GTmetrix vs Lighthouse Metrics (2026): which should you pick?

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 Metrics if

• Fits if you need to see how a page's Lighthouse score changes from region to region
• Makes sense if you audit now and then and want test runs that never expire

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you need real-user data, as it only runs Lighthouse lab tests
• Pricey if you need the API, hourly monitors, webhooks or custom headers, all on Pro at $80 a month billed yearly
• Tight if you test from many regions, since each region uses one run
• Watch out: the pricing page doesn't say whether the free account's 25 runs ever renew
• Too light for a team on Indie, which has 1 team member

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 Metrics

• Its pages describe Lighthouse lab tests only, with no real-user monitoring or Chrome UX Report data.
• API access, hourly monitors, webhooks and custom headers need the Pro plan, $80 a month billed annually.
• The pricing page does not say whether the free account's 25 test runs renew; more runs come from paid packs or a plan.

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 Metrics

Global Lighthouse tests

Run one Lighthouse test from up to 16 regions at once, including US, Europe, Brazil, India, Singapore, Japan and Australia. Each region counts as a run.

Scheduled monitors

Monitors re-test a page daily on every plan, and hourly on Pro. Each test is run several times to reduce variance.

Alerts

Monitors send email alerts on every plan, Slack alerts from the Startup plan and webhook alerts on Pro.

Test history

Past Lighthouse reports are kept so you can compare how a page has changed, for 3 to 12 months depending on the plan.

API for CI/CD

On the Pro plan, a REST endpoint starts Lighthouse checks for a URL and chosen regions, so tests can run from a build pipeline.

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 Metrics

• Test Runs$10

  one-time for 50 test runs

  Packs of test runs for one-off audits: also 150 runs for $25 or 500 for $60. Purchased runs never expire.

• Indie$16

  per month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)

  5 daily monitors, 100 on-demand tests a month, 1 team member, 3 months of data and email alerts.

• Startup$40

  per month, billed annually ($50 billed monthly)

  20 daily monitors, 300 on-demand tests a month, 5 team members, 6 months of data, and email and Slack alerts.

• Pro$80

  per month, billed annually ($100 billed monthly)

  50 daily and 5 hourly monitors, 1,000 on-demand tests, 15 team members, 12 months of data, webhooks, API access and custom headers.

• Enterprise$399

  per month and up

  Custom limits on monitors, on-demand tests and API use, quoted on request.

GTmetrix

No public discounts listed.

Lighthouse Metrics

• Annual discount

  Two months free with annual billing

  The pricing page offers annual billing with 2 months free: Indie is $16 a month billed annually against $20 billed monthly.