Which website audit tool is right for you? A plain-English comparison of Unsnag, Google Lighthouse, Screaming Frog, and SEMrush.
You know your website needs work. So you search for a website audit tool and find yourself staring at a wall of cryptic scores, technical jargon, and recommendations that might as well be written in another language.
Most website audit tools were built by developers, for developers. Unsnag was built for business owners.
| Feature | Unsnag | Lighthouse | Screaming Frog | SEMrush |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plain-English results | Partial | |||
| No install required | Partial | |||
| Free tier | Partial | Partial | ||
| Price for small business | $29/mo | Free | $259/yr | $119.95/mo |
| Actionable priorities | Partial | |||
| No developer needed | Partial | |||
| Ongoing monitoring | Pro+ | |||
| PDF export | Pro+ | |||
| Multi-site management | ||||
| Target user | SMB owners | Developers | SEO agencies | Enterprise/agencies |
Google Lighthouse is the gold standard for measuring web performance. Built into Chrome DevTools, it scores your site on Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. It's free and highly accurate.
Lighthouse tells you what is wrong, but not what to do about it. A score of 43 in Performance means little unless you know what "Eliminate render-blocking resources" means — and how to fix it without a developer.
Unsnag takes Lighthouse-grade technical data and translates it into clear, prioritized actions you can take today — even if you've never touched your website's code. We tell you: "Your homepage takes 6.2 seconds to load on mobile. Here are the top 3 things to fix, in order of impact."
Best for: Business owners who want Lighthouse-quality insights without the technical complexity.
Screaming Frog is a powerful desktop crawler used by SEO professionals worldwide. It can crawl thousands of pages, identify broken links, analyze metadata, and generate XML sitemaps. For deep technical SEO work, it's exceptional.
Unsnag is entirely browser-based — no download, no installation, no setup. Start your first audit in under 60 seconds from any device. You get the same technical coverage translated into plain English with prioritized recommendations.
Best for: Small business owners who want comprehensive site audits without installing software.
SEMrush is the Swiss Army knife of digital marketing — keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink tracking, content marketing, and more. For marketing agencies managing multiple clients at enterprise scale, it's powerful.
For a small business owner who just wants to know what's wrong with their website and how to fix it, SEMrush is like hiring a Formula 1 pit crew to change a flat tire. Powerful, but the wrong tool for the job.
Best for: Small business owners who need website health insights at an accessible price.
If you're a developer or large agency, Lighthouse, Screaming Frog, and SEMrush each have their place. But if you're a business owner who just wants to know why your website isn't performing and what to do about it, Unsnag is the only tool built specifically for you.
Start your free audit →No credit card required. Results in 60 seconds.