Alternatives to HTMLProofer
A Ruby tool that tests rendered HTML files for broken links, images and markup problems. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
HTMLProofer
A Ruby tool that tests rendered HTML files for broken links, images and markup problems.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as HTMLProofer.
htmltest
Command-line tool that tests generated static HTML for broken links, missing images and markup problems.
htmltest is a single Go program, also usable in Docker, that checks generated static HTML without needing a Ruby environment, and is command line only.
linkinator
A command-line broken link checker that crawls websites and local files to validate every link.
linkinator checks links in local files and live sites and suits CI, under the MIT license, but needs Node.js instead of Ruby and does not check markup.
muffet
A fast command-line link checker, written in Go, that crawls a website to find broken links.
muffet is a fast Go command-line link checker that crawls a running site and fits CI pipelines, rather than reading local HTML files, and skips markup checks.
LinkChecker
Open-source command-line tool that checks links in web pages or crawls whole websites for broken ones.
LinkChecker is a GPL command-line tool needing Python 3.10 or later that crawls whole sites with many output formats, focusing on links rather than markup.
W3C Link Checker
An online W3C tool that finds broken links and anchors on a web page or whole site.
W3C Link Checker runs online with no install, checking links and anchors with recursive crawling, but works on published pages rather than local build output.
Also worth comparing
These listings name HTMLProofer as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Nu Html Checker
The W3C's online checker that tests HTML documents against current HTML conformance rules.
HTMLProofer is an open-source Ruby tool that tests local rendered HTML files in CI for markup problems as well as broken links and images.
W3C Markup Validation Service
The W3C's free service for checking the markup of HTML and XHTML documents.
HTMLProofer is an open-source Ruby tool that checks generated HTML files for markup problems, broken links and images in CI, rather than validating live URLs.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Lighthouse CI
A set of tools that runs Lighthouse audits on every commit and tracks results over time.
webhint
A customizable linting tool that checks websites for accessibility, speed, compatibility and security problems.
Pa11y
Open-source command-line and dashboard tools that test web pages for accessibility issues automatically.
Broken Link Check
Free online dead link checker for whole websites or single pages, with no sign-up.
