Free and Premium Plans

The Axe MCP Server is available on two plans:

• Free — unlimited scans with the analyze tool, using the standard axe-core ruleset. No credit card required.
• Premium — included with Axe DevTools for Web. Adds Advanced Rules, automated Intelligent Guided Tests, and AI-powered fixes with the remediate tool.

Both plans run the same server. Distributions, authentication, and client setup are identical, so everything in Getting Started applies to either plan.

Compare plans

Getting the Free plan

1. Sign up at axe.deque.com/signup?product=axe-mcp-server.
2. Create credentials for the server: an API key or an OAuth 2.0 login. Signing up doesn't create either one for you. See Authentication.
3. Choose a distribution and configure your client: VS Code with Copilot, Cursor, or Claude Code.

If your account belongs to an enterprise

If your Axe account belongs to an enterprise organization, you can't activate the Free plan yourself — ask your enterprise administrator for access.

Administrators can add the Free plan from the Available Products section of the Axe Account Portal by selecting Activate Free Plan on the Axe MCP Server card, then assign it to users.

What happens on the Free plan

On the Free plan, every tool stays listed in your MCP client. Premium features return a short upgrade message instead of an error, and your coding agent relays it to you.

Advanced Rules

analyze runs the standard axe-core ruleset only. The response's advancedRules block reports tier_locked as its source:

{
  "advancedRules": {
    "value": "disabled",
    "source": "tier_locked"
  }
}

The advancedRules argument and the AXE_ADVANCED_RULES environment variable have no effect. If you request a preset anyway, the response's messages array explains why it didn't run.

Intelligent Guided Tests

If you ask for guided tests with igtTools, the axe scan still runs and returns its results as usual. In place of the guided-test results, data.igt contains an upgrade prompt:

{
  "data": {
    "axe": [ ... ],
    "igt": {
      "upgradeRequired": true,
      "tool": "igt",
      "reason": "enterprise-feature",
      "message": "...",
      "upgradeUrl": "..."
    }
  }
}

The remediate tool

A remediate call returns the same upgrade prompt in place of fix guidance:

{
  "data": {
    "upgradeRequired": true,
    "tool": "remediate",
    "reason": "enterprise-feature",
    "message": "...",
    "upgradeUrl": "..."
  }
}

Your agent can still fix the issues analyze finds on its own, without Deque's remediation guidance, and re-run analyze to verify the fixes.

Upgrade reminders

Occasionally, the analyze response's messages array includes a short note about Premium. Your scan results are unaffected.

Upgrading to Premium

Premium is part of Axe DevTools for Web. To upgrade, request a demo and a Deque representative will help you set it up.

The server checks your plan when it starts. After your account is upgraded, restart the MCP server, or your MCP client, to switch to Premium.