Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb in 2026: prices, limits and which crawler fits your work
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is the flexible data tool at £199 ($279) a year; Sitebulb explains issues with prioritised hints, crawl maps and PDF reports, from $18 a month. We compare both on official October 2026 prices, crawl limits and features, show which is cheaper for five typical workloads, and add a cloud pay-per-audit option for people who audit only occasionally.
Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb comes down to one question: do you want raw crawl data you can bend to any task, or a crawler that explains what it found and how much each issue matters? Screaming Frog SEO Spider is the more flexible data tool and costs £199 ($279) a year. Sitebulb is built around prioritised hints, crawl maps and client-ready PDF reports, with plans from $18 a month. This comparison puts the two side by side using their official pricing pages, checked in October 2026, and adds a third option for people who audit only occasionally: a pay-per-audit cloud crawler. We make one of those, PromoPilot SEO Audit, so we keep it in its own section and say where it does not fit.
Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb at a glance
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Sitebulb Desktop | PromoPilot SEO Audit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Desktop: Windows, macOS, Linux | Desktop: Windows 10/11 64-bit, macOS Sonoma or later; separate Sitebulb Cloud | Cloud, nothing to install |
| Price | £199 ($279) per user per year; from £169 with 20+ licences | Lite $18 a month or $180 a year; Pro $42 a month or $425 a year; Cloud from $125 a month | $5 per audit up to 5,000 pages, $25 up to 50,000; no subscription |
| Free version | Free forever up to 500 URLs | No free plan; 14-day free trial | Express audit of 100 pages, up to 30 a day, free account |
| Crawl size | Unlimited in the paid version, depends on your memory and storage | Lite 10,000 URLs per audit, Pro 500,000 | 50,000 pages per audit |
| JavaScript rendering | Paid version, configurable | All plans | Automatic only, when a site needs it (up to 1,000 pages) |
| How issues are presented | Tabs, filters and issue reports; you interpret the data | Hints with explanations and priority: 100+ on Lite, 300+ on Pro | 65 issue types and a written AI report in four languages |
| Scheduling and comparisons | Scheduling and crawl comparison | Pro: scheduled audits and audit comparisons | Comparison with the previous crawl; automatic monitoring every 30 days |
| Client reports | Exports and a Looker Studio crawl report | Pro: customised PDF reports | Printable PDF and CSV; no XLSX, no API |
| Data extraction | Custom extraction, custom JavaScript, custom source code search | Advanced configuration on Pro | No custom extraction |
Neither desktop crawler is "better" in general. They are built for different ways of working, and the price structures reward different usage patterns. Here is what that means in practice.
What Screaming Frog does best
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a crawling workbench. It hands you the data and lets you shape it.
- Flexibility. Custom extraction with XPath, CSS selectors or regex, custom JavaScript snippets, custom source code search, forms-based authentication and detailed crawl configuration. If your audit is "find every product page without a price in the schema", this is the tool.
- No fixed crawl ceiling. The paid version has no URL limit; the practical limit is your computer's memory and storage.
- Integrations. Google Analytics, Search Console and PageSpeed Insights, link metrics integrations, a Looker Studio crawl report, and "Crawl with OpenAI and Gemini" using your own API keys.
- A genuinely useful free version. Up to 500 URLs with no time limit, which is enough for many small sites.
- Price for daily users. £199 a year per user is low for a tool a technical SEO opens every day. Volume discounts start at 5 licences (£189), then 10 (£179) and 20 (£169).
The trade-off is that interpretation is your job. The SEO Spider tells you what is there; deciding what matters, and turning it into a document a client reads, takes experience and time. Log file analysis is a separate product, the Log File Analyser.
What Sitebulb does best
Sitebulb is built around explaining issues rather than listing data.
- Hints with priorities. Every finding comes with an explanation and a priority: more than 100 hints on Lite and more than 300 on Pro. This is the main reason consultants and in-house teams pick it.
- Visualisations. Crawl maps on every plan make site structure and internal linking problems visible at a glance, which helps when you explain them to a non-technical client.
- Client-ready reports. Pro adds customised PDF reports, scheduled audits and audit comparisons.
- Monthly billing. Lite is $18 a month and Pro $42 a month, so you can pay for a single month when you have a project, rather than a year up front. Yearly plans save about 15%.
- JavaScript crawling on all plans, plus Google Analytics, Search Console and Sheets integrations.
The trade-offs: there is no free version, only a 14-day trial; Lite stops at 10,000 URLs per audit; and Pro at $425 a year costs more than a Screaming Frog licence. Sitebulb Cloud, for teams that crawl together without a desktop, starts at $125 a month ($1,500 a year) for two or more users.
