Best for
Best for site owners and SEO teams who need Google's own data on how their verified sites are indexed and found.
SEO Tools Comparison
Google Search Console vs. Lumar
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for enterprise teams crawling very large sites who need technical SEO, site speed and accessibility in one platform, with QA that runs before deployment.
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Google Search Console | Lumar |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free Search Console and the Search Console API are both free of charge; the API is subject to usage limits. | Not stated |
| API | Yes, the Search Console API, free of charge within usage limits | Yes, a GraphQL API, plus BigQuery and BI tool connectors |
| Hosting | Cloud (SaaS), run by Google | Cloud (SaaS) |
| Keyword research | For the site's own queries: the Performance report lists the queries it already appears for, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position | No own keyword research tool; search query data comes in through the Google Search Console integration |
| Rank tracking | Average position per query and page from Google's own Search data, for web, image, video and news results | No own rank tracker; Google Search Console performance data is pulled in through an integration |
| Site audit | Yes, from Google's point of view: page indexing coverage, URL Inspection with crawl, index and serving details, sitemap and URL submission, Core Web Vitals on mobile and desktop, rich results and AMP reports, and email alerts when Google identifies issues | Yes, its core: Analyze crawls millions of pages with modules for technical SEO, site speed and accessibility, over 250 reports and custom extraction |
| Backlink data | Yes, a Links report with top linked pages, top linking sites and top linking text, plus internal links. It is a sample rather than a complete list, tables stop at 1,000 rows and exports at 100,000 | No own backlink index |
| Content optimisation | No. Google names crawling, indexing, search traffic, issue alerts and links as what Search Console covers, and nothing that briefs, scores or rewrites a page. The nearest thing is the Insights report, which sorts pages into top, trending up and trending down and the queries that lead to them, as information rather than as recommendations | No draft-scoring editor; it reports on thin, duplicate, empty and orphaned pages rather than optimising copy |
| Index and market coverage | Google Search only, and only for sites whose ownership has been verified | Crawls the customer's own site and enriches it with connected analytics and log data, rather than maintaining a keyword or backlink database |
| Integrations and API | Yes, the Search Console API for search analytics, verified sites, sitemaps and URL inspection (2,000 inspections per site per day), free of charge; plus a daily bulk export of performance data to BigQuery | Yes, a GraphQL API, plus BigQuery and BI tool connectors |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Community forum | Email helpdesk |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Not stated | Enterprise |
| Integrations | BigQuery | more entries Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Google Analytics 360, Adobe Analytics, Logz.io, Splunk, BigQuery, Looker Studio, Tableau, Looker, Power BI, GitHub, CircleCI, Azure DevOps, Bamboo, CodeShip, Concourse, Google Cloud Build, Zapier, Asana, Trello, Slack, Microsoft Teams |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Hosting Google Search Console Cloud (SaaS), run by Google Lumar Cloud (SaaS)
- Support Google Search Console Community forum Lumar Email helpdesk
- API Google Search Console Yes, the Search Console API, free of charge within usage limits Lumar Yes, a GraphQL API, plus BigQuery and BI tool connectors
- Keyword research Google Search Console For the site's own queries: the Performance report lists the queries it already appears for, with clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position Lumar No own keyword research tool; search query data comes in through the Google Search Console integration
- Rank tracking Google Search Console Average position per query and page from Google's own Search data, for web, image, video and news results Lumar No own rank tracker; Google Search Console performance data is pulled in through an integration
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Google Search Console
Strengths
- Free of charge, including the API
- Clicks, impressions and positions come from Google's own Search data rather than a third-party estimate
- URL Inspection shows exactly how a single page is crawled, indexed and served
- Daily bulk export to BigQuery keeps performance data available for custom analysis
Limitations
- Covers Google Search only, and only sites the user has verified
- The Links report is a sample, with tables truncated at 1,000 rows
- The bulk export leaves out anonymized queries
Lumar
Strengths
- Crawls millions of pages, built for sites that defeat smaller crawlers
- Technical SEO, site speed and WCAG 2.2 accessibility auditing in one platform
- Protect runs automated QA in staging and plugs into CI/CD pipelines
- GraphQL API plus BigQuery, Looker Studio, Tableau, Looker and Power BI connectors
- Log file data through Logz.io or Splunk, alongside Google Search Console, GA4 and Adobe Analytics
Limitations
- No published pricing and no free tier, only a demo request
- No keyword research, rank tracking or backlink data of its own
- Aimed at enterprise teams rather than small sites
Plans
Pricing
Google Search Console
- Free $0 All reports and the Search Console API. The API is subject to usage limits.
Lumar
- Custom Not stated Lumar packages the platform per team and quotes on request; no prices are published. Book a demo to get a quote.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Google Search Console
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Lumar
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works, and a review reaches us as soon as its author confirms it, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.
Before sending, the author has to confirm three things: that they have used the product themselves, that they work neither for the vendor nor for a competitor, and that nobody is paying them for the review. We also ask whether the vendor invited them to write it. That answer is required, either answer is accepted, and it stays with the review.
Every review is read by a person before it appears. An email address is required and is confirmed: we send a link to it, and a review does not reach us until the author opens that link, so a review has a sender who was reachable at least once rather than being anonymous. Where what somebody writes needs backing, we ask them for evidence that they used the product, and a review that does not get it is not published. We publish positive and negative reviews alike, we pay nothing and offer nothing for a review, and we accept none that was bought or incentivised.
What we cannot do is verify a purchase. There is no shop here and no account, so whether the author really used the tool rests on their own declaration, on whatever we ask them for, and on the plausibility of what they write. We say so rather than implying a check that does not exist.
A vendor cannot buy a review, and cannot have one removed or changed because they dislike it. We remove or edit a review only if it breaks our rules or the law, for example a false statement of fact. Paid placement has no effect on which reviews appear or on any score.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Google Search Console https://search.google.com/search-console/about · no check date recorded yet
Lumar https://www.lumar.io · checked against the official source on 2026-09-01
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.