GTmetrix vs Lighthouse (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Lighthouse grades higher than GTmetrix: 3.2 against 2.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Lighthouse grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
GTmetrix
Page speed testing with Lighthouse reports, monitoring and an API
Lighthouse
Google's open-source audit of page speed, accessibility and SEO
Which one is for you
Pick GTmetrix if
- Fits if you want a Lighthouse report with a load video for a page now and then
- Works for developers who want to start speed tests from their own code through the API
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you watch many pages, as Lite monitors 1 and Core 3, and hourly checks start on Advanced at $24.99 a month
- Pricey if a team shares it, as seats start on Expert at $49.99 a month yearly, and white-label PDFs are Enterprise only at a quoted price
- Tight if you stay on Basic or Lite: Basic runs 2 API tests at a time against 8 for most PRO users, and Lite gets the API only as a 10-credit trial
- Watch out: API tests spend credits, a video costs 0.9 more, and credits refill daily only up to the plan's allowance
- Watch out: API reports are kept 1 month unless you pay credits for up to 24, and refunds become account credit after 14 days
Pick Lighthouse if
- Fits if you're a web developer fixing speed and accessibility problems on a page
- Works for adding automated page audits to continuous integration
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for watching a whole site, as it audits one page per run
- Skip it if you don't want to install Node 22 and Chrome, which the command-line and Node routes need
- Watch out: the Agentic Browsing category is experimental, needs Chrome 150 or later and an origin trial for its WebMCP audits
- Not for you if you planned to use the extension on local sites or pages behind a login, which it can't test
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGTmetrixGood | 3.2GPALighthouseVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ALite is $4.99 a month billed yearly ($5.99 monthly), under 60% of the cheaper quarter of technical SEO tools ($7.20). It has 50 tests a month and 1 monitored page; API credits start on Core at $9.99 and hourly checks on Advanced at $24.99. | AFree and open source under Apache 2.0, built into Chrome DevTools and also run from the command line, a Node module, a Chrome extension or PageSpeed Insights. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free Basic account. Through the API it runs 2 tests at once against 8 for most PRO users, with a lower rate limit. Its other limits aren't on record. | AEvery audit category, report format and plugin is free, with no account. |
| Features | CLighthouse reports, a choice of locations, browsers and simulated devices, connection throttling, load videos, PDF exports, scheduled monitoring with alerts and a REST API. It does page speed testing fully, but that's a smaller job, and there's no real user data on record. | CFour audit categories with a fix for each failed check, pages behind a login, stack packs and plugins, plus an experimental check of readiness for AI agents. The gap the listing shows: one page per run, so regressions across a site need Lighthouse CI or another tool. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record. Tests run on GTmetrix's own site, with nothing to install or connect before the first report. | BNo rating on record. If you have Chrome, it's already in DevTools with nothing to install. The command-line and Node routes need Node 22 or later. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with a REST API, an OpenAPI specification and a GTmetrix for WordPress plugin. No desktop or phone app. | BRuns in Chrome DevTools, from the command line, as a Node module for CI, as a Chrome extension and through PageSpeed Insights, with reports shared as GitHub gists. |
| Best for | one-off Lighthouse speed reports | auditing one page's speed, accessibility and SEO |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: GTmetrix and Lighthouse. How we grade
Price against what you get
GTmetrix starts at $4.99 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Lighthouse has no paid plan and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Lighthouse starts $4.99 a month lower. Of the other technical SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than GTmetrix for less, and none scores higher than Lighthouse for less.
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
Where they differ
- Lighthouse is open source, according to its own site.
- Lighthouse also covers site audit.
At a glance
| GTmetrix | Lighthouse | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $4.99 per month, billed yearly ($5.99 billed monthly) | Free |
| Free plan | Free Basic account; the API docs give it 2 tests at a time and a lower API rate limit than PRO. Other limits could not be read. | Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license: run it in Chrome DevTools, the command line, a Node script, the Chrome extension or PageSpeed Insights. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | GTmetrix | |
| Price read from | gtmetrix.com | developer.chrome.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
GTmetrix
- Team seats start only on Expert ($49.99 a month billed yearly), and hourly monitoring on Advanced; refunds are promised for 14 days, after that only account credit.
- API tests run on credits: a Lighthouse report costs 1 credit, a video 0.9 more, and credits refill daily only up to the plan's allowance.
- Through the API, Basic accounts can run 2 tests at once, against 8 for most PRO users.
- API reports are kept 1 month unless longer retention, up to 24 months, is paid for in extra credits.
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.
Key features
GTmetrix
- Lighthouse speed reports
- Each test produces a Lighthouse report, with older PageSpeed and YSlow reports or a metrics-only report also available through the API.
- Locations, browsers and devices
- Choose the test location and browser, simulate phones and tablets by screen size and pixel ratio, and throttle the connection speed.
- Videos and PDF reports
- Record a video and filmstrip of the page loading, and export a summary or full PDF of the report.
- Page monitoring and alerts
- Monitored pages are retested on a schedule, grouped with tags, and can raise performance alerts when chosen metrics cross set conditions.
- REST API
- Start tests, fetch reports and manage monitored pages from your own code, with an OpenAPI specification and a GTmetrix for WordPress plugin.
Lighthouse
- Four audit categories
- Scores performance, accessibility, best practices and SEO, and each failed audit links to a page on why it matters and how to fix it.
- Several ways to run it
- A Lighthouse panel in Chrome DevTools, an npm command-line tool, a Node module for CI systems, a Chrome extension, or PageSpeed Insights with nothing to install.
- Pages behind a login
- Audits any page, public or requiring authentication; the DevTools workflow can also test local sites.
- Agentic Browsing audits
- An experimental category checks llms.txt, WebMCP tool registration and accessibility for agents, shown as a pass ratio rather than a 0 to 100 score.
- Reports and sharing
- Save reports as HTML or JSON, open them in the Lighthouse Viewer, and share them as secret GitHub gists.
- Stack packs and plugins
- Stack packs give advice specific to the CMS or framework a site uses, and plugins let developers add their own audit categories.
Plans
GTmetrix
Lite$4.99
per month, billed yearly ($5.99 billed monthly)
50 on-demand tests a month, 1 monitored page, 5 test locations, 1 month of history. API and MCP only as a 10-credit trial; no hourly monitoring.
Core$9.99
per month, billed yearly ($11.99 billed monthly)
150 tests a month, 3 monitored pages, 10 locations, 10 API credits a day and 6 months of history. No hourly monitoring or team seats.
Advanced$24.99
per month, billed yearly ($29.99 billed monthly)
Unlimited on-demand tests under a fair-use rule, 10 monitored pages with hourly checks, 28 locations and 50 API credits a day.
Expert$49.99
per month, billed yearly ($59.99 billed monthly)
50 monitored pages, 100 API credits a day, 12 months of history and 5 team seats. Enterprise adds white-label PDFs at a quoted price.
Lighthouse
Open source$0
Every audit category, HTML and JSON reports, the Lighthouse Viewer, stack packs and plugins.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, GTmetrix or Lighthouse?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Lighthouse is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $4.99 a month for GTmetrix. GTmetrix starts at $4.99 per month, billed yearly ($5.99 billed monthly), and Lighthouse is free.
Which has a free plan, GTmetrix or Lighthouse?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both GTmetrix and Lighthouse have a free plan.
Which platforms do GTmetrix and Lighthouse run on?
As of Oct 23, 2026, only Lighthouse lists a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.