Alternatives · Technical SEO
Lighthouse alternatives
As of Oct 24, 2026, the best Lighthouse alternative for most people is PageSpeed Insights (3.2 GPA), third in our ranking of technical SEO tools. It's also the best free one.
Lighthouse compared with 9 alternatives: PageSpeed Insights, Unlighthouse, WebPageTest, GTmetrix, DebugBear and 4 more.
Lighthouse is free to use. 8 of the 9 alternatives are free or have a free plan. One more offers a free trial.
Listings checked up to Oct 23, 2026 · Where the facts come from
At a glance
| Tool | Price | Free plan | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|
| LighthouseThis tool | Free | Free | Web, Browser extension |
| PageSpeed Insights | Free | Free | Web |
| Unlighthouse | Free | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| WebPageTest | Free plan · from $180/yr | Yes | Web |
| GTmetrix | Free plan · from $4.99/mo | Yes | Web |
| DebugBear | Free trial · from $99/mo | Trial only | Web |
| sitespeed.io | Free | Free | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| squirrelscan | Free plan · from $19/mo | Yes | Web, macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Yellow Lab Tools | Free | Free | Web, macOS, Linux |
| SEO Score API | Free plan · from $5/mo | Yes | Web |
Price against what you get
Lighthouse has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. None of the 8 alternatives on this chart both scores higher and starts lower.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
How each one differs from Lighthouse
PageSpeed Insights
Free Google speed test with real-user Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse
- PageSpeed Insights is free.
- PageSpeed Insights lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- PageSpeed Insights does not cover site audit, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Checking one page's Core Web Vitals the way Google measures them
Unlighthouse
Free open-source tool that runs Lighthouse on every page of a site
- Unlighthouse is free.
- Unlighthouse also lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Unlighthouse lists no web app and browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
Suits: Developers who want Lighthouse scores for a whole site, not one page
WebPageTest
Page speed tests from real browsers in locations around the world
- WebPageTest starts at $180 per year for 1,000 test runs a month ($18.75 billed monthly).
- WebPageTest lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- WebPageTest also covers dashboards.
- WebPageTest does not cover site audit, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Developers digging into exactly how a page loads
GTmetrix
Page speed testing with Lighthouse reports, monitoring and an API
- GTmetrix starts at $4.99 per month, billed yearly ($5.99 billed monthly).
- GTmetrix lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- GTmetrix does not cover site audit, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Checking why a single page loads slowly
DebugBear
Page speed and Core Web Vitals monitoring with lab tests and RUM
- DebugBear starts at $99 per month, billed yearly ($1,188 a year).
- DebugBear has no free plan, only a free trial, unlike Lighthouse.
- DebugBear lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- DebugBear also covers dashboards.
- DebugBear does not cover site audit, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: SEO and development teams working to pass Core Web Vitals
sitespeed.io
Free open-source toolkit for testing and monitoring web performance
- sitespeed.io is free.
- sitespeed.io also lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- sitespeed.io lists no web app and browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- sitespeed.io is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- sitespeed.io does not cover site audit, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Developers who want full control of synthetic performance tests at no license cost
squirrelscan
Open-source site audit CLI whose fixes are written for coding agents
- squirrelscan starts at $19 per month, billed monthly.
- squirrelscan also lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- squirrelscan lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- squirrelscan does not cover page speed, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Developers who fix sites with Claude Code, Cursor or another coding agent
Yellow Lab Tools
Free open-source audit of a page's speed and front-end code
- Yellow Lab Tools is free.
- Yellow Lab Tools also lists macOS and Linux apps.
- Yellow Lab Tools lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- Yellow Lab Tools is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Yellow Lab Tools does not cover site audit, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Front-end developers tracing what makes a single page heavy or slow
SEO Score API
SEO audit API that scores any URL on 80+ checks, AI readability too
- SEO Score API starts at $5 per month for 200 audits, billed monthly.
- SEO Score API lists no browser extension, which Lighthouse has.
- SEO Score API also covers AI search visibility.
- SEO Score API does not cover page speed, which Lighthouse does.
Suits: Developers adding SEO checks to their own apps or dashboards
Limits worth knowing in Lighthouse
- The command-line and Node workflows need Google Chrome and Node 22 or later installed.
- Audits one page per run; Lighthouse CI or another tool is needed to watch for regressions across a site.
- The Agentic Browsing category is experimental, needs Chrome 150 or later, and its WebMCP audits need an origin trial.
- The Chrome extension cannot test local sites or pages behind a login; Google recommends DevTools instead.
Common questions
What are the alternatives to Lighthouse?
The alternatives to Lighthouse in this directory are PageSpeed Insights, Unlighthouse, WebPageTest, GTmetrix, DebugBear, sitespeed.io, squirrelscan, Yellow Lab Tools and SEO Score API. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Lighthouse.
Is there a free alternative to Lighthouse?
Yes. PageSpeed Insights, Unlighthouse, sitespeed.io and Yellow Lab Tools are free to use. WebPageTest, GTmetrix, squirrelscan and SEO Score API have a free plan alongside paid ones.
Which Lighthouse alternatives work on Windows?
The Lighthouse listing does not include a Windows app. Unlighthouse, sitespeed.io and squirrelscan list one.
Which Lighthouse alternatives work on macOS?
The Lighthouse listing does not include a macOS app. Unlighthouse, sitespeed.io, squirrelscan and Yellow Lab Tools list one.
When were these prices checked?
Every listing on this page was checked on Oct 23, 2026, against the pages it cites. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.