# Sitemap URL Count Checker - XML Sitemap Analyzer (`eliai/sitemap-analyzer`) Actor

Counts the URLs in any site's XML sitemap, a sitemap URL count checker that finds the sitemap through robots.txt from a site or sitemap URL. Returns the sitemap URL, urlset or sitemapindex type, URL count and issues, at one flat charge per site. For SEO specialists and crawler developers.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/eliai/sitemap-analyzer.md
- **Developed by:** [Broke to Built](https://apify.com/eliai) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $16.00 / 1,000 sitemap scans

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Sitemap Analyzer: Sitemap URL Count Checker & robots.txt Sitemap Finder

Analyze any site's XML sitemap in one call — auto-discovers it, counts URLs, and flags issues. No API key, pay per site.

**▶ Live on the Apify Store: https://apify.com/eliai/sitemap-analyzer** — run it instantly, or call it as an agent tool via Apify MCP.

### What it does

- **Auto-finds the sitemap** via `robots.txt` then `/sitemap.xml` (or accepts a direct sitemap URL)
- Detects **sitemapindex vs urlset**
- Counts **URLs** and how many carry `<lastmod>` dates
- Flags issues: **>50,000 URLs**, **>50MB**, **no lastmod**, **non-HTTPS URLs**, empty sitemap
- Returns a sample of URLs

### Input

```json
{ "url": "https://example.com" }
```

or bulk:

```json
{ "urls": ["https://a.com", "https://b.com"], "maxUrls": 10 }
```

### Output (per site)

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com",
  "sitemapUrl": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml",
  "type": "urlset",
  "urlCount": 1240,
  "withLastmod": 1240,
  "issues": [],
  "summary": "urlset, 1240 URLs, 0 issue(s)"
}
```

### Use cases

SEO audits, site migrations, and crawl-budget checks — by hand or wired into an agent. Pairs with our [SEO & Tech Auditor](https://apify.com/eliai/website-seo-tech-auditor) and [Broken Link Checker](https://apify.com/eliai/broken-link-checker).

### Pricing

**$0.02 per site analyzed — flat**, however many URLs the sitemap holds. The closest incumbents charge per URL extracted (measured 2026-08-07): apify/sitemap-extractor at $0.0001–0.0005 per URL and onescales/sitemap-url-extractor at $0.0026–0.03 per URL — so a 1,000-URL sitemap costs $0.10–$0.50 or $2.60+ there versus $0.02 here. (Those actors return every URL as a dataset item; this one returns counts, issues, and a URL sample — pick per job.)

### Limits

- Default run settings: 256 MB memory, 600 s timeout. Change them per run under Options if a large input needs more.
- Time: the prefilled example finished in 2 s on 2026-10-31; run time grows with the number of inputs.

### FAQ

**How do I find a website's sitemap URL?** You don't have to — pass the site's homepage and the actor discovers the sitemap via `robots.txt`, then falls back to `/sitemap.xml`. A direct sitemap URL also works.

**Does it handle sitemap index files?** Yes — it detects whether the file is a `sitemapindex` (a sitemap of sitemaps) or a plain `urlset`, and reports which.

**What issues does it flag?** Sitemaps over 50,000 URLs or 50 MB (the sitemap-protocol limits search engines enforce), missing `<lastmod>` dates, non-HTTPS URLs, and empty sitemaps.

**Why do the 50,000-URL / 50 MB limits matter?** They come from the sitemaps.org protocol — files beyond them must be split into a sitemap index, or crawlers may ignore the overflow entirely.

**Can I check many sites in one run?** Yes — pass an array in `urls` (capped by `maxUrls`). Billing is $0.02 per site analyzed, so the cap is also your budget cap.

**Does `<lastmod>` still matter for SEO?** Google has said it uses `lastmod` as a crawl-scheduling signal when it's accurate — and a sitemap where nothing carries dates gives crawlers nothing to schedule on, which is why missing `lastmod` is flagged.

### Related actors

Sitemap URLs that redirect are the classic post-migration defect — [Redirect Chain Checker](https://apify.com/eliai/redirect-chain-checker) shows every hop and the final status for any URL, in bulk. See also [Broken Link Checker](https://apify.com/eliai/broken-link-checker) and [Website SEO Tech Auditor](https://apify.com/eliai/website-seo-tech-auditor).

### Changelog

- 2026-11-01: Page text only: a clearer page heading and a Limits section. Code, output and price are unchanged.

### For AI agents

This Actor is built to be called by software, not just by people.

- **Mount it directly as an MCP tool** — no Store search, no ranking, just this one tool:
  `https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=eliai/sitemap-analyzer`
- **Or call it over HTTP** and get the results in the same request:
  `POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/eliai~sitemap-analyzer/run-sync-get-dataset-items`
- **Costs are predictable before you call.** Pricing is pay-per-event (see Pricing above), so an agent can budget a run in advance instead of discovering the bill afterwards.
- **Send only the field you mean.** If you pass the bulk field, it is used on its own; the single-value field is a fallback, never merged into your request. You are charged for the items you sent and nothing else.

# Actor input Schema

## `url` (type: `string`):

A site URL (auto-finds the sitemap via robots.txt / sitemap.xml) or a direct sitemap URL

## `urls` (type: `array`):

Multiple sites/sitemaps to analyze

## `maxUrls` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of sites processed in one run; anything beyond it is skipped, so this also caps the cost.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "url": "https://www.apify.com",
  "urls": [],
  "maxUrls": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Every item this run produced. Export as JSON, CSV or Excel from the dataset view.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "url": "https://www.apify.com",
    "urls": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("eliai/sitemap-analyzer").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "url": "https://www.apify.com",
    "urls": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("eliai/sitemap-analyzer").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "url": "https://www.apify.com",
  "urls": []
}' |
apify call eliai/sitemap-analyzer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,eliai/sitemap-analyzer"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/cdDd3EM0YUtnz7BVi/builds/uQg0pCnBDHLDsbN5N/openapi.json