WAVE vs axe DevTools

From $0.04 per credit (one basic page scan), falling to $0.025 at 10k+

Free tier available

Free for interactive use. The API is bought in credits — one credit per basic page scan, 2-3 for advanced requests — at $0.04 each up to 999, $0.03 to 9,999 and $0.025 beyond. Minimum purchase is 250 credits ($10), and new accounts get 100 free.

The free extension covers a lot. Deque no longer publishes a price for Pro or the axe DevTools for Web bundle — both route through sales or a no-card trial, so budget from a quote rather than a list price.

Browser extension and single-page online checker are free.

Free browser extension with the core axe-core rule set.

Widely used

WebAIM (Utah State University) · since 2001

Widely used

Deque Systems · since 2015

• The in-page visual overlay teaches non-specialists what is wrong far better than a list.
• Free for everyday developer and designer use.
• WebAIM's guidance behind each rule is authoritative and clear.

• Guided manual testing addresses the two thirds of WCAG that scanners cannot.
• Findings come with concrete code-level remediation advice.
• Deque's accessibility expertise is the deepest in the industry.

• Manual, page-by-page — not a CI tool.
• Alerts require human judgement, so counts are not directly comparable between pages.
• No issue tracking or programme management.

• Per-seat pricing adds up across a large engineering organisation.
• The free extension is good enough for many teams, blurring the upgrade case.
• Enterprise deployment needs process design, not just a licence.

Designers and developers learning accessibility, and quick manual spot checks.

Organisations with a formal accessibility programme and compliance obligations.