SEO tools: which to pay for and which you do not need
The SEO tools I use and what each is for, what can be done free, and in what order to start paying as the work grows.
Digital Marketing, Medical Marketing & AI Consultant · btodigital
Google’s free tools cover about 70% of SEO work. What you pay for is speed, competitor data and automated monitoring. Understanding that boundary stops you buying subscriptions too early.
I say this as someone who pays for several: they are useful, but if your site does not yet have the basics in order, no tool will fix that.
What can you do without paying anything?
| Tool | What for | What it will not give you |
|---|---|---|
| Search Console | Your queries, positions, clicks, indexing and errors | Anything about competitors |
| Google Analytics 4 | What people do once they arrive | Anything about rankings |
| PageSpeed Insights | Performance and real Core Web Vitals | Whole-site crawling |
| Google Business Profile | Calls, directions and local searches | Anything beyond local |
| Screaming Frog (free tier) | Technical crawl up to 500 URLs | Large sites |
| Rich Results Test | Validating structured data | Tracking over time |
Search Console is the most underrated. It is real, first-party data rather than estimates, and it is the only one that tells you exactly which queries are showing your site.
What justifies paying?
Three things, and none of them is “knowing my rankings”, which Search Console already gives you free:
- Seeing competitors. Why they rank, what content they have, who links to them. That is what you cannot get any other way.
- Keyword volume and difficulty. To decide where it is worth fighting.
- Automated crawling and monitoring of large sites, with alerts when something breaks.
| Tool | Its strength | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs | Links and competitor analysis | When you compete in a contested sector |
| SEMrush | Breadth: SEO, ads and content | When you handle several clients or channels |
| Screaming Frog (paid) | Deep technical auditing | Sites over 500 pages |
| Similarweb | Size and source of others’ traffic | Market analysis, not daily SEO |
You do not need all four. I would start with one of the first two and add Screaming Frog when size demands it.
In what order do you start paying?
My recommendation, depending on where the business is:
- Small site of your own: nothing. Search Console, GA4 and PageSpeed are plenty.
- A site that already competes: one complete tool, Ahrefs or SEMrush.
- Several clients: add paid Screaming Frog and something that automates reporting.
- Large site or shop with thousands of products: now you need scheduled crawling and monitoring.
Buying the expensive subscription before you have content to rank is the classic mistake. The tool shows you the problem; it does not solve it.
What do you check in an audit, and with what?
| What you check | With what |
|---|---|
| What is indexed and what is not | Search Console |
| Technical errors and broken links | Screaming Frog |
| Real user speed | PageSpeed Insights and Search Console |
| Structured data | Rich Results Test |
| Internal duplicate content | Screaming Frog |
| What competitors cover and you do not | Ahrefs or SEMrush |
| Behaviour after arrival | GA4 |
Order matters: first that Google can get in and understand, then content, and only at the end links.
And AI tools?
They are for interpreting, not for obtaining the data. I hand Claude a Search Console export or a Screaming Frog crawl and ask it to find the patterns. It saves hours of spreadsheet work.
What you must not do is ask a language model for search volumes or link data. It does not have them and it invents them with complete confidence. Those numbers come from tools with their own databases.
Frequently asked questions
Which SEO tools are essential? Search Console and Google Analytics 4, both free. Between them they cover most of the work. A paid tool is justified when you need to see competitors.
Ahrefs or SEMrush? Ahrefs if your priority is links and competitor analysis. SEMrush if you also need advertising and content in one subscription. For most people either is enough.
Can SEO be done with free tools only? Yes, and quite well, especially on your own site. What you lose is visibility into competitors, and time, because some things have to be done by hand.
Are the traffic figures in these tools accurate? No. They all estimate from panels and models. Useful for comparing sites, not as absolute figures. The only real data about your site is Search Console and your own analytics.
Is the free version of Screaming Frog useful? Yes, up to 500 URLs, which covers most company sites. Above that you need the licence.
Can I ask AI to run the SEO audit? It can interpret the data you give it very well and find patterns. It cannot crawl your site or know search volumes. If you ask for those, it invents them.
How often should I run an audit? A full one yearly, and a quick Search Console review monthly. After a migration or redesign, always.
