Screaming Frog is one of the most well-known and widely used SEO tools for website crawling and technical SEO analysis.
It helps webmasters and SEO professionals identify issues on their websites, from broken links to missing meta tags and beyond.
However, despite its popularity, it may not be the perfect fit for every user. Whether it’s the learning curve, pricing, or limitations in its feature set, there are several reasons why some users seek alternatives.
In this blog, we will explore some of the best Screaming Frog alternatives, compare their features, and help you choose the right tool for your SEO needs.
Table of Contents
Brief Overview of Screaming Frog and Its Features
Screaming Frog is an SEO tool that has gained immense popularity for its website crawling capabilities. It’s widely regarded as a go-to solution for identifying technical SEO issues on websites, regardless of their size.
Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider tool crawls websites and generates detailed reports on critical issues such as broken links, redirects, duplicate content, missing metadata, and more.
Key features of Screaming Frog include-
- Website Crawling: Screaming Frog crawls entire websites, providing a comprehensive list of pages, links, and media.
It analyzes the content to uncover technical issues such as broken links, duplicate content, missing alt tags, and more.
- On-page SEO Audit: The tool performs in-depth audits for on-page SEO factors, such as checking meta tags, headers, and title descriptions, which are essential for search engine optimization.
- Link Analysis: It helps identify both internal and external links, highlighting issues such as broken links, redirects, and invalid URLs, which can negatively impact a site’s SEO.
- Crawl Depth Analysis: Screaming Frog provides crawl depth insights, helping users understand how far into their site search engine bots may crawl and index.
- Integration with Google Analytics: The tool can be integrated with Google Analytics. Thus, it provides additional insights into how well specific pages are performing in terms of traffic and engagement.
Why Consider Alternatives?
Despite its robust features, some users find Screaming Frog’s user interface and setup to be overwhelming. Others may not be satisfied with its pricing model, especially for larger websites.
These reasons often prompt users to seek out alternatives that offer more flexibility, user-friendliness, or additional features.
Best Screaming Frog Alternatives
If you’re looking for tools that offer similar capabilities to Screaming Frog but with different features, pricing, or a specific focus, here are five excellent alternatives to consider.
Ahrefs Site Audit
Ahrefs Site Audit is a comprehensive SEO tool that allows users to crawl their websites to identify and fix SEO issues.
Like Screaming Frog, it can scan all pages of a website, evaluating both on-page and technical SEO aspects.
Key Features
- Site Health Overview: Provides an overall site health score and details about the issues impacting performance.
- Broken Links & Redirects: Identifies broken links, 404 errors, and redirects, helping to maintain the site’s link structure.
- On-page SEO Audit: Checks page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and other critical elements.
- Crawl History: Allows users to compare crawl reports over time to track improvements and regressions.
- SEO Insights & Recommendations: Provides actionable recommendations based on the issues it identifies.
Ahrefs is a powerful tool. Although, it’s particularly suited for users looking for detailed insights and in-depth reporting on backlinks in addition to technical SEO.
SEMrush Site Audit
SEMrush is another popular SEO tool that offers a robust site audit feature. It crawls websites and helps identify technical issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and security vulnerabilities.
Key Features
- Technical Site Audit: SEMrush performs a full website audit and identifies crawlability, site performance, and on-page SEO issues.
- Detailed Reports: Provides in-depth reports on errors and recommendations on how to fix them.
- SEO Health Score: SEMrush assigns a health score to your website to quickly highlight the severity of issues.
- User-friendly Dashboard: A clean and intuitive dashboard makes it easy to understand your site’s SEO performance.
- Integration with Google Search Console: Syncs data with Google Search Console to cross-check indexing status and performance.
SEMrush is ideal for comprehensive SEO analysis and reporting. The tool is especially for users who also need keyword research and competitor analysis in one tool.
Lumar (Previously DeepCrawl)
Lumar or DeepCrawl is a dedicated website crawler that focuses on technical SEO. It provides detailed reports on site health, crawl errors, broken links, and other SEO factors, making it a great alternative to Screaming Frog.
Key Features
- Site Health and Issue Tracking: Provides an overall health score and keeps track of crawling issues over time.
- In-depth Technical SEO Reports: Identifies advanced issues like JavaScript rendering, schema markup, and duplicate content.
- Customizable Crawl Depth: Lets users adjust the crawl depth and focus on specific parts of the website.
- Integration with Google Search Console: Syncs data from Google Search Console for more accurate insights into search performance.
- API Integration: DeepCrawl offers API support for more advanced users who need custom data reports.
DeepCrawl is excellent for larger websites with advanced technical SEO needs and businesses that require highly customizable crawling.
Sitebulb
Sitebulb is a powerful SEO auditing tool that is known for its visually rich reports.
It offers an intuitive interface and detailed insights into technical SEO, helping webmasters identify problems and opportunities for improvement.
