See what Screaming Frog SEO Spider costs, its crawl features, and whether the desktop SEO crawler fits your technical audit workflow in 2026.
Category
SEO
Pricing
Freemium (free version plus paid annual per-user license), from 199 GBP per year per license (about 279 USD)
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2010
Headquarters
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Free PlanWindowsFreemiumMac
Overview
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu desktop application that crawls websites like a search engine bot to uncover technical SEO problems. Built by the UK agency Screaming Frog, founded in 2010, it has become one of the most widely used tools in the SEO industry for site audits and migrations.
The tool is locally installed rather than cloud-based, meaning crawl data is stored on the user's own machine unless exported, which many agencies value for handling client data privately.
Key Features
The SEO Spider surfaces broken links, redirect chains, duplicate titles and meta descriptions, missing alt text, malformed structured data, and orphaned pages. It supports JavaScript rendering for crawling modern web apps, custom extraction using XPath, CSS Path, or regular expressions, and integrates directly with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and the PageSpeed Insights API to pull performance and traffic data into the same crawl report.
Additional capabilities include crawl and directory-tree visualizations, XML sitemap generation, scheduled crawling, and a command-line interface for automation, making it suitable for both one-off audits and recurring monitoring.
Pricing
The free version crawls up to 500 URLs and includes most core features. The paid license costs 199 GBP per year per user and removes the crawl limit, subject to available memory and disk space, while unlocking JavaScript rendering, API integrations, and scheduling. Volume discounts apply starting at 5 licenses and scale up to 20 or more licenses purchased together.
Key Features
Broken link and redirect detection — Identifies 4xx and 5xx errors, redirect chains, and redirect loops across an entire crawled site.
Custom extraction — Pulls specific page data using XPath, CSS Path, or regex to scrape structured content during a crawl.
JavaScript rendering — Crawls JavaScript-heavy sites and single-page apps by rendering pages before analysis.
Third-party integrations — Connects to Google Analytics, Search Console, and PageSpeed Insights to combine crawl and performance data.
Visualizations — Generates crawl diagrams and directory tree maps to visualize site structure and internal linking.
Duplicate content auditing — Flags duplicate titles, meta descriptions, and near-duplicate page content across the site.
XML sitemap generation — Builds XML sitemaps directly from crawl data for submission to search engines.
Scheduling and automation — Runs crawls on a schedule and supports command-line operation for automated workflows.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Extremely detailed crawl data and granular control over crawl settings
Flat annual per-seat fee rather than consumption-based pricing
Runs locally, keeping crawl data off third-party servers
Industry-standard tool with extensive documentation and community knowledge
Highly configurable to mimic different bots and rendering modes
Cons
Desktop-only, with no native cloud or SaaS dashboard
Steep learning curve for SEO beginners
Can be memory-intensive on very large crawls without database storage mode
Free version limited to 500 URLs per crawl
No built-in rank tracking or backlink index, requiring separate tools
Pricing
Free 0 free
Paid License (1-4 licenses) 199 GBP per year annual
Paid License (20+ licenses) 169 GBP per year per license annual
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Screaming Frog SEO Spider free?
Yes, a free version is available that crawls up to 500 URLs with most core features. Crawling beyond that limit requires a paid license.
How much does a Screaming Frog license cost?
A single license costs 199 GBP per year (about 279 USD), billed annually per user, with volume discounts for 5 or more licenses.
Does Screaming Frog work on Mac and Linux?
Yes, it runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Ubuntu.
Can Screaming Frog crawl JavaScript websites?
Yes, the paid version supports JavaScript rendering to crawl single-page applications and dynamically loaded content.
Does Screaming Frog integrate with Google Analytics and Search Console?
Yes, both integrations are available in the paid version, letting users combine crawl data with traffic and search performance metrics.
Is Screaming Frog a cloud-based tool?
No, it is a locally installed desktop application; crawl data stays on the user's machine unless manually exported.
Does Screaming Frog offer log file analysis?
Log file analysis is handled by a separate companion product, the Screaming Frog Log File Analyser, sold independently.
Are licenses shared across multiple users?
No, licenses are sold per user; each additional user requires its own license, though volume discounts apply.