SEO Tools
Screaming Frog SEO Spider review
Desktop website crawler that audits technical SEO on your own machine, sold as a per-user annual licence.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider at a glance
- Category
- SEO Tools
- Starting price
- $279 per user per year (USD, 1-4 licences)
- Pricing model
- per user
- Public pricing
- Yes
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- No
- Contract
- annual licence
- G2 rating
- 4.7 (84 reviews)
- Founded
- 2010
- Headquarters
- Henley-on-Thames, UK
- Integrations
- Google Analytics, Google Search Console
Buying Screaming Frog SEO Spider: security, admin and contract
- Data residency
- Runs locally; crawl data stored on your machine by default.
- Contract
- Annual licence; reverts to free version on expiry.
- Support
- Technical support for licensed users.
- Implementation
- Download and install.
Questions to ask Screaming Frog SEO Spider before you sign
- Which plan includes SAML SSO, and what does it cost for our seat count?
- Is SCIM provisioning included, or a paid add-on?
- Which plan includes audit logs, and how long are they kept?
- Can we sign your standard DPA without changes?
- What will the price be at renewal, and is the increase capped?
Questions are listed where Screaming Frog SEO Spider's public pages leave the answer open.
Who Screaming Frog SEO Spider is for
Choose Screaming Frog SEO Spider if
- Technical SEOs and agencies who want deep, local crawls at a low per-user price.
- Teams that need custom extraction and JavaScript rendering without per-crawl credits.
- Small sites under 500 URLs via the free version.
Look elsewhere if
- Teams wanting a cloud platform with keyword research and rank tracking.
- Non-technical users who want prioritized, plain-language audit reports.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider pricing
| Plan | Price | Unit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 | Crawls capped at 500 URLs | |
| Paid licence | $279 | user/year | Unlimited crawl limit (memory bound), JS rendering, GA/GSC integrations, saved crawls, support |
Volume tiers per licence per year in USD: 5-9 $265, 10-19 $249, 20+ $235. USD prices read from the vendor pricing page with currency set to USD (?wmc-currency=USD). GBP list: 199 / 189 / 179 / 169.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider features by buying criteria
| Criterion | What we found |
|---|---|
| Technical site audit | Desktop crawler; unlimited URLs on paid licence limited by RAM/storage; JavaScript rendering. |
| Project and credit limits | Free: 500 URLs per crawl; paid: no URL cap. |
| Pricing model and transparency | Flat per-user annual licence with volume tiers. |
| Target company size | Technical SEOs, agencies and in-house teams of any size. |
What reviewers say about Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Praised for
- Very comprehensive crawl data.
- Reasonable licence price.
- Many export options.
Common complaints
- Post-crawl analysis less guided than some rivals.
Themes paraphrased from public reviews on G2 and similar sites, not quotes.
What most Screaming Frog SEO Spider reviews leave out
- Licence is per user not per device; transferable to a new user once per annual term.
- Expired licence reverts to the 500-URL free mode.
- Auto-renew must be chosen at purchase and cannot be added later.
- Crawl data is stored locally by default.
- Price rose from GBP 149 to 199 in January 2023.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider alternatives
SitebulbAgencies wanting readable audit reports with hints and PDF output.From GBP 95 per month (Cloud); Desktop monthly prices not confirmed
SemrushMarketing teams that want keyword, audit, backlink and AI visibility tools in one login.EUR 112.52/month billed annually (SEO plan), EUR 134 billed monthly
AhrefsSEO and link-building teams who value backlink and competitor data.$29/month (Starter); $129/month (Lite)
SE RankingSmall agencies that need white-label reports and many client projects (via Agency Pack)EUR 87.20/month billed annually (Core); EUR 109/month billed monthly
ClearscopeContent teams and agencies that want unlimited users on a flat monthly price.$129/month (Essentials)
Google Search ConsoleEvery site owner as the first-party source of Google query and click data.Free
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from Screaming Frog SEO Spider's own pricing, product or documentation pages, G2 and company records, checked on October 24, 2026. Unknown values are left out instead of estimated.