10 best free and paid SEO audit tools

Do you find the thought of doing an SEO audit too daunting? You’re not by yourself. Although the word “audit” can be intimidating to some, SEO experts can use it as a key to reveal insightful information.

It might be difficult to diagnose reductions in SERP rankings, figure out what generates traffic, and improve page copy without the proper tools.

The appropriate SEO audit tools can help with that. These tools provide in-depth analysis to assist you in identifying problems and improving the functionality of your website.

I’ve reviewed and tried the best SEO auditing tools of 2024 in this guide, which includes free options for advanced marketing suites. These tools can assist you in efficiently diagnosing and improving the SEO of your website, regardless of your level of experience.

The Best SEO Audit Tools

1. SEOptimer: Ideal for SMBs seeking a simple SEO auditing tool. It provides insightful information to enhance the functionality of your website without going over budget.
2. Small SEO Tools: Perfect for free audits. This tool offers significant SEO audits and suggestions to assist you in getting started with site optimization straight away.
3. Screaming Frog: Provides a free version of a premium tool. It works well for finding technical SEO problems and conducting in-depth site analyses.
4. SE Ranking: Distinguished by its outstanding value. Being reasonably priced, it offers thorough SEO audits and insights, making it an excellent option for consumers on a tight budget.
5. Semrush: A strong tool from a high-end SEO package. It offers thorough audits and useful information to improve your SEO approach.
6. Ahrefs: Excellent for technical auditing. It assists in locating and resolving technical problems that may affect how well your website performs in search engines.
7. Clearscope: Focuses exclusively on optimizing web pages. By examining content quality and keyword relevancy, it helps to create material that ranks higher.
8. ContentKing: Offers monitoring in real-time. It’s great for monitoring the SEO health of your website and identifying problems as soon as they appear.
9. Ubersuggest: An adaptable tool for SEO analysis and keyword research. It provides a number of tools to assist you raise your site’s search engine rankings.

What Makes the Best SEO Audit Tool?

There is frequent overlap across areas such as SEO audit software, rank trackers, and keyword research tools when it comes to selecting the finest SEO audit tool. Businesses that succeed in a particular industry frequently succeed in others as well.

So, what should you look for in an SEO audit tool?

1. Features Specific to Audits: The tool’s primary purpose should be SEO audits, or it should provide a separate audit dashboard as part of a larger suite.
2. Numerous SEO Metrics: It ought to include a variety of metrics connected to SEO, including user behavior, page speed, traffic, and keyword saturation.
3. Practical Insights: Metrics must be provided in an understandable, exportable report along with practical SEO advice.
4. Reputation: The tool’s supplier should be well-known in the field, open about how it calculates scores, and dependent on reliable sources of information such as Google Search Console.

I have put every tool on this list through testing, and they all meet these requirements. I’ve tested hundreds of solutions, and I can state with confidence that everyone on this list is a good fit for your SEO auditing requirements.

A brief table of SEO audit tools:

Best SEO Audit Tool for SMBs: 

SEOptimer

SEOptimer Pros:

• Rich in features and reasonably priced: Provides excellent value together with a range of features.
• More than 60 Independent Tools: Includes generation, research, and auditing tools.
• White Label Reporting and Embedding: Allows for customizable reporting and tool integration.

SEOptimer Cons:

• Basic Tier Limitations: The lowest tier is lacking a few essential features
• Fewer Tools Compared to Premium Products: Some of the more advanced tools featured in higher-end solutions missing.

A great option if you’re searching for an affordable SEO auditing tool without sacrificing features is SEOptimer. While it might not have as many functions as more expensive tools like Ahrefs or Semrush, it still offers a good range of features at a reasonable cost.

In addition to offering common SEO tools like rank monitoring and keyword research, SEOptimer separates itself with its unique modules, which include:

• Title Tag Checker
• Meta Description Checker
• SERP Preview
• Website Word Count
• Noindex Tag Test
• Font Size and Legibility Checker

These stand-alone modules provide rapid assessments of critical elements such as core metrics and mobile responsiveness. A broad summary of important criteria, such as on-page SEO, social media viability, and user-friendliness, is given by SEOptimer’s rapid audit tool. The audit results are shown with each component broken down and with prioritized actionable recommendations.

