Pa11y vs WAVE
Pa11y
pa11y.org
WAVE
wave.webaim.orgSide by side
| Figure | Pa11y | WAVE |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 13 |
| Spec score · Website Accessibility Tools | 8.7 (#14) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Spec score · Accessibility Testing Software | 8.6 (#21) | 9.4 (#2) |
| Spec score · Web Accessibility Software | 8.2 (#11) | 8.5 (#4) |
| API access | Yes | Yes |
| CI/CD integration | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Scan scope | site | page |
| Scheduled scans | Yes | Yes |
| WCAG version | wcag 2.1 | wcag 2.2 |
Plans
WAVE
- Subscription API — 250–999 credits$10 a month
- Subscription API — 1,000–9,999 creditsPrice not published
- Subscription API — 10,000+ creditsPrice not published
- Stand-alone API — Basic$4,000 a year
- Stand-alone API — Expanded$8,000 a year
- Stand-alone API — Unlimited$12,000 a year
- Free API creditsFree
- API credits 10000+$0.03, paid once
- API credits 1000-9999$0.03, paid once
- API credits 250-999$0.04, paid once
In their own words
Pa11y
Pa11y is a free, open-source set of tools for checking website accessibility. Its command-line interface loads a page for a one-off test and highlights issues, while Pa11y CI checks a list of pages in continuous-integration workflows. Pa11y Dashboard tests pages daily and graphs improvements or regressions over time. Pa11y Webservice supplies JSON data for the Dashboard or a custom dashboard-style front end. The package runs from the command line or Node.js, uses HTML_CodeSniffer by default, and can also use the axe test runner. WCAG2AA is the default CLI standard, with WCAG2A and WCAG2AAA selectable. Reports can be human-readable CLI output, CSV, HTML, JSON, or TSV. Configuration uses command-line options or JSON and JavaScript files, and local HTML files can be tested with an absolute path. Pa11y provides API access, scheduled scans, site-level scanning, and CI/CD integration across Linux, macOS, Windows, web, API, and self-hosted setups. Pa11y 10 requires Node.js 22.13.0 or newer on an even-numbered release.
WAVE
WAVE is a web accessibility tool that identifies many accessibility and WCAG errors and provides tools for human evaluation of web content. Its browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Edge can examine password-protected, locally stored, and highly dynamic pages. The service supports page scans, scheduled site audits, intranet pages with most authentication types, and custom viewport sizes for checking responsive breakpoints. Stand-alone tools can integrate with continuous-integration systems including Selenium and Puppeteer. The API returns JSON or XML; basic analysis uses one credit, while advanced features may use two or three. New accounts receive 100 free API credits. Subscription API access has a 250-credit minimum purchase for $10 a month. Stand-alone API licenses cost $4,000 a year for Basic, $8,000 a year for Expanded, and $12,000 a year for Unlimited. The stand-alone API runs on Linux, Mac, or Windows web servers with PHP and Node installed; minimum requirements are 1 CPU, 1 GB memory, and 100 MB storage.