Are VertaaUX and axe-cli's accessibility findings the same?

Directionally yes — both run axe-core. Differences come from (1) VertaaUX's extra WCAG 2.2 heuristic layer that axe-cli doesn't ship, and (2) VertaaUX's rendering pipeline (CDP-connect), which can surface issues in JS-rendered content that a static axe-cli invocation misses.

Can I feed VertaaUX's output into tools that expect axe JSON?

Not directly. VertaaUX's machine-readable output is SARIF (stdlib for GitHub Security) and JUnit. If your pipeline consumes axe's custom JSON shape, keep axe-cli in parallel.

Is the accessibility engine licensed the same way?

Both use axe-core under the MPL-2.0 license. VertaaUX's wrapper and additional heuristic layer are MIT-licensed.

CLI comparison

VertaaUX vs axe-cli

axe-cli is Deque's official command-line wrapper around the axe-core engine — pure accessibility. VertaaUX uses the same axe-core engine but extends the report with usability, clarity, conversion, and AI-generated fixes.

axe-cli homepageCategory: accessibilityUpdated 2026-04-17

Where VertaaUX wins

Runs axe-core AND adds 6 more audit categories (usability, clarity, IA, conversion, semantics, keyboard)
Each a11y finding gets a ready-to-paste code fix with effort estimate — axe-cli gives a rule ID and a docs link
Score-based quality gates (fail below 80) instead of boolean pass/fail
PR comments with regression detection vs a baseline
Machine-readable SARIF output for GitHub Security tab integration — axe-cli outputs a custom JSON shape

Where axe-cli wins

Smaller install, zero accounts, pure OSS — good for air-gapped or compliance-critical builds
Direct axe-core output — no interpretation layer to disagree with
Maintained by Deque (the people who write the rules)
No network calls once installed — fully local

Feature matrix

Feature	axe-cli	VertaaUX	Note
axe-core rule coverage			Same engine
WCAG 2.2 heuristics beyond axe
Usability / conversion / clarity scoring
AI-generated fix code
Runs offline			Localhost audits work, API call for AI analysis
SARIF output
JUnit output
PR comments			Via vertaaux/audit-action
Baseline diff
Login-walled pages

When to choose axe-cli

Use axe-cli when you need pure accessibility checks with zero external dependencies, in environments where sending HTML to a SaaS audit API is not allowed (defense, health, certain finance).

When to choose VertaaUX

Use VertaaUX when you want axe-core results plus the 6 other audit lenses (usability, conversion, etc.) and AI-generated fix code, delivered to one PR comment.

Pricing

axe-cli

Free, open-source (MIT).

VertaaUX

3 guest audits/day free. Free account tier. Paid plans for higher quotas and deep mode.

Migration

Keep your existing axe-cli job running while you adopt VertaaUX. VertaaUX's accessibility score will be directionally similar since both use axe-core; any gap comes from VertaaUX's additional WCAG 2.2 heuristics.

Before (axe-cli)

axe https://example.com --tags wcag2a,wcag2aa,wcag21aa

After (VertaaUX)

vertaa audit https://example.com --category accessibility --fail-on error

Frequently Asked Questions

Try VertaaUX in your next CI run

3 guest audits per day without an account, unmetered localhost audits, and a full GitHub Action, CLI, and Docker image on day one.

npm install -g @vertaaux/cli View on GitHub See all comparisons