You must upgrade to the White Label tier in order to access downloadable reports. This package is perfect for solo consultants and small agencies because it includes an embeddable tool, API access, and white-label reporting in 15 languages. Even though SEOptimer’s reports may not be as comprehensive as those of more expensive programs, they are remarkably reliable for SMBs.

SEOptimer Pricing: DIY SEO ($19/month), White Label ($29/month), White Label and Embedding ($59/month)

Best Free SEO Audit Tool Suite:

Small SEO Tools

Small SEO Tools Pros:

• Free, Unlimited Access: Nearly 300 tools available at no cost.
• Broad Range of Use Cases: Includes anything from SEO to other topics.
• Generative Tools: Includes features for content creation and editing.

Small SEO Tools Cons:

• Very Basic: Tools are quite minimalistic.
• No Report Exporting: Lacks features for downloading detailed reports.
• Premium Alternatives: Some paid products offer better free versions of similar tools.

It can be difficult to locate a fully free SEO audit tool suite, especially when many premium solutions have free trials or versions available. Small SEO Tools is a good choice if you’re determined to use a totally free service with no additional fees.

Nearly 300 distinct programs in a variety of areas are available through Small SEO Tools, including:

• Text Analysis
• Image Editing and Design
• Keywords
• Backlinks
• Website Management
• Website Tracking
• Proxy
• Domain
• Meta Tag

The majority of auditing tools fall under the category of “website management,” and they include mobile-friendliness testers, Google PageRank checkers, SEO score checkers, and page speed testers. These instruments are simple and effective, but they lack the sophisticated features that come with more expensive goods. They do, however, provide a wide range of free features and are both numerous and adaptable.

A range of generating tools are also included in Small SEO Tools for jobs like modifying photos, proofreading, rewriting articles, and paraphrasing language. While there are other web resources with comparable capabilities, Small SEO capabilities combines them all into a single, user-friendly design.

You won’t likely encounter any paywalls when using these programs because the only services that require payment are for modules like picture searches, paraphrasing, plagiarism detection, and image-to-text conversion.

Small SEO Tools Pricing: Free, with options to pay for premium tools

Best Free SEO Audit Tool from a Premium Product: 

Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog Pros:

• Crawls Up to 500 URLs in Free Plan: Generous crawl limit for a free tool.
• Easily Exports to Spreadsheets: Simple data export to Excel or Google Sheets.
• Reasonably Priced Upgrade: Paid version offers extensive features at a good value.

Screaming Frog Cons:

• Not Very Visually Dynamic: Basic, functional interface.
• Runs on Desktop: Requires installation, not browser-based.

With its useful capabilities for individuals and businesses on a budget, the desktop version of Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider application has becoming increasingly popular.

Crawl capacity is a typical drawback of free SEO tools. It may appear restricting to have a 500 URL limit, particularly for larger sites with a lot of information. When compared to other free programs like Semrush, which only permits 100 URLs, this restriction is actually rather generous. 500 URLs are frequently plenty for smaller websites or more recent companies.

You may examine important components including broken links, duplicate pages, hreflang properties, and metadata with the free SEO Spider tool. The creation of sitemaps is also supported. With the help of this simple desktop application, you can easily spot problems with your website, examine key metrics, and export data to Google Sheets or Excel. It also gives you a sortable overview of your website.

Not everyone will find Screaming Frog appealing, particularly if you want interactive, browser-based tools. But among paid software solutions, this free package is among the most generous for basic SEO reporting and analysis.

Screaming Frog Pricing: Free, Paid ($259/year)

Best Value SEO Audit Tool: 

SE Ranking

SE Ranking Pros:

• Clean Data Visualizations: Clear and detailed presentation of data.
• Flexible Audit Grouping: Customizable audit organization and comparison.
• On-Page SEO and Backlink Audits: Comprehensive auditing features for various SEO aspects.

