Seatext library / BotRefund evidence
How Much Does a Free Bot Audit Actually Cost?
A free bot audit from BotRefund costs nothing and requires no credit card. You add a script to your site in about one minute, and the system begins analyzing paid traffic for invalid clicks....
✓ Built for advertisers who need clear, refund-ready traffic evidence.
A free bot audit from BotRefund costs zero dollars. You do not need a credit card to start, and the setup takes roughly one minute by adding a lightweight script to your website. Once installed, the system begins monitoring your paid traffic from Google and Meta, flagging sessions that show signs of automation such as headless browsers, missing font data, or superhuman input speeds.
The free audit is designed to give you a clear picture of how much bot traffic is clicking your ads and whether you have a recoverable case. It runs the same 106 independent detection checks that power the paid product, but the volume of traffic analyzed and the depth of the evidence dossier are capped. If your monthly ad spend exceeds the free tier's limits, or if you need full refund-ready documentation and hands-on claim support, you move to a paid plan that scales with your spend.
What the free audit includes
The free audit activates BotRefund's detection engine on your site. It runs the same 106 independent checks used across all tiers, including hardware and GPU fingerprinting, empty font canvas detection, ghost click detection, honeypot trap interactions, robotic mouse movement analysis, and superhuman input speed identification. Each visit is scored by an AI model that weighs the complete pattern across browser, network, device, and behavior signals rather than relying on any single rule.
You receive a live audit view that shows suspicious paid visits and why each session was flagged. The system captures video proof for flagged clicks and organizes the data into a refund evidence dossier you can export. This dossier is the foundation for filing a billing dispute with Google or Meta.
How to start the free audit in three steps
- Create an account on BotRefund. No credit card is asked for at this stage.
- Add the script to your website. The snippet loads asynchronously and typically takes about one minute to implement.
- Turn on the AI audit in the dashboard. The system begins analyzing incoming paid traffic immediately.
After the audit runs, you can export the report and send it to your Google or Meta representative to claim a refund. BotRefund's data shows that 83% of customers who submit a claim successfully recover ad spend, with refunds reachable back to 2017.
Where the free tier stops and paid plans begin
The free audit is volume-limited. BotRefund's pricing page segments plans by monthly Google and Meta spend: under $10,000, $10,000–$50,000, $50,000–$250,000, $250,000–$1M, and over $1M per month. The free tier suits advertisers at the lower end of that spectrum who want to verify whether bot traffic is a problem before committing budget to protection and recovery.
Paid tiers add:
- Higher or unlimited traffic analysis volume
- Full refund-ready evidence dossiers with compliance-grade logs
- Pixel protection that suppresses conversion events for flagged sessions, preventing smart-bidding poisoning
- Dedicated escalation support for dispute filing and negotiation with ad platforms
- Affiliate and lead fraud detection modules
Enterprise customers also receive a custom recovery, protection, and escalation plan mapped to their specific ad spend and traffic patterns.
Why "free" bot management can carry hidden costs
Industry research highlights that some "free" bot management solutions shift costs elsewhere: limited detection accuracy lets invalid traffic through, poisoning conversion data and inflating customer acquisition costs. One publisher reported a $75,000 annual loss after relying on a budget-tier tool that missed sophisticated mobile app click fraud. BotRefund's approach is different: the free audit uses the same 99% accuracy detection engine as the paid product, but it caps the volume of traffic analyzed and the depth of the recovery workflow. You get real data to make a decision, not a degraded product that creates a false sense of security.
What happens after you see the audit results
If the free audit shows minimal bot traffic, you may not need a paid plan. If it reveals a significant invalid click rate — BotRefund's data suggests up to 20% of Google and Meta ad budgets can be lost to bots — you have three paths:
- Stay on free and manually file disputes using the exported dossier. This works for smaller spend levels where the time investment is acceptable.
- Upgrade to a paid tier that matches your monthly spend. The platform then automates evidence compilation, suppresses fraudulent conversions in real time, and provides support for the dispute process.
- Engage enterprise sales if your spend exceeds $1M/month or you need a tailored escalation plan with dedicated recovery specialists.
