Beam Us Up vs CrawlObserver
Beam Us Up
beamusup.com
CrawlObserver
crawlobserver.comSide by side
| Figure | Beam Us Up | CrawlObserver |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · SEO Crawler Software | 8.4 (#10) | 8.6 (#5) |
| Spec score · SEO tools | 7.7 (#139) | 8.0 (#103) |
| Crawl comparison | Users can compare two crawls to see fixed, new, and remaining problems and page changes, then export the comparison as CSV files in a ZIP. | It compares crawls to show added or removed URLs and changes to redirects, titles, or canonicals. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | The installer can connect BeamUsUp to AI assistants it finds, including Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Codex CLI, and Gemini CLI, through MCP. | The page lists Google Search Console, Claude Code, and SEObserver under “Integrates with.” |
| Intended users | The maker says it aims to provide actionable results for most users and websites, including professionals, while noting that Screaming Frog and NetPeak are better for professional needs. | The page presents use cases for technical SEO audits, monthly tracking, internal linking analysis, broken-link detection, and client reporting. |
| JavaScript rendering | It can render JavaScript pages using Chrome or Edge already installed on the computer. | Rendering can be turned off, set to automatic, or always enabled; automatic mode detects frameworks including React, Vue, Next.js, and Nuxt. |
| Product | BeamUsUp is a downloadable SEO spider crawler that runs on your computer. | CrawlObserver is a lightweight SEO crawler with 45+ signals per page, cross-crawl comparison, and API control. |
| Security | The crawler optionally checks Content-Security-Policy, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options headers, and flags expired or invalid SSL certificates. | The crawler describes built-in SSRF protection using post-DNS IP validation to block private IP ranges. |
| Site audit | Yes | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
Beam Us Up
Beam Us Up is a downloadable SEO spider crawler that runs on a computer. The maker describes it as completely free with no limits. It checks links, redirects, duplicate content, headings, metadata, sitemaps, crawl depth, blocked URLs and Google PageSpeed. Version 2.0 reports whether robots.txt permits or blocks 27 search engines and AI bots, and can render JavaScript pages through Chrome or Edge installed on the computer. Two crawls can be compared to identify fixed, new and remaining problems and page changes, with comparison data exported as CSV files in a ZIP. The maker says version 2.0 can crawl sites with 100,000 or more pages. Command-line mode writes a JSON report and returns an error code when selected problems appear. Optional checks cover security headers and SSL certificates. MCP connections to listed AI assistants are supported. Browser passwords remain in memory only while the app is open.
CrawlObserver
CrawlObserver is a free private-beta SEO crawler available through web and API access. It reports more than 45 signals per page and describes audits without a page ceiling, including sites with 500K+ pages. Crawl comparisons identify added or removed URLs and changes to redirects, titles, and canonicals. Technical checks include redirect chains, internal PageRank, SimHash duplicate detection, and broken internal or external links. Internal authority-flow views help surface orphan pages, linking opportunities, and pages receiving too many links. JavaScript rendering can be off, automatic, or always enabled, with automatic detection for React, Vue, Next.js, and Nuxt. A REST API launches crawls and retrieves results. CrawlObserver says it follows robots.txt and crawl-delay, applies per-host delays, and blocks private IP ranges with post-DNS validation. Results are stored in ClickHouse.