Rapid URL Indexer vs Screaming Frog SEO Spider (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Rapid URL Indexer if

• Fits if you push backlinks or pages you do not own and have no Search Console access
• Works for people who want one-off credits that do not expire

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want something free, since there is no plan or trial
• Not for you if you need a guarantee, as the vendor says indexing is not guaranteed
• Watch out: only standard credits are refunded, and Apex returns just 1 of its 3 credits
• Watch out: the first verified report arrives after 4 days, so it is slow for urgent pages
• Tight if you want a subscription, as credits come in packs only

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

Rapid URL Indexer

• Google makes the final indexing decision, and the vendor says indexing is not guaranteed.
• Only the standard 1 credit per URL is refunded for unindexed links; Bing and Apex credits are non-refundable, and Apex returns just 1 of its 3 credits.
• The first verified report arrives after 4 days, so standard mode is not suited to urgent pages.
• There is no recurring plan and no free tier; the smallest pack is $25.

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.

Rapid URL Indexer

Standard mode with credit returns

Each project is monitored for 14 days, and the credit for any URL still not in Google's index at the end is returned automatically.

Apex mode

A faster option for priority URLs that makes up to 3 attempts and charges 3 credits per URL. The vendor says typical results come in about 5 minutes.

No Search Console needed

Works on any URL, whether or not the customer owns the site, which suits backlinks, citations and tier 2 or tier 3 links.

Batch submission

A project accepts up to 10,000 URLs pasted in at once.

Reports and CSV export

A dashboard shows charts of indexing progress, with the first verified report after 4 days and a final report after 14.

API and plugins

A REST API, a WordPress plugin, a Chrome extension and a Zapier integration are listed for automating submissions.

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.

Rapid URL Indexer

• 500 Credits$25

  one-time, for 500 credits

  Sold as a starter pack at $0.05 per credit. One credit is one URL submitted in standard mode.

• 1,500 Credits$68

  one-time, for 1,500 credits

  $0.045 per credit. The page shows $75 crossed out and a 9% saving.

• 5,000 Credits$213

  one-time, for 5,000 credits

  $0.0426 per credit, labeled most popular. The page shows $250 crossed out and a 15% saving.

• 50,000 Credits$2,000

  one-time, for 50,000 credits

  $0.04 per credit, aimed at agencies. The page shows $2,500 crossed out and a 20% saving.

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.

Rapid URL Indexer

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.