Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb: Technical SEO Crawlers Compared 2026
The two most popular desktop SEO crawlers take different approaches: Screaming Frog offers raw power and flexibility, while Sitebulb delivers visual insights and actionable recommendations. Which fits your workflow?
Quick Verdict
Choose Screaming Frog if you need maximum crawling power, custom extraction, advanced API integrations, and prefer working with raw data. Choose Sitebulb if you want visual reports, prioritized recommendations, and client-friendly outputs without extensive configuration.
Quick Comparison: Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb
| Feature | Screaming Frog | Sitebulb |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Power users & data extraction | Visual audits & client reports |
| Starting Price | Free / $259/year | $165/year (Lite) |
| Free Version | ✓ (500 URLs) | 14-day trial only |
| Cloud Option | Desktop only | ✓ (Sitebulb Cloud) |
| JavaScript Rendering | ✓ | ✓ |
| API Integrations | ✓ (GA, GSC, PSI, Ahrefs) | ✓ (GA, GSC, PSI) |
| Custom Extraction | ✓ (Extensive) | ✓ (Basic) |
| Visual Reports | Basic | ✓ (Excellent) |
What is Screaming Frog?
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop website crawler that has been the industry standard for technical SEO since 2010. It crawls websites to analyze onsite SEO, finding broken links, analyzing page titles, meta data, and much more. Known for its speed and flexibility, it's the go-to tool for technical SEO professionals.
Key Strengths
- Industry-leading crawl speed and efficiency
- Powerful custom extraction (XPath, CSS, regex)
- Extensive API integrations (GA4, GSC, PageSpeed, Ahrefs)
- Robust free version for small sites
- Handles millions of URLs with proper config
Best For
- Technical SEO specialists
- Large-scale website migrations
- Custom data extraction projects
- Enterprise sites with millions of pages
Screaming Frog runs locally on Windows, macOS, or Linux. Its memory usage depends on crawl size, but with proper configuration, it can handle extremely large sites efficiently.
What is Sitebulb?
Sitebulb is a website auditing tool that launched in 2017 with a focus on making technical SEO accessible. It combines powerful crawling with visual reports, prioritized recommendations, and plain-English explanations of issues. Recently expanded with Sitebulb Cloud for browser-based auditing.
Key Strengths
- Beautiful, client-ready visual reports
- Prioritized hints with impact scores
- Plain-English issue explanations
- Cloud version for remote auditing
- Excellent onboarding and documentation
Best For
- Agencies needing client reports
- SEO beginners and intermediates
- Teams wanting visual audit summaries
- In-house SEOs presenting to stakeholders
Sitebulb offers both desktop (Windows/Mac) and cloud versions. The cloud version enables auditing without local resources and collaboration features for teams.
Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb: Feature Comparison
Crawling Capabilities
Screaming Frog leads in raw crawling power with unlimited URL capacity, faster crawl speeds, and more granular configuration options. Sitebulb offers solid crawling but with tier-based URL limits.
Screaming Frog
- • Unlimited URLs (paid version)
- • Multi-threaded crawling (up to 30+)
- • Memory/storage mode options
- • List mode for URL audits
- • Scheduled crawls with CLI
Sitebulb
- • Up to 500K URLs (Pro)
- • Efficient crawl engine
- • Automatic crawl optimization
- • URL list auditing
- • Scheduled audits available
Winner: Screaming Frog for crawl power
Data Visualization & Reporting
Sitebulb excels at turning crawl data into actionable insights with its visual reports, while Screaming Frog provides raw data that requires more interpretation.
Screaming Frog
- • Tabular data exports
- • Crawl visualizations (tree graphs)
- • Excel/CSV/Google Sheets export
- • Data-focused reports
- • Custom report segments
Sitebulb
- • Beautiful PDF reports
- • Interactive visualizations
- • Issue prioritization with scores
- • Plain-English explanations
- • Executive summary dashboards
Winner: Sitebulb for visualization
Technical Features & Customization
Screaming Frog offers more technical depth with extensive custom extraction, regex filtering, and configuration options. Sitebulb provides sensible defaults with less customization needed.
