Screaming Frog vs SEMrush: SEO Tools Comparison (2026)

Screaming Frog offers a free tier and focuses on site crawling, while Semrush provides AI-powered insights and a broader range of SEO tools.

AI Citation Scorecard

How often each is cited by major AI engines when buyers ask seo tools questions. Last 90 days across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.

Tied overall — both at 100% cited across 10 probes.
ChatGPT
Screaming Frog
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
SEMrush
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Perplexity
Screaming Frog
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
SEMrush
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Gemini
Screaming Frog
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
SEMrush
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Claude
Screaming Frog
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
SEMrush
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Copilot
Screaming Frog
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
SEMrush
1 / 1 probes
100%
Excellent
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.

Pricing

Screaming Frog
Starting price
£199/user/year
Free tier
Yes
screamingfrog.co.uk ↗
SEMrush
Starting price
$117.33/month
Free tier
—
semrush.com ↗

Key Features

Screaming Frog
  • ✓Crawl Limit - Unlimited
  • ✓JavaScript Rendering
  • ✓Custom robots.txt
  • ✓Mobile Usability
  • ✓Google Analytics Integration
  • ✓Free Technical Support
  • ✓Generate XML Sitemaps
  • ✓Segmentations
SEMrush
  • ✓5 websites to monitor
  • ✓500 keywords to track daily
  • ✓Basic keyword research
  • ✓Position Tracking
  • ✓Site Audit
  • ✓Monitor AI sentiment
  • ✓AI visibility reports
  • ✓Custom prompts monitoring

When to choose Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog is suitable for users who require unlimited crawl limits, JavaScript rendering, and custom robots.txt functionalities. It integrates with Google Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and Looker Studio. Screaming Frog also offers mobile usability analysis, XML sitemap generation, and segmentations. Its free version has a crawl limit.

When to choose SEMrush

Semrush is suitable for users who need to monitor up to 5 websites, track 500 keywords daily, and perform basic keyword research. It includes Position Tracking, Site Audit, AI sentiment monitoring, AI visibility reports, and custom prompt monitoring. Semrush does not offer a free tier.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the starting price for Screaming Frog?
Screaming Frog starts at £199/user/year.
Does Semrush offer a free tier?
No, Semrush does not offer a free tier.
What are the key features of Screaming Frog?
Screaming Frog's key features include unlimited crawl limits, JavaScript rendering, custom robots.txt, mobile usability analysis, Google Analytics Integration, free technical support, XML sitemap generation, and segmentations.
What are the key features of Semrush?
Semrush's key features include monitoring 5 websites, tracking 500 keywords daily, basic keyword research, Position Tracking, Site Audit, monitoring AI sentiment, AI visibility reports, and custom prompts monitoring.
What integrations does Screaming Frog offer?
Screaming Frog integrates with Google Analytics, Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, and Looker Studio.

AI visibility profiles

Is one of these your brand?

Get the full report by email: every seo tools buyer question we ask, which engines name you, and who gets named instead.

Screaming Frog

screamingfrog.co.uk

SEMrush

semrush.com

Free check

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We ask the buyer questions in this market across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, and show you who gets named.

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