META SEO inspector vs Robots Exclusion Checker (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, META SEO inspector and Robots Exclusion Checker share a 3.0 GPA, both are free, so the choice depends on which features you need.
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.
META SEO inspector
Free Chrome extension that lays out a page's hidden metadata
Free
Robots Exclusion Checker
Free Chrome extension that flags robots rules blocking a page
Free
Which one is for you
Pick META SEO inspector if
- Fits if you check titles, descriptions and social tags before a page goes live
- Works for teams that need the interface in a language other than English
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're not on Chrome, as the developer names no other browser
- Too light for whole-site audits, since it inspects the page in front of you
- Not for you if you want search volumes or backlinks, which it doesn't show
- Watch out: the developer hasn't identified itself as a trader, so EU consumer rights don't apply
- Watch out: it's a one-person project, with requests and bug reports going by email or X
Pick Robots Exclusion Checker if
- Fits if you need to know why a page isn't being crawled or indexed
- Works for checking at a glance whether a site blocks AI crawlers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're not on Chrome, as no other browser is named
- Too light for whole-site audits, since it reports on the URL open in the browser
- Not for you if you want the interface in a language beyond English, German, Spanish and French
- Watch out: the developer hasn't identified itself as a trader, so EU consumer rights don't apply
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAMETA SEO inspectorVery good | 3.0GPARobots Exclusion CheckerVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree with no account, logins or fees; the developer takes optional donations through PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. | AFree from the Chrome Web Store, with no account and no paid version listed. |
| Free plan and trial | AEvery feature is free and there's no paid version, so nothing is held back. | AFree outright: all six checks, the user-agent switcher and link highlighting, with nothing to upgrade to. |
| Features | CTitles and descriptions with length checks, canonicals, meta robots, H1 to H6, alt text, Open Graph and Twitter tags, JSON-LD and a new broken link checker. The basics, with no search volumes, rankings or backlink data. | CRobots.txt rules highlighted, meta robots and X-Robots-Tag, canonical mismatch warnings, 14 AI bots from 6 companies, nofollow, ugc and sponsored links, and Googlebot or Bing user-agents. It does indexing checks fully, a smaller job, with no headings or search data. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but no account and nothing to set up: click the icon, or dock it in the side panel, and the page's metadata is listed. | BNo rating on record, but nothing to set up: the icon turns red, amber or green on the next page you load. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMade for Chrome, so computers only, with no Firefox, Safari or Edge version named. No integrations, though it links out to site testers. | CChrome only, so computers only, with no Firefox, Safari or Edge version named and no integrations. |
| Best for | a page's hidden metadata in a side panel | finding what stops a page being indexed |
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: META SEO inspector and Robots Exclusion Checker. How we grade
Price against what you get
META SEO inspector has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Robots Exclusion Checker 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 SEO browser extensions on the chart, none scores higher than META SEO inspector for less, and none scores higher than Robots Exclusion Checker 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
- META SEO inspector also covers schema markup.
- Robots Exclusion Checker also covers AI search visibility.
In commonFree planBrowser extensionSite audit
At a glance
| META SEO inspector | Robots Exclusion Checker | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Completely free with no account, logins or fees; the developer accepts optional donations through PayPal or Buy Me a Coffee. | The whole extension is a free install from the Chrome Web Store, with no account and no paid version listed. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Omiod (Andrea Doimo) | checkrobots.com |
| Price read from | omiod.com | chromewebstore.google.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
META SEO inspector
- It is made for Chrome; the developer names no Firefox, Safari or Edge version.
- It inspects the page in front of you and does not crawl a whole site.
- The developer has not identified itself as a trader, so EU consumer rights do not apply, as the store listing notes.
- It is a one-person project; feature requests and bug reports go to the developer by email or X.
Robots Exclusion Checker
- It is listed for Chrome only; the store listing names no Firefox, Safari or Edge version.
- It reports on the URL open in the browser, one page at a time, rather than auditing a whole site.
- The developer has not identified itself as a trader, so EU consumer rights do not apply, as the store listing notes.
- The interface comes in English, German, Spanish and French only.
Key features
META SEO inspector
- Metadata with length checks
- Shows titles and descriptions with their character counts, canonicals and meta robots, and flags tags that are missing, cut off or too long.
- Headings and image alt text
- Lists the H1 to H6 headings in order and the ALT text of the page's images.
- Social tags and JSON-LD
- Displays Open Graph and Twitter tags and extracts the page's full JSON-LD schema in one click.
- Broken link checker
- A newly added checker tests the page's links; the store listing also counts internal and unique links.
- Docked side panel
- The inspector can stay open in Chrome's side panel while you browse, with dark or light and compact or comfortable themes.
- Exports and print reports
- Export meta values or a dataset, print a report, and jump to outside site testers and safety checkers from the panel.
Robots Exclusion Checker
- Robots.txt rule finder
- When an Allow or Disallow rule affects the current URL, it shows that rule and the full robots.txt with the rule highlighted.
- Meta robots and X-Robots-Tag
- Flags index, noindex, follow and nofollow directives in the HTML and in the HTTP header, and shows the full header with exclusions marked.
- AI bot check
- Checks robots.txt against 14 AI bots from 6 companies, covering training, search indexing and live browsing, and adds an AI label to the icon when any are blocked.
- Canonical mismatch warnings
- Reads canonical tags from the HTML head and the HTTP header and turns the icon amber when the canonical URL differs from the current one.
- Nofollow, UGC and sponsored links
- Optionally highlights links with those rel values on the page, in colors you choose; off by default on new installs.
- Search engine user-agents
- Simulate what Googlebot, Googlebot News, Bing or Yahoo may access, chosen in settings. 404 pages are flagged in red.
Plans
META SEO inspector
Free$0
Every feature, with no account needed; optional donations to the developer.
Robots Exclusion Checker
Free$0
All six checks, the user-agent switcher and link highlighting, free from the Chrome Web Store.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, META SEO inspector or Robots Exclusion Checker?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both META SEO inspector and Robots Exclusion Checker are free to use.
Which has a free plan, META SEO inspector or Robots Exclusion Checker?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both META SEO inspector and Robots Exclusion Checker have a free plan.
More comparisons
- META SEO inspector vs Detailed SEO Extension
- META SEO inspector vs SEO META in 1 CLICK
- META SEO inspector vs SEOquake
- META SEO inspector vs HeadingsMap
- META SEO inspector vs SEO Pro Extension
- Robots Exclusion Checker vs Detailed SEO Extension
- Robots Exclusion Checker vs SEOquake
- Robots Exclusion Checker vs NoFollow
- Robots Exclusion Checker vs Redirect Path
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.