axe is the developer standard for catching accessibility bugs during build. PageGuard monitors your live site's accessibility after launch — automatically, continuously, with email alerts.
ADA Title II Deadline: April 24, 2026
State and local government websites must meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Private businesses face rising lawsuits too. One-time dev testing isn't enough — you need ongoing monitoring to catch regressions from content updates and CMS changes.
| Feature | PageGuard | Deque axe |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free + from $9/mo | Free (axe DevTools browser ext) + paid axe DevTools Pro |
| Who is it for? | ✓ Small businesses, designers, agencies — ongoing site monitoring | Developers and QA engineers testing during development |
| No install required | ✓ Yes — web app, works in any browser | Requires browser extension or npm package |
| Automated monitoring | ✓ Yes — weekly or daily scans, email alerts on score drop | No — manual runs in browser DevTools or CI pipeline |
| Email alerts on regression | ✓ Yes — notified when accessibility score drops | No |
| Accessibility depth | WCAG 2.1 AA — scored 0–100 with issue list | ✓ WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA/AAA — industry-leading automated checks (57% of issues) |
| CI/CD integration | Via REST API (paid plans) | ✓ Yes — axe-core npm package, Jest/Cypress integrations |
| Performance audit | ✓ Yes — Core Web Vitals, LCP, CLS, FCP | No — accessibility only |
| SEO audit | ✓ Yes — technical SEO checklist and SEO score | No |
| Best Practices audit | ✓ Yes — security headers, HTTPS, mobile-friendliness | No |
| Score history & trends | ✓ Yes — 7 to 365 days depending on plan | No — no historical tracking |
| AI-generated report | ✓ Yes — plain-English explanation of all issues | No — technical WCAG criterion references |
| Shareable report URL | ✓ Yes — public link, no login required to view | No — results in DevTools panel only |
| Scan multiple sites | ✓ Yes — up to 50 sites (Agency plan) | One page at a time (extension); bulk via axe DevTools Pro |
| False positive rate | Standard heuristics | ✓ Zero false positives — industry standard guarantee |
WCAG 2.1 compliance + Performance + SEO + Best Practices. No signup, results in 30 seconds.
Results in ~30 seconds. 4 scores: Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices.
They solve different problems. Deque axe is the best tool for catching accessibility bugs during development — it has zero false positives and integrates with testing frameworks. PageGuard is better for ongoing monitoring of live websites: it scans automatically, tracks your score over time, sends email alerts, and covers Performance and SEO too. Use both if you can: axe during development, PageGuard for production monitoring.
Deque axe does not offer scheduled website monitoring or email alerts for live production sites. You run it manually or as part of your CI/CD pipeline before deployment. PageGuard offers automated weekly or daily scans of your live site and sends email alerts when your accessibility score drops — no developer setup required.
The axe-core library is open source and free. The axe DevTools browser extension has a free tier. Advanced features (guided manual testing, deeper rule coverage) are part of the paid axe DevTools Pro. PageGuard is also free to scan any site without signup, with paid monitoring plans from $9/month.
PageGuard is designed for non-technical users — you paste a URL, get a score in 30 seconds, and receive AI-generated explanations in plain English. Deque axe requires browser DevTools or developer integration. If you're a small business owner, designer, or marketing manager monitoring ADA compliance, PageGuard is the simpler choice.