Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics
DataForSEO vs Frase vs Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Anyone using Claude Code or building their own tools who wants real SEO data without a big monthly plan.
Pick it if: Small marketing teams, freelancers and agencies who write SEO content and want research, briefs and drafts in one place.
Pick it if: Anyone who needs a thorough technical check of a site, especially before or after a redesign or migration.
Overview
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | Raw search, keyword and backlink data you pay for by the query, built for AI agents. | Researches, briefs and drafts SEO articles, and tracks if AI search cites you. | Crawls your whole site the way Google does and lists what's broken. |
| Pricing model | Paid | Paid | Freemium |
| Starting price | From $50 top-up | $49/mo | £199/user/yr |
| Free plan | No | No | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 2.5 | 4.0 | 2.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 5.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | No | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | – | No |
| Desktop app | No | – | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | – | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | No |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | – | Yes | No |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | No | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | No | – | Yes |
| Understands images | No | – | No |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | No | No | No |
| Runs agents or automations | No | Yes | No |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 3/ 17 | 7/ 17 | 5/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Pay as you goOur pick From $50 top-up Anyone who wants real data in Claude Code without a subscription. | Starter $49/mo, or $39/mo billed yearly One person writing a few articles a month. | Free Free Small sites and one-off checks. |
ProfessionalOur pick $129/mo, or $103/mo billed yearly Small teams publishing weekly. | Paid licenceOur pick £199/user/yr Agencies and anyone with a site over 500 pages. | ||
Scale $299/mo, or $239/mo billed yearly Agencies running several sites. | |||
Enterprise Custom Large teams needing white-label and SSO. | |||
| Which plan to pick | There's only one way to pay. Use the $1 trial credit to test the MCP server, then top up $50 and set a daily limit of a dollar or two. Use the cheaper standard queue for bulk jobs and the live mode only when you need an answer now. | Professional is the plan most teams settle on, because Starter's 10 articles a month runs out quickly. Try the 7-day trial on two or three real articles before paying. | 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. |
Key features
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | DataForSEO | Frase | Screaming Frog SEO Spider |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, DataForSEO, Frase or Screaming Frog SEO Spider?
They tie on our overall rating (DataForSEO 4.0/5, Frase 4.0/5 and Screaming Frog SEO Spider 4.0/5). DataForSEO is best for SEO research from Claude Code and keyword volumes on demand. Frase is best for Building SEO content briefs fast and drafting articles from a brief. Screaming Frog SEO Spider is best for finding broken links and checking redirects after a migration.
Which is cheaper, DataForSEO, Frase or Screaming Frog SEO Spider?
DataForSEO: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at From $50 top-up. Frase: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $49/mo. Screaming Frog SEO Spider: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at £199/user/yr.
Which is easier to use, DataForSEO, Frase or Screaming Frog SEO Spider?
Frase rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Small marketing teams, freelancers and agencies who write SEO content and want research, briefs and drafts in one place.
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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