WAVE vs Level Access
Feature checklists rarely decide anything. What decides it is the pricing metric, who has to write the tests, and which limitation you can live with.
Entry price
From $0.04 per credit (one basic page scan), falling to $0.025 at 10k+
Free tierQuote on request
Quote onlyWhat drives the bill
The metric that actually scales your invoice.
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.
Enterprise contracts combining platform licence with audit and advisory services.
Free tier
Browser extension and single-page online checker are free.
No free tier.
Open source
Self-hostable
No-code authoring
Languages
Platforms
Fits teams
Adoption
Widely used
WebAIM (Utah State University) · since 2001
Established
Level Access · since 1997
Strengths
- 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.
- Human expert audits and assistive-technology user testing alongside the tooling.
- Legal and VPAT support for organisations under compliance pressure.
- Covers web, mobile and desktop applications.
Limitations
- 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.
- Expensive, services-heavy engagement model.
- The UserWay overlay heritage is contentious — automated overlays are widely criticised by accessibility practitioners.
- Not a self-serve developer tool.
Best for
Designers and developers learning accessibility, and quick manual spot checks.
Organisations facing accessibility litigation or formal procurement requirements.
Pricing last reviewed August 2026 and is indicative only — confirm on each vendor’s own page.