Most website owners still overlook the importance of alt text, leaving images invisible to both search engines and users who rely on accessibility features. In fact, over 70% of small business websites skip proper alt text altogether. The result? missed opportunities in SEO, accessibility, and AI-driven search discovery.
The good news is that AI-powered tools now make alt text generation simple and scalable. Instead of writing tags manually, you can generate descriptive, SEO-friendly, and accessibility-ready text in seconds. Let’s look at how five leading tools compare — and which one might be the best fit for your business.
How the Tools Compare
Purple Leaf stands out with one major advantage — it takes a webpage URL and generates alt text for all images on that page at once. There’s no need to upload images or paste individual URLs. The process is quick, seamless, and ideal for businesses looking to optimize entire pages efficiently. This makes it especially valuable during website launches or when publishing new landing pages that need instant, page-wide optimization.
AltTextLab allows you to paste image URLs or use its plugin for generating alt text. It provides 25 free credits to start and focuses on SEO-friendly descriptions. It’s suitable for businesses looking to manage image updates through a structured workflow or CMS integration.
AutoAlt works similarly, letting you either paste image URLs or upload images directly. It also starts with 25 free credits and includes bulk image compression and SEO-oriented descriptions. This makes it useful for businesses looking to leverage it for one-time image alt text updates or incremental changes on the website.
AltText.ai provides AI-generated descriptions with the same dual option of pasting image URLs or uploading images. Like the others, it offers only 25 free credits before requiring payment. Its API access helps larger businesses integrate alt text generation into their workflows for incremental updates.
Ahrefs’ Free AI Image Alt Text Generator offers a simple, upload-based approach. Users can generate alt text one image at a time without any cost. While it’s more suited for quick, individual needs, it provides a straightforward way to add missing alt text when you only need a few updates.
Tool Comparison Table
| Tool | Ease of Use | Alt Text Quality | Coverage | Integrations / Features | Time to Value | USP |
| Purple Leaf | Enter webpage URL → auto-generates alt text for all images on that page | ✅ SEO + accessibility | Full webpage at once | Keyword hints, CMS/API ready | 1–2 minutes for a full webpage | Generates alt text for all images on a webpage instantly |
| AltTextLab | Paste image URLs or use plugin | SEO-optimized | Image-by-image or bulk | CMS plugins, accessibility scoring | 10–15 minutes for 10–15 images | Best for CMS workflows and accessibility scoring |
| AutoAlt | Paste image URLs or upload images | Descriptive, keyword-aware | Per image/page | Bulk compression + SEO | Around 10 minutes for 10 images | Combines alt text with image compression |
| AltText.ai | Paste image URLs or upload images | AI-generated descriptions | Image-by-image | API available | 8–10 minutes for 10 images | Ideal for API-based automation |
| Ahrefs (Free) | Upload images manually | Basic, SEO-light | Single image only | No integrations | 5–10 minutes per image | Quick single-image alt text generation |
When Businesses Typically Create Alt Text
Most businesses only think about creating or updating alt text when launching a new website or building a new landing page. These are the moments when visuals play a crucial role, yet image optimization is often left behind. Missing alt text at this stage can affect both SEO rankings and accessibility from the start.
This is exactly where Purple Leaf fits in. It’s designed for these key phases — site launches, redesigns, and page updates. While most tools require you to upload images or paste URLs one by one, Purple Leaf generates optimized alt text for every image on a page within minutes. What sets it apart is the quality of its output — it doesn’t just look at the image itself but also reads the surrounding page content to craft contextually accurate, SEO-friendly, and accessibility-compliant alt text. That combination of speed and contextual understanding translates into real time savings and faster readiness for search visibility and compliance.
Conclusion
Alt text is one of the simplest, highest-impact fixes for SEO and accessibility, yet it’s still one of the most overlooked. Without it, images remain invisible to search engines, AI platforms, and users who rely on screen readers. Adding proper alt text can immediately improve your site’s visibility, usability, and overall trust.
With Purple Leaf, generating alt text is effortless. Instead of uploading images individually or using limited credits, you can simply enter a webpage URL and get optimized alt text for all images on that page within minutes. It’s the fastest way to bridge the SEO and accessibility gap and make your website truly search- and user-friendly.
