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SpiderHead vs LibreCrawl

Both are free, MIT-licensed and run on your own infrastructure. LibreCrawl is a self-hosted Flask web app with a browser UI, an HTTP API and multi-user mode; SpiderHead is a crawler and audit toolkit with a desktop app, a CLI and a local MCP server.

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

SpiderHead

Open-source crawler and audit toolkit

Free and open source; no paid tierRuns on your machine

LibreCrawl

Open-source web-based SEO crawler (self-hosted)

Free, $0; donations requestedRuns on your machine

Compatibility at a glance

SpiderHead scores 71 on coverage and 83 on automation; LibreCrawl scores 29 and 50. Both out of 100, counted from the table.

Out of 24 capabilities we compare for every tool.

13both have
11only SpiderHead
0only LibreCrawl

Market map

Crawl, audit and data coverage / Automation and AI agents: SpiderHead 71·83, Screaming Frog 92·75, Sitebulb 88·58, Ahrefs Site Audit 75·75, Semrush Site Audit 63·75, SEOnaut 8·25, LibreCrawl 29·50, advertools 21·2500252550507575100100Crawl, audit and data coverage →Automation and AI agents →SpiderHeadScreaming FrogSitebulbAhrefs Site AuditSemrush Site AuditSEOnautLLibreCrawlAadvertools
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.

100Price and setup5 rows90
100Interfaces2 rows25
75AI agents and integrations2 rows50
67Crawl3 rows33
80Audit5 rows50
63Data sources4 rows0
100Reports and follow-up3 rows50
83Overall24 rows46

Using both

There is no direct integration. LibreCrawl exports CSV, XLSX, JSON or XML; another crawler's CSV can be imported into SpiderHead through a declared import manifest.

Side by side

CapabilitySpiderHeadLibreCrawl
Price and setup
Free to useYes: Free and open source; no paid tierYes: Free, $0; donations requested
Open sourceYes: Core MIT; Desktop GPL-3.0-or-later (PyQt5)Yes: Yes, MIT licence
Runs on your machineYes: Crawl and storage run on your machineYes: Self-hosted; Local mode on 127.0.0.1
Works without an accountYes: No account; no hosted servicePartly: Not in Local mode; login in Standard mode
Free tierYes: No licence cap; default crawl cap 200 URLsYes: No URL cap stated; guests 3 crawls/24h
Interfaces
Desktop appYes: PyQt5 app: macOS, Windows, LinuxNo: Web UI in browser (Docker or Python)
Command lineYes: seohead CLI, 230 commandsPartly: python main.py --local; no crawl CLI
AI agents and integrations
MCP server for AI agentsYes: Local stdio server, 246 toolsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
APIPartly: Python API; optional self-hosted job APIYes: Session-auth HTTP API, 19 endpoints
Crawl
JavaScript renderingPartly: Optional Playwright extra; raw HTML by defaultYes: Yes, via Playwright (Chromium)
Scheduled crawlsPartly: Writes launchd/cron/Task Scheduler trigger; no daemonNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Custom extractionYes: Declarative extraction rules and content selectorsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Audit
Audit checksYes: 280 checks (generated registry, CHECKS.md)Not found in public docs: No count; 13 check areas listed
HreflangYes: hreflang-check plus hreflang audit checksYes: Listed among audit checks
Structured dataYes: schema-check/schema-build and Schema.org checksPartly: Schema listed among audit checks
Core Web Vitals / LighthousePartly: Lab render-check, CrUX field data; Lighthouse JSON suppliedYes: PageSpeed Insights Core Web Vitals
AccessibilityPartly: Static a11y checks only (lang, labels, alt)Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Data sources
Google Search ConsoleYes: Search Console via provider (OAuth/service account)Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Google Analytics 4Partly: Landing pages and page views via provider callsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Backlink dataPartly: Donor-list verification and CSV import; no own indexNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Keyword dataPartly: Via external providers (Wordstat, Arsenkin, DataForSEO)Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Reports and follow-up
Report exportsYes: XLSX, DOCX, CSV, Markdown, JSON, PDF overviewYes: CSV, XLSX, JSON, XML (site: CSV/JSON/XML)
Task list and fix recheckYes: Task backlog, verify-fixes, remediation ledgerPartly: Issue filtering; no task tracking found
Reads Screaming Frog exportsYes: Screaming Frog CSV/XLSX export analysisNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
yespartlynonot found in public docs

Where each one is stronger

SpiderHead

  • 280 published audit checks, each reporting a finding, clean, skipped or failed.
  • A local MCP server with 246 tools and a CLI with 230 commands for AI agents and scripts.
  • A native desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux.
  • Reads Screaming Frog exports, joins Search Console data, and keeps a task backlog with fix rechecks.

LibreCrawl

  • Fully open source under MIT, so the code can be modified and self-hosted.
  • Multi-user mode with isolated sessions and tiers for teams sharing one server.
  • Browser plugin system: JavaScript files add custom tabs reading crawl data.
  • Documented HTTP API with crawl start, stop, pause, resume and export endpoints.
  • Built-in PageSpeed Insights and JavaScript rendering via Playwright.

Questions

Is LibreCrawl free?
Yes. The README and website state it is free and MIT-licensed; the author asks for optional donations.
Does it render JavaScript?
Yes, through Playwright with Chromium, which is optional to install. The README notes rendering is slower than HTTP-only crawling.
How do I run it?
Via Docker Compose or Python (python main.py), then open http://localhost:5000. Local mode gives every user admin access; Standard mode requires login.

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

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

More LibreCrawl comparisons

Screaming Frog vs LibreCrawlOpen-source web-based SEO crawler (self-hosted)Sitebulb vs LibreCrawlOpen-source web-based SEO crawler (self-hosted)Ahrefs Site Audit vs LibreCrawlOpen-source web-based SEO crawler (self-hosted)Semrush Site Audit vs LibreCrawlOpen-source web-based SEO crawler (self-hosted)SEOnaut vs LibreCrawlOpen-source web-based SEO crawler (self-hosted)LibreCrawl vs advertoolsPython library with a Scrapy-based SEO crawlerAll tools, one table8 SEO crawlers and audit tools

Try SpiderHead on your own site

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