CoreDash vs Request Metrics (2026): which should you pick?

Pick CoreDash if

• Fits if you need to know which element or script is causing a poor Core Web Vital
• Works for EU sites that want RUM without cookies or a consent banner

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a free plan, as there's only a 14-day trial
• Pricey if you want AI insights, the MCP server or the API, which start at Standard, $31 a month billed yearly
• Tight if you run several sites, as Starter covers 1 and Standard up to 2
• Watch out: extra pageview blocks (about $5 to $25 each) and site slots ($0.50 to $2 each) are monthly add-ons
• Not for you if you want lab tests too, as it measures real visits only

Pick Request Metrics if

• Fits if you want real-user Core Web Vitals and weekly Lighthouse tests on one bill
• Works for teams of any size, as every paid plan includes unlimited users

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you're staying free: 1 site, 1,000 page views a month and 24 hours of data
• Watch out: page views are capped per minute, so traffic above the limit during a spike is left out of the data
• Not for you if you want a refund, as payments aren't refunded and cancelling deletes the account's data at once
• Pricey if you need performance budgets or error monitoring, which start at Professional, $88 a month billed yearly
• Skip it if you want to host it yourself, which is offered only on Enterprise plans

CoreDash

• There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial the cheapest plan is $16 a month billed annually for 75,000 pageviews and one site.
• AI insights, the MCP server and API access are not on Starter; they start at Standard, $31 a month billed annually.
• Extra pageview blocks (about $5 to $25 each) and site slots ($0.50 to $2 each) are monthly add-ons, priced by tier.
• Agency plans pool pageviews across client sites: Growth is $159 a month billed annually for 25 sites and 3M pageviews.

Request Metrics

• Monitored page views are capped per minute, so traffic above the limit during a spike is left out of the data rather than billed.
• The free plan keeps 24 hours of data for one site; RUM and Lighthouse tests start at Essentials, $34 a month billed annually.
• Its billing page says payments are not refunded, and cancelling closes the account at once and deletes its data.
• Self-hosting is offered only on Enterprise plans.

CoreDash

Real-user Core Web Vitals

Measures LCP, INP, CLS, TTFB and FCP on every pageview with Google's web-vitals library, unsampled and with no limit on tracked URLs.

Attribution and waterfalls

Each slow pageview carries a request waterfall and names the LCP element, the interaction behind a poor INP or the shifting element, plus long animation frame scripts.

Segmentation

Filter by device, browser, OS, country, network speed, page group, navigation type and custom labels such as A/B variant or login state.

Alerts and uptime

Pulse alerts by email or Slack when a metric slips, and uptime monitoring that reports when a site or checkout stops responding.

AI insights and MCP server

From the Standard plan, an MCP server lets Claude, Cursor or another AI agent read your live performance data, alongside built-in AI insights.

CI/CD checks

One curl call from a build pipeline flags deploys that miss performance budgets and tracks real-user results per release.

Request Metrics

Lighthouse performance testing

Lighthouse tests on desktop and mobile check your top pages every week, and on-demand runs confirm whether a change made a page faster.

Real-user monitoring

Records how actual visitors load your pages, with load times, device types and network speeds, shown in real time.

Core Web Vitals attribution

Points to the elements that are slow to paint or that shift during load, and to the slow resources and third-party vendors behind them.

Competitor benchmarks

Uses Chrome UX Report data to track the real-user scores of competing sites alongside your own.

Privacy and ad-block handling

The vendor says it uses no cookies, stores no IP addresses and keeps data in Canada; a custom hostname keeps browser extensions from blocking the script.

CSV export

Any dashboard or filtered report can be exported as CSV for analysis elsewhere.

CoreDash

• Starter$16

  per month for 75,000 pageviews, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)

  1 site, 3 users, 200 diagnostic reports and 6 months of data. No AI insights, MCP server or API access.

• Standard$31

  per month for 500,000 pageviews, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)

  Up to 2 sites, 10 users, AI insights, the MCP server, standard API access, 5,000 diagnostic reports and 1 year of data.

• Studio$71

  per month for 1M pageviews, billed annually ($89 billed monthly)

  Up to 10 sites sharing the pageviews, unlimited users, 10,000 diagnostic reports, priority support and 3 years of data.

• Enterprise$319

  per month for 3.5M+ pageviews, billed annually ($399 billed monthly)

  Custom sites, unlimited reports, top API quota, SSO, SAML and SCIM, a DPA and SLA, PO billing and 8 years of data. Bought self-serve.

Request Metrics

• Free$0

  1 user, 1 website and 1,000 page views a month, with Core Web Vitals, email alerts and 24 hours of data.

• Essentials$34

  per month for 75,000 page views, billed annually ($37 billed monthly)

  Unlimited users, RUM, Lighthouse tests, SEO tracking and 30 days of data. Each extra 25,000 page views adds $10 a month billed monthly.

• Professional$88

  per month for 500,000 page views, billed annually ($96 billed monthly)

  Adds budgets, traffic analytics, error monitoring, user activity, SSO and 90 days of data. Extra 50,000 page views add $4 a month.

• CustomCustom

  Professional features plus dedicated support, staff training, and invoicing with payment terms.

CoreDash

• Annual discount

  About 20% off with annual billing

  CoreDash's pricing page says annual billing is about 20% lower: Standard is $31 a month billed annually ($372 a year) against $39 billed monthly.

Request Metrics

• Annual discount

  Lower monthly rate with annual billing

  The pricing page lists Essentials at $34 a month billed annually against $37 billed monthly, and Professional at $88 against $96.