Hreflang Tags Testing Tool vs Screaming Frog SEO Spider (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Hreflang Tags Testing Tool if

• Fits if you're checking a multilingual site's hreflang setup before launch
• Works for tracking down missing return tag errors from Search Console

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if your hreflang lives in XML sitemaps or you use a sitemap index, as neither is read
• Not for you if you don't have LinkedIn, the only way to sign in for higher limits and the API
• Tight if your site is large: 30 URLs a test without signing in, and anything past the signed-in limit arranged by email
• Watch out: its pages give different signed-in limits (100 or 250 URLs a test), and the API docs mention a premium tier with no price
• Watch out: the maker describes it as a hobby project run by one person

Pick Screaming Frog SEO Spider if

• Fits if you're a technical SEO who audits large sites from your own computer
• Works for sites under 500 URLs, which the free version crawls with no time limit

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want keyword research, rank tracking or backlinks, as it only crawls
• Not for you if you'd rather not learn technical SEO terms, XPath or regex
• Tight if your computer is short on memory or storage, since crawl size depends on it, and there's no web or phone version
• Pricey if a team needs it: licences are $279 per user a year, so two people need two
• Watch out: the free version can't save crawls, render JavaScript, schedule audits or connect to Google data

Hreflang Tags Testing Tool

• Hreflang declared inside XML sitemaps is not analyzed; the sitemap is only used to find URLs.
• Signing in works only through a LinkedIn account.
• Its pages give different limits for signed-in users (100 or 250 URLs per test), and higher limits are arranged by email.
• The maker describes it as a hobby project; the API docs mention a premium tier with no published price.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

• Licences are per user and last one year; two people need two licences.
• It is a desktop app, so crawl size depends on the computer's memory and storage.
• The free version cannot save crawls, render JavaScript, schedule audits or connect to Google data.

Hreflang Tags Testing Tool

List or sitemap crawl

Tests a pasted list of URLs, one per line, or every page in an XML sitemap. Sitemap index files are not supported.

Return tag and cluster checks

Confirms that every page in a language cluster links back to the others and references itself in its own hreflang set.

Code, canonical and x-default checks

Flags invalid ISO language and country codes, duplicates, canonicals pointing to another URL and a missing x-default.

Page health

Checks that every hreflang URL answers with a 200 status rather than a redirect, 404 or 403. Hreflang sent in HTTP headers is read too.

Excel export and history

Results can be exported to an Excel workbook, and signed-in users can see past tests, re-run them and save favorites.

Free REST API

Signed-in users can generate an API key to submit URL lists or sitemaps and fetch results; the free tier allows 50 URLs per test and 10 tests a day.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Technical SEO audit

Find broken links, server errors, redirect chains, missing or duplicate titles and descriptions, and directives such as noindex and canonicals.

JavaScript rendering

With a licence, render pages in a built-in Chromium to crawl sites built with frameworks such as React, Angular and Vue.

Custom extraction and search

Pull any data from page HTML with XPath, CSS Path or regex, and search source code across a whole crawl (licence only).

Google and AI integrations

Pull Google Analytics, Search Console and PageSpeed Insights data into a crawl, or run pages through OpenAI and Gemini (licence only).

Scheduling and crawl comparison

Schedule crawls with exports to Google Sheets or run them from the command line, and compare crawls or staging against production.

Site visualisations and sitemaps

See site structure as force-directed and tree diagrams, and generate XML and image sitemaps from a crawl.

Hreflang Tags Testing Tool

• Free$0

  Hreflang tests on a URL list or sitemap, 30 URLs per test without signing in and more with a free LinkedIn login.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

• Free$0

  Up to 500 URLs per crawl, broken links, redirects, metadata, duplicates, XML sitemaps and site visualisations.

• Paid licence$279

  per user / year, for 1 to 4 licences

  No crawl limit beyond memory and storage, saved crawls, scheduling, JavaScript rendering, crawl comparison, integrations and support. £199 in pounds.

Hreflang Tags Testing Tool

No public discounts listed.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

• Other savings

  Volume pricing from 5 licences

  Buying 5 to 9 licences at once costs $265 each a year, 10 to 19 cost $249 each, and 20 or more cost $235 each, against $279 for 1 to 4.