Guide
Best Technical SEO Crawlers for Agencies (2026)
By Red Kite Search Agency Created Updated 7 min read
Summary
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is the best low-cost flexible crawler; Sitebulb is the best for visual client reports; JetOctopus is the best cloud crawler with agency pricing. Prices and ratings were checked in October 2026 and change often.
What are the best technical SEO crawlers for agencies in 2026?
Technical SEO crawlers find broken links, redirects, indexing problems and slow pages. Agencies use them for audits and to prove the effect of fixes.
We compared three crawlers. Two run on a desktop and one runs in the cloud, so the right choice depends on site size, reporting and budget.
Our shortlist, in order: Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Sitebulb, JetOctopus. The table puts them side by side.
| Tool | Best for | Editorial score | Review-site ratings | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Best low-cost flexible crawler | 4.5 / 5 | G2 4.7 | Free version up to 500 URLs. Paid licence $279 per licence per year, with discounts from 5 licences. |
| Sitebulb | Best for visual client reports | 4.2 / 5 | G2 4.5 | 14-day free trial. Lite $18, Pro $42, and Cloud from $125 per month. Yearly plans save 15%. |
| JetOctopus | Best cloud crawler with agency pricing | 4.2 / 5 | No review-site rating found | Agencies price list, annual billing: Growth $409, Pro $809 and Ultra $1,729 a month. Quarterly billing is $549, $1,089 and $2,299. An Unlimited plan is custom. The In-house price list is lower for Growth and Ultra. |
How did we choose the best technical SEO crawlers?
We included crawlers with public pricing and evidence that agencies use them. Pricing and features come from each vendor page, and ratings come from G2 where a score was available.
We looked at crawl limits, client reporting and agency pricing. Scores reflect fit for agencies serving several clients.
We did not run crawls ourselves for this comparison. Facts come from vendor pricing pages and review sites, so test each crawler on one of your own client sites before you commit.
What we looked for
- Desktop or cloud.
- Pricing and licence model.
- Crawl limits.
- Client reporting.
- Published security and support evidence.
- Public evidence: review-site ratings and counts.
Is Screaming Frog SEO Spider a good technical SEO crawler for agencies?
Best low-cost flexible crawler: Screaming Frog has a free version for up to 500 URLs and a per-user paid licence. It runs on your own machine and has a large G2 base.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop crawler for Windows, macOS and Linux that audits sites for broken links, redirects, duplicate content, metadata, JavaScript rendering and more. It is free up to 500 URLs and sold as an annual licence per user.
Who it suits: Agencies and in-house SEOs who run technical audits and want a fast, low-cost crawler with deep configuration.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider pros
- Free for up to 500 URLs, then one annual licence for unlimited crawling.
- JavaScript rendering, custom extraction, and scheduled crawls with automatic exports.
- Pulls data from Google Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, Ahrefs, Majestic and Moz.
- Volume discounts from 5 licences.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider cons
- Licences are per user, so a team pays for every seat.
- White-label client reports are not stated, so agencies build reports elsewhere.
- It runs on your computer, so large crawls need a powerful machine.
- Support response times are not stated.
Is Sitebulb a good technical SEO crawler for agencies?
Best for visual client reports: Sitebulb has Lite, Pro and Cloud plans, with Pro crawling up to 500,000 URLs per audit and producing customised PDF reports. The G2 base is small.
Sitebulb is a website crawler and SEO audit tool with prioritized hints, visualizations, and customized PDF reports. It comes as a Desktop app for Windows and Mac and a Cloud version, with Google Analytics, Search Console and Sheets integrations and MCP access.
Who it suits: Agencies and consultants who want crawl audits explained in plain language and client-ready reports.
Sitebulb pros
- Hints and explanations that turn crawl data into prioritized actions.
- Customized PDF reports and audit comparisons on Pro.
- Scheduled audits on Pro and automated recurring crawls on Cloud.
- Monthly pricing with a 14-day free trial.
Sitebulb cons
- Lite caps audits at 10,000 URLs and offers 100+ hints; Pro raises this to 500,000.
- Cloud starts at a much higher price and needs two or more users.
- Security, GDPR and SSO details were not stated, and its security page was unavailable.
- Only 13 reviews on G2.
Is JetOctopus a good technical SEO crawler for agencies?
Best cloud crawler with agency pricing: JetOctopus has a separate Agencies price list, unlimited projects and seats, and log analysis. The entry price is high and crawl volume is capped.
JetOctopus crawls sites in the cloud and joins crawl data with server logs, Google Search Console and GA4. It publishes separate In-house and Agencies price lists, with unlimited projects and seats and pricing based on crawled URLs per month.
Who it suits: Technical SEO agencies that crawl large sites and want one workspace for every client.