SE Ranking Cons:

• Potential Crawl Limits: Lower tiers may encounter crawl restrictions.

In my evaluations of SEO tools, SE Ranking continually stands out for offering outstanding value. It is less than half the cost of many premium suites and provides an advanced audit tool along with a plethora of features in an easy-to-use interface.

SE Ranking’s primary interface allows you to create sitemaps, obtain reports in PDF format, send reports straight to partners, and link to Looker Studio. Although SE Ranking is superior due to its clear data display and practical capabilities, the audits cover many common metrics seen in other programs. The core web vitals chart, which offers a thorough analysis of your site’s user experience ratings, is especially impressive.

With the highly flexible audit tool from SE Ranking, you can select allowed/disallowed URLs, hide resources, combine audits together, and give them names. You can also compare audits over time with a dedicated comparison dashboard and receive automatic updates on page changes.

SE Ranking provides different tools for on-page and backlink SEO audits in addition to basic SEO audits. Its AI-powered on-page SEO audit offers a checklist of recommended adjustments to assist raise rankings along with a thorough review of the technical and SEO components on specific pages.

Nevertheless, there is no option for infinite pages with SE Ranking; instead, the pricing tiers are determined by the number of pages audited. You may reach your limit with particularly huge sites, but SE Ranking offers superb features at a fraction of the price of premium alternatives for average users.

SE Ranking Pricing: Essential ($55/month), Pro ($109/month), Business ($239/month)

Best SEO Audit Tool from a Premium SEO Suite: 

Semrush

Semrush Pros:

• Rich Reporting: Detailed and comprehensive reports on SEO performance.
• Ability to Compare Audits and Track Issue Resolutions: Useful for monitoring improvements over time.
• Clean, Highly Responsive Interface: User-friendly and easy to navigate.

Semrush Cons:

• May Be Cost-Prohibitive: A higher price point might not fit all budgets.
• Free Version Maxes at 100 URLs: Limited crawl capacity for the free plan.

Semrush is a great option for individuals on a higher budget because of its outstanding features and advanced SEO tools. Its lowest tier costs more than many premium tools, but it’s meant for people who require a lot of capability and are prepared to spend a lot of money on high-quality tools.

The audit tool on Semrush also has an intuitive and responsive UI. The overview dashboard tracks problems with your website over time and gives you a clear picture of them. You can click on links, delve into certain issues, and receive thorough instructions on how to solve each one. Re-crawling pages straight from the dashboard is a useful tool to check if problems have been fixed.

You can arrange link charts using the audit tool according to different criteria including the quantity of issues, crawl depth, and page views. To enhance comprehension, hovering over columns displays pop-out descriptions that include insights into metrics like Internal LinkRank (ILR), which measures “link juice.”

One of Semrush’s standout features is its ability to measure improvement. You can compare current and past audits, review audit stats, and track issue resolutions over time using a line chart. 

Semrush Pricing: Free, Pro ($139.95/month), Guru ($249.95/month), Business ($499.95/month)

Best SEO Audit Tool for Technical Auditing: 

Ahrefs

Ahrefs Pros:

• Lots of Analysis Categories: Provides detailed insights into various aspects of your site.
• Breaks Down Audit by Site Structure: Helps diagnose structural issues.
• Multiple Tools for Recommending Site Improvements: Offers comprehensive recommendations for optimization.

Ahrefs Cons:

• User Experience Isn’t as Clean as Some Other Premium Tools: Interface may not be as intuitive.
• May Be Cost-Prohibitive: Higher price point might not suit all budgets.

Ahrefs is a powerful toolkit for SEO experts that provides in-depth analysis of technical problems and site performance. Its site audit tool is ideal for all levels of marketers as it offers a comprehensive analysis of the health of your website.

Ahrefs is unique in that it offers a wide range of analysis categories. A list of concerns is shown, the crawl log can be seen, specific pages and links can be examined, and metrics such as indexability and performance can be thoroughly examined. For a comprehensive study, it also connects with Google resources like Core Web Vitals and PageSpeed Insights.

