01
The price
~$18/mo is the way in, ~$20/mo is the tier that works.
Free covers crawl up to 500 urls per run, broken link and error detection, meta data analysis, xml sitemap generation.
Published tiers top out at ~$18/mo.
Screaming Frog.
Desktop SEO crawler used by technical SEOs everywhere.
01
Price, complaint, verdict
Read this if you read nothing else02
The complaint
Desktop-only Java app, so reviewers complain there is no cloud dashboard and no way to share live crawl data with teammates.
6 recurring complaints show up in public reviews, and 0 of them come up often.
Praise is just as consistent: free version actually works for sites under 500 urls, which reviewers say is rare in seo tooling..
03
The verdict
A tracker priced to be tried rather than committed to.
The most frequently raised complaint: desktop-only java app, so reviewers complain there is no cloud dashboard and no way to share live crawl data with teammates..
It reports where you stand. Turning that into published pages and earned citations is still work somebody has to do.
Buy: Small budget, in-house teamSkip: Nobody to act on it
02
Pricing matrix
Scroll sideways for all tiers| Included | Free$0 | Paid License~$21/moSold as £199/year per user (annual only) | Volume Discount (5-9 seats)~$20/mo£189/year per user, billed annually | Volume Discount (20+ seats)~$18/mo£169/year per user, billed annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crawl up to 500 URLs per run | Unlimited URL crawl (memory permitting) | All paid license features | All paid license features |
| 2 | Broken link and error detection | JavaScript rendering and mobile usability audits | Discounted bulk seats for agencies | Best per-seat rate for large teams |
| 3 | Meta data analysis | Structured data validation | · | · |
| 4 | XML sitemap generation | AI integrations with OpenAI, Gemini, and Anthropic Claude | · | · |
| 5 | Free technical support | Google Analytics, Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights connectors | · | · |
| 6 | · | Custom extraction and XPath | · | · |
| 7 | · | Scheduled crawls and crawl comparison | · | · |
03
What reviewers say
Bars show how often it is raisedPraise
6 themesFree version actually works for sites under 500 URLs, which reviewers say is rare in SEO tooling.
Comprehensive technical audit catches broken links, redirect chains, duplicate content, missing canonicals, and metadata errors in one pass.
Custom extraction with XPath and CSS selectors is repeatedly cited as the killer feature for scraping data no other crawler can pull.
Recent integrations with OpenAI, Claude, and Gemini let users run prompts against scraped content during a crawl.
Complaints
6 themesDesktop-only Java app, so reviewers complain there is no cloud dashboard and no way to share live crawl data with teammates.
Heavy memory footprint, with users reporting that large sites (1M+ URLs) require 32GB RAM and database storage mode.
UI looks dated and the learning curve is steep for non-technical users, especially around XPath extraction.
No keyword research, backlink analysis, or rank tracking, so users still need a second tool for those workflows.
Ratings: 4.7/5 on g2 (186 reviews) · 4.8/5 on capterra (220 reviews). As recorded 7 June 2026; counts move, so check the source before quoting.
04
What it does
Website Crawler
Breadth-first crawler that fetches URLs, response codes, redirects, page titles, meta descriptions, headings, and content.
Custom Extraction
Pull any data from a page using XPath, CSS selectors, or regex during the crawl.
JavaScript Rendering
Renders pages with a headless Chromium engine to crawl single-page apps and JS-heavy sites.
Crawl Comparison
Diffs two crawls to surface changes in metadata, response codes, structure, and content between deploys.
AI Prompt Integration
Run prompts against OpenAI, Claude, or Gemini for every URL during a crawl, for example to classify pages or generate alt text.
Structured Data Validation
Audits JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa against Google and Schema.org specs.
05
Integrations
Google Analytics 4Google Search ConsoleGoogle PageSpeed InsightsOpenAIGoogle GeminiAnthropic ClaudeMajesticAhrefsMozLooker Studio
06
The actual decision
We sell one of these twoPath A
Buy Screaming Frog
Right when small budget, in-house team. You get the measurement, and the work of turning it into published pages and earned citations stays with your team.
Path B
Hire someone to run it
Right when nobody to act on it. Disclosure: this is what we sell, which is a reason to read us critically. It is also why every figure here carries the date we checked it, and every judgement carries the quote it came from.
07
Questions people ask
What is Screaming Frog?
Desktop SEO crawler used by technical SEOs everywhere.
How much does Screaming Frog cost?
Screaming Frog starts at ~$18/mo per month, across 4 published tiers. Pricing checked 7 June 2026.
Does Screaming Frog have a free trial?
Yes. Screaming Frog offers a free tier or trial.
What do users complain about in Screaming Frog?
The most frequently raised issue is: Desktop-only Java app, so reviewers complain there is no cloud dashboard and no way to share live crawl data with teammates.
Should I buy Screaming Frog or hire a managed service?
A tracker priced to be tried rather than committed to. Buy the tool if small budget, in-house team. A managed service is the better fit when nobody in-house has hours each week to act on what it reports.
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