Ahrefs Site Audit vs SEOnaut

Ahrefs Site Audit (Cloud SEO crawler inside an all-in-one SEO platform) and SEOnaut (Open-source web-based SEO auditing tool (self-hosted or hosted)) on the same 24 capabilities, with a source for every cell and charts counted from the table.

Checked 21 October 2026 against each vendor's own public pages. Sources below.

Ahrefs Site Audit

Cloud SEO crawler inside an all-in-one SEO platform

Paid plans: Starter $29/mo; Lite $129/mo; free tierRuns in the vendor cloud

SEOnaut

Open-source web-based SEO auditing tool (self-hosted or hosted)

Free MIT self-host; hosted Growth $9/monthRuns on your machine

Compatibility at a glance

Ahrefs Site Audit scores 75 on coverage and 75 on automation; SEOnaut scores 8 and 25. Both out of 100, counted from the table.

Out of 24 capabilities we compare for every tool.

4both have

12only Ahrefs Site Audit

3only SEOnaut

Market map

Horizontal axisVertical axis

Scores are counted from the table: yes = 1, partly = ½, no or not found in public docs = 0, as a share of the rows on each axis. Horizontal: Crawl, audit and data coverage (12 rows). Vertical: Automation and AI agents (6 rows). Hover or focus a marker for the breakdown; click to keep it open.

Coverage by group

Share of rows each tool covers in a group, 0–100, counted from the table below.

30Price and setup5 rows90

0Interfaces2 rows0

100AI agents and integrations2 rows0

83Crawl3 rows33

80Audit5 rows0

63Data sources4 rows0

50Reports and follow-up3 rows17

58Overall24 rows25

Side by side

Capability	Ahrefs Site Audit	SEOnaut
Price and setup
Free to use	Partly: Paid plans: Starter $29/mo; Lite $129/mo; free tier	Yes: Free MIT self-host; hosted Growth $9/month
Open source	No: Proprietary SaaS	Yes: Yes, MIT licence (LICENSE file / README)
Runs on your machine	No: Crawl runs in Ahrefs cloud	Yes: Self-hosted via Docker; hosted version also exists
Works without an account	No: Free account and verified site required	Partly: Sign-in in the web app; hosted needs sign-up
Free tier	Yes: 5,000 crawl credits per verified project/month	Yes: Hosted Lite: 1 project, 500 URLs; self-host: none stated
Interfaces
Desktop app	No: Web app only	No: Web app run via Docker, no native app
Command line	No: Not found in public docs	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
AI agents and integrations
MCP server for AI agents	Yes: Official hosted remote MCP, paid plans from Lite	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
API	Yes: API v3 Site Audit endpoints, paid plans from Lite	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Crawl
JavaScript rendering	Yes: Optional JavaScript execution in crawl settings	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Scheduled crawls	Yes: Scheduled crawls plus Always-on audit (Lite+)	Yes: Hosted Growth lists recurring audits
Custom extraction	Partly: Post-crawl search of raw/rendered HTML; no XPath found	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Audit
Audit checks	Yes: 170+ issues, per Site Audit page	Not found in public docs: No count published; issues in 3 severity levels
Hreflang	Yes: Hreflang issues and graph view	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Structured data	Yes: Checked against 190+ Google/Schema.org requirements	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Core Web Vitals / Lighthouse	Yes: CrUX and Lighthouse metrics; PSI API key	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Accessibility	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Data sources
Google Search Console	Partly: GSC import/verification of projects; deeper use unclear	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Google Analytics 4	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Backlink data	Yes: Own index in Site Explorer (free: 1,000 shown)	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Keyword data	Yes: Organic keywords in Site Explorer (free: 1,000 shown)	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Reports and follow-up
Report exports	Yes: CSV and ZIP bulk issue export	Partly: Report export mentioned; formats not named
Task list and fix recheck	Partly: Crawl-to-crawl comparison and alerts; no task list found	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Reads Screaming Frog exports	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs	Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs

yespartlynonot found in public docs

Where each one is stronger

Ahrefs Site Audit

Large first-party backlink and keyword datasets alongside the audit, in one account
Hosted crawling with no local setup and high crawl speeds on verified sites
Always-on audit with email alerts and scheduled crawls without running anything locally
Official hosted MCP server and API v3 with Site Audit endpoints for AI agents
Free access for verified sites through Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

SEOnaut

Ships as a ready web dashboard with charts and issues grouped by severity, with no scripting needed
MIT-licensed code that can be self-hosted with a Docker compose file
Offers an optional hosted version with team collaboration and recurring audits
Stores crawl results in MySQL, which suits a persistent multi-project web interface

Questions

Ahrefs Site Audit: Paid plans: Starter $29/mo; Lite $129/mo; free tier. SEOnaut: Free MIT self-host; hosted Growth $9/month. Prices as published on 21 October 2026; check the vendors' pricing pages before you buy.

Ahrefs Site Audit: crawl runs in Ahrefs cloud. SEOnaut: self-hosted via Docker; hosted version also exists.

MCP server — Ahrefs Site Audit: official hosted remote MCP, paid plans from Lite; SEOnaut: not found in public docs. API — Ahrefs Site Audit: aPI v3 Site Audit endpoints, paid plans from Lite; SEOnaut: not found in public docs.

Yes, for verified sites: Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (now Ahrefs Free) includes Site Audit with 5,000 crawl credits per verified project per month. Analyzing competitors requires a paid plan.

The community edition is open source under the MIT licence and can be self-hosted. The hosted service lists a free Lite plan (1 project, 500 URLs) and a Growth plan at $9/month on its site as of 2026-10-21.

How we compared

Every cell comes from the vendor's own public pages (product, documentation, pricing, release notes, repository) on 21 October 2026.
“Not found in public docs” means we could not confirm it from an official source, not that the feature is missing. Charts count it as 0.
Prices and plans change. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.

Sources

Ahrefs Site Audit is a trademark of Ahrefs Pte. Ltd.. SEOnaut is a trademark of SEOnaut project (open source). Names and icons identify the products compared; SpiderHead is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Ahrefs Pte. Ltd. or SEOnaut project (open source). Owners can ask us to remove an icon via contact.

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