Independent head-to-head
Screaming Frog vs Sitebulb
Both are on our shortlist, and most people only need one. Here is where each genuinely wins.
Which fits your work better: Screaming Frog or Sitebulb?
Screaming Frog suits technical SEOs and consultants who need a fast, configurable one-off crawl and are comfortable in a desktop tool rather than a dashboard. Sitebulb suits agencies who need to explain technical findings to non-technical clients without rewriting the crawl export themselves. Sitebulb is cheaper to start with ($18/month against $21/month), so price alone favours it.
Screaming Frog
Technical SEO ToolsThe desktop crawler every technical SEO still opens first.
Sitebulb
Technical SEO ToolsAudits that explain the issue, not just list it.
Decision view
Compare what changes the answer
| Decision factor | Screaming Frog$21/mo | Sitebulb$18/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $21/mo | $18/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | None | 14 days |
| Best for | Technical SEOs and consultants who need a fast, configurable one-off crawl and are comfortable in a desktop tool rather than a dashboard. | Agencies who need to explain technical findings to non-technical clients without rewriting the crawl export themselves. |
| Not for | Teams who want continuous, scheduled monitoring with alerts rather than a crawl you run yourself. | Anyone who just wants the fastest possible raw crawl with no interpretation layer. |
Shared answers are dimmed so trade-offs stay visible.
Plan comparison
Published plans as recorded on each vendor’s pricing page on its verification date. Limits and add-ons differ between vendors, so compare at your own volume.
Screaming Frog
| Plan | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 500 URLs per crawl, most core features included |
| Licence | $21 | Billed as a single £199/year licence, not a monthly subscription — removes the crawl limit |
Sitebulb
| Plan | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $18 | 1 user, 10,000 URLs per audit |
| Pro | $42 | 1 user, 500,000 URLs per audit, scheduled audits and custom PDF reports |
| Cloud | $245 | Starting price — scales with crawl volume and seats; hosted, no desktop install |
Where Screaming Frog wins
- Genuinely capable free tier up to 500 URLs — no time limit, no card required
- Custom extraction handles edge cases no off-the-shelf audit tool covers
- One-time annual licence is cheap next to any SaaS platform's audit module
Where Sitebulb wins
- Hint explanations do real work turning a crawl into a report a client can read
- Audit comparison makes regressions visible instead of buried in a new export
- Desktop and Cloud plans cover both one-off and ongoing monitoring
Screaming Frog or Sitebulb?
Screaming Frog suits technical SEOs and consultants who need a fast, configurable one-off crawl and are comfortable in a desktop tool rather than a dashboard. Sitebulb suits agencies who need to explain technical findings to non-technical clients without rewriting the crawl export themselves. Sitebulb is cheaper to start with ($18/month against $21/month), so price alone favours it.
Technical SEOs and consultants who need a fast, configurable one-off crawl and are comfortable in a desktop tool rather than a dashboard.
Agencies who need to explain technical findings to non-technical clients without rewriting the crawl export themselves.
What decides it
- Entry price
- Screaming Frog starts at $21/month; Sitebulb at $18/month. Compare the plan that matches your real usage, not the entry tier.
- Trial
- Screaming Frog offers a free plan; Sitebulb offers a 14-day trial.
- Platforms
- Screaming Frog: windows, macos, linux. Sitebulb: windows, macos, web.
- What each gives up
- Screaming Frog: interface rewards familiarity — new users face a real learning curve. Sitebulb: desktop app is Windows/macOS only, no Linux build.