DYNO Mapper review 2024: app features, pricing, pros & cons

With ‘mapper’ in the name, one would hope DYNO Mapper at least covers the bases in the sitemap department given how crucial those are for website planning. In our DYNO Mapper review, we’ll answer that and more, taking you through the ins and outs of the features that matter. Both what they have and what they don’t have so you can decide if it’s right for you.

DYNO Mapper review 2024: Is DYNO Mapper any good?

Honestly, it is a solid tool for planning website projects. From improving navigation to sharpening link structure, organization of all elements is key with something as "small" as a visual sitemap having outsized benefits. In this DYNO Mapper review, we’ll break down how well they get the job done.

DYNO Mapper pricing plans

Before getting into the nuts and bolts, how much does DYNO Mapper cost? Given that DYNO Mapper is a SaaS, or software-as-a-service, provider, the pricing is subscription-based and broken down into 3 tiers. Let’s review DYNO Mapper prices:

How much does DYNO Mapper cost for nonprofits?

If you’re running a non-profit (or educational institution), you’re in luck! DYNO Mapper is actually a touch less expensive.

You’ll get a 5% discount, which makes that annual subscription price a bit more attractive. Just be sure to shoot them a message first as they’ll need to send you a discount code.

Sidenote, at Slickplan we also offer discounts to nonprofits as well as NGOs, reach out to us here for more info.

Are there any DYNO Mapper coupon codes or promo discount vouchers?

Speaking of discount codes and vouchers, are there any for DYNO Mapper?

We poked around on the various coupon sites and after doing the research it seems there aren’t any coupon codes or discount vouchers at the moment.

Not to toot our own horn here but if price is a key consideration for you, Slickplan is going to be a far more cost-effective option (and an app that comes with a more substantial feature set).

DYNO Mapper free vs paid: what’s the difference?

Unfortunately, there isn’t a permanently free version but they do offer what they call "a limited 14-day free trial". They don’t describe what the limits are but that seems to imply that you won’t get full access. Nonetheless, that’s more than enough time to assess the ins and outs of the software and if what’s on offer meets your needs.

Note: at Slickplan we have a basic, permanently free sitemap builder.

DYNO Mapper overview: what is DYNO Mapper & what is DYNO Mapper used for?

DYNO Mapper is primarily a tool for generating, managing and analyzing sitemaps in order to improve user experience.

They also have a number of features devoted to what’s actually on your site including tools like Content Audit and Content Inventory as well as a very basic content planning module.

Additionally, Accessibility Testing makes sure your site is optimized and friendly to all users, including those with disabilities. Particularly useful if your site needs to be in ADA compliance.

DYNO Mapper features list

Because DYNO Mapper is a proper sitemapping tool, you can expect quite a bit of functionality, here are the key features of DYNO Mapper and how they compare to Slickplan.

Features included in DYNO Mapper & Slickplan:

1. Interactive visual sitemaps

A static sitemap can show you structure. An interactive map can show you everything else. But what does "interactive" mean here? With just a click, both on Slickplan sitemaps or a DYNO Mapper one, you can see the additional attributes attached to each page. Something that massively aids in the web development process.

2. Drag & drop editor

Slickplan.com and dynomapper.com both share a number of basic sitemapping functionalities, a critical one from the perspective of convenience and making sure you can act on an idea quickly is drag-and-drop editing.

3. Customization

Whether your projects are for internal use or need to be presented to clients, a professional look is a point of pride. Oh, and it also makes the information presented easier to digest. From custom colors to adding client logos to different styles of sitemaps, you can build to your exact needs (or the needs of key stakeholders).

4. Google Analytics integration

Remember those attributes we mentioned a minute ago? Well one the attributes you can add to each page of your sitemap is page metrics from Google Analytics. Super helpful in keeping tabs on which pages are performing best, so you can ensure they stay optimized, and also which are performing poorly so you can strategize improvements.

5. Site Crawler & XML Import

If you’re not building a sitemap from scratch, a site crawler is going to be your best friend with the ability to import an XML being a close 2nd. Fortunately, whether you go with DYNO Mapper or Slickplan, you get both.

