The Screaming Frog alternative with a built-in MCP server
Everything Screaming Frog does for technical audits — plus a real link graph, deep Schema.org validation, and AI-native integration. All free.
What crawler4seo does better
- crawler4seo is free with no URL limit — Screaming Frog caps free users at 500 URLs
- Native internal-link graph with PageRank, HITS and BFS click-depth — Screaming Frog exports adjacency lists but has no built-in graph metrics
- Deep Schema.org Rich Results checks against Google's per-type eligibility rules (15+ types) — Screaming Frog only validates syntax
- Native MCP server: query your crawl from Claude or any AI client without leaving your editor
- Crawl comparison (N vs N-1) for regression detection ships by default
Screaming Frog's strengths
- •Mature, battle-tested since 2010 — the reference tool most SEO agencies use
- •Very broad feature set for technical audits (redirects, canonicals, status codes, hreflang)
- •Unlimited crawls on paid license with custom JavaScript rendering
- •Active development team with frequent updates
We try to stay honest — if one of these matters more than free + local + AI-native for your use case, Screaming Frog is a legitimate choice.
crawler4seo vs Screaming Frog
Feature-by-feature comparison across 24 dimensions — pricing, deployment, crawl capabilities, analysis depth, data ownership and AI integration.
| Feature | crawler4seo | 🇬🇧Screaming Frog |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
Starting price | Free (early access) | £199/year |
Free tier Usable without paying | Included | Up to 500 URLs |
License model | Free — desktop app | Annual subscription |
Account required | ||
| Deployment | ||
Hosting | Local desktop | Local desktop |
macOS | Included | |
Windows | Included | |
Linux | Included | |
| Crawling | ||
URL limit (free/paid) | Unlimited | 500 free / unlimited paid |
JavaScript rendering | Included | Paid only |
Scheduled crawls | Included | Paid, advanced |
Crawl diff / regression detection | Included | Manual, export diff |
| Analysis | ||
On-page + technical SEO analyzers | 20 built-in | Very broad |
Internal-link graph + PageRank | Included | Exports adjacency, no metrics |
Schema.org Rich Results eligibility | Included | Syntax validation only |
hreflang reciprocity audit | Included | |
Core Web Vitals (real CrUX) | Included | Via PSI API, paid |
Sitemap coverage cross-ref | Included | |
GEO audit (AI-engine readiness) Per-bot robots.txt rules for AI crawlers, llms.txt, schema coverage, JS-dependency risk | Included | |
| Data | ||
Data privacy | 100% local | 100% local |
Multi-sheet XLSX export | Included | |
Custom CSS/regex extraction | Included | Paid only |
| AI & Integrations | ||
MCP server (AI-native) | Included | |
CLI / local API | Included | Headless CLI, paid |
Open source | Source-visible, binaries free | |
Data reflects publicly documented features and pricing as of April 2026. Please verify on each vendor's site for the latest changes.
Frequently asked questions
Things people ask before switching.
Is crawler4seo really free compared to Screaming Frog?+
Yes. crawler4seo is free to download and use with no URL limit during early access — you don't need a credit card or an account. Screaming Frog requires £199/yr (free ≤ 500 URLs).
Does crawler4seo run locally or in the cloud?+
crawler4seo is a desktop app (Electron) that runs 100% on your machine. Your crawl data is stored in a local SQLite database and never leaves your computer. The only outbound traffic is the target site you crawl and an optional Google PageSpeed API call for Core Web Vitals.
Can I replace Screaming Frog with crawler4seo?+
For most technical SEO audit workflows — yes. crawler4seo ships 20 analyzers (including a GEO audit for AI-engine readiness), internal-link graph with PageRank, Schema.org Rich Results eligibility, hreflang reciprocity, Core Web Vitals, sitemap coverage, crawl diffing and scheduled crawls. If your use case depends on Screaming Frog-specific integrations we don't cover, you can run both side-by-side — crawler4seo is free.
What does "MCP integration" mean, and why does it matter?+
MCP (Model Context Protocol) is Anthropic's open protocol that lets AI assistants like Claude securely call tools on your machine. crawler4seo ships an MCP server, so you can point Claude at your crawl and ask questions like "which pages lost PageRank since yesterday?" or "list all Product pages with invalid Schema.org". No other crawler in this category ships this natively.
What platforms does crawler4seo support?+
macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows 10/11 (64-bit) and Linux (AppImage). All builds are free during early access.
How does crawler4seo compare to the Screaming Frog free tier (500 URLs)?+
crawler4seo has no URL limit even on the free tier. The 500-URL cap in Screaming Frog free is usually the blocker that pushes audits to paid licenses — crawler4seo removes that limit entirely.
Does crawler4seo support JavaScript rendering like Screaming Frog?+
Yes. crawler4seo uses an embedded Chromium via Electron/Playwright to render JavaScript pages, with the same configurability as Screaming Frog. No paid tier required.
Try the Screaming Frog alternative — free
Download crawler4seo and run a full technical audit in minutes. No account, no credit card, no URL limit. Your data stays on your machine.