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SEO · head to head

Google Search Console vs Lumar

Google Search Console logo

Google Search Console

SEO

Google's free tool for monitoring how a site appears in Search

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lumar logo

Lumar

SEO

Website intelligence platform, formerly DeepCrawl, that can fail a build on SEO and accessibility regressions

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Google Search Console has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Google Search Console query data below a low, undisclosed volume threshold is anonymised and dropped from reports, so genuine long-tail performance is invisible.; Lumar the crawl allowance is measured in URLs per month, so full crawls of a large site exhaust it quickly and teams end up sampling, which is exactly how regressions escape.
  • They diverge on capability: Google Search Console covers Performance reports, Lumar covers Site crawler.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Google Search Console and Lumar actually diverge.

Attributes where Google Search Console and Lumar differ
AttributeGoogle Search ConsoleLumar
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, REST API

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (SEO).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Google Search Console

  • Performance reports
  • Index coverage
  • URL inspection
  • Core Web Vitals report
  • Sitemap and manual actions
  • Search Console API

Only in Lumar

  • Site crawler
  • Protect
  • Automation Hub
  • Accessibility auditing
  • Monitor
  • Impact

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Google Search Console

  • Any site owner confirming what Google actually indexed versus what a crawler assumes it indexednot Lumar
  • A team diagnosing a traffic drop by checking for manual actions or a spike in crawl errors firstnot Lumar
  • An SEO analyst exporting query-level click data via the API to blend with a paid rank tracker's historynot Lumar
  • A developer validating that structured data and mobile rendering match what Googlebot seesnot Lumar

Lumar

  • A site deploying weekly that keeps shipping accidental noindex tags and blocked resources into productionnot Google Search Console
  • Comparing crawls before and after a migration to prove what changed rather than what looks wrong nownot Google Search Console
  • Reporting accessibility and technical SEO issues from one crawl to satisfy two different internal ownersnot Google Search Console
  • Prioritising a backlog of thousands of technical issues by estimated traffic impact rather than severity labelnot Google Search Console

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Google Search Console

  • Query data below a low, undisclosed volume threshold is anonymised and dropped from reports, so genuine long-tail performance is invisible.
  • Performance history is capped at 16 months, so year-over-year comparison beyond that window requires a third-party tool that has been logging the data independently for longer.
  • It only reports Google Search; it has no visibility into Bing, other search engines, or the AI answer engines increasingly sending referral traffic.
  • The interface aggregates by property, and comparing multiple properties or clients side by side means exporting and reassembling data yourself.
  • Position and CTR figures are averages across ranking positions and personalisation, so they do not match what any single search or rank tracker snapshot shows for a specific query.

Lumar

  • The crawl allowance is measured in URLs per month, so full crawls of a large site exhaust it quickly and teams end up sampling, which is exactly how regressions escape.
  • It provides no keyword, ranking or backlink data, so it is always an addition to the SEO budget rather than a consolidation of it.
  • The pipeline gating that justifies the price needs engineering adoption, and a marketing budget cannot buy that agreement.
  • Log file analysis is not the core strength it is at Botify, so crawl budget diagnosis on very large sites is weaker.
  • The 2022 rebrand from DeepCrawl means much of the community knowledge, tutorials and older documentation is filed under the previous name.

Pricing, plan by plan

Google Search Console

Free
  • Google Search ConsoleFree
    • Unlimited verified properties per account
    • 16 months of performance history
    • Index coverage, sitemaps and Core Web Vitals reporting

Lumar

On request
  • Lumar$undefined/year
    • Priced by URLs crawled per month
    • Protect, Impact and accessibility modules licensed separately
    • Annual contract

Which should you pick?

Choose Google Search Console if

  • You need performance reports.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want index coverage.
Google Search Console review

Choose Lumar if

  • You need site crawler.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want protect.
Lumar review

Questions people ask

Is Google Search Console or Lumar better?
Neither clearly leads. Google Search Console starts at Free and Lumar at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Google Search Console or Lumar?
Google Search Console has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Google Search Console and On request for Lumar.
Does Google Search Console or Lumar run on more platforms?
Google Search Console runs on Web. Lumar runs on Web, REST API.
Can I use Google Search Console for free?
Yes. Google Search Console has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lumar starts at On request.
What is Google Search Console best used for?
Google Search Console is most often used for any site owner confirming what google actually indexed versus what a crawler assumes it indexed, a team diagnosing a traffic drop by checking for manual actions or a spike in crawl errors first, an seo analyst exporting query-level click data via the api to blend with a paid rank tracker's history, a developer validating that structured data and mobile rendering match what googlebot sees. Of those, any site owner confirming what google actually indexed versus what a crawler assumes it indexed and a team diagnosing a traffic drop by checking for manual actions or a spike in crawl errors first are not what Lumar is typically brought in for.
What can Google Search Console do that Lumar cannot?
Google Search Console covers Performance reports, Index coverage, URL inspection, Core Web Vitals report. Lumar covers Site crawler, Protect, Automation Hub, Accessibility auditing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Google Search Console: Do I need to pay for Search Console?

No. It has never had a paid tier and Google has given no indication of introducing one.

Lumar: Is Lumar the same as DeepCrawl?

Yes, the same company and product line, rebranded in 2022. Older tutorials under the DeepCrawl name still broadly apply.

Google Search Console: Why does it show different keyword rankings than my rank tracker?

GSC reports averaged position across many searches, devices and locations over the reporting period; a rank tracker takes a single snapshot from a defined location, so the two numbers measure different things.

Lumar: Can it really block a deployment?

Yes, through Automation Hub integrated into your CI pipeline. Whether your engineering team accepts that gate is the real question.

Google Search Console: Can I use it instead of a rank tracker?

For your own site's actual click and impression data, yes; for daily position tracking, historical trend charts beyond 16 months, or any visibility into competitors, no.

Lumar: Does it replace Screaming Frog?

For scheduled monitoring and pipeline testing, yes. For quick ad hoc crawls on a laptop, the desktop crawler remains faster and cheaper.

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