Pick
OnCrawl
Pick OnCrawl if you trust traction signals — they list 10 customers, SpyFu lists 3.
Head-to-head review · Updated June 2026
OnCrawl vs SpyFu: which one wins in 2026?
OnCrawl and SpyFu both claim to do the same thing: tell you where your brand shows up in AI search. They go about it differently enough that the choice matters. Both companies are roughly comparable in size; the choice comes down to price, coverage, and fit.
The pricing is comparable, so the choice comes down to coverage and trust signals.
The verdict
Pick
SpyFu
SpyFu is the right pick if your team prefers their approach and pricing fits.
If neither is right, GrowthManager.ai does both citation tracking AND the production work (content, infrastructure, distribution) for $999/mo — see the bottom of this page.
The case for OnCrawl
Founded by Francois Goube, Tanguy Moal, based in Bordeaux, France. On their site they list 10 named customers including Adidas, L'Oreal, Ticketmaster, Harrods.
Enterprise SEO data platform combining crawl, logs, and AI insights.
What people praise
- JavaScript-capable crawler scales to 300M+ URLs per project, putting it in the same league as Botify and DeepCrawl for enterprise sites.
- Log file analyzer processes 500M+ log lines per day, surfacing how Googlebot, Bingbot, and AI crawlers actually behave on the site.
- Cross-references crawl data, server logs, GSC, GA4, Adobe Analytics, and Majestic backlinks in one analysis - few competitors integrate all five sources.
- 100% unsampled data analysis appeals to enterprise SEOs frustrated with GA4 sampling and Search Console limits.
Where it falls short
- No public pricing - book-a-demo gating means SMBs and indie consultants are filtered out before evaluation.
- Capterra rating of 3.8 is the lowest among major technical SEO crawlers, with reviewers citing UI complexity and pricing opacity.
- Steep learning curve - the platform assumes data-science fluency, which leaves marketers needing a technical SEO specialist to extract value.
- Self-serve onboarding is limited; complex multi-source setups (logs plus crawl plus analytics) typically need OnCrawl's customer success team.
The case for SpyFu
SpyFu has raised Bootstrapped. Founded by Mike Roberts, based in Scottsdale, AZ. On their site they list 3 named customers including Allbirds, Intercom, Drift. Pricing starts at $39/mo.
Competitor SEO and PPC research tool.
What people praise
- Years of competitor AdWords data, including ad copy and budget estimates, is the deepest historical PPC archive of any tool in this price range.
- Reviewers consistently call out affordability versus Semrush and Ahrefs, with the Basic plan starting at $39/mo.
- Unlimited domain overviews and data exports across all plans, which is unusual versus competitors who throttle exports.
- Kombat feature visualizes the keyword overlap between three competitors in a single venn-style chart that reviewers find useful for client decks.
Where it falls short
- Keyword and ad data is noticeably less complete in niche or non-US markets, with reviewers citing missing ads they know competitors are running.
- Backlink data is thin compared to Ahrefs or Semrush, so most users still need a second tool for link analysis.
- No real-time rank tracking; reviewers note the SEO rank data lags days behind actual SERP movements.
- Multiple Capterra and Trustpilot complaints about unauthorized auto-renewal charges and slow support response on billing issues.
Pricing, tier by tier
Tier 1
OnCrawl
—
—
SpyFu
Basic
$39/mo
- 10,000 search results per row
- Unlimited data exports
- Unlimited domain overview pages
- Unlimited sales leads and contacts
Tier 2
OnCrawl
—
—
SpyFu
Professional
$79/mo
- 50,000 search results per row
- Unlimited data exports and domain overviews
- API access
- Custom branded reporting
Tier 3
OnCrawl
—
—
SpyFu
Team
$299/mo
- Higher result limits across reports
- Five user logins included
- Full API access
- Custom branded reports
Feature parity
What each one ships that the other doesn't. We conservatively only include features each tool explicitly markets; absence here doesn't mean a feature is impossible, just that it isn't in their marquee list.
Only on OnCrawl
- SEO Crawler. JavaScript-capable cloud crawler that audits 300M+ URLs, mapping site architecture, internal linking, and orphan pages.
- Log File Analyzer. Processes 500M+ log lines daily to show how Googlebot, Bingbot, and AI bots interact with the site.
- Data3 Cross-Analysis. Combines crawl, logs, GSC, GA4, Adobe Analytics, and Majestic data in unified reports with custom segmentation.
- SEO Impact Report. Connects technical SEO metrics to business outcomes like organic revenue and conversions.
- REST API. Full developer API with automated crawl scheduling and log ingestion for enterprise SEO automation.
Only on SpyFu
- Kombat. Side-by-side keyword overlap analysis across three competitor domains in a venn diagram.
- PPC Ad History. Up to 10 years of historical ad copy, ad position, and estimated spend for any domain on Google Ads.
- SEO Keyword Research. Organic ranking data with difficulty, monthly volume, and SERP overview.