Price: which one costs less for your workload
On list price, Sitebulb Lite is the cheapest paid desktop option at $180 a year, Screaming Frog is in the middle at $279, and Sitebulb Pro is the most expensive at $425. But the cheaper tool depends on the shape of your work, not on the list.
| Your workload | Screaming Frog | Sitebulb | PromoPilot SEO Audit | Usually cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small sites under 500 URLs | $0, free version | From $18 a month after the trial | $0 for 100 pages; $5 per full audit | Screaming Frog free |
| Daily technical work, many sites | $279 a year | $425 a year (Pro) | Not designed for this | Screaming Frog |
| Sites up to 10,000 URLs, explanations matter | $279 a year | $180 a year (Lite) | $25 per audit above 5,000 pages | Sitebulb Lite |
| One big project this month, then nothing | $279 for the year | $42 for one month of Pro | $25 for a site up to 50,000 pages | Pay per month or per audit |
| Owner of 1–3 sites, a few audits a year | $279 a year | $180 a year | 12 audits × $5 = $60 | PromoPilot |
The pattern is simple. If you crawl every day, a yearly desktop licence wins, and Screaming Frog is the cheaper of the two flexible options. If you need a report that explains itself and your sites fit in 10,000 URLs, Sitebulb Lite costs less than Screaming Frog. If you audit a handful of times a year, any annual plan is money spent on idle months.
Which one to choose
| You are | Best fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO who customises every crawl | Screaming Frog | Custom extraction and JavaScript, configuration depth, no URL ceiling |
| Consultant who sells audits to clients | Sitebulb Pro | Prioritised hints, crawl maps and customised PDF reports |
| In-house marketer on one mid-size site | Sitebulb Lite | Explanations and visuals; 10,000 URLs per audit covers many sites |
| Agency with a team | Screaming Frog licences, or Sitebulb Cloud | Volume discounts from 5 licences; Cloud for shared, recurring crawls |
| Small sites only | Screaming Frog free | 500 URLs free, no time limit |
| Occasional audits, no Windows or Mac at hand | A cloud pay-per-audit crawler | Nothing to install, no idle subscription |
Plenty of professionals run both: Screaming Frog for investigation and data work, Sitebulb for the client-facing audit. If that is your setup, the comparison is not either-or, and this article will not change it.
The third option: a cloud audit when you audit occasionally
Both Screaming Frog and Sitebulb Desktop run on your computer. If you audit a few times a year, work from a Chromebook, or need a report in Polish, Ukrainian or Russian for a client, a cloud crawler with per-audit pricing can be the simpler choice. This is where our own tool fits, with clear limits.
$5 up to 5,000 pages, $25 up to 50,000
No subscription: you pay from a prepaid balance for one audit. A free express audit crawls 100 pages of any site, up to 30 times a day, so you see the site size and the exact price before paying.
A written AI report in four languages
Every full audit includes a report in English, Polish, Russian or Ukrainian, with example URLs from your site for each of the 65 issue types the crawler checks. It also adds the number of pages Google shows for a site: query, Core Web Vitals for a sample of pages and whether Perplexity cites the site.
We compare our audit with the SEO Spider in more detail, with yearly cost scenarios, on the PromoPilot SEO Audit vs Screaming Frog page, and look at free options in our article on the free Screaming Frog alternative. If you already have an audit, here is what to fix first.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sitebulb better than Screaming Frog?
Neither is better overall. Screaming Frog is more flexible for custom data work and has no fixed crawl limit in the paid version. Sitebulb explains issues with prioritised hints, crawl maps and PDF reports. Technical SEOs who customise crawls tend to prefer Screaming Frog; consultants who present audits to clients often prefer Sitebulb.
How much do Screaming Frog and Sitebulb cost in 2026?
In October 2026 Screaming Frog SEO Spider costs 199 pounds, or 279 dollars, per user per year, with a free version up to 500 URLs. Sitebulb Lite costs 18 dollars a month or 180 a year, Pro 42 dollars a month or 425 a year, and Sitebulb Cloud starts at 125 dollars a month. Check both pricing pages before buying.
Does Sitebulb have a free version like Screaming Frog?
No. Sitebulb offers a 14-day free trial but no permanent free plan. Screaming Frog SEO Spider is free forever for crawls of up to 500 URLs.
How many URLs can Sitebulb crawl?
Sitebulb Lite crawls up to 10,000 URLs per audit and Sitebulb Pro up to 500,000. The paid Screaming Frog licence has no fixed limit; the practical ceiling depends on your computer's memory and storage.
Do both crawlers render JavaScript?
Yes. Sitebulb includes JavaScript crawling on all plans. Screaming Frog renders JavaScript in the paid version with configurable settings. PromoPilot SEO Audit renders JavaScript automatically only when a site needs it, for up to 1,000 pages per audit.
Is there a cloud alternative to Screaming Frog and Sitebulb Desktop?
Yes. Sitebulb Cloud runs on a server for teams, from 125 dollars a month. PromoPilot SEO Audit is a cloud crawler with per-audit pricing: 5 dollars for a site up to 5,000 pages and 25 dollars up to 50,000, plus a free 100-page express audit. It suits occasional audits rather than daily technical work.
Sources: official pricing pages of Screaming Frog SEO Spider and Sitebulb, and Sitebulb's system requirements, checked in October 2026. PromoPilot features and prices as of October 2026. Prices change; check the vendors' sites before buying. This comparison is written by PromoPilot and is not sponsored by any of the tools mentioned.
