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Sitebulb vs Ahrefs Site Audit

Sitebulb (Desktop and cloud SEO crawler) and Ahrefs Site Audit (Cloud SEO crawler inside an all-in-one SEO platform) 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.

Sitebulb

Desktop and cloud SEO crawler

Paid subscription; Cloud from £95/month (FAQ)Local or cloud

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

Compatibility at a glance

Sitebulb scores 88 on coverage and 58 on automation; Ahrefs Site Audit scores 75 and 75. Both out of 100, counted from the table.

Out of 24 capabilities we compare for every tool.

13both have
5only Sitebulb
3only Ahrefs Site Audit

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.

30Price and setup5 rows30
50Interfaces2 rows0
50AI agents and integrations2 rows100
100Crawl3 rows83
100Audit5 rows80
63Data sources4 rows63
50Reports and follow-up3 rows50
65Overall24 rows58

Side by side

CapabilitySitebulbAhrefs Site Audit
Price and setup
Free to useNo: Paid subscription; Cloud from £95/month (FAQ)Partly: Paid plans: Starter $29/mo; Lite $129/mo; free tier
Open sourceNo: Proprietary commercial softwareNo: Proprietary SaaS
Runs on your machinePartly: Desktop crawls locally; Cloud runs in browserNo: Crawl runs in Ahrefs cloud
Works without an accountPartly: Cloud and MCP need an account; Desktop not statedNo: Free account and verified site required
Free tierPartly: 14-day trial equal to Pro, no card; no free tierYes: 5,000 crawl credits per verified project/month
Interfaces
Desktop appYes: Windows 10/11 (64-bit), macOS Sonoma+ (Apple/Intel)No: Web app only
Command lineNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsNo: Not found in public docs
AI agents and integrations
MCP server for AI agentsYes: Official read-only MCP for Claude/ChatGPT, Desktop and CloudYes: Official hosted remote MCP, paid plans from Lite
APINo: Cloud: no API yet; webhooks and Data Studio connectorYes: API v3 Site Audit endpoints, paid plans from Lite
Crawl
JavaScript renderingYes: Evergreen Chromium rendering, all plans, toggleableYes: Optional JavaScript execution in crawl settings
Scheduled crawlsYes: Scheduled/recurring audits on Pro and CloudYes: Scheduled crawls plus Always-on audit (Lite+)
Custom extractionYes: Content Extraction (CSS selector, regex) and Content SearchPartly: Post-crawl search of raw/rendered HTML; no XPath found
Audit
Audit checksYes: 300+ Hints (vendor Hints page)Yes: 170+ issues, per Site Audit page
HreflangYes: Hreflang report/checkerYes: Hreflang issues and graph view
Structured dataYes: Structured Data validator reportYes: Checked against 190+ Google/Schema.org requirements
Core Web Vitals / LighthouseYes: Web Vitals and Lighthouse via Chrome, sampled (default 10%)Yes: CrUX and Lighthouse metrics; PSI API key
AccessibilityYes: Accessibility audit, 35+ Hints linked to axe guidesNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Data sources
Google Search ConsoleYes: Search Console data, keywords and URL InspectionPartly: GSC import/verification of projects; deeper use unclear
Google Analytics 4Yes: GA4 (or Universal) visitor data in auditsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
Backlink dataNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsYes: Own index in Site Explorer (free: 1,000 shown)
Keyword dataPartly: Keywords report from Search Console data onlyYes: Organic keywords in Site Explorer (free: 1,000 shown)
Reports and follow-up
Report exportsYes: Custom PDF reports, Data Studio, Google Sheets; CSV/XLSXYes: CSV and ZIP bulk issue export
Task list and fix recheckPartly: Prioritized Hints and audit-to-audit comparisonPartly: Crawl-to-crawl comparison and alerts; no task list found
Reads Screaming Frog exportsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docsNot found in public docs: Not found in public docs
yespartlynonot found in public docs

Where each one is stronger

Sitebulb

  • Prioritized Hints (300+) explain each issue and why it matters, which suits client-facing audits.
  • Customizable PDF reports and Data Studio / Google Sheets connectors for stakeholder reporting.
  • Cloud edition supports team collaboration on shared crawl data and crawls up to 10 million URLs per audit.
  • Built-in Search Console and GA4 integration, including URL Inspection data and orphan-page discovery.
  • Site-wide Web Vitals and Lighthouse collection in the crawl, with findings grouped across pages.

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

Questions

Which is cheaper, Sitebulb or Ahrefs Site Audit?
Sitebulb: Paid subscription; Cloud from £95/month (FAQ). Ahrefs Site Audit: Paid plans: Starter $29/mo; Lite $129/mo; free tier. Prices as published on 21 October 2026; check the vendors' pricing pages before you buy.
Does Sitebulb or Ahrefs Site Audit run on my own machine?
Sitebulb: desktop crawls locally; Cloud runs in browser. Ahrefs Site Audit: crawl runs in Ahrefs cloud.
Can AI agents use Sitebulb or Ahrefs Site Audit?
MCP server — Sitebulb: official read-only MCP for Claude/ChatGPT, Desktop and Cloud; Ahrefs Site Audit: official hosted remote MCP, paid plans from Lite. API — Sitebulb: cloud: no API yet; webhooks and Data Studio connector; Ahrefs Site Audit: aPI v3 Site Audit endpoints, paid plans from Lite.
How much does Sitebulb cost?
It is a paid subscription with a 14-day free trial (equivalent to Pro desktop, no card). Desktop has Lite (10,000 URLs per audit) and Pro (500,000 URLs); Cloud requires 2+ users and starts from £95/month per the FAQ. Desktop prices were not readable on the pricing page; yearly plans save 15%.
Is Ahrefs Site Audit free?
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.

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

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

Compare with SpiderHead

SpiderHead vs SitebulbDesktop and cloud SEO crawlerSpiderHead vs Ahrefs Site AuditCloud SEO crawler inside an all-in-one SEO platformAll tools, one table8 SEO crawlers and audit tools

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