# UserWay vs Wave: which do AI models recommend for website governance, October 2026

GTM AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Website governance and accessibility. Zero of fourteen models named UserWay first on the direct prompt; zero named Wave. Page: https://gtm-ai-index.com/marketing/website-governance-and-accessibility/userway-vs-wave/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UserWay | 7% | #4 of 13 | 67% | 30 | 12 of 14 |
| Wave | 3% | #6 of 13 | 0% | 13 | 9 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Siteimprove) (alternatives: AudioEye, Silktide, UserWay)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named (first choices: Acquia Web Governance) (alternatives: DubBot, Silktide, Siteimprove)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither named (first choices: Acquia Web Governance) (alternatives: DubBot, Silktide, Siteimprove, accessiBe)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: Silktide) (alternatives: Acquia Web Governance, DubBot, Monsido)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither named (first choices: Siteimprove) (alternatives: Acquia Web Governance, PowerMapper)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: neither named (first choices: Acquia Web Governance) (alternatives: AudioEye, Level Access, Silktide, Siteimprove)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Acquia Web Governance, Silktide) (alternatives: Siteimprove)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither named (first choices: Acquia Web Governance) (alternatives: Silktide)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Monsido, Silktide)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Siteimprove Quality Assurance) (alternatives: Deque axe Platform, Sudo)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Acquia Web Governance, Siteimprove) (alternatives: Silktide)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Monsido, Silktide) (alternatives: Accessible Web RAMP, Siteimprove)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither named (first choices: Silktide) (alternatives: Acquia Web Governance, Siteimprove)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither named (first choices: Siteimprove) (alternatives: Acquia Web Governance, Monsido, Silktide)

## What the models said about UserWay

- "The Major Players to Avoid: Overlay plugins like accessiBe and UserWay typically address only 20-30% of WCAG success criteria" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Frequently used on WordPress and Shopify sites, but shares the same fundamental technical limitations as other overlays." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Do not rely on these as your primary compliance strategy. Overlays do not fix the underlying code" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, scale prompt, hard negative)
- "I'd recommend starting with UserWay or accessiBe for pure accessibility needs on a budget" (MiniMax M2.5, budget prompt, first choice)
- "UserWay remains the leading choice for small businesses needing a cost-effective widget" (Claude Haiku 4.5, budget prompt, first choice)
- "UserWay and All in One Accessibility are the top choices for small businesses" (Mistral Small, budget prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Wave

- "free or low-cost tools like WAVE (by WebAIM) or Google's Lighthouse are excellent starting points" (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, first choice)
- "e.g., Deque Axe, WAVE, Siteimprove, Pope Tech, or Monsido" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt, first choice)
- "Start with free tools - WAVE, Lighthouse, WCAGsafe" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.