axe vs Lighthouse vs WAVE vs ConformPilot
Which accessibility testing tool is right for your team? We compare the four most widely used tools side by side — covering what they catch, what they miss, and when to use each one.
Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | axe-core | Lighthouse | WAVE | ConformPilot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automated Scanning | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multi-page Crawling | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Authenticated Page Scanning | — | — | — | ✓ |
| VPAT 2.5 Generation | — | — | — | ✓ |
| WCAG 2.2 Mapping | ✓ | Partial | Partial | ✓ |
| Section 508 Mapping | — | — | — | ✓ |
| EN 301 549 Mapping | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Professional Report Export | — | HTML only | — | ✓ DOCX + HTML |
| CI/CD Integration | ✓ | ✓ | — | API |
| Price | Free | Free | Free | Free trial + paid |
Each Tool Explained
axe-core
The Industry-Standard Engine- ✓Most accurate automated engine — lowest false positive rate
- ✓Used by Deque, Microsoft, Google, and most enterprise platforms
- ✓Available as browser extension, npm package, and API
- ✓Integrates with Cypress, Playwright, Jest, and CI/CD pipelines
- ✓Free and open source
- ✗Only catches ~30% of WCAG violations automatically
- ✗No built-in reporting or VPAT generation
- ✗Requires developer setup for automated scanning
- ✗No authenticated page scanning out of the box
- ✗Results require manual interpretation and documentation
Google Lighthouse
Built Into Chrome DevTools- ✓Zero setup — built into Chrome DevTools
- ✓Covers accessibility alongside performance, SEO, and best practices
- ✓Provides an accessibility score (0–100) for quick benchmarking
- ✓Available as CLI and Node module for automation
- ✓Free
- ✗Accessibility score is not a compliance metric
- ✗Uses a subset of axe-core rules — less comprehensive than axe alone
- ✗No VPAT generation or formal report output
- ✗Cannot scan authenticated pages without workarounds
- ✗Score can be misleading — a 100 score does not mean WCAG compliant
WAVE
Visual Accessibility Feedback- ✓Visual overlay shows issues directly on the page
- ✓Great for non-technical users and designers
- ✓Free browser extension
- ✓Shows structure elements like headings and landmarks visually
- ✓Good for quick manual reviews
- ✗Higher false positive rate than axe-core
- ✗No bulk scanning or multi-page crawling
- ✗No VPAT generation or formal compliance reports
- ✗Cannot scan authenticated pages
- ✗Not suitable for enterprise or government compliance workflows
ConformPilot
Enterprise Accessibility Platform- ✓Combines axe-core, Pa11y, and Lighthouse in one platform
- ✓Scans authenticated pages behind login forms
- ✓Multi-page crawling across entire websites
- ✓Generates VPAT 2.5 Word documents automatically
- ✓Maps violations to WCAG 2.2, Section 508, and EN 301 549
- ✓Produces professional HTML and DOCX reports
- ✓Supports WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, Section 508, and EN 301 549
- ✗Paid product (free trial available)
- ✗Overkill for single-page spot checks
Which Tool Should You Use?
Use axe-core if you are a developer who wants to integrate accessibility testing into your CI/CD pipeline. It is the most accurate automated engine available and integrates with every major testing framework.
Use Lighthouse for quick development-time checks. It is already in your browser and gives you a useful accessibility score alongside performance metrics. Do not use it as your only compliance tool.
Use WAVE if you are a designer or content editor who wants to visually see accessibility issues on a page without any technical setup. It is excellent for spot-checking individual pages.
Use ConformPilot if you need to audit an entire website, scan authenticated pages, generate a VPAT 2.5 document, or produce a professional accessibility report for a client, government agency, or enterprise procurement team. ConformPilot combines all three automated engines and adds the compliance documentation layer that none of the free tools provide.
The Only Tool That Does It All
ConformPilot combines axe-core, Pa11y, and Lighthouse with multi-page crawling, authenticated scanning, and automatic VPAT 2.5 generation. Everything you need for enterprise accessibility compliance in one platform.