Screaming Frog
- • XPath/CSS/Regex extraction
- • Custom robots.txt testing
- • Extensive include/exclude rules
- • API for automation
- • Log file analysis
Sitebulb
- • Basic custom extraction
- • Intelligent issue detection
- • Accessibility auditing
- • Content similarity analysis
- • Core Web Vitals integration
Winner: Screaming Frog for customization
Integrations
Both tools integrate with major platforms, but Screaming Frog offers more third-party connections including Ahrefs, Majestic, and Moz.
Screaming Frog
- • Google Analytics 4
- • Google Search Console
- • PageSpeed Insights
- • Ahrefs
- • Majestic
- • Moz
Sitebulb
- • Google Analytics 4
- • Google Search Console
- • PageSpeed Insights
- • Chrome DevTools
- • Looker Studio (export)
Winner: Screaming Frog for integrations
Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb: Pricing Comparison
Screaming Frog Pricing
- Free Version$0
500 URL crawl limit
- Paid License$259/yr
Per user, unlimited crawling
- 5-9 Licenses$233/yr each
Volume discount
- 10+ Licenses$207/yr each
Enterprise discount
Sitebulb Pricing
- 14-Day TrialFree
Full features
- Lite$165/yr
10K URLs per audit
- Pro$365/yr
500K URLs per audit
- Cloud$55+/mo
Browser-based auditing
Pricing Analysis
Sitebulb Lite ($165/yr) is cheaper than Screaming Frog ($259/yr), but limited to 10K URLs. For unlimited crawling, Screaming Frog is more cost-effective than Sitebulb Pro ($365/yr). Consider Screaming Frog's free version for occasional small site audits.
What Users Say: Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb Reviews
| Platform | Screaming Frog | Sitebulb |
|---|---|---|
| G2 Rating | 4.7/5 (150+ reviews) | 4.8/5 (60+ reviews) |
| Capterra Rating | 4.8/5 | 4.9/5 |
| TrustRadius | 9.0/10 | 9.3/10 |
Screaming Frog User Feedback
"Screaming Frog is indispensable for technical SEO. The custom extraction alone saves me hours on every audit."
— Technical SEO Lead, Agency
"Nothing else comes close for large-scale migrations. We crawled 2 million URLs for a client seamlessly."
— SEO Consultant
Common Complaints:
- Steep learning curve for beginners
- Reports require manual formatting
- Desktop-only (no cloud version)
Sitebulb User Feedback
"Sitebulb's reports are so good I can send them directly to clients. The prioritization saves hours of analysis."
— SEO Agency Owner
"Finally a technical SEO tool that doesn't require a PhD to understand. Our whole team uses it now."
— Marketing Manager
Common Complaints:
- URL limits on lower tiers
- Less customization than competitors
- No permanent free version
Who Should Use Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb?
Choose Screaming Frog If You...
- Need to crawl very large sites (500K+ URLs)
- Require advanced custom data extraction
- Want maximum flexibility and configuration
- Need integrations with Ahrefs, Majestic, or Moz
- Work primarily with raw data exports
Choose Sitebulb If You...
- Need client-ready visual reports
- Want prioritized, actionable recommendations
- Are newer to technical SEO
- Need cloud-based auditing options
- Value speed of analysis over deep customization
Final Verdict: Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb
Both Screaming Frog and Sitebulb are excellent technical SEO crawlers, but they serve different workflows and skill levels.
Screaming Frog Wins For:
Power users, large-scale crawls, custom data extraction, API integrations, and those who prefer working with raw data. The industry standard for technical SEO professionals.
Sitebulb Wins For:
Visual reports, client presentations, actionable insights, ease of use, and teams wanting faster time-to-insight. Best for agencies and in-house teams.
Many SEO professionals use both tools: Screaming Frog for deep technical analysis and data extraction, and Sitebulb for quick audits and client reports. If budget allows only one, choose based on your primary use case.