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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Clearscope vs Screaming Frog SEO Spider vs Writesonic

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Clearscope

3.9

From $129/mo

Best overall

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

4.0

From £199/user/yr

Writesonic

3.7

From $79/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Easiest to use

Pick it if: Content teams and agencies publishing SEO articles every week who want writers to hit a clear quality bar.

Best overallBest value

Pick it if: Anyone who needs a thorough technical check of a site, especially before or after a redesign or migration.

Pick it if: Marketing teams and agencies that want to measure and improve how AI assistants talk about their brand.

Overview

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
In one lineGrades your content against what ranks and tracks whether AI search mentions you.Crawls your whole site the way Google does and lists what's broken.Tracks how AI search talks about your brand and writes SEO content to improve it.
Pricing modelPaidFreemiumPaid
Starting price$129/mo£199/user/yr$79/mo
Free plan No Yes No
Works with Claude Code No Yes No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Overall rating3.94.0Winner3.7
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
2.5
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.0
4.5
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.5
4.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
2.5
4.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Access & platform
Free plan No Yes No
Mobile app– No–
Desktop app– Yes–
Browser extension No No–
API access– No–
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes No Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes No Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files– Yes–
Understands images– No–
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No No No
Runs agents or automations– No Yes
Learns your brand or style– No Yes
Works in many languages– Yes Yes
Capabilities score3/ 175/ 176/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Plans

EssentialsOur pick

$129/mo

Small content teams publishing weekly.

Free

Free

Small sites and one-off checks.

Starter

$79/mo billed yearly

A single brand testing AI visibility.

Business

$399/mo

Larger teams and agencies.

Paid licenceOur pick

£199/user/yr

Agencies and anyone with a site over 500 pages.

Basic

$199/mo billed yearly

Small teams tracking more questions.

Enterprise

Custom

Big publishers with security needs.

GrowthOur pick

$399/mo billed yearly

Teams actively working to raise AI visibility.

Enterprise

Custom

Large brands and agencies.

Which plan to pickEssentials is enough for most teams; buy extra pages or drafts as add-ons before jumping to Business. Use the 14-day trial on real articles to see if the grades change your results.The free version is enough for most small businesses because it includes every feature and only caps the crawl at 500 pages. Buy a licence when your site or your clients' sites go past that. The price is listed in pounds with dollar and euro options at checkout.Start on Starter to see where you stand in AI answers. Growth is the plan for teams who will act on the findings each month, because that is where sentiment and suggested fixes come in.

Key features

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Standout features
  • Content grading
  • Topic exploration
  • Page monitoring
  • Drafts
  • AI search tracking
  • Google Docs and WordPress add-ons
  • Full site crawl
  • JavaScript rendering
  • Google integrations
  • AI during crawl
  • Crawl comparison
  • Scheduling and command line
  • AI visibility tracking
  • Competitor comparison
  • Sentiment
  • SEO article writer
  • Site audits
  • Action Center

Pros and cons

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Pros
  • Simple, clean interface that writers pick up quickly
  • Good-quality term recommendations
  • Unlimited users on every plan
  • Works inside Google Docs and WordPress
  • The most complete technical crawl available
  • Free version includes every feature up to 500 pages
  • Crawl comparison makes migrations far safer
  • Connects to Google data and AI models during the crawl
  • Runs on your own computer, so your data stays with you
  • One of the most complete AI search visibility trackers
  • Shows competitors and cited sources, not just your own score
  • Pairs tracking with content and suggested fixes
  • Free trial without a card
Cons
  • High price for small businesses, with no free plan
  • Tight monthly limits on pages and drafts at the entry price
  • Fewer extras than Surfer (no full site audit)
  • AI search tracking only covers a couple of assistants
  • Dated interface that assumes you know technical SEO terms
  • Desktop only, and big crawls need a lot of memory
  • No cloud dashboard or scheduled reports for clients
  • One licence per user adds up for a team
  • Expensive for small businesses, especially month to month
  • Lower plans track only three AI platforms
  • Long record of complaints about charges after cancelling and refused refunds
  • Credits and usage limits that do not roll over
  • Old lifetime-deal customers were cut off from newer features

Who each one is for

AttributeClearscopeScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Best for
  • Making sure articles cover a topic fully
  • Keeping a team of writers consistent
  • Refreshing pages that are slipping
  • Checking if AI search mentions your brand
  • Finding broken links
  • Checking redirects after a migration
  • Auditing titles and headings
  • Exporting a full page list
  • Tracking brand mentions in ChatGPT and Gemini
  • Comparing AI visibility with competitors
  • Writing content aimed at AI citations
  • Site audits for SEO
You'll find it used by
  • Content marketing teams
  • SEO agencies
  • Freelance writers
  • B2B software companies
  • Technical SEOs
  • Agencies
  • Developers
  • Web designers
  • Marketing teams
  • SEO agencies
  • B2B software companies
  • E-commerce brands

Questions people ask

Which is better, Clearscope, Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Writesonic?

Screaming Frog SEO Spider scores highest overall in our ratings (Clearscope 3.9/5, Screaming Frog SEO Spider 4.0/5 and Writesonic 3.7/5). Clearscope is best for making sure articles cover a topic fully and keeping a team of writers consistent. Screaming Frog SEO Spider is best for finding broken links and checking redirects after a migration. Writesonic is best for tracking brand mentions in ChatGPT and Gemini and Comparing AI visibility with competitors.

Which is cheaper, Clearscope, Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Writesonic?

Clearscope: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $129/mo. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at £199/user/yr. Writesonic: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $79/mo.

Which is easier to use, Clearscope, Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Writesonic?

Clearscope rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Content teams and agencies publishing SEO articles every week who want writers to hit a clear quality bar.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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