Beam Us Up vs XML-Sitemaps.com (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Beam Us Up grades higher than XML-Sitemaps.com: 3.0 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Beam Us Up grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
XML-Sitemaps.com
Free online XML sitemap generator for sites up to 500 pages
Which one is for you
Pick Beam Us Up if
- Fits if you want a site crawler without a subscription
- Works for developers who want to run crawls from the command line or a server
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need support you can count on, as it's one developer's project answered through site comments
- Too light for very big audits, since crawls use up to half your computer's memory and Excel exports stop at 65,536 rows
- Skip it if you want crawls run in the cloud, as it only runs on your own computer
- Watch out: its own site says paid crawlers such as Screaming Frog and Netpeak do more
Pick XML-Sitemaps.com if
- Fits if your site is under 500 pages and you need a sitemap once
- Works for sites too big for a plugin that want sitemaps hosted and kept up to date
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, at 500 pages and no automatic updates
- Pricey if your site is huge, as Pro Sitemaps runs to $719.99 a month for 5 million URLs
- Watch out: Pro Sitemaps is a separate site, pro-sitemaps.com, run by CMJ Marketing Ltd
- Watch out: the PHP script's licence is for personal use only, and installing it is $20 extra
How we grade them
| 3.0GPABeam Us UpVery good | 2.8GPAXML-Sitemaps.comGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, with no paid plans and no crawl limits stated. You download it and run it on your own computer, which counts as free and substantial on our ladder. | APro Sitemaps is $2.44 a month billed yearly for 500 URLs ($3.49 monthly), and $8.39 at 10,000 URLs, both under 60% of this category's cheapest quarter. The PHP script is $49.99 once. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright. The only extra is a free Google API key of your own if you want PageSpeed scores. | BThe online generator is free for up to 500 pages with no registration, which covers a small site. It won't update the sitemap for you: you download the files and upload them yourself. |
| Features | CFinds broken links, redirects, duplicates, missing tags and canonical problems, with bulk PageSpeed, JavaScript rendering, AI bot checks, crawl comparison, a command line and MCP. Its own site says paid crawlers such as Screaming Frog are more capable, and Excel exports stop at 65,536 rows. | CSitemaps in XML, HTML and text, with dates and priorities set for you, plus a validator, a bot simulator and a headers viewer. It does that job fully, but it's a smaller job than a site audit. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record. You install it, type a site address and crawl, with nothing else to set up unless you want PageSpeed scores. | BNo rating on record. Enter an address, wait for the crawl and download the files, with no account. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWindows, Mac and Linux, plus a command-line crawler and MCP links to Claude, Cursor, VS Code and Gemini CLI. Computers only, though: no web or phone version. | CWeb only, with no API or integrations on record. The self-hosted script needs a PHP server of your own. |
| Best for | free desktop crawls with no limits | a one-off sitemap for a small site |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Beam Us Up and XML-Sitemaps.com. How we grade
Price against what you get
Beam Us Up has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. XML-Sitemaps.com starts at $2.44 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Beam Us Up starts $2.44 a month lower. Of the other technical SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Beam Us Up for less, and 3 score higher than XML-Sitemaps.com for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- XML-Sitemaps.com can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Beam Us Up also covers page speed.
At a glance
| Beam Us Up | XML-Sitemaps.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $2.44 per month for 500 URLs, billed yearly ($3.49 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | The whole crawler is free with no stated crawl limits; PageSpeed scores need your own free Google API key. | Free online generator: XML, HTML and text sitemaps for up to 500 pages, no registration. You download the files and upload them to your site yourself. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | BeamUsUp | XML Sitemaps |
| Price read from | beamusup.com | pro-sitemaps.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Beam Us Up
- It is desktop software only: crawls run on your own computer and can use up to half of its memory.
- The Excel export stops at 65,536 rows per sheet.
- It is a personal project of its developer, and support is offered through comments on the site.
- Its own site says paid crawlers such as Screaming Frog and Netpeak are more capable.
XML-Sitemaps.com
- The free generator stops at 500 pages and does not update the sitemap; automatic updates need Pro Sitemaps.
- Pro Sitemaps is priced by URLs per site, from $3.49 a month for 500 URLs to $719.99 a month for 5 million, billed monthly.
- The generator script's licence is for personal use and may not be resold as a service; installation is a $20 extra.
- Pro Sitemaps runs on its own site, pro-sitemaps.com, operated by CMJ Marketing Ltd.
Key features
Beam Us Up
- Technical crawl checks
- Finds broken links, server and client errors, redirects, duplicate content, page titles, meta descriptions, H1 to H3 headings, canonicals and blocked URLs.
- PageSpeed scores in bulk
- Pulls Google PageSpeed results, including Core Web Vitals from real visitors, for crawled pages using a free Google API key.
- JavaScript rendering
- Version 2.0 can render pages using a Chrome or Edge browser already installed on the computer, set to never, auto or always.
- AI bot access checks
- An AI Access tab shows which of 27 search and AI bots the site's robots.txt allows, checks llms.txt, and can export an llms.txt draft.
- Crawl comparison
- Compares two crawls to show fixed, new and remaining issues and changed pages, with results exported as CSV files.
- Command line and MCP
- Installs a command-line crawler for scripts and servers, and can connect to AI apps such as Claude, Cursor and VS Code over MCP.
XML-Sitemaps.com
- Online sitemap generator
- Enter a URL and it crawls up to 500 pages, then gives you XML, HTML and plain-text sitemaps to download.
- Automatic priorities and dates
- Sets each page's last-modified date from the server's response and lowers its priority the further it sits from the homepage.
- Hosted sitemaps with Pro Sitemaps
- Pro Sitemaps builds and hosts the sitemap on its own servers on a schedule, for sites from a few hundred pages to millions.
- Self-hosted generator script
- A PHP script for your own server that splits large sitemaps into files of 50,000 URLs with a sitemap index, and reports broken links.
- Free checking tools
- A sitemap validator, a search engine bot simulator and an HTTP headers viewer are free on the site.
Plans
Beam Us Up
Free$0
The full desktop crawler for Windows, macOS and Linux, with no limits stated on the site.
XML-Sitemaps.com
Free generator$0
Sitemaps for up to 500 pages, built on demand with no sign-up, with last-modified dates and priorities set automatically.
Pro Sitemaps$2.44
per month for 500 URLs, billed yearly ($3.49 billed monthly)
Hosted service with automatic updates, image, video and news sitemaps and SEO health reports. $8.39 a month at 10,000 URLs, billed yearly.
Sitemap Generator Script$49.99
one-time
PHP script for your own server with no page limit, broken-link reports and cron scheduling. Image, video, news and RSS add-ons cost $20 each.
Ways to pay less
Beam Us Up
No public discounts listed.
XML-Sitemaps.com
- Annual discount
Save 30% on Pro Sitemaps with yearly billing
Pro Sitemaps' pricing page marks yearly billing at 30% off: 500 URLs cost $29.32 a year ($2.44 a month) instead of $3.49 a month.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Beam Us Up or XML-Sitemaps.com?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Beam Us Up is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $2.44 a month for XML-Sitemaps.com. Beam Us Up is free, and XML-Sitemaps.com starts at $2.44 per month for 500 URLs, billed yearly ($3.49 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Beam Us Up or XML-Sitemaps.com?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Beam Us Up and XML-Sitemaps.com have a free plan.
Which platforms do Beam Us Up and XML-Sitemaps.com run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Beam Us Up lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps and only XML-Sitemaps.com lists a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.