Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) vs Siteimprove Accessibility

Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner)9.3Visit Siteimprove Accessibility8.4Visit

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

Siteimprove Accessibility #8 in Website Accessibility Tools 8.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Siteimprove

• Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) fits best

  Auditors scanning complex websites locally

• Siteimprove Accessibility fits best

  Mature teams managing sites and PDFs

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Siteimprove Accessibility 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.4
Ranking	#1 in Website Accessibility Tools	#8 in Website Accessibility Tools
Best for	Auditors scanning complex websites locally	Mature teams managing sites and PDFs
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starting price	Free	Pricing on request
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Desktop	Cloud, Browser extension
Platforms	Windows, macOS	Web, Chrome extension
Support	Email	Docs
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Octopus Scanner (formerly A11y Scanner) 0/4 · Siteimprove Accessibility 4/4
Scheduled scans	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
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	Site
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	Scans websites and PDFs, with WCAG issue prioritization by severity Extends testing to dynamic, protected, and non-public pages Connects accessibility checks to CMS, development, and CI/CD workflows
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	Pricing is customized and requires contacting Siteimprove Its broad scope may exceed the needs of teams wanting basic scans only Several workflow options require integrations, extensions, or development tools
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 →	Siteimprove Accessibility is a SaaS platform for organizations managing websites, documents, applications, and other digital content. It scans websites and PDFs for accessibility issues, organizes findings by WCAG standard and severity,… 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

• Siteimprove Accessibility — where it wins

  • Scans websites and PDFs, with WCAG issue prioritization by severity
  • Extends testing to dynamic, protected, and non-public pages
  • Connects accessibility checks to CMS, development, and CI/CD workflows

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing is customized and requires contacting Siteimprove
  • Its broad scope may exceed the needs of teams wanting basic scans only
  • Several workflow options require integrations, extensions, or development tools

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

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

  Visit siteFull verdict →
• Siteimprove Accessibility8.4/10 · Pricing on request

  A mature platform for scanning, prioritizing, and improving website and PDF accessibility.

  Visit SiteimproveFull verdict →