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Side-by-side comparison · SEO & Analytics

Microsoft Clarity 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.

Best overall

Microsoft Clarity

4.3

Free to start

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

4.0

From £199/user/yr

Writesonic

3.7

From $79/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Best overallBest valueEasiest to use

Pick it if: Store owners and marketers who want to know why visitors aren't converting, without paying for it.

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

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
In one lineFree heatmaps and session replays that show where visitors get stuck.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 modelFreeFreemiumPaid
Starting priceFree£199/user/yr$79/mo
Free plan Yes Yes No
Works with Claude Code Yes Yes No

Rating breakdown

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

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Overall rating4.3Winner4.03.7
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.
4.0
4.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
5.0
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.

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes No
Mobile app– No–
Desktop app No Yes–
Browser extension No No–
API access Yes No–
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes No Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO No No Yes
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
Learns your brand or style No No Yes
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score5/ 175/ 176/ 17

Pricing

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

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Plans

FreeOur pick

Free

Every website and online store.

Free

Free

Small sites and one-off checks.

Starter

$79/mo billed yearly

A single brand testing AI visibility.

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.

GrowthOur pick

$399/mo billed yearly

Teams actively working to raise AI visibility.

Enterprise

Custom

Large brands and agencies.

Which plan to pickThere's one plan and it's free. Microsoft says it's free forever with no traffic limits. Install the tag through Shopify, WordPress or Google Tag Manager and it starts recording within minutes.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

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Standout features
  • Session recordings
  • Heatmaps
  • Copilot
  • Smart events and funnels
  • AI visibility
  • MCP server
  • 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

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Pros
  • Completely free with no traffic or team limits
  • Session replays and heatmaps that match the paid tools
  • Copilot turns piles of recordings into plain findings
  • Easy installs for Shopify, WordPress and Tag Manager
  • MCP server for Claude
  • 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
  • Your visitor data goes to Microsoft, which some businesses won't accept
  • Recordings keep for 30 days, so you can't go back far
  • The interface is rougher than Hotjar and filters take some learning
  • Can slow a page slightly if it's already heavy with scripts
  • 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

AttributeMicrosoft ClarityScreaming Frog SEO SpiderWritesonic
Best for
  • Finding checkout drop-offs
  • Watching real user sessions
  • Scroll and click heatmaps
  • Spotting broken buttons
  • 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
  • Store owners
  • Marketers
  • Product teams
  • Agencies
  • Technical SEOs
  • Agencies
  • Developers
  • Web designers
  • Marketing teams
  • SEO agencies
  • B2B software companies
  • E-commerce brands

Questions people ask

Which is better, Microsoft Clarity, Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Writesonic?

Microsoft Clarity scores highest overall in our ratings (Microsoft Clarity 4.3/5, Screaming Frog SEO Spider 4.0/5 and Writesonic 3.7/5). Microsoft Clarity is best for finding checkout drop-offs and watching real user sessions. 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, Microsoft Clarity, Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Writesonic?

Microsoft Clarity: It's free to use. 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, Microsoft Clarity, Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Writesonic?

Microsoft Clarity rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Store owners and marketers who want to know why visitors aren't converting, without paying for it.

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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