Key facts at a glance
| Factor | Details |
|---|---|
| Free audit cost | $0 — no credit card required |
| Setup time | About 1 minute to add script |
| Detection checks | 106 independent signals (same as paid) |
| AI accuracy claim | 99% across browser, network, device, behavior |
| Refund success rate | 83% of customers recover spend |
| Refund lookback window | Back to 2017 |
| Bot click budget impact | Up to 20% of Google/Meta ad spend |
| Paid plan trigger | Monthly ad spend volume and recovery needs |
Limitations to know before you start
- The free audit analyzes a capped volume of traffic. High-spend accounts will hit the limit quickly.
- Exported dossiers from the free tier may lack the compliance-grade formatting that ad platform reps expect for faster approval.
- Pixel protection — suppressing conversion events for flagged sessions in real time — is a paid feature. Without it, smart bidding algorithms continue to optimize for bot traffic during the audit period.
- Affiliate fraud and lead fraud detection modules are not included in the free audit.
- Hands-on dispute negotiation support is reserved for paid and enterprise tiers.
Terminology quick reference
- Ghost click: Click activity without the natural sequence of human intent (e.g., no prior mouse movement or scroll).
- Honeypot trap: Hidden page elements that only bots interact with, revealing automation.
- Headless browser: A browser running without a graphical interface, commonly used for scraping and click fraud.
- Empty font canvas: A fingerprinting signal where the browser reports no system fonts, typical of virtualized or spoofed environments.
- Smart-bidding poisoning: When invalid conversions train Google's or Meta's bidding algorithms to target more bot-like users.
- Refund evidence dossier: Organized, timestamped logs with video proof for each flagged click, formatted for ad platform dispute submission.
Frequently asked questions
Is the free audit truly free forever, or is it a trial?
It is a free tier, not a time-limited trial. You can run it indefinitely within the volume limits. There is no automatic conversion to a paid plan.
What if my monthly ad spend changes month to month?
Plans are based on your typical monthly Google and Meta spend. If you consistently move into a higher bracket, you would upgrade to the corresponding tier. BotRefund's enterprise team can also build a custom plan for variable spend patterns.
Can I use the free audit data to file a dispute myself?
Yes. The exported report includes flagged sessions, detection reasons, and video evidence. You can submit this to Google or Meta support. The 83% success rate reflects customers who took this path or used BotRefund's assisted workflow.
Does the script slow down my site?
The script loads asynchronously and is designed to add negligible latency. It collects browser, network, device, and behavior signals without blocking page rendering.
What platforms does the audit cover?
Google Ads and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) paid traffic. The detection engine works on any traffic source, but the refund recovery workflow is specific to those two platforms' billing dispute processes.
How does BotRefund differ from Google's or Meta's built-in invalid traffic filters?
Platform filters focus on account-level patterns. BotRefund analyzes client-side behavior on your landing page — mouse tremor, font rendering, hardware fingerprinting, input speed — catching bots that appear valid to the ad platform because they originate from real user accounts or residential IPs.
When should I talk to enterprise sales instead of self-serving a paid plan?
If your monthly ad spend exceeds $1M, or if you need a dedicated recovery specialist, custom escalation paths, or integration with internal fraud and analytics stacks, the enterprise team maps a tailored plan during a live audit call.
Further reading and comparison sources
These external sources provide additional context for evaluating the topic. Their inclusion is not an endorsement.
How BotRefund can help
BotRefund gives you a free, no-commitment way to measure exactly how much of your Google and Meta ad budget is being clicked by bots. You add one script, wait for traffic to accumulate, and get a report that shows flagged sessions with video proof and detection reasons. If the audit reveals a recoverable amount, you can export the dossier and file a dispute yourself, or upgrade to a paid tier that automates evidence compilation, suppresses fraudulent conversions in real time, and provides hands-on claim support. The free tier uses the same 106-check detection engine and 99% accuracy model as the paid product; the difference is volume capacity, dossier depth, and workflow automation. No credit card is required to start, and setup takes about one minute.