Ahrefs’s ability to examine audits by site structure is one of its unique advantages. This interface displays the differences in metrics such as content kinds, indexability, and HTTP status codes at different levels of the hierarchy of your website. This can help you uncover difficult-to-diagnose structural issues.

The Internal Link Opportunities tool, which suggests anchor text and target URLs for pages throughout your website, is another noteworthy feature. It’s an important tool for improving internal linkage even though it’s not always ideal (for example, it may propose linking unrelated topics).

When compared to some expensive programs, Ahrefs’ user interface may not be the sleekest, but its audit functions are still reliable and useful. Be aware that verifying website ownership is necessary for the free audit tool, which can be a bother.

Ahrefs Pricing: Lite ($129/month), Standard ($249/month), Advanced ($449/month), Enterprise ($14,999/year)

Best SEO Audit Tool for On-Page Optimization: 

Clearscope

Clearscope Pros:

• Detailed On-Page SEO Auditing: Offers in-depth analysis of page content.
• Suggestions for Keywords, Questions, and Citations: Provides actionable insights for improving content relevance.
• Multiple Keyword Research and Tracking Tools: Includes additional tools for keyword management.

Clearscope Cons:

• Fairly Limited Utility: Focuses solely on on-page SEO, not domain-wide issues.
• Premium Price Tag: Higher cost compared to some other tools.

Among SEO tools, Clearscope is a bit of an unusual. Clearscope is devoted to examining the content of individual pages, in contrast to other tools on this list that carry out domain-level crawls.

The tool does a great job of enhancing on-page SEO by taking into account factors like keyword density, length, readability, and usage. It offers ideas for pertinent keywords as well as tips on how to make your content more search engine friendly.

Additionally, Clearscope has a research option that compiles online resources on the subject, such as frequently asked questions and relevant links. You may create successful content by using the outline tab, which explains the heading structure of posts that rank highly.

Although Clearscope provides other tools for position tracking, keyword research, and keyword discovery, its main advantage is its on-page SEO functionality. It is a stand-alone premium solution that establishes the benchmark for automated on-page SEO inspection.

Clearscope Pricing: Essentials ($189/month), Business ($399/month), Enterprise (custom)

Best SEO Audit Tool for Real-Time Monitoring: 

ContentKing

ContentKing Pros:

• Real-Time 24/7 Auditing: Provides up-to-the-minute analysis with continuous updates.
• Highly Responsive, User-Friendly Interface: Features an intuitive and interactive dashboard.
• Proprietary Importance Metric: Gauges page value to site performance with a unique scoring system.

ContentKing Cons:

• Pricing Model is Unclear: Pricing is not standardized and can vary based on plan and number of pages.
• Lacks Supplemental Tools: Does not offer the wide range of additional features found in comprehensive SEO suites.

ContentKing separates itself with its real-time auditing features, providing constant updates to guarantee you have access to the most recent information on site performance. Its UI is very responsive and easy to use, with vibrant graphs providing in-depth analyses of site problems along with an overall health score.

ContentKing’s patented Importance metric, which assigns a value to a page on a range of 1 to 10, is one of its unique features. This makes it easier to prioritize improvements according to how a page affects the functionality of the entire website.

ContentKing is great at real-time monitoring, but it isn’t as complete as some other SEO suites. Examples of these suites’ other features include idea-generating and competitor analysis. But to improve its analytical skills, it connects with Slack, Looker Studio, Adobe Analytics, and Google Analytics.

With interactive features and clickable widgets offering comprehensive insights, the interface is made to be simple to use. Its pricing structure, which is unknown and reportedly starts at $49 a month for up to 1,000 pages, can be a disadvantage despite its advantages.

ContentKing Pricing: Varies

Best Free SEO Audit Tool

Ubersuggest (Web)

Ubersuggest Pros:

• Free and Paid Options: Offers a generous free plan with the option to upgrade for more features.
• Comprehensive SEO Audit: Provides insights into on-page SEO, backlinks, and keyword performance.
• User-Friendly Interface: Easy to navigate with clear, actionable data.

