Screaming Frog vs Surfer
Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?
The short answer
Screaming Frog is the stronger AI pick in SEO Tools: it has a visibility score of 17.4 versus 12 for Surfer, and ranks ahead in 63% of the answers that name both.
Choose Screaming Frog if…
- You want the brand AI engines rank higher (17.4 vs 12)
- AI answers describe it more positively (73% vs 43% positive)
- Deep technical website crawling
- Broken link and site architecture audits
Choose Surfer if…
- You prefer a larger, established vendor (51–200 employees)
- Content optimization focus
- Strong AI search visibility
- High ratings on G2 and Capterra
AI visibility side by side
Latest weekly run · Nov 2
| Metric | Screaming Frog | Surfer |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility score | 17.4% | 12% |
| Change vs last week | New | New |
| Rank in SEO Tools | #7 | #8 |
| Share of voice | 6.4% | 4.4% |
| Mentions this run | 33 | 23 |
| Positive in AI answers | 73% | 43% |
The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.
Visibility score trend
Weekly runs over the last 60 days
Screaming Frog 0pp · Surfer 0pp over 0 weekly runs.
Engine by engine
Screaming Frog leads on 3 of 3 engines
Head to head in AI answers
19 engine answers name both brands
| Prompt | Engine | Screaming Frog | Surfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| How do I choose an SEO tool for a mid-market team? | Perplexity | #6 | #8 |
| What are the best SEO Tools tools in 2026? | ChatGPT | #4 | #5 |
| What are the best SEO Tools tools in 2026? | AI Mode | #8 | #3 |
| What are the best SEO Tools tools in 2026? | Perplexity | #4 | #6 |
| Top SEO tool options for B2B SaaS companies | ChatGPT | #5 | #3 |
| Top SEO tool options for B2B SaaS companies | AI Mode | #5 | #6 |
| Top SEO tool options for B2B SaaS companies | Perplexity | #5 | #7 |
| Best SEO tool for startups | ChatGPT | #8 | #6 |
| Compare the leading SEO Tools platforms | ChatGPT | #6 | #7 |
| Compare the leading SEO Tools platforms | AI Mode | #6 | #7 |
| Compare the leading SEO Tools platforms | Perplexity | #5 | #7 |
| Alternatives to the most popular SEO tool | Perplexity | #7 | #8 |
Features, pricing & fit
| Dimension | Screaming Frog | Surfer |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | — | Flat tiers |
| Entry price | — | $49 / mo |
| Free plan | — | No |
| Deployment | Desktop application installed locally on Windows, macOS or Linux | — |
| Support | Support ticket form, Email support, Free technical support included in free and paid versions | Customer Support (24h, Mon–Fri), Knowledge Base, Surfer Academy, Personalized Onboarding |
| Founded | 2010 | — |
| Headquarters | Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | Wrocław, Poland |
| Employees | 11–50 | 51–200 |
| Funding | Bootstrapped | — |
| Best for | Technical SEOs and SEO agencies who audit websites for technical SEO issues | Marketing and SEO teams, agencies, in-house content teams and individual content creators who want to grow organic traffic from Google and AI search. |
Plans side by side
Screaming Frog
Pricing not available.
Surfer
Pros and cons
Themes from the AI answers that mention each brand
Screaming Frog
- Deep technical website crawling
- Broken link and site architecture audits
- Free version for crawling up to 500 URLs
- Strong user satisfaction and ratings on review platforms
- Recommended as part of a core SEO tool stack
Surfer
- Content optimization focus
- Strong AI search visibility
- High ratings on G2 and Capterra
- Scalable optimization for content teams
- Limited backlink research
- Fewer reviews than Semrush
Data collected ·ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode·coverage 100%·next run
Cite as: SlateIndex, “Screaming Frog vs Surfer”, https://slateindex.ai/compare/screaming-frog-vs-surfer, data of Nov 2, 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.