screaming-frog vs alli-ai
Screaming Frog vs Alli AI — features, pricing, and which to choose for your SEO workflow in 2026.
Quick Verdict
Screaming Frog and Alli AI represent two fundamentally different approaches to technical SEO. Screaming Frog is the veteran desktop crawler that SEOs have relied on since 2010 to audit websites and identify technical issues. Alli AI is the new-school automated optimization platform that uses AI to implement fixes without manual work.
The core difference comes down to analysis versus automation. Screaming Frog excels at finding problems and giving you comprehensive data to work with. Alli AI focuses on automatically fixing common on-page SEO issues without requiring technical expertise or developer resources.
Feature Comparison
Screaming Frog's strength lies in its comprehensive crawling capabilities. It audits everything from broken links and redirect chains to meta data, structured data, and XML sitemaps. The tool provides detailed reports on page speed insights, duplicate content, missing alt tags, and can integrate with Google Analytics and Search Console for deeper analysis. Its custom extraction feature lets advanced users pull specific data using CSS selectors, XPath, or regex patterns. Alli AI takes a completely different approach by focusing on automated implementation rather than analysis. It automatically optimizes title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and internal linking across your entire site using AI-powered suggestions. The platform can deploy schema markup, optimize images, and make bulk changes to thousands of pages simultaneously. However, it lacks the diagnostic depth of Screaming Frog — you won't get detailed technical audits or the ability to crawl competitor sites. For data export and reporting, Screaming Frog wins hands down with extensive filtering options and the ability to export findings to CSV, Excel, or integrate with other tools. Alli AI provides reporting on changes made and performance tracking, but it's more focused on showing optimization results rather than comprehensive technical analysis.
Pricing Comparison
The pricing difference is stark. Screaming Frog offers a free version that crawls up to 500 URLs, which covers most small to medium websites. The paid license costs £149/year (about $185) and removes the URL limit while adding advanced features like JavaScript rendering, custom extraction, and API access. Alli AI starts at $249/month with no free tier, making it 16 times more expensive than Screaming Frog's annual license. Higher-tier plans can reach $499-999/month depending on the number of pages and sites you're optimizing. This pricing reflects Alli AI's positioning as an automated optimization service rather than just an analysis tool.
Best For
Screaming Frog is the better choice for SEO professionals, agencies, and anyone who needs comprehensive technical auditing capabilities. It's perfect if you want to understand exactly what's wrong with a website, need detailed data for client reports, or want to crawl competitor sites for analysis. The learning curve is steeper, but the depth of data is unmatched for the price. Alli AI works best for businesses with large websites who want automated optimization without technical complexity. It's ideal for e-commerce sites, enterprises, or teams without dedicated SEO resources who need continuous optimization rather than periodic auditing. The high price point makes sense only if you're optimizing thousands of pages and the automation saves significant manual work.
The Verdict
For most SEO use cases, Screaming Frog is the clear winner due to its comprehensive features, minimal cost, and industry-standard status. Unless you specifically need automated implementation across thousands of pages and have the budget to justify $249+/month, Screaming Frog provides far better value and deeper insights into your website's technical health.