The verdict
- Pick Screaming Frog if you want the industry-standard spider your colleagues and clients already know, with Search Console, Analytics and link-metric data pulled into the crawl.
- Pick Screaming Frog if you need custom extraction, forms-based authentication or its separate Log File Analyser.
- Pick bseoa if you would rather pay $279 once than $279 every year, and want a CLI and JSON output built for scripts and CI.
- Pick bseoa if you want to run audits from Claude.ai or ChatGPT in the browser, or want the 26 AI-readiness checks without writing custom extraction.
- Use both if you already own a Screaming Frog license: keep it for deep manual investigation and use bseoa for scheduled CLI crawls, AI-assistant audits and AI-readiness checks.
Pricing
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free version | $0 | $0 | 500 URLs per crawl; no JavaScript rendering, scheduling, saved crawls, crawl comparison or Google integrations |
| Paid license, 1 to 4 licenses | Not offered | $279 per user (£199) | No set limit; depends on your machine's memory and storage |
| Paid license, 5 to 9 licenses | Not offered | $265 per user (£189) | Same |
| Paid license, 10 to 19 licenses | Not offered | $249 per user (£179) | Same |
| Paid license, 20 or more | Not offered | $235 per user (£169) | Same |
| Log File Analyser (separate product) | Not offered | £99 per user; no USD price shown | Free version: 1,000 log lines, 1 project |
Licenses are per user (two people need two licenses) and last one year; after that the license has to be renewed. There is no monthly plan and no trial of the paid version; the free version is the way to try it. The paid license is what unlocks JavaScript rendering, scheduling, crawl configuration, saving crawls and the Google integrations.
Source: screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/licence (USD prices), screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/pricing (GBP prices, free version and feature list), Log File Analyser pricing. Checked on 31 October 2026.
bseoa
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | One-time | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single License | Not offered | Not offered | $279 | No crawl limit; updates included |
| Agency License | Not offered | Not offered | $1,999 | No crawl limit; for a team |
| Hosted connector, with a license | $15 | $120 | Not offered | Claude.ai and ChatGPT; 25,000 pages per rolling 30 days, 2,000 per crawl, results kept 90 days |
| Hosted connector, without a license | $50 | $500 | Not offered | Same limits as above |
| Free trial | $0 | $0 | $0 | 14 days, every feature, no page limit, no credit card |
Updates are included with both licenses, and every purchase carries the source code guarantee. The hosted connector is only needed to run audits from Claude.ai or ChatGPT in the browser; the license already covers the desktop app, the CLI and the local MCP server.
Source: bseoa pricing. Checked on 31 October 2026.
Three-year cost for one user
| Tool and plan | Three-year cost | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|
| bseoa Single License | $279 | One-time; updates included |
| bseoa Single License plus hosted connector | $639 | $279 + 3 x $120 |
| Screaming Frog, one license | $837 | 3 x $279 |
| Screaming Frog plus Log File Analyser | $837 + 3 x £99 | Log File Analyser has no USD price on its page |
List prices in USD before tax, from the tables above. Checked on 31 October 2026.
Feature matrix
Yes, No or Partial, with a numbered note for every Partial. Competitor cells that are not obvious link to the page we read on 31 October 2026.
| bseoa | Screaming Frog | |
|---|---|---|
| Runs where | Desktop GUI and CLI on your own machine; optional hosted connector | Desktop GUI and CLI on your own machine (source) |
| Price model | One-time license; the hosted connector is an optional subscription | Yearly subscription per user |
| Entry price | $279 once | $279 a year (source) |
| Crawl limit at entry price | No limit | No set limit; depends on memory and storage (free version: 500 URLs) (source) |
| JavaScript rendering | Yes. Headless Chrome in the desktop app and CLI; the hosted connector does not render JavaScript | Yes. Paid license only (source) |
| Command line and automation | Yes. Full CLI for scripts, cron jobs and CI pipelines | Yes. Command line and headless mode (source) |
| API or scriptable output | Yes. JSON, JSONL, CSV, XML and HTML exports; every crawl is kept in a local SQLite file | Partial1. CSV, Excel and Google Sheets exports from the GUI or CLI; no public API of its own |
| Scheduled crawls | Partial0. No built-in scheduler; run the CLI from cron or Task Scheduler | Yes. Paid license only (source) |
| Log file analysis | No | Partial2. Separate Log File Analyser product, £99 a year |
| Backlink data | No | Partial3. Link Metrics Integration pulls data from third-party link tools you subscribe to |
| Keyword and rank data | No | No. Search Console and Analytics data can be pulled per URL, but there is no keyword research or rank tracking (source) |
| Search Console integration | No | Yes. Paid license only (source) |
| AI assistant integration | Yes. Local MCP server in Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and Perplexity; hosted connector in Claude.ai and ChatGPT | Partial4. Local MCP server in version 24, paid license only; documented for Claude Desktop and LM Studio |
| AI-readiness checks | Yes. 26 checks: AI crawler access in robots.txt, llms.txt, bylines and dates, JavaScript-dependent content (example) | Partial5. No dedicated AI-readiness report found; robots.txt testing, user-agent settings and rendering cover parts of it by hand |
| Reporting and exports | HTML reports with your own templates, CSV, XML, JSON, a broken-links CSV and an interactive site map | CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, Looker Studio crawl report (source) |
| Users and seats | Per license; the Agency License covers a team | One license per user; volume discounts from 5 licenses (source) |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux (Ubuntu and Fedora packages) (source) |
| Free tier or trial | 14-day trial, every feature, no page limit, no credit card | Free version up to 500 URLs; no trial of the paid version (source) |
| Source code guarantee | Yes (what it covers) | No. None published |
0. bseoa has no scheduler of its own. The CLI runs headless, so a cron line or a Windows scheduled task gives you recurring crawls, and two stored crawls can be compared after each run.
