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Semrush Site Audit vs advertools

Semrush Site Audit (Cloud SEO platform module (technical site audit)) and advertools (Python library with a Scrapy-based SEO crawler) 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.

Semrush Site Audit

Cloud SEO platform module (technical site audit)

Subscription; SEO+AI Search Starter $165.17/mo annual ($199 monthly)Runs in the vendor cloud

advertools

Python library with a Scrapy-based SEO crawler

Free, MIT licence; no paid tierRuns on your machine

Compatibility at a glance

Semrush Site Audit scores 63 on coverage and 75 on automation; advertools scores 21 and 25. Both out of 100, counted from the table.

Out of 24 capabilities we compare for every tool.

8both have
7only Semrush Site Audit
4only advertools

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.

20Price and setup5 rows100
0Interfaces2 rows0
100AI agents and integrations2 rows25
50Crawl3 rows33
60Audit5 rows20
75Data sources4 rows13
50Reports and follow-up3 rows33
50Overall24 rows38

Side by side

CapabilitySemrush Site Auditadvertools
Price and setup
Free to usePartly: Subscription; SEO+AI Search Starter $165.17/mo annual ($199 monthly)Yes: Free, MIT licence; no paid tier
Open sourceNo: Proprietary SaaSYes: Yes, MIT licence
Runs on your machineNo: Crawl runs in Semrush cloudYes: Runs in your own Python environment
Works without an accountNo: Semrush account required (free account available)Yes: None for crawling (some SERP APIs need own keys)
Free tierPartly: Free account with limited tools; free SEO checker pageYes: No limits; free library
Interfaces
Desktop appNo: Web app onlyNo: Python library, no native app
Command lineNo: Not found in public docsNot found in public docs: No CLI documented; used from Python
AI agents and integrations
MCP server for AI agentsYes: Official hosted MCP (SEO, Trends, read-only Projects API)Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
APIYes: Projects API v3: run audit, snapshots, issuesPartly: Python API; no hosted web API
Crawl
JavaScript renderingPartly: Plan-dependent; docs differ by plan tierNo: Not built in; scrapy-playwright mentioned
Scheduled crawlsYes: Scheduled recurring audits (e.g. weekly)No: No built-in scheduler; run via your own cron
Custom extractionNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsYes: CSS and XPath selectors via crawl()
Audit
Audit checksYes: 140+ technical checks (feature page)No: No fixed audit checklist; raw crawl data columns
HreflangYes: International SEO report: hreflang codes, conflictsPartly: Extracts alternate/hreflang links; no audit report
Structured dataPartly: Markup checks listed among audit areasPartly: Extracts JSON-LD columns; no validation
Core Web Vitals / LighthousePartly: Lighthouse-based CWV report, 10 pages per auditNo: Not documented for the crawler
AccessibilityNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsNo: Not documented
Data sources
Google Search ConsoleYes: Via My Reports (Search Console data in PDF reports)Not found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Google Analytics 4Yes: GA connection in Site Audit and My ReportsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Backlink dataNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsNo: No backlink data in the crawler
Keyword dataYes: Daily keyword tracking (Starter: 500 keywords)Partly: SERP functions for Google and YouTube (own API keys)
Reports and follow-up
Report exportsYes: Excel, CSV, PDF; limits depend on planPartly: JSON Lines output; parquet conversion; pandas
Task list and fix recheckPartly: Recurring re-audits and snapshot historyPartly: compare() diffs two crawls; no task tracking
Reads Screaming Frog exportsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsNo: Not documented
yespartlynonot found in public docs

Where each one is stronger

Semrush Site Audit

  • Fully hosted: no installation, no local resources, crawls run in the vendor cloud
  • Same account gives keyword tracking, competitor and other SEO tools alongside the audit
  • Scheduled recurring audits with a snapshot history of earlier crawls
  • Official hosted MCP server and Projects API for reading Site Audit project data
  • PDF and report building that combines audit data with Google Analytics and Search Console

advertools

  • Fully scriptable in Python with every Scrapy setting exposed, so crawl behavior is highly customisable
  • Crawl output is tidy tabular data for pandas, including large crawls through parquet conversion
  • Also covers sitemap and robots.txt downloads, log-file parsing and SERP API helpers in one package
  • Free MIT-licensed code with no URL limits or account

Questions

Which is cheaper, Semrush Site Audit or advertools?
Semrush Site Audit: Subscription; SEO+AI Search Starter $165.17/mo annual ($199 monthly). advertools: Free, MIT licence; no paid tier. Prices as published on 21 October 2026; check the vendors' pricing pages before you buy.
Does Semrush Site Audit or advertools run on my own machine?
Semrush Site Audit: crawl runs in Semrush cloud. advertools: runs in your own Python environment.
Can AI agents use Semrush Site Audit or advertools?
MCP server — Semrush Site Audit: official hosted MCP (SEO, Trends, read-only Projects API); advertools: not found in public docs. API — Semrush Site Audit: projects API v3: run audit, snapshots, issues; advertools: python API; no hosted web API.
Does Semrush Site Audit run on my machine?
No. Crawls run in Semrush's cloud and are configured in the web app; a Semrush account is required.
Is advertools an audit tool with reports?
No fixed audit checklist is published. It extracts page elements into data tables, and the analysis is done by the user in pandas; a few helpers cover links, images, redirects and crawl comparison.

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

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

Compare with SpiderHead

SpiderHead vs Semrush Site AuditCloud SEO platform module (technical site audit)SpiderHead vs advertoolsPython library with a Scrapy-based SEO crawlerAll tools, one table8 SEO crawlers and audit tools

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