You will have a page crawl limit with DYNO Mapper though depending on which package you opt for (only our Basic plan doesn’t include unlimited site crawling).

6. Batch editing

Big projects tend to have big, deep pools of content pages and sophisticated silo architecture. If you need to make changes across all of that quickly, batch editing is a gift from the heavens. While DYNO Mapper allows for some basic batch editing, mainly things like changing colors, assigning categories and people to projects, it is a bit rudimentary.

Slickplan gives you more control with the ability to batch edit labels and interactive features.

7. Multiple Users

With DYNO Mapper’s Starter plan, you’ll get 1 user. Same as Slickplan’s Basic option (at the time of this writing, you’ll be paying $38.21 more for DYNO Mapper though). Unlimited users for both kick in at around $100/month while Slickplan has more tiers to cost-effectively accommodate small and medium-sized teams.

The big difference is the top-tier plan where you’ll be paying nearly 4 times more for DYNO Mapper (and getting 5 times less storage) – an eye watering $399 for theirs vs $114.99 for ours.

8. SEO Tools

A focus on SEO is part and parcel of a well-built site. DYNO Mapper’s content auditing tool and keyword tracking function are helpful to that end, however, both are only available with their more expensive plans. The tracker gives you a daily look at how well your content is doing and your rankings on whatever keywords matter most. A helpful feature when planning redesigns.

Slickplan, on the other hand, comes with free SEO tools — usable whether you use our planning suite or not by the way — that help you drive traffic, improve search engine site crawling and run trackable ad campaigns.

Features included only in DYNO Mapper:

9. Web accessibility testing

One of the features unique to DYNO Mapper is its accessibility tool, a built-in tester that guarantees your site’s usability for any and all users. Website accessibility testing ensures website compliance for users with disabilities according to BITV 1.0, Section 508, WCAG 2.1 guidelines and more.

Advanced features found only in Slickplan:

10. Integrations via API

If you like the applications you’re already using, you should be able to keep using them! With Slickplan’s developer API you can do just that, integrating our software into your applications for a seamless planning experience. The ability to keep working with tools you’re already comfortable with boosts productivity and saves time. That’s why we made it part of Slickplan.

DYNO Mapper offers no such API so you’ll be forced to shift your workflow to accommodate.

11. CMS import plugins (in addition to WordPress)

Content doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Once you have it where you want it, nice and perfected, you’re going to want a better and faster way of getting it into your CMS than just copying and pasting.

A WordPress plugin to expedite import is a lifesaver to that end given that a huge percentage of the web is built on it. Both Slickplan and DYNO Mapper have WordPress covered however it’s unclear if DYNO Mapper is compatible with the Gutenberg page builder. That’s a problem and would render the plugin useless if you’re using Gutenberg.

It’s worth noting that despite having a plugin available on WordPress, DYNO Mapper actually recommends you use an alternative importer.

The bigger issue though, and why DYNO Mapper doesn’t pass the test, is that a lot of sites simply aren’t built with WordPress. 43% are built on WP, 57% are not. DYNO Mapper has no plugins for the rest of the CMSs out there.

Meanwhile, Slickplan has you covered whether you use Joomla!, Drupal, ExpressionEngine or concrete5. Plus, the developer API mentioned earlier allows you to create your own.

12. Real time, in-app collaboration

The ability to give multiple parties access to what you’re working on is nice, that’s something that both software solutions here offer…but access alone doesn’t necessarily improve your team’s ability to work together all that much.

True collaboration is being able to have conversations with team members in real-time within the space workspace. True collaboration is being able to work together interactively, following each other’s movements and seeing changes as they happen; to create and fine-tune sitemaps, build diagrams to sharpen user journeys or improve content.

True collaboration is the ability to have real-time back and forths, like you’d have in Figma or Slack, where great ideas are so often born.

True, real-time collaboration is something you only get with Slickplan.

In fact, we build everything with an emphasis on collaboration and team communication, which is why we added drop-pin commenting to our Design Mockup tool (more on that below).

13. Content planning

How can you have brilliant, intuitive site architecture and still have high bounce rates? Poor content. The sitemap is your site’s skeleton, while the content is the meat on those bones and robust content planning tools make a big difference.

