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

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

Pick WebPageTest if

• Fits if you need to see how a page loads in a given browser from a given city
• Works for checking a fix's effect side by side before you change the site, on Pro

Look elsewhere if

• Watch out: every page load counts as a run, so 5 runs with repeat views use 10 of your 150
• Tight if you stay on Starter, with 3 runs per test and no scheduled tests, alerts, API or Experiments
• Not for you if you want to try Pro first, as there's no free trial
• Too light for bigger teams, as a Pro account holds up to 5 members

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.

WebPageTest

• Every page load counts as a test run: 5 runs with first and repeat views use 10 of the monthly allowance.
• Starter allows 150 runs a month and 3 runs per test; scheduled tests, alerts, the API and Experiments need Pro.
• There is no free trial of Pro, and a Pro account holds up to 5 team members.
• The webpagetest.org site answered with a bot check; prices were read on LogicMonitor's WebPageTest pricing page.

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.

WebPageTest

Real-browser tests

Test in Chrome (stable, beta and canary), Firefox (stable, beta and ESR), Edge and Brave, on desktop or mobile, over connection speeds from 3G to fiber.

Global test locations

Starter runs tests from 30 locations across six continents; Pro adds more, including many more US cities.

Lighthouse, filmstrip and video

Each test can include a Lighthouse run, a filmstrip and a video of the page loading, on every plan.

Opportunities

Recommendations grouped under quickness, usability and resilience, with tips on what to fix. Available to all users.

Experiments

Pro runs a proposed optimization side by side with a control test in a sandbox, so its effect shows without changing the site's code.

Scheduled tests and alerts

Pro schedules tests, sends custom alerts, builds Smartboards dashboards and keeps 13 months of history, with API, private and bulk testing.

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.

WebPageTest

• Starter$0

  150 test runs a month, up to 3 runs per test, 30 locations, Lighthouse, Opportunities and 60 days of test history.

• Pro 1,000 runs$180

  per year for 1,000 test runs a month ($18.75 billed monthly)

  Scheduled tests, alerts, Smartboards, API access, Experiments, private and bulk tests, more locations, 13 months of history and up to 5 users.

• Pro 5,000 runs$840

  per year for 5,000 test runs a month ($87.50 billed monthly)

  The same Pro features with a larger monthly allowance of test runs.

• Pro 10,000 runs$1,620

  per year for 10,000 test runs a month ($168.75 billed monthly)

  The same Pro features with 10,000 test runs a month.

• Pro 20,000 runs$3,000

  per year for 20,000 test runs a month ($312.50 billed monthly)

  The largest listed Pro allowance, with 20,000 test runs a month.

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.

WebPageTest

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with annual billing

  Pro with 1,000 runs a month is $180 a year billed annually, against $18.75 a month billed monthly; the pricing page lists a 20% saving.