Checklist: httpstatus.io vs Screaming Frog for bulk status verification

Checklist: httpstatus.io vs Screaming Frog for bulk status verification

Verifying 404s at scale — pick by list size and depth.

1. Under 100 URLs, no crawl needed → httpstatus.io, paste-and-go, shows full redirect chain in-browser.
2. Over 100 URLs or you need response headers/redirect hops logged → Screaming Frog list mode.
3. Trigger: soft-404 suspected (page returns 200 but reads "not found") → Frog, then manual eyeball. Status tools miss soft-404s entirely.
4. QA gate: any 301 in the chain — follow it; the dead link may now redirect to live content, killing the opportunity.

Automation: Frog scheduled crawl + status export to CSV.

Definition of done: every URL classified hard-404, soft-404, redirect, or live.