Lighthouse is a general-purpose web quality tool. Accessalyze is an accessibility-focused compliance tool. If you need a Lighthouse score of 100 and a WCAG compliance report, you likely need both.
Accessalyze vs Lighthouse: Feature Table
| Feature | Accessalyze | Google Lighthouse |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Accessibility compliance | Performance + SEO + A11y + Best Practices |
| Accessibility scan engine | axe-core (full ruleset) | axe-core (subset of rules) |
| WCAG 2.1 AA rule coverage | Deeper — more rules enabled | ~ Subset optimized for scoring |
| AI-generated fix code | ✓ HTML, CSS & ARIA | ✗ Documentation links only |
| Full-site crawler | ✓ Up to 50 pages (Pro) | ✗ One page at a time |
| Performance auditing | ✗ Not in scope | ✓ Core Web Vitals, LCP, CLS |
| SEO auditing | ✗ Not in scope | ✓ Meta, canonicals, structured data |
| Requires DevTools / CLI | No — URL only | Yes — DevTools or CLI / PageSpeed |
| No-signup free tier | ✓ 3 scans/day | ✓ Always free (PageSpeed Insights) |
| Scheduled automated re-scans | ✓ Weekly (Pro) | ✗ Manual only |
| Compliance PDF reports | ✓ Branded PDF export | ✗ JSON / HTML export only |
| Accessibility score (0–100) | ✗ Violation count by severity | ✓ Weighted 0–100 score |
| Free to use | Free tier + Pro from $49/mo | Always free (open source) |
What a 100 Accessibility Score Actually Means
Lighthouse accessibility score — what it catches and what it misses
Key Differences Explained
Scope: Broad Web Health vs. Accessibility Depth
Lighthouse is Google's general-purpose web quality auditor. When you run a Lighthouse report, you get scores for Performance (Core Web Vitals), Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO, and Progressive Web App criteria — all in one report. This breadth is genuinely useful for developers who want a holistic picture of page quality.
Accessalyze is narrowly focused on accessibility and WCAG compliance. It runs a more complete set of axe-core rules with additional WCAG criteria enabled, provides AI-generated fix code for each violation, supports multi-page crawling, and generates compliance documentation. If your goal is a clean Lighthouse score, use Lighthouse. If your goal is WCAG 2.1 AA compliance certification, Accessalyze provides greater depth.
Scan Coverage: One Page vs. Entire Site
Lighthouse scans a single URL at a time, whether via Chrome DevTools, PageSpeed Insights, or the CLI. Auditing a 30-page site requires 30 manual runs with separate reports — there is no built-in crawler.
Accessalyze Pro crawls up to 50 pages automatically and returns a unified compliance report ranked by severity. Combined with weekly automated re-scans, this means compliance monitoring becomes continuous rather than a one-time audit event. When a content update introduces a new violation, it is caught in the next weekly scan rather than discovered during a future manual check.
Fix Suggestions: Documentation Links vs. AI Code
Lighthouse identifies failing audits and provides a link to the relevant documentation explaining the issue and general remediation approach. This is helpful but requires the developer to then write their own fix.
Accessalyze generates the specific corrected code for each violation. A missing lang attribute on the <html> element? Accessalyze shows you the corrected tag. An image with a non-descriptive alt attribute? You get an improved alt text suggestion. This significantly reduces the research and judgment required for each fix, especially valuable for teams without a dedicated accessibility specialist.
Compliance Documentation
Lighthouse exports results as HTML, JSON, or via PageSpeed Insights as a web report. These formats are useful for developers but are not designed as compliance documentation for legal, procurement, or ADA audit purposes.
Accessalyze generates branded PDF compliance reports that include a summary of violations by severity, page-by-page breakdowns, and evidence of remediation progress. These reports are designed to be shared with legal teams, clients, or government oversight bodies as documentation of good-faith compliance efforts.
Where Each Tool Excels
Best for: Accessibility compliance and remediation
- Deeper WCAG 2.1 AA rule coverage than Lighthouse
- AI generates exact fix code — no lookup required
- Multi-page crawl for complete site compliance picture
- Automated weekly re-scans for continuous monitoring
- Compliance PDF reports for legal and stakeholder sharing
Best for: Broad web quality and developer feedback
- Performance (Core Web Vitals, LCP, CLS, FID) in the same report
- SEO auditing alongside accessibility
- Built into Chrome DevTools — no extra tool needed
- Free, open source, always up-to-date with Chrome
- CI/CD integration via Lighthouse CI
Which Tool to Choose
ADA / WCAG compliance audit
Accessalyze runs more WCAG rules, provides fix code, and generates compliance reports — everything needed for an ADA compliance documentation trail.
Page speed and Core Web Vitals
Lighthouse's performance audit is the gold standard for diagnosing LCP, CLS, and FID issues that affect Google ranking and user experience.
Government agency compliance
ADA Title II and Section 508 require documented WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across all pages — not a single-page score. Accessalyze provides the right tool for that scope.
General page health check
When you want a quick snapshot of performance, SEO, and accessibility on a single page, Lighthouse delivers all three in one free, built-in tool.
Ongoing compliance monitoring
Weekly automated re-scans catch new violations introduced by CMS updates or code changes, ensuring compliance does not drift after the initial audit.
Blocking regressions in CI/CD
Lighthouse CI integrates with GitHub Actions, CircleCI, and similar tools to block PRs that drop performance or accessibility scores below thresholds.