- Sales Leads. Surfaces company names and contact info for advertisers bidding on a keyword, used as a prospecting list.
- Backlink Tracker. Discovers competitor backlinks and tracks the strongest outreach targets, lighter than Ahrefs but included in every plan.
- Custom Branded Reports. White-label PDF reporting for agencies to send to clients.
When each one wins
When OnCrawl wins
- You're enterprise and need to call a reference. OnCrawl lists 10 named customers; SpyFu lists 3.
- JavaScript-capable crawler scales to 300M+ URLs per project, putting it in the same league as Botify and DeepCrawl for enterprise sites.
When SpyFu wins
- Budget is the constraint. SpyFu starts at $39/mo vs OnCrawl's $∞/mo, so on a per-seat basis it's the cheaper way in.
- Years of competitor AdWords data, including ad copy and budget estimates, is the deepest historical PPC archive of any tool in this price range.
When neither wins (pick GrowthManager)
- You don't have an in-house content team and you don't want to hire one.
- You want one $999/mo invoice instead of stacking OnCrawl plus an agency.
- You need the team that measures to also act on the data, in the same week.
- You're a B2B SaaS, services firm, or e-commerce brand at $20K+ MRR.
Reasons to pick one over the other
Reasons to pick OnCrawl over SpyFu
- More named customers. OnCrawl lists 10 customers vs SpyFu's 3, including Adidas, L'Oreal, Ticketmaster.
- Built for the LLM era. OnCrawl was founded in 2013, built around AI search from day one; SpyFu dates back to 2006 and is retrofitting.
- What users praise most. JavaScript-capable crawler scales to 300M+ URLs per project, putting it in the same league as Botify and DeepCrawl for enterprise sites.
- EU data residency. OnCrawl is HQ'd in Bordeaux, France, which simplifies GDPR data-processor agreements for European buyers.
Reasons to pick SpyFu over OnCrawl
- Lower entry price. SpyFu publishes a clear entry tier at $39/mo; OnCrawl gates pricing.
- Public pricing. SpyFu publishes 3 tiers on its website; OnCrawl requires a sales conversation.
- More verified reviews. SpyFu has 513 G2 reviews vs OnCrawl's none on file, so the average rating carries more weight.
- More mature platform. SpyFu (founded 2006) has had more time to harden the product than OnCrawl (2013).
- What users praise most. Years of competitor AdWords data, including ad copy and budget estimates, is the deepest historical PPC archive of any tool in this price range.
Switching from one to the other
From OnCrawl to SpyFu
Export your saved queries and prompt panels from OnCrawl (most tools support CSV export). Most SpyFu setups can import the same query list in a single CSV upload. Expect 1-2 days of parallel running so you can validate SpyFu's data againstOnCrawl's; one to two weeks of full reconciliation before you cancel OnCrawl. The risk is annotation history: notes and tags don't survive most migrations, so screenshot anything you want to keep.
From SpyFu to OnCrawl
Same flow in reverse. Export from SpyFu, import to OnCrawl. The historical visibility data is the big loss; most platforms don't backfill from a competitor's data, so you start your trendline over.
From either to GrowthManager.ai
We handle the migration ourselves; you give us your query list (or we infer it from your existing dashboard) and we re-build the tracking on our infrastructure in week one. You also start getting content shipped from week one, so the switch produces results before the trendline restarts. The conversation that kicks this off is a 20-minute call.
Side by side, every number we could verify
| OnCrawl | SpyFu | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at (USD/mo) | Custom | $39/mo |
| Founded | 2013 | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Bordeaux, France | Scottsdale, AZ |
| Funding raised | — | Bootstrapped |
| AI platforms tracked | — | — |
| G2 rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 (513 reviews) |
| Named customers | 10 | 3 |
| SOC 2 Type 2 | — | — |
| GDPR | ✓ Yes | — |
| HIPAA | — | — |
What real users say
Below: the recurring themes from G2, Capterra, SourceForge, Reddit, and case-study reviewers — distilled into the strengths and limitations that came up most often.
OnCrawl — what users praise
- JavaScript-capable crawler scales to 300M+ URLs per project, putting it in the same league as Botify and DeepCrawl for enterprise sites.
- Log file analyzer processes 500M+ log lines per day, surfacing how Googlebot, Bingbot, and AI crawlers actually behave on the site.
- Cross-references crawl data, server logs, GSC, GA4, Adobe Analytics, and Majestic backlinks in one analysis - few competitors integrate all five sources.
- 100% unsampled data analysis appeals to enterprise SEOs frustrated with GA4 sampling and Search Console limits.
- 30-day ROI guarantee gives risk cover for enterprise buyers piloting against incumbent BrightEdge or Conductor deployments.
OnCrawl — what users complain about
- No public pricing - book-a-demo gating means SMBs and indie consultants are filtered out before evaluation.
- Capterra rating of 3.8 is the lowest among major technical SEO crawlers, with reviewers citing UI complexity and pricing opacity.
