AudioEye and UserWay both sell an install-and-go accessibility widget, but they’ve grown into fairly different companies. UserWay leans on brand recognition, a broad plugin ecosystem and a free entry tier. AudioEye, a publicly traded company, leans on combining automation with human-in-the-loop testing delivered through a managed platform. The choice between them often comes down to whether you want a lightweight self-serve tool or a more hands-on managed service.
| Feature | AudioEye | UserWay |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Publicly traded accessibility company combining automated scanning, an adjustment widget, and human-in-the-loop manual testing and remediation delivered through its Accessibility Management Platform. | AI-driven accessibility widget with an in-house automated remediation engine, sold mainly as a self-serve script install with tiered plans and a separate professional audit add-on. |
| Pricing | Tiered subscription plans plus managed services engagements; pricing published for standard tiers with custom enterprise quotes. | Freemium widget with paid tiers that unlock more automated checks; enterprise and professional audit services quoted separately. |
| Standards supported | WCAG 2.1, WCAG 2.2, ADA, Section 508, EN 301 549 | WCAG 2.1, ADA, Section 508, EN 301 549 |
| Best for | Mid-market and enterprise sites wanting automated coverage backed by human review | Very small sites wanting a no-cost starting point; Teams that want a widely recognized brand name |
Where they differ most
UserWay’s widget is built for fast, low-friction self-serve deployment: a one-line script install, AI-powered image recognition for alt text, an accessibility statement generator and a site scanner, plus integrations across Shopify, WordPress and Wix. Its free tier makes it one of the easiest ways to get some automated coverage on a small site with no budget commitment. Professional audits and VPAT work are available, but as a separately quoted service layered on top of the widget.
AudioEye’s product is built around the idea that automation and human review need to sit inside one workflow rather than being sold as separate add-ons. Its Accessibility Management Platform pairs automated scanning and an adjustment widget with human-in-the-loop manual testing by accessibility specialists and managed remediation services, aimed at mid-market and enterprise sites that want ongoing coverage with a team behind it rather than a self-serve tool alone. As a Nasdaq-listed company, AudioEye also publishes public financial reporting that a smaller vendor like UserWay does not.
Pricing structure reflects that split. UserWay’s freemium model rewards a small site with no budget; AudioEye’s tiered plans plus custom managed-services quotes are built for a customer who expects to pay more for a more hands-on relationship.
What you actually get in each plan
UserWay’s feature list is built for a small team managing its own site: a one-line install, AI-powered image recognition for alt text, an accessibility statement generator, a standalone site scanner, and a plugin ecosystem spanning Shopify, WordPress and Wix that makes the install nearly configuration-free. Everything past the free tier is about unlocking more automated checks, with professional manual audits and VPAT work sold separately for teams that need documentation to hand to a client or legal team.
AudioEye’s feature list is built for a team that expects ongoing management: automated scanning and remediation, an adjustment widget, human-in-the-loop manual testing by accessibility specialists, and a reporting dashboard through its Accessibility Management Platform, with managed remediation services available for customers who’d rather AudioEye’s own team handle fixes directly. That’s a meaningfully different buying proposition than UserWay’s self-serve model: you’re not just paying for software, you’re paying for a service relationship with people checking the automated output.
Which one should you pick
For a very small site, or a team that wants to start with zero cost and add paid features gradually, UserWay’s free tier and lower-friction structure is the more practical starting point. For a mid-market or enterprise site that wants automated coverage paired with actual human specialists checking the work on an ongoing basis, and is prepared to pay for that, AudioEye’s platform is the closer fit. Both are automation-first products at the core, so neither substitutes for a full manual WCAG audit of custom-built components.
Growth path matters here too. A site that starts on UserWay’s free tier and later needs more manual review can add a professional audit separately without switching vendors, while a site that starts with AudioEye’s managed-services relationship already has that human-review capacity built in, at a higher recurring cost. Which path makes more financial sense usually comes down to how much manual remediation work you expect to need in the first year, not just the sticker price of the entry tier.