Ahrefs vs Screaming Frog

Ahrefs focuses on SEO platforms; Screaming Frog focuses on Technical SEO.

• 1documented difference
• 1documented the same for both
• 16documented for one tool only
• 2unknown for both

Billing

Ahrefs: Month-to-month billing

Screaming Frog: Annual billing required

Free plan

Ahrefs: Yes · Ahrefs Free

Screaming Frog: Yes · Free version

Free trial

Ahrefs: No

Screaming Frog: Unknown

AI engines tracked

Ahrefs: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Copilot (plan not specified)

Screaming Frog: None documented

Documented differences

Both tools documented, and the support or plan differs.

Documented for one tool only

No documentation was found for the other tool. That is unknown, not a missing capability.

• Unknown for Ahrefs: Server log analysis
• Unknown for Screaming Frog: AI visibility monitoring, Automated content generation, Content optimization, Keyword research, Rank tracking, Citation and source tracking, AI competitor benchmarking, Prompt tracking

• Prices are listed in different currencies (USD for Ahrefs, GBP for Screaming Frog) and shown as the vendors list them. Screaming Frog's £199/yr per user is about $265/yr per user at the ECB reference rate of 27 Oct 2026.
• Screaming Frog's lowest listed price requires annual billing; compare it with the other tool's annual-billing price where one is listed.
• The lowest listed plans are not necessarily equivalent. Check plan limits before comparing prices.

Plans

Ahrefs:

• Ahrefs FreeFree
  Limits of Ahrefs Free

  Requires verifying ownership of your website for Site Explorer, Site Audit and Web Analytics; Site Audit 5K crawl credits/month per project; 1K backlinks & keywords visible at once.

• Starter$29/mo month-to-month
  Limits of Starter

  Listed separately from the core plans.

• Lite$129/mo month-to-month
  Limits of Lite

  5 non-verified projects, 6 months history, 750 tracked keywords, 150 AI prompt checks, 100,000 crawl credits. Annual price not listed. 1 user included; up to 2 more at $40/mo each.

• Standard$249/mo month-to-month$2,490/yr billed annually
  Limits of Standard

  20 non-verified projects, 2 years history, 2,000 tracked keywords, 300 AI prompt checks. 1 user included; up to 5 more at $60/mo each.

• Advanced$449/mo month-to-month
  Limits of Advanced

  50 non-verified projects, 5 years history, 5,000 tracked keywords, 600 AI prompt checks. Annual price not listed. 1 user included; up to 10 more at $80/mo each.

• Enterprise · annual commitment$1,499/mo billed annually
  Limits of Enterprise

  Annual commitment required (monthly-equivalent price shown). Uncapped API access, custom API endpoints, SSO, unlimited history. From 3 users included; additional users $100/mo each.

Screaming Frog:

• Free versionFree
  Limits of Free version

  Up to 500 URLs per crawl. Includes broken links, redirects, page titles and meta data, directives, hreflang, exact duplicates, XML sitemaps and site visualisations. Crawl configuration, saved crawls and the advanced features are in the paid licence.

• Licence · per user · annual commitment£199/yr billed annually
  Limits of Licence

  Per user; licences last 1 year and are then renewed. No URL crawl limit (depends on memory and storage). Adds crawl configuration, saved crawls, scheduling, JavaScript rendering, custom extraction, AI prompts during crawls and API integrations. Bulk prices: £189 (5–9 licences), £179 (10–19), £169 (20+) per licence per year.

Prices last verified

Ahrefs: 26 Oct 2026

Screaming Frog: 27 Oct 2026

Google Analytics

Ahrefs: Unknown

Screaming Frog: DocumentedConfirmed from Licence, the lowest paid planAvailability on the free plan not verified.

Google Search Console

Ahrefs: Documented

Screaming Frog: DocumentedConfirmed from Licence, the lowest paid planAvailability on the free plan not verified.

Looker Studio

Ahrefs: Documented

Screaming Frog: DocumentedConfirmed from Licence, the lowest paid planAvailability on the free plan not verified.

Public API

Ahrefs: Documented

Screaming Frog: Unknown

“Unknown” means we found no vendor documentation for it, not that it is unavailable.

Built for (vendor-stated)

Ahrefs: Small businesses, Freelancers and consultants, Enterprises, Agencies, Ecommerce brands

Screaming Frog: Unknown

Best suited for (SEOFinder editorial)

Ahrefs:

• Competitor research on paid plans.
• Teams tracking up to a few thousand keywords (750 on Lite, 5,000 on Advanced).

Screaming Frog:

• Technical site audits run from a desktop computer.
• Auditing sites of up to 500 URLs with the free version before buying a licence.

Each vendor's own pages, read on the dates shown. SEOFinder has not independently tested these products.