SEO Tracer vs Visual SEO Studio (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SEO Tracer grades higher than Visual SEO Studio: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
SEO Tracer grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
SEO Tracer
Native Mac and iOS SEO crawler that keeps crawl data on your device
Visual SEO Studio
Desktop SEO crawler for Windows and Mac with XML sitemap tools
Which one is for you
Pick SEO Tracer if
- Fits if you work on a Mac and want a native crawler with no Java runtime
- Works for quick technical checks of a site from an iPhone or iPad
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Windows or Linux, as it's Apple devices only
- Watch out: it needs macOS 15.6 or later, or iOS and iPadOS 18.6 or later
- Tight if you stay free, as each crawl session stops at 500 pages
- Watch out: App Store purchases are non-refundable except where the law or Apple's policies require
- Watch out: it obeys robots.txt by default, so blocked sections are skipped unless you switch the override on
Pick Visual SEO Studio if
- Fits if your site is under 500 pages and you want a free desktop crawler
- Works for SEOs who manage XML sitemaps and hreflang on international sites
Look elsewhere if
- Watch out: the newest version on its download page is from February 2023
- Too light for big sites on the free edition, which stops at 500 pages a crawl with no support
- Skip it if you use Linux or want a web app, as it's Windows and Mac only
- Tight if you work on several computers, as Professional is licensed per PC, per year, in euros
How we grade them
| 2.8GPASEO TracerGood | 2.4GPAVisual SEO StudioFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AMonthly Premium is $4.99 on the US App Store, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter of $13, and Yearly is $44.99. Lifetime Access at $129.99 once is under a year of the category's middle subscription. | CProfessional is €149 a year per PC, about €12.42 or $14.40 a month, for crawls of up to 150,000 pages. That's just above this category's cheapest quarter of $13 and under its $29 middle. EU consumers pay VAT on top. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree to download with no account or card, and every crawl session covers up to 500 pages. A small site can live on that; a bigger one needs Premium. | BThe Community Edition is free and crawls up to 500 pages with most of the inspection reports, so a blogger could live on it. It has no URL-list crawls, sitemap audits, outside data or support. |
| Features | CTitles, descriptions, headings, canonicals, broken links, status codes and redirect chains, with JavaScript rendering, custom extraction, list mode and 100,000+ page projects. The gaps: no Search Console data or scheduled crawls on record. | CA spider-style crawler with ready-made reports, custom filters, a sitemap editor and validator, bulk hreflang checks and a robots.txt editor. It sits at C because the newest version on the download page, 2.5.3, is dated February 2023. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record. It's an app you install and point at a site, with no account or Java runtime to set up. | BNo rating on record. You download it without registering, give it a site and crawl. |
| Platforms and integrations | CMac, iPhone and iPad, with crawl sessions moved between them as files. One family of devices: no Windows, Linux or web version, and no integrations on record. | CWindows and Mac, with Search Console, Bing and Moz data in Professional. A program for computers only: no web, phone or Linux version. |
| Best for | crawling a site from a Mac, iPhone or iPad | free desktop crawls of sites under 500 pages |
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: SEO Tracer and Visual SEO Studio. How we grade
Price against what you get
SEO Tracer starts at $4.99 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Visual SEO Studio starts at about $13.91 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and SEO Tracer starts $8.92 a month lower. Of the other technical SEO tools on the chart, 3 score higher than SEO Tracer for less, and 5 score higher than Visual SEO Studio 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
- SEO Tracer can be bought with a one-time purchase.
At a glance
| SEO Tracer | Visual SEO Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $4.99 per month | €149 per year, per PC, plus VAT for EU consumers |
| Free plan | Free download that crawls up to 500 pages per session, with no account or credit card needed. | Community Edition: free, crawls up to 500 pages with 2 connections, with most inspection reports. No URL-list crawls, sitemap audits, API data or support. |
| Free trial | None listed | 15-day trial of the Professional Edition; no registration needed to download |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Made by | Perpetual Media Ltd. | aStonish Studio Srl |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | visual-seo.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
SEO Tracer
- The free tier stops at 500 pages per crawl session; larger crawls need a Premium plan or Lifetime Access.
