When to use the Chrome Toolkit and when to use the Website Scanner in the web app.

Toolkit vs Web App

Both use the same axe-core engine and push results to the same workspace. They differ in what they can reach and what they can do.

Quick comparison

Capability	Chrome Toolkit	Web App (Website Scanner)
Pages per report	Multiple — accumulated as you navigate	Up to 10 URLs submitted up front
Authenticated scanning	Uses your current browser session	Configurable: cookies / login form / HTTP headers
Multi-page workflow capture	✅ yes — detects navigation and rolls up results	Via the server-side Workflow Analyzer
WCAG version / rule pack configuration	Uses workspace defaults	Per-scan
Element inspection	Native Chrome DevTools	Page snapshot viewer
Report export (PDF report / CSV summary)	In the web app	In the web app
Team sharing	In-panel or the web app	In the web app
Best for…	Walking real user flows during development	Batch audits, compliance reports

You want to walk through a real user flow and collect issues from every page in one pass.
You want to scan pages behind a login you're already signed into, without configuring separate auth.
You want to inspect a failing element with the native Chrome picker, not a snapshot.

You have a fixed list of URLs to audit and want to submit them all at once.
You need configurable authentication (cookies / login form / headers) for scans that run without you driving the browser.
You need formal WCAG conformance reporting and report exports.
You want the full report and export experience in one place.

Yes — they share the same workspace. A common pattern is:

Use the toolkit during development to catch issues as you code.
Use the web app in CI or for periodic audits to produce shareable reports against a bigger URL list.