CodeFrog vs Semrush
CodeFrog and Semrush serve different sides of web development. CodeFrog is a native desktop app (macOS and Windows) focused on website quality engineering — accessibility, security, HTML validation, and code analysis. Semrush is a web-based all-in-one SEO and digital marketing platform focused on keyword research, backlink analysis, rank tracking, and competitive intelligence.
Their overlap is in on-page SEO and basic site audit checks. CodeFrog goes deeper on quality, security, and accessibility testing; Semrush goes deeper on SEO intelligence, content marketing, and advertising. CodeFrog can test localhost and development domains before deployment, while Semrush requires publicly accessible URLs.
Note on WCAG compliance: Full WCAG A, AA, or AAA conformance cannot be achieved with automation alone — neither CodeFrog nor any other automated tool can fully validate conformance. Many WCAG criteria require human judgment and manual testing with assistive technologies (screen readers, keyboard navigation, voice control, etc.). Automated tools are a valuable part of your accessibility toolkit, but manual testing is required for full conformance at any level. See CodeFrog's WCAG page for details.
| Feature | CodeFrog | Semrush |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | ||
| Automated WCAG AA checks (axe-core) | Yes | No (add-on only) |
| Automated WCAG AAA checks | Yes | No |
| Color contrast checks | Yes | No |
| ARIA attribute validation | Yes | No |
| Heading hierarchy validation | Yes | No |
| Security | ||
| OWASP-based security scanning | Yes (comprehensive) | No |
| Security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) | Yes | No |
| CORS misconfiguration detection | Yes | No |
| Sensitive file detection (.env, .git, backups) | Yes | No |
| TLS/SSL configuration analysis | Yes | Basic certificate/HTTPS checks |
| Directory listing detection | Yes | No |
| Secrets detection (Gitleaks) | Yes | No |
| Supply chain vulnerabilities (OSV) | Yes | No |
| Static analysis (Semgrep/OpenGrep) | Yes | No |
| SEO | ||
| Title tag validation | Yes | Yes |
| Meta description check | Yes | Yes |
| Robots.txt validation | Yes | Yes |
| Sitemap.xml validation | Yes | Yes |
| Heading hierarchy (H1-H6 structure) | Yes | H1 checks |
| Structured data validation | Yes | Yes |
| Content quality (word count, readability) | Yes | Low word count detection |
| Content-to-HTML ratio | Yes | Yes |
| Keyword analysis (on-page) | Yes | Yes |
| Canonical URL validation | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile-friendliness checks | Yes | Yes (via Lighthouse) |
| Keyword research (26.3B keywords as of early 2026) | No | Yes |
| Backlink analysis (43T links as of early 2026) | No | Yes |
| Rank tracking (daily updates) | No | Yes |
| Competitive keyword gap analysis | No | Yes |
| Domain/traffic analytics | No | Yes |
| Organic traffic estimation | No | Yes |
| hreflang validation | No | Yes |
| Broken link detection | No | Yes |
| Duplicate content detection | No | Yes |
| Redirect chain analysis | No | Yes |
| Meta Tags & Social Sharing | ||
| Open Graph tags validation | Yes (full) | Detection only |
| Twitter Card tags validation | Yes | Detection only |
| OG image dimension/aspect validation | Yes | No |
| Favicon detection | Yes | No |
| HTML Validation | ||
| W3C/Nu HTML Checker compliance | Yes (strict mode) | No |
| Heuristic-based fast validation | Yes | No |
| Performance | ||
| Page size / resource inventory by type | Yes | No |
| DNS/TCP/TLS/TTFB timing breakdown | Yes | No |
| Multi-URL timing comparison | Yes | No |
| Core Web Vitals (LCP, FCP, CLS) | No | Yes (via Lighthouse) |
| Performance score (0-100) | No | Yes |
| JavaScript/CSS minification checks | No | Yes |
| Code Analysis | ||
| Source code secrets scanning (Gitleaks) | Yes | N/A |
| Dependency vulnerability scanning (OSV) | Yes | N/A |
| Static code pattern analysis (Semgrep/OpenGrep) | Yes | N/A |
| Line counting by language | Yes | N/A |
| Reporting & Platform | ||
| Unified report (all tests combined) | Yes (Mega Report) | Separate tools |
| Sitemap-based multi-URL testing | Yes | Yes (site crawl up to 1M pages) |
| Localhost / dev domain testing | Yes | No (requires public URL) |
| Health score / letter grade | Yes (A-F grade) | Yes (Site Health 0-100) |
| Report history and trending | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes (native macOS and Windows) | No (web-based SaaS) |
| API access | No | Yes (Business plan) |
| Pricing | Free / one-time purchase | $139.95-$499.95/month (as of early 2026) |
Where CodeFrog excels
- WCAG AA/AAA accessibility testing (axe-core) — Semrush has none natively
- OWASP-based security scanning with severity classification
- Secrets detection, supply chain vulnerabilities, and static code analysis
- W3C/Nu HTML validation (strict and fast modes)
- Open Graph and Twitter Card validation with image dimension checks
- Localhost and development domain testing before deployment
- Unified Mega Report combining web testing and code analysis
- Free native desktop app (macOS and Windows) — no subscription required
Where Semrush excels
- Keyword research with 26.3 billion keywords across 190+ countries (as of early 2026)
- Backlink analysis with 43 trillion links (as of early 2026)
- Daily rank tracking with local and mobile granularity
- Competitive analysis — keyword gaps, content gaps, domain comparison
- Content marketing toolkit with AI writing assistant
- PPC/advertising research and ad copy generation
- Social media management and scheduling
- 140+ automated site audit checks with Site Health score
Better together: CodeFrog and Semrush serve different parts of the web development lifecycle. Use CodeFrog for quality engineering — accessibility compliance, security scanning, HTML validation, and code analysis, including pre-deployment testing on localhost. Use Semrush for SEO marketing intelligence — keyword strategy, backlink building, rank tracking, content marketing, and competitive analysis on live sites. Together, they cover both the technical quality and marketing visibility of your website.