Alfa vs axe-core
Alfa
github.comaxe-core
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Alfa | axe-core |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Accessibility Testing Software | 9.0 (#8) | 8.5 (#29) |
| CI/CD integration | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 2003 | 2015 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark | Herndon, Virginia, USA |
| License | Alfa is released under the MIT license. | axe-core is distributed under the Mozilla Public License, version 2.0. |
| Purpose | Alfa is an open, standards-based accessibility conformance testing engine for websites built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. | axe-core is an accessibility testing engine for websites and other HTML-based user interfaces that can run alongside functional tests. |
| Standards | It tests against accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). | Its rules cover WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 at levels A, AA and AAA, plus additional best practices. |
Plans
In their own words
Alfa
Alfa is a free, open accessibility testing engine for websites built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It checks pages against accessibility standards such as WCAG, using included rules or pluggable rules in the ACT Rules Format. Developers can add custom rules and filter results by conformance level or WCAG version. Audit output follows the Evaluation and Report Language schema as JSON-LD, and the command-line interface can audit a single page and save results as JSON. Scraper and crawler tools create page representations and discover pages across a site or subdomain. Ready-made integrations cover frameworks and test tools including Angular, React, Vue, Cypress, Jest, Playwright, Puppeteer, Selenium, and WebdriverIO. Alfa is distributed as separate npm packages under the MIT license. It runs in ECMAScript 2022-compatible JavaScript environments, including recent Node.js and browser versions. Building from source requires Node.js 20 or later and Yarn. The project says most integrations are experimental and may change; older environments may be targetable from source but are not explicitly supported.
axe-core
axe-core is a free, open-source accessibility testing engine for websites and other HTML-based interfaces. It is designed to run beside functional tests in unit, integration, browser, and other testing environments. Its rules cover WCAG 2.0, 2.1, and 2.2 at A, AA, and AAA levels, along with additional best practices. Deque says automated checks find an average of 57% of WCAG issues, while uncertain findings are marked for manual review. Installation is documented through npm or pnpm, with tests calling the axe.run() API. The API lists Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari; Internet Explorer 11 is deprecated. Chrome and Firefox are tested on every pull request. JSDOM support is limited, and color-contrast checks do not work there. axe-core uses the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Security updates are available for minor lines up to 18 months old. Vulnerabilities are requested by email, with a stated 24-business-hour response and no bug bounty.