Cool Web Tool vs Screaming Frog
Cool Web Tool crawls in the browser. On a paid plan it adds competitor checks and AI mentions in that same project. Screaming Frog is a desktop crawler you install, and it is the better fit for a deep custom crawl on your own machine. The free audit here needs no install and no card. The full table is on the alternatives page.
Screaming Frog or Cool Web Tool: which fits the work?
Choose Screaming Frog if
- You want a deep local crawl, custom extraction, and you are fine installing the app.
- You already own a license and the only job is the crawl, not competitors or AI answers.
- Your audit workflow is an export from the desktop app into a spreadsheet.
Choose Cool Web Tool if
- You want the crawl in the browser. Free is 1 project and 3 site audits a month, with no card.
- You want competitor checks and AI mention scans in that same project once you are on Starter or Professional.
- You do not want to leave a machine switched on for a scheduled crawl.
Where the work overlaps
Ahrefs public plans start at $129/mo and do not include a free plan (checked September 2026).
Cool Web Tool Free is 1 project and 3 site audits a month, with no card. Starter is $29/mo. Professional is $79/mo.
The AI mention report often sits in a different product from the crawl.
On Starter and above, Cool Web Tool puts the AI answer gap on the same list as the site-audit issue. Semrush One and Ahrefs Brand Radar also track those mentions. In those products the mention report is its own area.
A desktop crawl still leaves competitors and AI answers for another login.
Screaming Frog crawls a site on your machine. Cool Web Tool crawls in the browser. Competitor checks and AI scans join that project on a paid plan.
You open a second product when you want the audit inside Cursor or ChatGPT.
Starter and above include hosted MCP for Cursor and ChatGPT. The audit uses the same quotas as the web app. You sign in once to create the project.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | Cool Web Tool | Ahrefs | Semrush | Screaming Frog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical site audit on the free plan | ||||
| Core Web Vitals monitoring | ||||
| Broken link detection | ||||
| Scheduled site audits in the cloud | ||||
| Competitor visibility in the same project (Starter+) | ||||
| Keyword volume and SERP data (Starter+) | ||||
| Rank tracking (Starter+) | ||||
| Backlink snapshot you refresh (Starter+) | ||||
| AI brand mentions (Starter+) | ||||
| ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, Gemini on Starter; Claude on Professional | ||||
| Audit issues and AI answer gaps on one list (Starter+) | ||||
| Suggested fixes written against those issues | ||||
| Site audit inside Cursor and ChatGPT (hosted MCP, Starter+) | ||||
| Free plan, no credit card | ||||
| Works in the browser, no install | ||||
| Starter plan under $30/mo |
Yes means the product includes that job. Limited means a cap, a partial feature, or an add-on. A yes does not mean the databases are the same size. Public plan pages as of September 2026.
Questions before you pay
What work does Cool Web Tool actually do?
Every plan includes a technical site audit. Free is 1 project and 3 site audits a month, with no card. Starter ($29/mo) covers 3 projects, 15 site audits a month, 1 competitor, rank tracking, a backlink snapshot, and 4 AI scans a month across ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, Gemini. Professional ($79/mo) adds Claude, 40 AI scans a month, API access, and up to 5 people on the account.
Is Cool Web Tool a full replacement for Semrush or Ahrefs?
No, when the job is a large historical backlink index, paid-search research, or local listing management. Keep that suite for that job. Use Cool Web Tool when you want the audit, a smaller competitor check, and the AI answer gaps in one project.
Do Semrush and Ahrefs track AI mentions too?
Yes. Semrush One includes AI visibility. Ahrefs Brand Radar tracks AI mentions. Cool Web Tool does this from the Starter plan and shows the gaps beside the site-audit issues. That is a difference in the daily work. It is not a claim that no other product measures mentions.
How deep is the backlink data?
It is a snapshot you refresh: referring domains, new and lost links, and anchor text. Starter and above. It is not the Ahrefs historical index. If link building is the core of the work, keep Ahrefs for the index and use the audit here for the fix list.
What does the free plan include?
1 project and 3 site audits a month, with no credit card. Keyword volume, rank tracking, competitor checks, backlinks, and AI scans start on Starter. Free keyword research is Google Trends only.
How many AI scans do paid plans include?
Starter includes 4 AI scans a month across ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, Gemini, for up to 3 projects. Professional includes 40 AI scans a month across ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Perplexity, Gemini, for up to 20 projects. Current prices are on the pricing page.
How current is this comparison?
Competitor public plan pages were last checked in September 2026. Their plans change. Read their pricing pages before you decide. If a line here is wrong, use the contact page and we will correct it.
See current plans on the pricing page or send a correction through our contact page.
