Beam Us Up vs SiteOne Crawler (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick SiteOne Crawler: it is second in our ranking of technical SEO tools, and they share a 3.0 GPA.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SiteOne Crawler
Free open-source site crawler and audit report, as an app or CLI
Free
Which one is for you
Pick Beam Us Up if
- Fits if you want a site crawler without a subscription
- Works for developers who want to run crawls from the command line or a server
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need support you can count on, as it's one developer's project answered through site comments
- Too light for very big audits, since crawls use up to half your computer's memory and Excel exports stop at 65,536 rows
- Skip it if you want crawls run in the cloud, as it only runs on your own computer
- Watch out: its own site says paid crawlers such as Screaming Frog and Netpeak do more
Pick SiteOne Crawler if
- Fits if you want a whole-site audit report without paying for a licence
- Works for developers adding a site quality gate to a CI pipeline
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want crawls run in the cloud, as it runs only on your own computer or server
- Watch out: single-page apps are crawled only in the optional browser mode, which renders them in Chromium
- Not for you if you want AI help with no bill elsewhere, as the assistant uses your own API key or a local model
- Tight if you want reports emailed, which needs an SMTP server of your own
- Watch out: the desktop app comes from the project's own links, not yet the Mac App Store or Microsoft Store
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABeam Us UpVery good | 3.0GPASiteOne CrawlerVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, with no paid plans and no crawl limits stated. You download it and run it on your own computer, which counts as free and substantial on our ladder. | AFree and open source under MIT: the desktop app, the command-line binary and hosted links for sharing reports. You download it and run it on your own computer, with no paid tier on record. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright. The only extra is a free Google API key of your own if you want PageSpeed scores. | AFree outright, with every feature included. The only costs are your own: an SMTP server if you want reports emailed, and an LLM provider's charges if you switch the AI assistant on. |
| Features | CFinds broken links, redirects, duplicates, missing tags and canonical problems, with bulk PageSpeed, JavaScript rendering, AI bot checks, crawl comparison, a command line and MCP. Its own site says paid crawlers such as Screaming Frog are more capable, and Excel exports stop at 65,536 rows. | CSite-wide checks of SEO and OpenGraph tags, headings, redirects and 404s, security headers, SSL, caching and DNS, with a 0 to 10 score, CI gates and an offline mirror. The gaps: no hosted crawler, and no Search Console or analytics data on record. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record. You install it, type a site address and crawl, with nothing else to set up unless you want PageSpeed scores. | BNo rating on record. The desktop app is a download you open and point at a site, and the CLI is a single binary with no runtime to install. JavaScript rendering is an extra mode you switch on. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux, plus a command-line crawler and MCP links to Claude, Cursor, VS Code and Gemini CLI. Computers only, though: no web or phone version. | CMac, Windows and Linux, with GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins and your choice of OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or a local model. A program for computers only: no web or phone version. |
| Best for | free desktop crawls with no limits | free site-wide audits from a desktop app or CLI |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Beam Us Up and SiteOne Crawler. How we grade
Price against what you get
Beam Us Up has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SiteOne Crawler has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score for the same starting price. Of the other technical SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Beam Us Up for less, and none scores higher than SiteOne Crawler for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- SiteOne Crawler is open source, according to its own site.
- Beam Us Up also covers page speed.
In commonFree planWindowsmacOSLinuxSite audit
At a glance
| Beam Us Up | SiteOne Crawler | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole crawler is free with no stated crawl limits; PageSpeed scores need your own free Google API key. | Free and open source under the MIT license: the desktop app, the command-line tool and online sharing of HTML reports. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | BeamUsUp | SiteOne |
| Price read from | beamusup.com | crawler.siteone.io |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Beam Us Up
- It is desktop software only: crawls run on your own computer and can use up to half of its memory.
- The Excel export stops at 65,536 rows per sheet.
- It is a personal project of its developer, and support is offered through comments on the site.
- Its own site says paid crawlers such as Screaming Frog and Netpeak are more capable.
SiteOne Crawler
- It runs on your own computer or server; there is no hosted crawler, and emailed reports need your own SMTP server.
- The AI assistant uses your own API key or local model, so any LLM charges come from that provider.
- Pages built by JavaScript are crawled only in the optional browser mode, which renders them in Chromium.
- The desktop app is downloaded from the project's links; its page says it is not yet in the Mac App Store or Microsoft Store.
Key features
Beam Us Up
- Technical crawl checks
- Finds broken links, server and client errors, redirects, duplicate content, page titles, meta descriptions, H1 to H3 headings, canonicals and blocked URLs.
- PageSpeed scores in bulk
- Pulls Google PageSpeed results, including Core Web Vitals from real visitors, for crawled pages using a free Google API key.
- JavaScript rendering
- Version 2.0 can render pages using a Chrome or Edge browser already installed on the computer, set to never, auto or always.
- AI bot access checks
- An AI Access tab shows which of 27 search and AI bots the site's robots.txt allows, checks llms.txt, and can export an llms.txt draft.
- Crawl comparison
- Compares two crawls to show fixed, new and remaining issues and changed pages, with results exported as CSV files.
- Command line and MCP
- Installs a command-line crawler for scripts and servers, and can connect to AI apps such as Claude, Cursor and VS Code over MCP.
SiteOne Crawler
- Audit report and quality score
- Each crawl ends in a self-contained HTML report with a 0 to 10 score, weighted 25% security and 20% each for performance, SEO and accessibility.
- Site-wide checks
- Covers SEO and OpenGraph tags, headings, redirects and 404s, security headers, SSL/TLS certificates, caching headers, content types and DNS.
- JavaScript rendering and screenshots
- An optional browser mode renders each page in Chromium so single-page apps are crawled, and can capture every page as an image, GIF or MP4.
- CI/CD quality gate
- The --ci option fails a build when scores fall below set thresholds, with JUnit XML output and annotations for GitHub Actions.
- Offline clone and Markdown export
- Saves a static mirror of a whole site, assets included, or converts its pages to Markdown and an llms.txt file.
- Optional AI assistant
- With your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini, or a local model, adds per-page SEO rewrites, spelling checks and a site summary.
Plans
Beam Us Up
Free$0
The full desktop crawler for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no limits stated on the site.
SiteOne Crawler
Free$0
The desktop app and command-line crawler, run on your own computer, with free hosted links for sharing reports.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Beam Us Up or SiteOne Crawler?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Beam Us Up and SiteOne Crawler are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Beam Us Up or SiteOne Crawler?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Beam Us Up and SiteOne Crawler have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.