CodeFrog vs Google Lighthouse
CodeFrog and Google Lighthouse are both web quality tools, but they focus on different areas. Lighthouse is a browser-based performance and best-practices auditor built into Chrome. CodeFrog is a native desktop app (macOS and Windows) that provides unified security, accessibility, SEO, HTML validation, meta tag analysis, and code analysis in a single report.
Both tools use the axe-core accessibility engine, making them complementary rather than competing.
Note on WCAG compliance: Full WCAG A, AA, or AAA conformance cannot be achieved with automation alone — neither CodeFrog, Lighthouse, nor any other automated tool can fully validate conformance. Many WCAG criteria require human judgment and manual testing with assistive technologies (screen readers, keyboard navigation, voice control, etc.). Automated tools are a valuable part of your accessibility toolkit, but manual testing is required for full conformance at any level. See CodeFrog's WCAG page for details.
| Feature | CodeFrog | Lighthouse |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | ||
| Automated WCAG AA checks (axe-core) | Yes | Yes |
| Automated WCAG AAA checks | Yes | No |
| Color contrast checks | Yes | Yes |
| ARIA attribute validation | Yes | Yes |
| Heading hierarchy validation | Yes | Yes |
| Severity/impact classification | Yes (minor to critical) | Yes (weighted scoring) |
| Security | ||
| OWASP-based security scanning | Yes (comprehensive) | No |
| Security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) | Yes (dedicated checks) | Partial (Best Practices) |
| CORS misconfiguration detection | Yes | No |
| Sensitive file detection (.env, .git, backups) | Yes | No |
| TLS/SSL configuration analysis | Yes | HTTPS check only |
| Directory listing detection | Yes | No |
| Server/framework fingerprinting | Yes | No |
| HTTP method probing (TRACE, PUT, DELETE) | Yes | No |
| Known JS library vulnerabilities | Via OSV (code-level) | Yes (Snyk DB) |
| Bulk multi-site scanning | Yes | No |
| SEO | ||
| Title tag validation | Yes | Yes |
| Meta description check | Yes | Yes |
| Robots.txt validation | Yes | Yes |
| Sitemap.xml parsing and validation | Yes | No |
| Heading hierarchy (H1-H6 structure) | Yes | No |
| Structured data (Schema.org/JSON-LD) | Yes | Manual check only |
| Content quality analysis (word count, readability) | Yes | No |
| Content-to-HTML ratio | Yes | No |
| Keyword analysis | Yes | No |
| Mobile-friendliness checks | Yes | Yes |
| Canonical URL validation | Yes | Yes |
| Tap target sizing | No | Yes |
| Font size legibility check | No | Yes |
| hreflang validation | No | Yes |
| Crawlable links check | No | Yes |
| Meta Tags & Social Sharing | ||
| Open Graph tags (og:title, og:image, etc.) | Yes | No |
| Twitter Card tags | Yes | No |
| OG image dimension/aspect validation | Yes | No |
| Favicon detection | Yes | No |
| HTML Validation | ||
| W3C/Nu HTML Checker compliance | Yes (strict mode) | No |
| Heuristic-based fast validation | Yes | No |
| HTML doctype check | No | Yes |
| Charset declaration check | No | Yes |
| Performance | ||
| Page size / resource inventory by type | Yes (HTML, images, scripts, styles, fonts) | Yes (resource summary) |
| Compressed vs uncompressed byte tracking | Yes | No |
| Domain-wise resource distribution | Yes | No |
| DNS/TCP/TLS/TTFB timing breakdown | Yes | TTFB only |
| Multi-URL timing comparison | Yes | No |
| Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | No | Yes |
| First Contentful Paint (FCP) | No | Yes |
| Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | No | Yes |
| Total Blocking Time (TBT) | No | Yes |
| Speed Index | No | Yes |
| Performance score (0-100) | No | Yes |
| Render-blocking resource detection | No | Yes |
| Image optimization recommendations | No | Yes |
| JavaScript bundle analysis / treemap | No | Yes |
| Unused CSS/JS detection | No | Yes |
| Cache TTL analysis | No | Yes |
| Code Analysis | ||
| Source code secrets scanning (Gitleaks) | Yes | N/A |
| Dependency vulnerability scanning (OSV) | Yes | N/A |
| Static code pattern analysis (Semgrep/OpenGrep) | Yes | N/A |
| Line counting by language | Yes | N/A |
| Progressive Web App (PWA) | ||
| Service worker checks | No | Yes |
| Web app manifest validation | No | Yes |
| Offline capability testing | No | Yes |
| Installability requirements | No | Yes |
| Reporting & Testing | ||
| Unified report (all tests combined) | Yes (Mega Report) | Separate categories |
| Sitemap-based multi-URL testing | Yes | One URL at a time |
| Localhost / dev domain testing | Yes | Yes (DevTools/CLI) |
| Device emulation profiles | 3 (desktop, mobile, tablet) | 2 (desktop, mobile) |
| Health score / letter grade | Yes (A-F grade) | Yes (0-100 per category) |
| Report history and trending | Yes (built-in) | Requires Lighthouse CI |
| Markdown export | Yes | HTML/JSON/CSV only |
| CI/CD integration | Via export | Yes (Lighthouse CI) |
| Desktop app | Yes (native macOS and Windows) | Browser extension/CLI only |
Where CodeFrog excels
- Deep OWASP-based security scanning with severity classification
- Secrets detection, supply chain vulnerabilities, and static code analysis
- W3C/Nu HTML validation (strict and fast modes)
- Open Graph and Twitter Card validation with image dimension checks
- SEO content quality analysis (word count, readability, keyword analysis)
- Sitemap-based testing across entire sites
- Unified Mega Report combining web testing and code analysis
- Native desktop app (macOS and Windows) — no subscription required
Where Lighthouse excels
- Core Web Vitals (LCP, FCP, CLS, TBT, Speed Index)
- Performance scoring with actionable optimization recommendations
- JavaScript bundle analysis and treemap visualization
- Render-blocking resource and unused code detection
- Progressive Web App (PWA) validation
- Cache TTL and image optimization recommendations
- Built into Chrome DevTools — zero setup required
- CI/CD integration via Lighthouse CI with performance budgets
Better together: CodeFrog and Lighthouse cover different aspects of web quality. Use Lighthouse for performance optimization and Core Web Vitals, and CodeFrog for security scanning, accessibility compliance, HTML validation, SEO analysis, and code-level analysis. Running both gives you the most comprehensive view of your site's health.