1. Screaming Frog exports crawl data to CSV, Excel and Google Sheets, and its CLI can run a crawl and save exports headless, which is scriptable. It does not publish an API for crawl data of its own. Sources: user guide, pricing page.
2. Log file analysis is a separate product, the Screaming Frog Log File Analyser, at £99 per user per year; the page did not show a USD price on 31 October 2026. Source: Log File Analyser pricing.
3. The pricing page lists Link Metrics Integration as a paid feature: it adds link data from third-party providers to crawled URLs, using your account with those providers. Screaming Frog has no backlink index of its own. Source: pricing page.
4. Screaming Frog's MCP server guide (published 17 March 2026, current for version 24.3) covers Claude Desktop and LM Studio, runs locally over STDIO or a localhost HTTP URL, can start crawls and run exports, and needs a paid license. It does not cover Claude.ai or ChatGPT in the browser. Source: Screaming Frog MCP server guide.
5. We found no AI-readiness report, llms.txt check or byline check in Screaming Frog's documentation. You can test robots.txt rules against any user agent with the custom robots.txt feature, render JavaScript, and run prompts against pages with the OpenAI and Gemini integration, so parts of an AI-readiness audit can be built by hand. Sources: configuration guide, pricing page.
Where Screaming Frog wins
- It is the reference tool. Tutorials, agency processes and client expectations are built around Screaming Frog exports, and a new hire probably already knows it.
- More crawl configuration: custom extraction, custom JavaScript, forms-based authentication, segmentation and spelling and grammar checks are all on its feature list.
- Data integrations: Google Analytics, Search Console and PageSpeed Insights, plus link metrics from third-party tools, joined to each crawled URL.
- A built-in scheduler and a free version that crawls up to 500 URLs with no time limit.
- A companion Log File Analyser for server logs, which bseoa does not have.
Where bseoa wins
- Price over time. $279 once with updates included, against $279 every year per user. By year three the difference is $558 per person.
- AI assistants in the browser. bseoa has a hosted connector for Claude.ai and ChatGPT and a local MCP server for Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and Perplexity; Screaming Frog's MCP guide covers Claude Desktop and LM Studio.
- 26 AI-readiness checks out of the box: AI crawler access in robots.txt, llms.txt, visible bylines and dates, and content that only appears after JavaScript runs.
- Built for scripts. Every crawl lands in a local SQLite file with JSON, JSONL, CSV, XML and HTML exports, and two stored crawls can be compared from the CLI.
- A 14-day trial of every feature with no page limit, and a source code guarantee on every purchase.
Who should pick which
- Agency: Screaming Frog if your team's reporting templates already depend on its exports and integrations. bseoa's Agency License ($1,999 once) costs less than one year of eight Screaming Frog seats ($2,120 at the 5 to 9 volume price), and the hosted connector lets account managers ask Claude or ChatGPT about a client's crawl.
- In-house technical SEO: Either. Screaming Frog if you live in Search Console and link data joined to the crawl; bseoa if you want AI-readiness checks and scheduled CLI crawls without a yearly renewal.
- Developer: bseoa. The CLI, JSON output and crawl comparison drop into CI, and the local MCP server works in Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and Codex.
- Enterprise: Neither replaces an enterprise cloud crawler for multi-million-page sites with shared dashboards. Screaming Frog's volume pricing makes it the easier desktop standard to roll out across a large team; bseoa is the cheaper add-on for engineers who want scripted crawls.