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Lighthouse vs Pa11y: open-source accessibility testing tools compared

Metrics as of , from the GitHub or GitLab API of each repository. Refreshed monthly.

Summary

Lighthouse: Web page auditing tool for performance, accessibility and SEO, run from Chrome DevTools, a Node CLI or module.

Pa11y: Accessibility testing CLI and Node.js library that checks web pages with HTML_CodeSniffer or axe runners.

Both are listed under Accessibility testing. The table gives repository metrics from the GitHub API with their fetch date, then the documented facts used for every comparison in this category, each linked to the README or docs page it comes from. A cell reads "not documented" when the fact was not found in the project's documentation; that does not mean the feature is absent.

Side by side

Lighthouse and Pa11y: metrics and documented facts, in the fixed row order used for accessibility testing comparisons.
FactLighthousePa11y
Stars30,79914,5361
Forks9,76013011
Contributors3901631
Last release2026-09-1812026-08-281
Last commit2026-09-1812026-08-281
Commits in 90 days571101
LicenseApache-2.01LGPL-3.01
Primary languageJavaScript1JavaScript1
Statusactive1active1
Rules or standardsAccessibility audits, weighted by axe user impact assessments source: Docs: Lighthouse accessibility scoreWCAG2A, WCAG2AA (default), WCAG2AAA (HTML_CodeSniffer runner only) source: README
BrowsersChrome or Chromium 66.0 or later; detects Chrome Canary or Chrome stable by default source: READMEHeadless Chrome, configured through Puppeteer launch options source: README
Framework integrationsPuppeteer (launch Chrome with Puppeteer, then hand off to Lighthouse) source: Docs: Using Puppeteer with LighthouseTest runners HTML_CodeSniffer (default) and axe-core; custom runners as CommonJS modules source: README
CI integrationLighthouse CI, listed as the official project for running Lighthouse on every commit source: READMEError thresholds that set the exit code, for CI builds source: README
Report formatsJSON, HTML, CSV (HTML by default) source: READMEcli, csv, html, json, tsv; custom reporters source: README
Install methodnpm (npm install -g lighthouse) or yarn; also a Chrome DevTools panel source: READMEnpm (npm install -g pa11y) source: README

1 Fetched from the GitHub or GitLab API on . Hover a value for its own date.

When each fits

Written from each project's documented scope, not from preference. Neither tool is ranked.

Lighthouse

Fits projects that analyze web apps and web pages; its README describes audit categories for accessibility, performance and SEO, among others. source: README

Pa11y

Fits projects that automate accessibility tests on web pages; its README describes running accessibility tests via the command line or Node.js. source: README

More on these tools

Sources

  1. GitHub REST API: repository, read
  2. GitHub REST API: repository, read
  3. GitHub REST API: contributors, read
  4. GitHub REST API: contributors, read
  5. GitHub REST API: latest release, read
  6. GitHub REST API: latest release, read
  7. GitHub REST API: commits, read
  8. GitHub REST API: commits, read
  9. Docs: Lighthouse accessibility score, read
  10. README, read
  11. README, read
  12. Docs: Using Puppeteer with Lighthouse, read

Documented facts collected 2026-09-22. See the methodology for how metrics and facts are gathered.