- Apple devices only: it needs macOS 15.6 or later, or iOS and iPadOS 18.6 or later, with no Windows, Linux or web version.
- Purchases go through the App Store, and the terms say they are non-refundable except where the law or Apple's policies require.
- Its crawler obeys robots.txt by default, so blocked sections are skipped unless you switch on the robots override.
Visual SEO Studio
- The Community Edition stops at 500 pages per crawl and includes no technical support.
- Professional is priced in euros only and is licensed per year for one PC.
- The latest version on the download page, 2.5.3, is dated February 2023.
- There is no Linux or web version.
Key features
SEO Tracer
- On-page data from every crawled page
- Collects titles, meta descriptions, H1 and H2 headings, canonicals, images, CSS and JavaScript, and flags missing titles and duplicate headings.
- Broken links and status codes
- Finds broken internal and external links, 4xx and 5xx errors and redirect chains, records server response times and filters pages by status code.
- JavaScript rendering
- Renders pages built with JavaScript before auditing them, and detects robots.txt files and sitemaps along the way.
- Custom extraction and list mode
- Pulls page data with CSS selectors, XPath or regular expressions, audits a pasted list of URLs, and reaches protected pages with HTTP Basic Auth or cookies.
- Large crawls kept on the device
- A database storage mode handles projects of 100,000+ pages. Crawl data stays local, and sessions move between Mac and iPhone or iPad as files.
- Exports and issue help
- Exports to CSV, HTML or PDF on the Mac, searches the downloaded HTML with text or regex, and explains each flagged issue with fix examples.
Visual SEO Studio
- Site crawler
- Follows internal links like a search spider, and in the Professional Edition can also crawl a list of URLs or the pages in an XML sitemap.
- Reports and custom filters
- Ready-made reports cover common SEO issues, and a query engine lets you filter crawl data your own way.
- XML sitemap tools
- A visual editor to pick which pages go in a sitemap, plus sitemap validation and, in Professional, sitemap audits.
- hreflang and international checks
- Checks hreflang annotations in bulk, supports Unicode URLs and IDN domains, and runs readability analysis in 4 languages.
- robots.txt editor
- A robots.txt viewer and editor with syntax highlighting and a syntax checker for several search engines.
- Search engine data
- The Professional Edition pulls in Google Search Console and Bing search traffic data and Moz link metrics.
Plans
SEO Tracer
Free$0
Up to 500 pages per crawl session on Mac, iPhone or iPad.
Monthly Premium$4.99
per month
Unlimited crawling and the Pro features, billed monthly through the App Store.
Yearly Premium$44.99
per year
The same unlimited crawling and Pro features, billed once a year through the App Store.
Lifetime Access$129.99
one-time
Unlimited crawling and the Pro features for a single payment, with no renewal.
Visual SEO Studio
Community€0
For small sites and bloggers: up to 500 pages per crawl, 2 connections, broken links, meta data, hreflang and XML sitemap generation.
Professional€149
per year, per PC, plus VAT for EU consumers
Up to 150,000 pages and 32 connections, URL-list crawls, sitemap audits, Search Console, Bing and Moz data, HTTP login and support.
Ways to pay less
SEO Tracer
- Annual discount
About 25% less with the yearly plan
On the US App Store, Yearly Premium costs $44.99 a year, against $59.88 for twelve months of Monthly Premium at $4.99.
- Lifetime license
Lifetime Access for a one-time $129.99
The App Store listing sells Lifetime Access as a single in-app purchase of $129.99, and the terms describe it as a one-time lifetime purchase.
Visual SEO Studio
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, SEO Tracer or Visual SEO Studio?
As of Oct 23, 2026, SEO Tracer is cheaper to start with: $4.99 a month, against about $13.91 a month for Visual SEO Studio. SEO Tracer starts at $4.99 per month, and Visual SEO Studio starts at €149 per year, per PC, plus VAT for EU consumers.
Which has a free plan, SEO Tracer or Visual SEO Studio?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both SEO Tracer and Visual SEO Studio have a free plan.
Which platforms do SEO Tracer and Visual SEO Studio run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only SEO Tracer lists an iOS app and only Visual SEO Studio lists a Windows app. Both list a macOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
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.