Lighthouse vs WebPageTest (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Lighthouse grades higher than WebPageTest: 3.2 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
Lighthouse grades higher on value for money, the free plan and platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Lighthouse
Google's open-source audit of page speed, accessibility and SEO
WebPageTest
Page speed tests from real browsers in locations around the world
Which one is for you
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 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
How we grade them
| 3.2GPALighthouseVery good | 2.6GPAWebPageTestGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | BPro is $180 a year for 1,000 test runs a month, $15 a month, inside this category's cheaper quarter, and it holds up to 5 users. Monthly billing is $18.75; 5,000 runs are $840 a year. |
| Free plan and trial | AEvery audit category, report format and plugin is free, with no account. | BThe free Starter plan gives 150 test runs a month, 30 locations, Lighthouse, filmstrip, video, Opportunities, 3-step scripts and 60 days of history. Enough for one person testing now and then, though repeat views double the count. |
| Features | 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. | CReal-browser tests over connections from 3G to fiber, Lighthouse, filmstrips and Opportunities, with scheduled tests, alerts, Smartboards and Experiments on Pro. It does lab speed testing fully, but that's a smaller job, with no real user data on record. |
| Ease of use | 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. | BNo rating on record. A test is a page address, a location and a browser, with nothing to install or connect first. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CWeb only, with no integrations on record; the API comes only with Pro. No desktop or phone app. |
| Best for | auditing one page's speed, accessibility and SEO | real-browser page speed tests worldwide |
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: Lighthouse and WebPageTest. How we grade
Price against what you get
Lighthouse has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. WebPageTest starts at $15 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.3.
Lighthouse scores higher and starts $15 a month lower. Of the other technical SEO tools on the chart, none scores higher than Lighthouse for less, and 5 score higher than WebPageTest 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.
- WebPageTest also covers dashboards.
At a glance
| Lighthouse | WebPageTest | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $180 per year for 1,000 test runs a month ($18.75 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 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. | Starter plan: 150 test runs a month (up to 3 per test), 30 test locations, Lighthouse, filmstrip and video, Opportunities, 3-step scripts and 60 days of history. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | LogicMonitor | |
| Price read from | developer.chrome.com | logicmonitor.com |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
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.
Key features
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.
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.
Plans
Lighthouse
Open source$0
Every audit category, HTML and JSON reports, the Lighthouse Viewer, stack packs and plugins.
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.
Ways to pay less
Lighthouse
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Lighthouse or WebPageTest?
As of Oct 23, 2026, Lighthouse is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $15 a month when paid by the year for WebPageTest. Lighthouse is free, and WebPageTest starts at $180 per year for 1,000 test runs a month ($18.75 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Lighthouse or WebPageTest?
As of Oct 23, 2026, both Lighthouse and WebPageTest have a free plan.
Which platforms do Lighthouse and WebPageTest 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.