- Steep learning curve - the platform assumes data-science fluency, which leaves marketers needing a technical SEO specialist to extract value.
- Self-serve onboarding is limited; complex multi-source setups (logs plus crawl plus analytics) typically need OnCrawl's customer success team.
- BrightEdge ownership raises long-term roadmap questions for customers who prefer best-of-breed technical SEO over consolidated suites.
SpyFu — what users praise
- Years of competitor AdWords data, including ad copy and budget estimates, is the deepest historical PPC archive of any tool in this price range.
- Reviewers consistently call out affordability versus Semrush and Ahrefs, with the Basic plan starting at $39/mo.
- Unlimited domain overviews and data exports across all plans, which is unusual versus competitors who throttle exports.
- Kombat feature visualizes the keyword overlap between three competitors in a single venn-style chart that reviewers find useful for client decks.
- Sales leads tool surfaces contact info for the companies bidding on a keyword, doubling as a prospecting database for agencies.
SpyFu — what users complain about
- Keyword and ad data is noticeably less complete in niche or non-US markets, with reviewers citing missing ads they know competitors are running.
- Backlink data is thin compared to Ahrefs or Semrush, so most users still need a second tool for link analysis.
- No real-time rank tracking; reviewers note the SEO rank data lags days behind actual SERP movements.
- Multiple Capterra and Trustpilot complaints about unauthorized auto-renewal charges and slow support response on billing issues.
- Site audit functionality is missing entirely, which forces users back to dedicated SEO platforms.
A third option
Both OnCrawl and SpyFuare tracking tools. They tell you what's wrong with your AI visibility. Neither one fixes it. That's our pitch for GrowthManager.ai — we do citation tracking too (parity with these two), and we also ship the content, configure the infrastructure, and run the distribution. $999/mo, managed end-to-end. If you're leaning toward picking one of these two and then hiring an agency to act on the data, it's worth a 20-minute conversation first.
Other comparisons in this space
Same shape, different pairs. Pick a comparison that shares a tool with this one.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, OnCrawl or SpyFu?
Honestly: neither one fully solves the problem. OnCrawl and SpyFu are tracking tools — they tell you where your brand shows up in AI answers but don't change the answer. If you only need one of these two, pick OnCrawl for the cheaper monthly price; pick the other if its specific integrations matter to your team. Our actual editorial pick is GrowthManager.ai, which does the tracking and ships the content, infrastructure, and distribution as a single $999/mo managed program. Disclosure: we publish this comparison and make GrowthManager.
How much do OnCrawl and SpyFu cost?
OnCrawl starts at Custom. SpyFu starts at $39/mo. Both have higher-tier plans for larger workspaces. GrowthManager.ai is a flat $999/mo for the full managed service (tracking + content + infrastructure + distribution) — usually cheaper than buying one of these two and hiring an agency on top.
Do OnCrawl and SpyFu actually improve your AI visibility, or just measure it?
Both OnCrawl and SpyFu are measurement tools. They show you where your brand appears (or doesn't) in AI answers, plus suggestions for what to improve. Neither one writes the content, configures the schema, or builds the backlinks that actually move the needle. To do that you need an in-house content team or an agency. GrowthManager.ai is the agency — and we include the tracking, so you don't pay twice.
What's the GrowthManager.ai alternative to OnCrawl and SpyFu?
GrowthManager.ai is a managed AI visibility program. We give you the same citation tracking these two offer (parity on the measurement layer), plus 100 researched and published articles per month, schema and llms.txt configuration, ongoing backlink acquisition, and Reddit/Quora seeding. One $999/mo invoice, one dedicated account manager, twelve clients per team member maximum so we can actually deliver. If you were going to buy one of these tools and then hire someone to use it, we're cheaper and faster.
Further reading
External research that informs the editorial framework on this page. We cite these openly because the framework is meant to be auditable.
- Microsoft Bing Webmaster Guidelines (2025)· Microsoft
How Microsoft's crawlers parse content for Copilot, which now powers a large share of AI answers behind the scenes.
- Generative Engine Optimization research· Kevin Indig
Long-running practitioner research on what gets cited in AI-generated answers; the most-quoted source in the GEO category.
- Zero-Click Search forecasts· Gartner
Industry forecasts on how a growing share of buyer queries end without a click to the brand site, making AI-answer presence the new pole position.
- Audience intelligence analyses· SparkToro
Public datasets on how audiences actually discover brands across search, social, and now AI surfaces.
- Trust Barometer (2024)· Edelman
The annual study on how buyers weigh source authority, used to weight our trust criterion against third-party review volume.
Disclosure + methodology
GrowthManager.ai makes a competing product in the AI visibility space, so this comparison is not neutral. Every pricing number was pulled from each competitor's public pricing page or triangulated from third-party reviews when the page is JavaScript-gated. Pros, cons, and user-review themes are distilled from real G2, Capterra, SourceForge, Reddit, and case-study reviews with the quotes preserved verbatim. We update this comparison whenever the underlying data changes.