and Sitebulb Desktop installs on Mac as well as Windows, so both desktop options work. Every cloud tool on this list runs in a browser, so your operating system doesn't matter. If you're building a full SEO setup on a Mac, see our guide to the best SEO software for Mac.

Check AI crawler access too

A classic site audit asks whether Googlebot can crawl and index your pages. In 2026 there's a second question: can AI crawlers read them? ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and others send their own bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and more), and each one obeys its own rules in your robots.txt. A site can be perfectly crawlable for Google and still block the bots that feed AI answers, often by accident, through a broad Disallow rule or a security setting.

Most crawlers on this list don't flag this, because they test your site as a search engine sees it. JetOctopus is the exception on the logs side: its log analyzer shows whether GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot actually visit. If you don't have log access, check the rules directly:

Robots.txt: look for rules that name AI user agents, and for a blanket Disallow: / that blocks everything. Our post on what a robots.txt disallow-all does to SEO and AI visibility walks through the effects.
Server rendering: AI crawlers may not run JavaScript the way a browser does, so content that only appears after client-side rendering can be invisible to them.
llms.txt: an optional file that gives AI systems a map of your most important pages.

How to choose

You want Screaming Frog, but friendlier: Sitebulb Desktop, on Windows or Mac.
You want it free: Ahrefs Free and Bing Webmaster Tools for sites you own, or Screaming Frog's own free version up to 500 URLs.
You already pay for Semrush: use its Site Audit before buying anything else.
Your site is huge or you need logs: JetOctopus, if quarterly or annual billing works for you.
You're an enterprise with procurement requirements: Lumar.
Whatever you pick: check AI crawler access separately, because a clean technical audit doesn't prove AI bots can read your site.

Questions

What is the best alternative to Screaming Frog?: Sitebulb is the closest alternative if you want a desktop crawler, and it runs on Windows or Mac. For very large sites, cloud crawlers like JetOctopus or Lumar move the crawl off your computer.
Is there a free alternative to Screaming Frog?: Ahrefs Free includes Site Audit with 170+ issue checks for sites you have verified, and Bing Webmaster Tools includes a Site Scan audit. Screaming Frog itself is also free for crawls of up to 500 URLs.
Does Screaming Frog work on a Mac?: Yes. The Screaming Frog SEO Spider runs on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), as well as Windows and Linux. Sitebulb Desktop also runs on Mac, and every cloud crawler works in a Mac browser.
How much does Screaming Frog cost?: A licence costs $279 per user per year, and there is no monthly option. The free version crawls up to 500 URLs but cannot save crawls, render JavaScript or schedule crawls.
What is the difference between a desktop and a cloud SEO crawler?: A desktop crawler runs on your own computer, so you get full control but site size is limited by your machine. A cloud crawler runs on the vendor's servers, handles larger sites, runs on a schedule and is easier to share with a team.
Do SEO crawlers check whether AI crawlers can access my site?: Most test your site as a search engine sees it and do not flag rules that block AI bots like GPTBot. Check your robots.txt for AI user agents separately, for example with Terradium's free AI crawler checker.

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