The best SEO crawlers scan every page of a website the way a search engine would, then report broken links, redirects, missing titles and other technical problems. Desktop crawlers suit hands-on audits, while cloud crawlers keep checking your site and alert you when something breaks. Ten options follow in no particular order.
Most websites have problems their owners haven't spotted. A redirect that loops, a page that quietly lost its title, a menu link pointing at something deleted two redesigns ago.
The ten crawlers below are listed alphabetically and in no particular order, and every description comes from the tool's own website, read this week. If you're new to the topic, start with my plain explainer on what technical SEO means so the reports make sense.
SEO crawlers compared
In the free plan column, Yes means the tool's own site names a free plan, a free account, a free allowance or an open source version. Trial only means a time-limited trial. Not stated means the pages I read named neither, even where there's a button inviting you to start for free.
| Tool | Type | Good for | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| AlphaCrawler | Free online website crawler and SEO analyser | A quick crawl with nothing to install | Yes |
| JetOctopus | Technical SEO platform with a JavaScript crawler | Seeing a site the way bots do | Trial only |
| Lumar | Website optimisation platform (formerly Deepcrawl) | Enterprise crawling for SEO and accessibility | Not stated |
| Netpeak Spider | Desktop SEO crawler for Windows and macOS | Desktop audits on Windows or Mac | Trial only |
| Oncrawl | Technical SEO data platform with crawler and log analyser | Crawl data combined with log files | Not stated |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Desktop website crawler for SEO audits | Detailed desktop crawls with a free version | Yes |
| Sitebulb | Website crawler for desktop and cloud audits | Findings explained in plain language | Trial only |
| Sitechecker | Cloud-based website crawler and SEO checker | Ongoing cloud crawls and monitoring | Not stated |
| Spotibo | On-page and technical SEO checker and monitor | Small sites with a free crawl allowance | Yes |
| WebSite Auditor | Technical and on-page SEO audit tool from SEO PowerSuite | Desktop audits plus on-page analysis | Yes |
Ten SEO crawlers to try
AlphaCrawler
Best for: Small site owners who want to enter a URL and see pages found, broken links and redirects without downloading software.
JetOctopus
Best for: Larger sites that want a JavaScript crawler and log analysis to see which pages search and AI bots prioritise or ignore.
Lumar
Best for: Enterprise teams that want crawling for SEO, AI search and accessibility in one platform, with the history of Deepcrawl behind it.
Netpeak Spider
Best for: Freelance consultants who want a desktop crawler on Windows or Mac that checks for a long list of SEO issues.
Oncrawl
Best for: In-house SEO teams that want crawl results, log file analysis and AI search visibility data joined together.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Best for: Hands-on marketers and consultants who want a detailed desktop crawl of broken links, redirects and page data, starting with a free version.
Sitebulb
Best for: Agencies and consultants who want crawl findings prioritised and explained, on the desktop or in the cloud.
Sitechecker
Best for: Busy site owners who want a cloud crawler that keeps checking pages for errors and tracks changes over time.
Spotibo
Best for: Bloggers and small business sites that want a free account crawl, plus robots.txt checks and on-page alerts.
WebSite Auditor
Best for: Do-it-yourself marketers who want to download a free audit tool and fix technical and on-page issues page by page.
Do small sites need to worry about crawl budget?
Usually not, and Google says so itself. Google Search Central's crawl budget guide is intended primarily for large sites with 1 million or more unique pages whose content changes about weekly, or sites with 10,000 or more unique pages whose content changes daily.
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If your website has a few hundred pages, a crawler is still worth running, but for a different reason. Use it to find broken links, redirect chains, duplicate titles and pages you forgot existed, not to obsess over how often Google visits.
Desktop crawlers versus cloud crawlers
Desktop crawlers run on your own computer. They're great for detailed one-off audits and give you lots of control, but they'll stop when you close the laptop. Cloud crawlers run on the vendor's servers, can crawl on a schedule and often email you when something changes.
Many consultants use both: a desktop tool for deep investigations and a cloud tool for ongoing monitoring of client sites.
Questions to ask before you pick a crawler
- How many pages does my site have, and will the crawler cover them?
- Can it render JavaScript pages the way search engines do?
- Does it explain issues in plain language or just list them?
- Can it crawl on a schedule and alert me to changes?
- Can I export the results for my developer?
- Does it check things AI search crawlers care about too?
Signs it's time to run a crawl
- You've just redesigned the site. Old links often break.
- Pages vanished from search. Check for errors and redirects.
- You moved to a new platform. Migrations hide surprises.
- Nobody has checked in a year. Problems quietly build up.
Do you make an SEO crawler or site audit tool? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
My plain advice on choosing an SEO crawler
Start with a free crawl and fix what's obvious first: broken links, missing titles and redirect chains. You'll often find more value in those simple fixes than in any advanced report, and they're quick.
Then crawl again after every redesign, migration or big content change. My step-by-step guide to finding and fixing broken links shows what to do with the first report you get.
Frequently asked questions
What is an SEO crawler?
An SEO crawler is software that visits every page on a website, like a search engine bot, and reports technical issues such as broken links, redirects and missing tags.
Are there free SEO crawlers?
Yes. Some offer free versions, free crawl allowances or free online scans. The free plan column above shows what each tool's own site says.
Does my small website need to think about crawl budget?
Google says its crawl budget guide is mainly for sites with 1 million or more pages, or 10,000 or more pages changing daily.
How often should I crawl my website?
Crawl after any redesign or migration, and regularly afterwards. Cloud crawlers can do this on a schedule for you.
What's the difference between a crawler and a site audit tool?
A crawler collects the data from every page. A site audit tool usually adds scoring, explanations and suggested fixes on top of that crawl.
Can a crawler fix the problems it finds?
No. It shows you where problems are, and you or your developer make the changes on the site.
