Ahrefs vs Screaming Frog

Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?

The short answer

Ahrefs is the stronger AI pick in SEO Tools: it has a visibility score of 56 versus 17.4 for Screaming Frog, and ranks ahead in 97% of the answers that name both.

Choose Ahrefs if…

You want the brand AI engines rank higher (56 vs 17.4)
You need ISO 27001 coverage
You prefer a larger, established vendor (51–200 employees)
Strong backlink analysis and index

Choose Screaming Frog if…

AI answers describe it more positively (73% vs 49% positive)
Deep technical website crawling
Broken link and site architecture audits
Free version for crawling up to 500 URLs

AI visibility side by side

Latest weekly run · Nov 2

Metric	Ahrefs	Screaming Frog
Visibility score	56%	17.4%
Change vs last week	New	New
Rank in SEO Tools	#2	#7
Share of voice	12%	6.4%
Mentions this run	61	33
Positive in AI answers	49%	73%

The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.

Visibility score trend

Weekly runs over the last 60 days

Ahrefs 0pp · Screaming Frog 0pp over 0 weekly runs.

Engine by engine

Ahrefs leads on 3 of 3 engines

ChatGPT

67.2%

17%

AI Mode

62%

15.9%

Perplexity

38.9%

19.1%

AhrefsScreaming Frog

Head to head in AI answers

31 engine answers name both brands

30Ahrefs ranked higher

1Screaming Frog ranked higher

Prompt	Engine	Ahrefs	Screaming Frog
How do I choose an SEO tool for a mid-market team?	Perplexity	#4	#6
What features matter most in an SEO tool?	ChatGPT	#3	#6
What is the difference between an SEO tool and Marketing Automation?	ChatGPT	#2	#4
What are the best SEO Tools tools in 2026?	ChatGPT	#3	#4
What are the best SEO Tools tools in 2026?	AI Mode	#2	#8
What are the best SEO Tools tools in 2026?	Perplexity	#3	#4
Top SEO tool options for B2B SaaS companies	ChatGPT	#2	#5
Top SEO tool options for B2B SaaS companies	AI Mode	#3	#5
Top SEO tool options for B2B SaaS companies	Perplexity	#4	#5
Best SEO tool for startups	ChatGPT	#1	#8
Best SEO tool for startups	AI Mode	#6	#8
Best SEO tool for startups	Perplexity	#1	#6

Features, pricing & fit

Dimension	Ahrefs	Screaming Frog
Pricing model	Flat tiers	—
Entry price	Free; paid from $29 / mo	—
Free plan	Yes	—
Deployment	SaaS	Desktop application installed locally on Windows, macOS or Linux
Compliance	ISO 27001	—
Support	Customer support five days a week, Academy courses and certification, Webinars and AMAs, YouTube tutorials	Support ticket form, Email support, Free technical support included in free and paid versions
Founded	2010	2010
Headquarters	Singapore	Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Employees	51–200	11–50
Funding	Bootstrapped	Bootstrapped
Best for	Freelance SEOs, marketing consultants, and lean in-house marketing teams, from small businesses to Fortune 500 teams.	Technical SEOs and SEO agencies who audit websites for technical SEO issues