What each tool actually checks, where it is genuinely free, and the limits to know before you rely on it. No fluff, no affiliate-driven rankings.
Every tool here is usable for free, not a 7-day trial that locks behind a card. You will use a few of these together, not just one.
| # | TOOL | BEST FOR | WHAT’S FREE | LIMIT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Google Search Console | Indexing status and real Google data | Free | No on-demand crawl; data is delayed |
| 02 | Google PageSpeed Insights | Performance, page by page | Free | One URL at a time, no site-wide view |
| 03 | Google Rich Results Test | Confirming structured data is valid | Free | Single URL, schema only |
| 04 | Screaming Frog SEO Spider | Granular desktop crawling of small sites | Free to 500 URLs | 500-URL free cap, desktop install, no built-in history |
| 05 | Kalenux SEO Audit | Affordable, repeatable site-wide audits with history | First audit free, no URL cap | Technical SEO only, not a keyword or backlink suite |
| 06 | SEO Site Checkup / Sitechecker | A quick single-page snapshot | Free tier | Small daily free caps |
| 07 | Broken Link Checker | Chasing dead links fast | Free, no signup | One page free; whole site with a free account |
| 08 | Hreflang Checker | Multilingual sites | Free, no signup | One page free; whole site with a free account |
| 09 | Meta Tag Checker | Titles and descriptions | Free, no signup | One page free; whole site with a free account |
| 10 | Indexability Checker | Pages missing from Google | Free, no signup | One page free; whole site with a free account |
| 11 | XML Sitemap Validator | Sitemap hygiene | Free, no signup | One page free; whole site with a free account |
Free, and non-negotiable. It shows how Google actually sees your site: which pages are indexed, coverage and indexing errors, Core Web Vitals at scale, manual actions, and the queries you rank for. It is reactive, it reports what Google already crawled, and won’t crawl your site on demand, so pair it with a crawler.
Free Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse performance scoring for any URL, using both lab and real-user (CrUX) data. The definitive free source for LCP, INP and CLS.
Validates your structured data against what Google can actually use for rich results. Free and authoritative for schema.
The classic desktop crawler, free up to 500 URLs. Deeply configurable and trusted by professionals. The free cap is fine for small sites; beyond it you need the annual licence, and very large crawls need local RAM and a capable machine.
A web-based technical crawler with a free first full-site audit and no URL cap on the free tier. It runs 240+ technical checks, broken links, redirects, canonicals, hreflang, structured data, sitemaps, meta, indexability, plus real PageSpeed, and tracks health run-over-run so you can prove what you fixed. After the free audit it is $9 to $49 one-time, not a subscription.Full disclosure: this is our tool. We have tried to describe it as plainly as the others.
Web-based auditors with free single-page reports and limited free crawls. Handy for a quick overview, though the free tier is usually capped to a few checks or pages per day before prompting an upgrade.
When you already know the issue you are chasing, a focused checker is faster than a full crawl. These are free with no signup for a single page, and free for your whole site after a free account.
A practical order that gets you a thorough audit without paying for anything.
It’s essential, but it only reports what Google already crawled, and it can’t crawl on demand.
These five together cover the high-impact technical issues for small and medium sites.
A checker answers one URL. Only a crawl sees duplicate titles, orphans, broken links and chains.
The facts behind this page, from search-engine documentation and each vendor’s own pages. Prices change, so check the linked pages for current figures.
Search Console shows real clicks, impressions and positions from Google Search [1], and its Page indexing report explains why URLs were excluded [2]. PageSpeed Insights reports lab and real-user speed data [3].
They show what Google saw, but they don’t crawl your whole site on demand.
Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider is free up to 500 URLs per crawl; a paid licence removes the limit and unlocks more features [4].
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools offers a free site audit for sites you verify ownership of [5].
Whichever tool you use, the baseline is Google’s technical requirements: not blocked, HTTP 200, indexable content [6].
Run an instant homepage check, or sign up for a free full-site audit across 240+ technical checks plus PageSpeed.
Kalenux