GTmetrix vs PageSpeed Insights (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick PageSpeed Insights: it is third in our ranking of technical SEO tools, and it grades higher too, 3.2 against 2.8.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
PageSpeed Insights 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
PageSpeed Insights
Free Google speed test with real-user Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse
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 PageSpeed Insights if
- Fits if you want one page's Core Web Vitals the way Google measures them
- Works for developers adding speed checks to scripts through a free API
Look elsewhere if
- Too light for watching a whole site, as it tests one URL per run with no monitoring
- Skip it if your page has little traffic, since real-user data only shows for pages with enough Chrome visits
- Watch out: lab tests run from a Google data center in North America, Europe or Asia, and scores vary from run to run
- Tight if you keep reports, as a shared link holds its snapshot for only 30 days
- Not for you if you planned to get real-user data from its API, which Google plans to drop in favour of the CrUX API
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAGTmetrixGood | 3.2GPAPageSpeed InsightsVery 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, from Google, with real-user data, Lighthouse tests on mobile and desktop, shareable reports and an API. Nothing to buy. |
| 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. | AOpen to anyone in a browser with no account, and the API works with or without a free key. |
| 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. | CReal-user LCP, INP, CLS and FCP from CrUX, a Core Web Vitals pass or fail, and Lighthouse scores with audits and suggested fixes. The gaps it lists: one URL per run, no monitoring or history past a 30-day link, and no field data for pages with too few visits. |
| 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, and nothing to set up: type a URL and the report appears. Making sense of the audits takes some knowledge of how pages load. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with a REST API, an OpenAPI specification and a GTmetrix for WordPress plugin. No desktop or phone app. | BWeb only, with a free v5 API that returns Lighthouse results as JSON. It draws on Lighthouse and the Chrome UX Report. |
| Best for | one-off Lighthouse speed reports | checking one page's speed the way Google does |
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 PageSpeed Insights. 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. PageSpeed Insights has no paid plan and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and PageSpeed Insights 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 PageSpeed Insights 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
At a glance
| GTmetrix | PageSpeed Insights | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Open to anyone in a browser with no account: enter a URL for field data and a Lighthouse report. The API works with or without a free API key. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | GTmetrix | |
| Price read from | gtmetrix.com | pagespeed.web.dev |
| 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.
PageSpeed Insights
- Tests one URL per run, and a shared report link keeps its snapshot for only 30 days.
- Real-user data appears only for public pages with enough Chrome visits; otherwise only the lab test is shown.
- Lab tests run from a Google data center in North America, Europe or Asia, and scores vary from run to run.
- Google plans to drop real-user data from the API and points developers to the CrUX API 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.
PageSpeed Insights
- Real-user data from CrUX
- Shows the 75th percentile of LCP, INP, CLS and FCP, plus TTFB, from real Chrome users over the past 28 days, with the share of good, middling and poor visits.
- Core Web Vitals assessment
- A pass or fail on LCP, INP and CLS for the page, falling back to the whole origin when the page alone has too little data.
- Lighthouse lab test
- Runs Lighthouse 13 on a simulated mid-range phone and on a desktop, scoring performance, accessibility, best practices and SEO from 0 to 100.
- Audits and suggestions
- Each category lists audits that explain what slows the page down or breaks best practice, and what to change.
- Shareable reports
- A link to a report keeps a snapshot of the results for up to 30 days.
- PageSpeed Insights API
- The v5 API returns Lighthouse results as JSON; an API key is recommended for frequent automated tests.
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.
PageSpeed Insights
Free$0
Real-user Core Web Vitals, Lighthouse lab tests on mobile and desktop, shareable reports and the API.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights?
As of Oct 23, 2026, PageSpeed Insights 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 PageSpeed Insights is free.
Which has a free plan, GTmetrix or PageSpeed Insights?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both GTmetrix and PageSpeed Insights have a free plan.
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.