Screaming Frog SEO Spider review: our take
Screaming Frog's SEO Spider crawls a site from the desktop, on Windows, macOS or Linux, and reports what is broken: dead links, server errors, redirects, duplicate or over-long titles and descriptions. It renders JavaScript with built-in Chromium, compares one crawl against another or against a staging site, and pulls in Analytics, Search Console and PageSpeed data.
The free version stops at 500 URLs and cannot save a crawl. That covers a small site and nothing like a migration. The paid licence is $279 per user per year, after which the only crawl limit is the machine's memory. It is desktop software for someone who reads crawl data. A WordPress owner who mainly needs titles, schema, sitemaps and redirects in order can start with the free Rank Math plugin.
What Screaming Frog SEO Spider does
The SEO Spider is a desktop crawler for Windows, macOS and Linux that crawls a website and reports technical SEO issues such as broken links, server errors, redirects, duplicate or over-long titles and meta descriptions. It can render JavaScript sites with an integrated Chromium engine, visualize site architecture, schedule crawls, compare crawls and staging sites, and pull data from Google Analytics, Search Console and PageSpeed Insights. The paid licence adds unlimited crawling and advanced features, including crawling with OpenAI and Gemini prompts.
Who Screaming Frog SEO Spider is for
Best for
- Technical SEO specialists
- Agencies auditing client sites
- Developers checking site migrations
Not for
- Users wanting a browser-based cloud tool (it is desktop software)
- Large crawls on the free version (500 URL limit)
Screaming Frog SEO Spider features
- F1Find broken links and server errors
- F2Audit page titles and meta descriptions
- F3JavaScript rendering with integrated Chromium
- F4Site architecture visualizations
- F5Scheduled crawls
- F6Crawl comparison and staging comparison
- F7GA, Search Console and PageSpeed Insights integrations
- F8Crawl with OpenAI and Gemini
Screaming Frog SEO Spider pricing and plans (2026)
| Plan | Monthly | Billed yearly, per month | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | $0 | $0 | 500 URL crawl limit; no saving crawls, no crawl configuration or advanced features |
| Paid licence | — | $23.25 | $279 per user per year (1-4 licences); unlimited crawl (memory-bound); volume discounts to $235/licence for 20+ |
Also priced in GBP and EUR; homepage shows EUR 245 per year, pricing page USD 279 per year.
Free plan: yes. Prices as listed by the vendor, before tax; they change, so check the pricing page before you buy.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider interface
Screaming Frog SEO Spider FAQ
- Does Screaming Frog SEO Spider have a free plan?
- Yes, Screaming Frog SEO Spider has a free plan.
- What are the alternatives to Screaming Frog SEO Spider?
- Tools that cover the same jobs include Sitebulb, JetOctopus, Oncrawl, Seobility.