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Head-to-head · Internet Archiving Software

Heritrix vs Brozzler

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 2 checks side by side
Higher score Heritrix #6 in Internet Archiving Software 8.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 2 features Visit Heritrix
Brozzler #8 in Internet Archiving Software 7.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 2 features Visit Brozzler

Heritrix leads on 0 checks, Brozzler on 0, and 2 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 2 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreHeritrix · 8.0/10
  • Free planboth
  • Most featuresHeritrix · 1 of 2

Heritrix scores higher on our rubric for internet archiving software: 8.0 against 7.8 out of 10; our editors rank them #6 and #8.

Heritrix is the better fit for technical teams building configurable crawl workflows. Brozzler is the better fit for technical teams archiving JavaScript-heavy websites.

  • Heritrix fits best

    Technical teams building configurable crawl workflows

  • Brozzler fits best

    Technical teams archiving JavaScript-heavy websites

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Side by side

Feature Heritrix 8.0/10 Visit ↗ Brozzler 7.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.0 7.8
Ranking #6 in Internet Archiving Software #8 in Internet Archiving Software
Best for Technical teams building configurable crawl workflows Technical teams archiving JavaScript-heavy websites
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Free plan Free plan
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial — —
Deployment Self-hosted Self-hosted
Platforms Linux, Windows Linux
Built for Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Heritrix 1/2 · Brozzler 0/2
Scheduled crawls Not checked yet Not checked yet
API access ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Specs
Capture scope Website Website
Capture frequency Not checked yet Not checked yet
Archive export Warc Warc
Retention period Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Set crawl scope, inclusion and exclusion rules, and resource limits
  • Manage jobs through a web interface or REST API
  • Write crawled content with WARC writer components
  • Uses browser behavior to capture JavaScript-driven pages
  • Distributes crawling across a crawler system
  • Writes captured web archive data in WARC format
Cons
  • Requires teams to operate their own infrastructure
  • Job configuration and crawl policies require technical oversight
  • Recurring schedules and retention depend on deployment and configuration
  • Requires teams to deploy and operate it themselves
  • Focused on crawling, not archive browsing or search
  • No hosted archiving service
Our verdict

Heritrix is an open-source web crawler developed by the Internet Archive for archival-quality crawling. It is aimed at technical teams and organizations that operate their own web-archiving infrastructure, rather than buyers seeking a…

Read the review →

Brozzler is an open-source web crawler from the Internet Archive for technical teams that need to capture websites using browser behavior. Its use of a real browser helps it crawl pages that depend on JavaScript, and it writes web archive…

Read the review →
  1. HeritrixInternet Archiving Software 8.0Free plan
  2. BrozzlerInternet Archiving Software 7.8Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • Heritrix — where it wins

    • Set crawl scope, inclusion and exclusion rules, and resource limits
    • Manage jobs through a web interface or REST API
    • Write crawled content with WARC writer components

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires teams to operate their own infrastructure
    • Job configuration and crawl policies require technical oversight
    • Recurring schedules and retention depend on deployment and configuration

  • Brozzler — where it wins

    • Uses browser behavior to capture JavaScript-driven pages
    • Distributes crawling across a crawler system
    • Writes captured web archive data in WARC format

    Where it doesn't

    • Requires teams to deploy and operate it themselves
    • Focused on crawling, not archive browsing or search
    • No hosted archiving service

More comparisons

All internet archiving software comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update