Key Features
- Visual SEO Reports: Sitebulb provides in-depth visual reports, which makes technical SEO easier to understand.
- Comprehensive Crawl Data: The tool gathers detailed information on internal links, external links, images, and content, offering a full site audit.
- On-page SEO Audits: Checks for missing metadata, duplicate content, and other on-page issues.
- Structured Data Testing: Assists in testing schema markup and structured data to ensure they’re optimized for search engines.
- Automated Crawl Scheduling: Allows users to schedule crawls at regular intervals to monitor their website’s SEO health continuously.
Sitebulb is ideal for SEO consultants and agencies who require thorough auditing with visually intuitive reporting.
Moz Pro Site Crawl
Moz Pro Site Crawl is a well-known SEO tool that provides website crawling and on-site auditing capabilities. It’s known for being user-friendly and offering actionable insights.
Key Features
- Comprehensive Website Crawling: Moz Pro crawls websites and identifies technical issues like broken links, missing meta tags, and duplicate content.
- Customizable Reports: Users can customize the types of issues they want to track and generate tailored reports.
- SEO Health Monitoring: Helps users monitor the ongoing SEO health of their websites, providing notifications when issues are found.
- Link Analysis: Offers link analysis features to ensure proper internal linking structures and backlink opportunities.
- MozBar Integration: Works seamlessly with Moz’s browser extension, MozBar, to check SEO metrics directly on web pages.
Moz Pro is a great alternative for users who want an easy-to-use tool that still provides solid technical SEO features.
Botify
Botify is a robust enterprise-level SEO crawler that helps large websites with deep technical SEO analysis.
It’s specifically built to handle high-volume websites and offers a variety of insights into how search engines crawl and index websites. Some of its key features include:
- Comprehensive Crawling: Botify crawls your website to uncover SEO issues and offers detailed reports on indexing, crawlability, and performance.
- Content Indexing: It helps assess which content is being indexed by search engines and provides suggestions to optimize it.
- SEO Automation: Botify offers SEO automation features to help marketers identify issues automatically and receive alerts.
- Advanced Crawl Analytics: Provides deep insights into crawling issues, redirects, and performance bottlenecks.
- Integration with Google Search Console: Syncs data with Google Search Console for better tracking of performance and crawl data.
Botify excels in providing deep technical SEO insights and is ideal for large-scale websites that need advanced crawling and analysis features.
How to Pick the Best Alternative for Screaming Frog
When selecting the best alternative to Screaming Frog, you should focus on the following key factors-
- Site Size and Complexity: If you’re working with large or enterprise-level websites, consider tools like Botify or DeepCrawl, which specialize in handling complex websites and large volumes of data.
- Ease of Use: For users who need an easy-to-use, intuitive interface, tools like Sitebulb or Moz Pro Site Crawl offer a user-friendly experience and visually rich reports.
- Feature Set: Depending on whether you need a tool for deeper technical SEO or broader SEO analysis, select a tool that covers your primary requirements.
For example, if you need both site crawling and backlink analysis, Ahrefs Site Audit is a great option, while SEMrush combines site auditing with keyword research.
- Budget: Cost is always an important consideration. If you are on a tight budget, you may want to explore tools like SEMrush, Moz Pro, or Sitebulb.
These tools provide various pricing tiers based on the size of your site and the depth of the audit.
- Integration with Other Tools: Consider a tool that integrates well with other SEO tools or platforms you use.
Tools like Ahrefs Site Audit or SEMrush provide integrations with Google Search Console, making it easier to consolidate your SEO data.
How to Make the Best Use of a New SEO Tool
Adopting a new SEO tool can greatly enhance your website’s performance, but to get the most out of it, follow these tips-
- Start with the Basics: Familiarize yourself with the core features of the tool. Take time to go through tutorials, FAQs, and user guides to get up to speed.
- Set Clear Goals: Before diving deep into the tool, define the SEO goals you want to achieve—whether it’s improving site speed, fixing crawl errors, or optimizing on-page SEO.
- Use Templates and Reports: Leverage built-in templates and report generation features to monitor your site’s progress.
Regular reporting helps track improvements and areas that need more attention.
- Integrate with Other Tools: Maximize your new tool’s capabilities by integrating it with other platforms you already use (Google Analytics, Google Search Console, etc.).
- Regular Analysis: Consistently use the tool to run audits and optimize your site.
Regular analysis will help you stay on top of potential issues and keep your site optimized for search engines.
Conclusion
Choosing the right alternative to Screaming Frog depends on your website’s specific needs. Tools like DeepCrawl, Sitebulb, and Botify provide a wide range of features to help you identify SEO issues and optimize your website.
Whether you need in-depth technical analysis, backlink audits, or simple crawl reports, there’s a tool out there that fits your needs and budget.