JetOctopus pros
- The Agencies tab costs $409 a month on Growth, $809 on Pro and $1,729 on Ultra, billed yearly.
- Unlimited projects and unlimited seats on every plan.
- Agency plans add a Google News and Discover report and a Looker Studio integration, with all clients in one workspace.
- Log analysis, Search Console and GA4 integrations sit alongside the crawler.
JetOctopus cons
- Entry pricing is hundreds of dollars a month, far above desktop crawlers.
- Crawl volume is capped by plan: 500K, 2M or 5M URLs a month.
- The free trial of 7 days is arranged through a demo.
- SOC 2, SSO and 2FA were not stated, and a mobile app was not stated.
How much do the best technical SEO crawlers cost?
Screaming Frog and Sitebulb cost a fraction of JetOctopus. JetOctopus has no per-seat or per-domain fees, which can win for large teams. Compare cost per audit, not the headline price.
| Tool | Plan | Price | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Free | $0 | Crawl up to 500 URLs, core features |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Paid licence | $279 per licence/year (annual billing) | Unlimited crawl, JavaScript rendering, scheduling, custom extraction and advanced configuration, full technical support |
| Sitebulb | Lite | $18 per month (monthly billing) | 1 user, 10,000 URLs per audit, 100+ hints, JavaScript crawling, Google Analytics, Search Console and Sheets |
| Sitebulb | Pro | $42 per month (monthly billing) | 1 user (extra users $11 a month), 500,000 URLs per audit, 300+ hints, audit comparisons, scheduled audits, customized PDF reports |
| Sitebulb | Cloud | $125 per month (monthly billing) | 2 or more users, cloud crawling without project limits, recurring crawls, Data Studio integration |
| JetOctopus | Growth | $409 per month (annual billing); regular $549 | 500K crawled URLs a month, 2M log lines, unlimited projects and seats |
| JetOctopus | Pro | $809 per month (annual billing); regular $1,089 | 2M crawled URLs a month, 6M log lines, 1 tech SEO audit a year |
| JetOctopus | Ultra | $1,729 per month (annual billing); regular $2,299 | 5M crawled URLs a month, 12M log lines, 2 tech SEO audits a year |
| JetOctopus | Unlimited | Custom | Custom crawl volume and unlimited logs |
What do reviewers say about these technical SEO crawlers?
G2 evidence differs. Screaming Frog has a large base and a high score, Sitebulb has a small base, and JetOctopus showed no score in the snippet we read.
| Tool | Source | Rating | Number of reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | G2 | 4.7 / 5 | 187 |
| Sitebulb | G2 | 4.5 / 5 | 13 |
Reviewer themes for Screaming Frog SEO Spider
- G2 shows Screaming Frog at 4.7 from 187 reviews.
- A G2 reviewer uses it to run technical audits of client sites in bulk.
Reviewer themes for Sitebulb
- G2 shows Sitebulb at 4.5 from 13 reviews.
- A G2 reviewer says it finds technical flaws and makes them look clever in front of clients.
Reviewer themes for JetOctopus
- G2 users praise fast crawling and comprehensive technical insights, though the score was not shown in the snippet we read.
- Reviewers value data accuracy and the log analyzer.
How do you choose the right technical SEO crawler for your agency?
Decide whether site size and logs need a cloud crawler, or whether a desktop tool is enough.
Whichever you pick, run a crawl on one real client site and compare the issues found with what the client already knows.
Set a routine once a tool is chosen: crawl monthly, compare against the last crawl, and write the three fixes that matter most. Clients value a short list over a long export.
Finally, check where reports go. A PDF the client can read often matters more than the depth of the crawl.
Think about who runs the crawl. A desktop tool ties the work to one person's machine, while a cloud crawler lets any teammate open the same audit. For a team that shares clients, that difference can matter more than price.
Keep a record of each crawl setup, including exclusions, user agent and JavaScript settings, so a colleague can repeat the audit next month and the comparison is like for like.
A quick decision guide
- Low cost and flexibility: Screaming Frog.
- Visual client reports: Sitebulb.
- Cloud scale and logs: JetOctopus.
Frequently asked questions
- What are the best technical SEO crawlers for agencies?
- Screaming Frog for cost, Sitebulb for reports, and JetOctopus for cloud scale.
- Which crawler is cheapest?
- Screaming Frog.
- Which crawler has agency pricing?
- JetOctopus.
- Which crawler runs in the cloud?
- JetOctopus, and Sitebulb offers a cloud option.
- How were the tools rated?
- Ratings come from G2 where available, and the editorial scores are our own judgement of fit for agencies.
Sources
Prices, plan limits, and ratings were gathered in October 2026 from:
- Screaming Frog pricing page
- Sitebulb pricing page
- JetOctopus pricing page
- G2