crawler.sh review
A privacy-focused crawler for technical SEO checks, JavaScript pages, and flexible exports.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
crawler.sh is a local-first web crawler and SEO auditing tool for developers, SEO professionals, content teams, and technical auditors. It offers both a command-line interface for automation, scripting, and CI workflows and a desktop app for visual crawl monitoring. Core capabilities include configurable concurrent crawling, JavaScript rendering, content extraction to clean Markdown, technical SEO analysis, and local data retention. The product fits teams that need control over crawl data and exportable technical findings rather than a broad search marketing suite.
The pricing structure is straightforward. The Free plan costs $0 per plan and requires no account, with crawling up to 50 pages per session, SEO analysis with CSV/TXT export, and JSON and Sitemap XML export. CLI Pro costs $99 per year and raises the limit to 10,000 pages per session, adding NDJSON output, Markdown content extraction, and 16-category SEO analysis with CSV/TXT export. Desktop Pro also costs $99 per year and adds a visual dashboard, real-time crawl feed, per-URL SEO issue details, and Markdown content archive export. The paid choice depends on workflow: CLI Pro suits automation, while Desktop Pro suits visual review.
Its strongest fit is technical work that benefits from local execution and structured output. JavaScript-heavy pages can be rendered automatically, and extracted content includes word count, byline, and excerpt. CLI commands cover crawling, inspecting, exporting, and SEO analysis, while the desktop interface includes live status views, charts, issue details, and content browsing. However, crawler.sh is narrower than platforms built around keyword research, rank tracking, backlink analysis, competitor research, APIs, or integrations. Choose it for local crawling, audits, and exports; choose an alternative when broader search intelligence or connected workflows are central requirements.
crawler.sh pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Runs locally with crawl data retained on the user's machine
- Renders JavaScript-heavy pages and checks 24 technical SEO categories
- Exports NDJSON, JSON, Sitemap XML, CSV, TXT, and Markdown
- Where it doesn't
- No verified keyword, rank, backlink, or competitor analysis features
- No verified API or integration features
- Desktop support is limited to macOS and Linux
crawler.sh fact sheet, pricing and score →
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