COMPARE THE FIT, NOT JUST THE FEATURES
GatekeeperQA, WAVE and axe DevTools: what you get—and what you do not.
GatekeeperQA brings public-page scans, saved review notes and retest evidence into a small, one-user workflow. WAVE and Deque offer capabilities we do not. This comparison names those differences so you can choose for your actual testing needs.
Scope matters: WAVE’s extension, its paid API, axe DevTools Free, Pro and the wider Deque suite are different offerings. Paid or separate products are marked below; this is not a claim that every feature comes in one subscription.
GatekeeperQA uses Playwright and Deque’s open-source axe-core engine. We are independent of Deque. Using the same engine does not give us all axe DevTools features or establish that our detection is better.
On smaller screens, scroll the table sideways. Each cell states the relevant plan or product.
| What you need | GatekeeperQAFree + Pro, explicitly labelled | WAVE by WebAIMExtension + separate paid tools | axe DevTools by DequeFree + paid packages; separate suite tools noted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product and price | Free hosted account and free local CLI. Pro: $19.99/month or $191/year, one user. Annual billing keeps the monthly scan allowance. | Free browser extension. API and testing engine are separate paid offerings. | Free extension for basic automated checks. Pro and Web bundle add capabilities; check Deque for current pricing and inclusions. |
| Where testing runs | Hosted scanner checks public pages. Local CLI supports developer-run testing, including localhost. No browser extension or hosted sign-in journey recorder. | Extension evaluates the page in your browser, including authenticated, intranet and dynamic content; page data stays in the browser. | Browser extension inspects pages in your browser. Paid capabilities include component tests and user-flow analysis. |
| Multi-page checks and monitoring | Free: up to 5 same-site pages/run and 5 page scans/day. Pro: up to 25 pages/batch across 3 origins, 300 page scans/month. Weekly monitoring uses that same allowance; no unlimited crawl. | Extension checks a rendered page. Separate paid API/testing engine supports site-wide and scheduled audits. | Broader Deque offerings include site-wide monitoring through axe Monitor; do not assume it is included in the free extension. |
| Manual review and guided testing | Saved manual-check notes and review status alongside automated findings. No equivalent to Intelligent Guided Testing. People still perform and judge the manual tests. | Visual indicators support human evaluation on the page. | Paid guided testing and manual issue recording; axe Auditor is a separate dedicated manual-testing product. |
| Reports and retests | Saved history, comparisons of matching completed scans, review notes, exports and read-only snapshots. Private finding links require owner sign-in. No combined client before/after summary yet. | Extension provides visual page feedback. Custom reporting can be built around the separate API. | Paid save/share workflows, exports and issue links. Availability depends on the selected package. |
| CLI, CI and issue handoff | Free npm CLI, JUnit/Markdown outputs and GitHub Marketplace Action. Editable GitHub issue drafts require user submission. No automatic PR bot or direct Jira sync. | Paid testing engine/API can integrate with CI and custom bug-tracking systems; extension alone is not that integration. | Web tooling supports automated test integration; paid offerings include Jira integration. Check package scope. |
| Team and enterprise needs | One-user Pro account; no shared workspaces, role-based team access or enterprise SSO. A shared report is a snapshot, not a collaborative workspace. | Extension is a browser tool. WebAIM points to separate site-wide products for broader reporting. | Paid packages offer team/enterprise capabilities, including SSO and deployment options; confirm licensing with Deque. |
| Native mobile apps | Web pages only. Responsive web testing is not native iOS/Android app testing. | Web content, not a native mobile-app testing suite. | Separate axe DevTools Mobile tools cover native mobile testing. |
Before choosing GatekeeperQA
- Know the limits: Free accounts retain their latest 10 reports for up to 30 days, with shared capacity and network caps. Pro retains the latest 2,000 reports for up to 180 days; monitoring and manual rescans share the 300-page monthly allowance, with no rollover or automatic overages. Free limits and privacy · Pro scope and billing terms.
- Choose another workflow when needed: For visual inspection of a signed-in page, consider WAVE or axe DevTools in your browser. For guided tests, native mobile testing, or an enterprise accessibility program, evaluate Deque’s relevant packages. GatekeeperQA does not currently replace those workflows.
- No automatic certification or repairs: Our subscriptions do not include an expert human audit, a human-reviewed VPAT/ACR, or automated code fixes. Automated scans cannot establish WCAG or Section 508 conformance. Manual testing remains necessary with every tool.
Basis: our current product scope and the vendors’ published documentation, not an independent head-to-head benchmark. Sources checked October 23, 2026: WAVE extension · WAVE API/testing engine · axe DevTools extension and packages · axe DevTools suite · manual issues · axe Auditor. Vendor plans can change; verify inclusions before purchasing.
Try the workflow before choosing
Explore a sample report · Set up CLI and GitHub checks · See a button-name fix and retest evidence