Compare
crawlie vs the alternatives
The same technical-SEO audits as the paid desktop tools, completely free for local use, plus a CLI and an MCP server so your AI agents can run them too.
| Feature | crawlie | Screaming Frog | Sitebulb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price for local use | Free forever | £259/yr | from £13.50/mo |
| Free, with no URL cap | ✓ | 500 URLs | ✕ |
| Open source (MIT) | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Crawl speed | Fast (Rust) | Slower (JVM) | Slower (.NET) |
| Command-line (CLI) | ✓ | Partial | ✕ |
| MCP server for AI agents | ✓ | ✕ | Coming soon |
| Desktop app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| JavaScript rendering | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI-search (GEO) audit | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Plain-English fix for every issue | ✓ | ✕ | Hints |
| Modern, polished interface | ✓ | Dated | Dated |
Translation: crawlie is the only one that's completely free for local use and built for AI agents (a scriptable CLI, an MCP server, and a desktop app, no licence required). It's also a lot faster, thanks to a Rust core, and frankly doesn't look like it was designed in 2007.
The full breakdown
crawlie vs Screaming Frog A free, open-source, agent-native alternative to the Screaming Frog SEO Spider. Read the comparison → crawlie vs Sitebulb A free, open-source, agent-native alternative to Sitebulb. Read the comparison → crawlie vs Siteimprove A free, open-source, agent-native way to get automated WCAG checks — without an enterprise contract. Read the comparison →