Ubersuggest Cons:

• Limited Free Features: Some advanced features are locked behind the paid plans.
• Less Detailed Than Premium Tools: May not offer as in-depth analysis as high-end SEO suites.

If you want a reliable SEO audit without going over budget, Ubersuggest is a great tool. For individuals and small businesses, it’s an excellent option because its free version offers insightful data about the backlink profile, keyword performance, and on-page SEO of your website.

Because of the simple and intuitive user interface, you can easily assess the SEO health of your website. Even though the free plan is rather extensive, the subscription tiers are the only places where you can get some advanced capabilities and more in-depth analysis.

Ubersuggest Pricing:

• Free: Limited access to basic tools and features.
• Paid Plans: Individual ($12/month), Business ($20/month), and Enterprise ($40/month).

This tool is well-suited for those who want a comprehensive SEO audit tool without the hefty price tag of premium products. If you need more advanced features, Ubersuggest’s paid plans offer additional capabilities at a relatively affordable price.

Best Free SEO Audit Tools from Google

Google Search Console (Web)

Google Search Console Pros:

• Free and Essential: Offers critical insights into your website’s performance in Google Search.
• Technical SEO Reporting: Provides detailed reports on indexing status, crawl errors, and search queries.
• Direct Data Source: Pulls data directly from Google, ensuring accuracy.

Google Search Console Cons:

• Limited to Google Search: Focuses only on Google’s search data, which may not cover all aspects of SEO.
• Steep Learning Curve: This can be complex for beginners due to its depth of data and features.

Google Search Console is a vital tool for understanding how your site performs in Google’s search engine. It offers insights into indexing status, search queries, and crawl errors. While it provides critical technical SEO data, it is limited to Google search and may require some time to master fully.

Google Analytics (Web)

Google Analytics Pros:

• Real-Time Reporting: Provides live data on website traffic, user behavior, and engagement metrics.
• Comprehensive Metrics: Offers detailed insights into visitor demographics, acquisition sources, and site performance.
• Free: Available at no cost with extensive features.

Google Analytics Cons:

• Complexity: This can be overwhelming due to the vast amount of data and customizable features.
• No Specific SEO Audit: This does not focus solely on SEO but provides broader web performance insights.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for real-time reporting and understanding visitor behavior. While it is not exclusively an SEO audit tool, it provides valuable data on traffic and site performance, which can indirectly inform your SEO strategies.

PageSpeed Insights (Web)

PageSpeed Insights Pros:

• Free and Focused: Analyzes loading speeds for webpages and provides actionable recommendations for improvement.
• User Experience Insights: Offers metrics related to user experience and performance.
• Direct Data from Google: Provides data and suggestions based on Google’s performance standards.

PageSpeed Insights Cons:

• Limited Scope: Focuses specifically on page speed and does not cover broader SEO elements.
• No Real-Time Monitoring: Provides a snapshot rather than ongoing performance tracking.

PageSpeed Insights is ideal for analyzing and improving your website’s loading speeds. It offers direct feedback from Google on how to enhance page performance, although it does not cover all aspects of SEO.

Looker Studio (Web)

Looker Studio Pros:

• Data Visualization: Allows for advanced data reporting and visualization from various sources.
• Customizable Reports: Offers customizable dashboards and integration with multiple data sources.
• Free and Flexible: Available at no cost with robust reporting features.

Looker Studio Cons:

• Learning Curve: Requires some familiarity with data visualization to use effectively.
• Not an SEO Tool: Primarily a reporting and visualization tool rather than a dedicated SEO audit tool.

Looker Studio is excellent for creating detailed, customizable reports and visualizations. While not an SEO tool itself, it can pull data from various sources, including Google Analytics and Google Search Console, to provide comprehensive insights.

Make the Most of Your SEO Audit Tool

While these Google tools provide critical insights into your website’s performance, they are just a part of a broader SEO strategy. Many SEO tools available in the market offer comprehensive suites that include various auditing capabilities. When choosing an SEO tool, consider your long-term needs and whether the tool provides additional features that align with your overall SEO strategy.

I would love to know which which SEO audit tool is your favorite? Comment below