Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) vs Axe DevTools

Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner)9.3Visit Axe DevTools8.7Visit

Higher score Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) #1 in Website Accessibility Tools 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit site

vs

Axe DevTools #5 in Website Accessibility Tools 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Axe DevTools

• Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) fits best

  Auditors scanning complex websites locally

• Axe DevTools fits best

  Developers wanting a free web testing toolkit

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Side by side

Feature	Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Axe DevTools 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.7
Ranking	#1 in Website Accessibility Tools	#5 in Website Accessibility Tools
Best for	Auditors scanning complex websites locally	Developers wanting a free web testing toolkit
Pricing model	Free	Free plan + paid
Starting price	Free	—
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Cloud, Self-hosted, Browser extension
Platforms	Windows, macOS	Web, Chrome extension
Support	Email	Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) 0/4 · Axe DevTools 3/4
Scheduled scans	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Browser extension	—	✓ (best)
CI/CD integration	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
API access	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Specs
WCAG version	Wcag 2.2	Wcag 2.2
Scan scope	Site	Page
Scan limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Crawls full domains, accepts sitemaps, and targets specific URLs Replays authenticated journeys and scans dynamic content, frames, and PDFs Creates interactive HTML and CSV reports with screenshots and guidance	Free extension provides page-by-page Axe-core accessibility testing Supports full-page, component, guided, and user-flow testing Integrates with Jira, CI/CD tools, APIs, and developer frameworks
Cons	Desktop-only, with support limited to Windows and macOS No browser extension or CI/CD workflow is described No recurring scan schedule or scan/results API is described	Coverage centers on web pages rather than mobile testing Site monitoring is outside its primary coverage Advanced capabilities are concentrated in Pro and Bundle tiers
Our verdict	Octopus Scanner, formerly A11y Scanner, is a desktop application for automated website accessibility auditing. It is aimed at accessibility specialists, developers, and designers who need to examine more than a set of manually selected… Read the review →	Axe DevTools is an accessibility testing product for web development teams, QA and automation engineers, agencies, and development leaders. It combines automated scans with guided testing in a browser, covering full pages, partial pages,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) — where it wins

  • Crawls full domains, accepts sitemaps, and targets specific URLs
  • Replays authenticated journeys and scans dynamic content, frames, and PDFs
  • Creates interactive HTML and CSV reports with screenshots and guidance

  Where it doesn't

  • Desktop-only, with support limited to Windows and macOS
  • No browser extension or CI/CD workflow is described
  • No recurring scan schedule or scan/results API is described

• Axe DevTools — where it wins

  • Free extension provides page-by-page Axe-core accessibility testing
  • Supports full-page, component, guided, and user-flow testing
  • Integrates with Jira, CI/CD tools, APIs, and developer frameworks

  Where it doesn't

  • Coverage centers on web pages rather than mobile testing
  • Site monitoring is outside its primary coverage
  • Advanced capabilities are concentrated in Pro and Bundle tiers

• Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner)9.3/10 · Free plan

  A free desktop scanner for detailed local audits of complex websites.

  Visit siteFull verdict →
• Axe DevTools8.7/10 · Free plan

  A free web testing toolkit with guided checks, CI/CD workflows, APIs, and developer integrations.

  Visit Axe DevToolsFull verdict →