Octopus.do and Sitemap Generator are both web-based sitemap tools with no installation required. Beyond that, they solve different problems entirely. Octopus.do is used before and during website development — it helps UX designers, agencies, and product teams plan, visualize, and present site architecture. Sitemap Generator is used after launch — it crawls your live site, generates an accurate XML sitemap for search engines, and monitors URLs for 404 errors and redirects.
You might use both. Octopus.do during the planning phase, Sitemap Generator once the site goes live. But if you're choosing one for the task in front of you right now, here's the breakdown.
The short answer
Choose Octopus.do if you're planning the structure of a new website or app and need a visual, collaborative diagram to share with clients or your design team. Choose Sitemap Generator if your site is live and you need an accurate XML sitemap, 404 detection, and automatic scheduled refresh.
Quick Comparison
| Sitemap Generator | Octopus.do | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use | XML sitemap + URL health for live sites | Visual site planning for new builds |
| Ease of use | Very high — enter URL, done | Very high — drag-and-drop canvas, zero setup |
| Pricing (entry) | Free tier available | Free (1 project, ~50 pages); Pro ~$8–10/mo |
| Installation | None — browser-based | None — browser-based |
| Auto-refresh scheduling | Yes — cloud-native | No — all recrawls are manual |
| Broken link detection | Yes — first-class feature | Not supported |
| Redirect analysis | Yes | Not supported |
| JavaScript rendering | Standard crawl | Not supported |
| Visual sitemap | Not applicable | Full — drag-and-drop tree with lo-fi wireframes |
| Team collaboration | Single-user focus | Full — real-time co-editing, permission-level sharing |
| API | Coming soon | Not supported |
| Best for | Site owners, marketers, small businesses | UX designers, agencies, product teams |
What Octopus.do Is Built For
Octopus.do's canvas is fast and visual — you describe a website concept and it generates a complete site plan with page hierarchy, content blocks, and SEO meta tag suggestions using AI. You can drag pages into tree structures, add lo-fi wireframe blocks to each page, color-code by section or team, and share the result with clients via a link that requires no sign-up. Agencies use it for client proposals and project kickoffs. Product teams use it to communicate app architecture to developers.
What it does not do: detect whether live URLs are returning 404 errors, identify redirect chains, auto-refresh your sitemap after you publish new content, or crawl JavaScript-rendered pages reliably. These are live-site health concerns — not planning-phase concerns.
Where Octopus.do Is Clearly Better
- Visual sitemap output. Octopus.do produces polished, interactive, shareable tree diagrams. Sitemap Generator produces machine-readable XML — there's no visual canvas equivalent.
- AI-powered site planning. Describe a site in plain text and get a complete visual sitemap generated instantly. Sitemap Generator crawls existing sites; it cannot plan new ones.
- Lo-fi wireframing. Content blocks on each page node let teams plan page content structure alongside site architecture in the same tool.
- Collaboration. Real-time co-editing with client-shareable permission links — clients can review and comment without creating an account.
- Cost estimator. Color-code pages by price tag and generate a client-facing project cost estimate directly from the sitemap — a unique feature for agencies.
- Figma and WordPress export. Native handoff to design and CMS workflows.
Where Sitemap Generator Is the Better Choice
- URL health monitoring. Sitemap Generator detects 404 errors and broken links on your live site. Octopus.do has zero URL health check capability — its crawler collects links but does not audit their status.
- Redirect detection. Sitemap Generator identifies redirect chains. Octopus.do has no redirect analysis whatsoever.
- Auto-refresh scheduling. Octopus.do has explicitly no scheduling — all recrawls are manual. For a site that publishes regularly, having a sitemap auto-update in the background is essential. Sitemap Generator handles this automatically.
- XML sitemap for search engines. Sitemap Generator's core output is a standards-compliant XML sitemap ready for Google Search Console. Octopus.do exports XML, but it is generated from a manually built visual plan — not crawled from a live site's actual URL structure.
- Crawling complex or JS sites. Octopus.do's crawler struggles with secure sites, password-protected pages, and JavaScript-heavy architectures. Sitemap Generator is built for live production sites.
Pricing Compared
| Plan | Sitemap Generator | Octopus.do |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Yes — core features | Yes — 1 project, ~50 pages, limited features |
| Pro / Paid | Affordable monthly | ~$8–10/mo (1 seat, up to 8 projects) |
| Team | Single account | ~$34–40/mo per seat — steep for small teams |
| Agency | Contact sales | ~$100–120/mo |
For solo users, Octopus.do's Pro plan at ~$8–10/month is competitive. The jump to Team pricing (~$34–40/seat/month) is steep — a 5-person team pays $170–200/month for a planning tool.
Who Should Choose Which
Choose Octopus.do if you are:
- A UX designer or information architect planning a new website or app structure
- A digital agency creating visual site plans for client proposals or kickoffs
- A product manager communicating app page hierarchy to developers
- Anyone who needs a shareable visual tree diagram, not a machine-readable XML file
Choose Sitemap Generator if you are:
- Managing a live website and need an accurate XML sitemap for Google Search Console
- Monitoring your site for broken links, 404 errors, and redirect issues
- Wanting a sitemap that stays current automatically as you add new pages
- A marketer, site owner, or small business operator focused on SEO health, not visual planning
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Octopus.do detect broken links or 404 errors?
No. Octopus.do's crawler collects links to build a visual tree but does not check whether those URLs return a valid HTTP 200 response. There is no 404 checker, redirect finder, or URL health report in Octopus.do.
Can Octopus.do auto-refresh my sitemap on a schedule?
No — Octopus.do has no scheduling feature. All recrawls must be initiated manually. If your site publishes content regularly and you need a current sitemap at all times, you need a different tool.
Can I use Octopus.do to generate the XML sitemap for my live site?
Yes — Octopus.do can crawl a URL and export a sitemap.xml. However, its crawler struggles with JS-rendered pages, secure/authenticated sections, and complex directory structures, which means the resulting XML may be incomplete. For a production-grade XML sitemap that reliably includes all indexable pages, a purpose-built crawler is more dependable.
Can I import my existing sitemap into Octopus.do?
Yes — you can upload an existing XML sitemap file and Octopus.do will visualize it as an interactive tree. This is useful at the start of a redesign project to understand the current site structure as a baseline.