Lighthouse vs squirrelscan (2026): which should you pick?

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

Pick squirrelscan if

• Fits if you fix sites with Claude Code, Cursor or another coding agent
• Works for CI pipelines that should fail a build when the audit score drops

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you don't use a terminal, as it's a command-line tool first
• Watch out: the terms call it a beta product, and the CLI is still at version 0.0.x
• Tight if you lean on cloud audits, at 50 credits plus 2 a page, with credits that reset each month
• Tight if you stay free, as cloud audits stop at 500 pages and top-ups are for paid plans only
• Pricey if you want white-label reports or pooled credits, which need Team at 2 seats of $29

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.

squirrelscan

• The terms call it a beta product, and the CLI is still at version 0.0.x.
• Cloud audits cost 50 credits plus 2 per page, and 1 more per external link checked; monthly credits reset and do not roll over.
• Free cloud audits stop at 500 pages with one weekly scheduled site, and only paid plans can buy top-ups ($1 per 100 credits, from $10).
• Team is sold per seat with a 2-seat minimum, and pooled credits, roles and white-label reports come only with it.

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.

squirrelscan

300+ audit rules in 22 categories

Checks core SEO, crawlability, links, schema, hreflang, Core Web Vitals, security headers, accessibility, E-E-A-T signals and AI crawler readiness such as llms.txt.

Fixes written for coding agents

Every finding comes with its fix in output an agent can apply. Skills for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and others run an audit, fix and re-audit loop.

CLI, MCP server and CI gate

A single binary for macOS, Windows and Linux, a local MCP server that exposes the audit as agent tools, and exit codes that can fail a build on score or severity.

Incremental crawling

Re-crawls use ETag, Last-Modified and content hashing to skip unchanged pages, and an interrupted crawl resumes from a checkpoint.

Reports in seven formats

A health score and letter grade, with output as a self-contained HTML file, Markdown or console text for people, and LLM, JSON, XML or text for agents.

Cloud audits

Signed in, audits add headless-browser rendering for JavaScript sites, AI page analysis, technology detection, dead-link checks, scheduled runs and published reports.

Lighthouse

• Open source$0

  Every audit category, HTML and JSON reports, the Lighthouse Viewer, stack packs and plugins.

squirrelscan

• Free$0

  Unlimited local audits, 500 cloud credits a month, 500 pages per cloud audit and a weekly scheduled audit of one site. No card needed.

• Pro$19

  per month, billed monthly

  3,000 credits a month (an audit costs 50 plus 2 per page), 2,000 pages per audit, daily audits of all sites and score history. $190 a year.

• Team$29

  per seat / month, billed monthly

  Minimum 2 seats. 3,000 pooled credits per seat, 10,000 pages per audit, roles, shared projects and white-label reports. $290 per seat a year.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom contracts and invoiced billing for larger teams, with single sign-on on request.

Lighthouse

No public discounts listed.

squirrelscan

• Annual discount

  Two months free with annual billing

  Annual billing is 12 months for the price of 10: Pro is $190 a year and Team $290 per seat a year, with credits still arriving monthly.