So, yes, DYNO Mapper does have a basic planning tool for content but we gave it an X because it’s really a bare-bones shell of a solution, evidenced by the fact that they include it in all their plans.

If you genuinely want to plan content from start to finish you need a tool that actually takes you from start to finish. Slickplan goes well beyond creating layouts, text blocks and a drag and drop editor (and templates to start from if you’re stuck) to include SEO planning, Google Analytics integration and CMS import plugins to effortlessly migrate fully formed content.

Slickplan’s Content Planner is sophisticated enough to be a standalone app.

As with all of our tools, collaboration is at the core so you can have multiple team members working on the same content simultaneously. Edits, additions, attachments and more are accessible to everyone instantly so you can produce better content together.

14. Diagram Maker

Sitemaps are great for seeing the big picture, like how pages relate to each other and your information silos, but what about more granular details?

How are users flowing through your site? Are the individual pages optimized for visitors to get to where you want them to go? Does the customer journey make sense?

Our Diagram Maker helps answer those questions (and more) and improve user experience by allowing you to quickly map out and visualize the flow of any process. Again, something you can do with multiple users working on the same diagram at the same time.

Not something you can do with DYNO Mapper.

15. Design Mockups

A sitemap is just part of the web development process and what the eventual design is built around. Given that, website project management must include design. Our Design Mockups tool does just that, allowing you to collaborate and conversate on designs that elevate UX/UI.

Ultimately that brings design, sitemaps, diagrams and content planning under one roof so you can see how each piece influences the other.

DYNO Mapper, on the other hand, really gives you no touchpoint to the design side of the development process. A big disconnect that can end up adding time and expense to your build due to various teams operating blindly and keeping fingers crossed that everything lines up in the end.

16. Figma integration

Website planning doesn’t end with the sitemap or the content. These need to come together harmoniously for your site to click (and get clicks). Slickplan’s Design Mockups integrate directly with Figma and other design tools meaning you can sharpen every facet of your site as you go with drop-pin commenting being reflected both in Figma and Slickplan so feedback never gets lost.

As mentioned above, DYNO Mapper has no connection point to your design team, meaning you’re either back in your email inbox or hoping the information gets seen in whatever project management tools you’re using.

DYNO Mapper pros and cons

TL:DR, here are the main advantages and disadvantages of DYNO Mapper:

DYNO Mapper advantages

• High ease of use
• Up to 25,000 URLs per crawl
• Unique complementary tools like Keyword Tracking and Website Accessibility Testing
• Can crawl private and password protected websites

DYNO Mapper disadvantages

• One of the more pricey options
• Limited to 100 GB of storage (for comparison sake, Slickplan offers 500 GB)
• With limited to no design tools or integrations, DYNO Mapper doesn’t cover the entire website planning process
• Outdated interface with some usability issues
• Collaborating with team not intuitive or built-in
• Can’t manage entire website planning process
• Limited to 50 saved projects, even with their largest plan

DYNO Mapper complaints & praise (Dyno Mapper reviews from real customers)

As far as user reviews of DYNO Mapper go, they’re generally on the positive side.

Beyond the solid visual sitemap generator, people tend to enjoy the accessibility testing.

In terms of negative DYNO Mapper reviews, they center on poor customer support, something that isn’t an issue with Slickplan’s 24/7 global customer support.

Review of DYNO Mapper support

Although a clear weak point, it’s not as if they have no support. DYNO Mapper does have some outlets for getting help; from a Zendesk-powered chatbot (response times vary greatly) to a modest support section on their site to a contact page, you can at least reach out to someone at the company. No guarantee on when you’ll hear back however.

Is Dyno Mapper worth it? Our conclusion

The big question now is, is DYNO Mapper worth it?

All in all, it’s a solid tool and one that can get the job done for you. If your website project is in the education or government sector, where accessibility is a requirement, web accessibility testing is a helpful feature.

Although DYNO Mapper is a pro level tool, there are a lot of good-but-not-quite-good-enough features that may leave you wanting more. And for a tool at this price point, the fact that you can’t manage the entire website planning process, something you can do with DYNO Mapper alternatives like Slickplan, is a tough pill to swallow.