screaming-frog vs oncrawl
Screaming Frog vs Oncrawl — features, pricing, and which to choose for your SEO workflow in 2026.
Quick Verdict
Screaming Frog and Oncrawl represent two distinct approaches to technical SEO crawling. Screaming Frog has been the industry standard since 2010, offering a straightforward desktop crawler that most SEO professionals can master quickly. Oncrawl positions itself as the enterprise alternative, combining traditional crawling with data science capabilities and machine learning insights.
The choice between them often comes down to scale and complexity. Screaming Frog excels at immediate, actionable crawls for most websites, while Oncrawl targets large enterprises that need advanced analytics, log file analysis, and custom reporting capabilities that go beyond basic technical auditing.
Feature Comparison
Screaming Frog focuses on core technical SEO elements — broken links, redirect chains, duplicate content, missing meta descriptions, and structured data validation. Its strength lies in speed and simplicity. You can crawl most websites under 500 URLs for free, with the paid version handling unlimited URLs, custom extraction, and advanced filtering options. Oncrawl takes crawling further with log file analysis, machine learning-powered content quality scoring, and advanced data visualization. It combines crawl data with actual user behavior from server logs, identifies which pages Google actually crawls versus what you think it crawls, and provides predictive insights about content performance. Oncrawl also offers API access, custom dashboards, and integration capabilities that Screaming Frog simply doesn't match. However, Oncrawl's advanced features come with complexity. Where Screaming Frog gives you immediate, actionable results in familiar spreadsheet formats, Oncrawl requires time to understand its data science approach and custom reporting interface.
Pricing Comparison
Screaming Frog offers exceptional value with a free tier covering sites up to 500 URLs and a one-time £149 annual license for unlimited crawling. This makes it accessible for freelancers, small agencies, and even enterprise teams doing quick audits. Oncrawl uses custom enterprise pricing starting around $500+ monthly, scaling based on crawl volume and features needed. While expensive compared to Screaming Frog, the pricing reflects its enterprise positioning and advanced capabilities like log analysis and machine learning insights that require significant backend infrastructure.
Best For
Screaming Frog is the better choice for SEO professionals who need reliable, fast technical audits without complexity. It's perfect for agencies handling multiple client sites, in-house teams doing regular technical checkups, and anyone who wants immediate results in familiar formats. The free tier makes it ideal for smaller sites and occasional audits. Oncrawl suits large enterprises with complex websites, significant crawl budgets, and teams that can use advanced analytics. Choose it when you need log file analysis, want to correlate crawl data with actual user behavior, or require custom reporting and API integrations that justify the higher cost.
The Verdict
For 90% of SEO use cases, Screaming Frog delivers better value and faster results. Its combination of free tier accessibility, reasonable paid pricing, and proven reliability makes it the default choice for most technical SEO work. Only choose Oncrawl if you specifically need its advanced data science features and have the budget plus technical expertise to utilize them effectively.