# GTmetrix review (2026): is the free plan enough?

> Page speed testing with Lighthouse reports, monitoring and an API

Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA.

GTmetrix tests how fast a web page loads with Lighthouse, from a choice of test locations, browsers and simulated devices, and reports the results with load videos and PDF exports. It can also monitor pages on a schedule with performance alerts, and a REST API with daily credits lets developers run tests from their own tools. Free Basic accounts and paid PRO plans are offered.

- **Category:** Technical SEO & Site Audits
- **Made by:** GTmetrix
- **Website:** https://gtmetrix.com
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Who should skip it:** Tight if you watch many pages, as Lite monitors 1 and Core 3, and hourly checks start on Advanced at $24.99 a month.
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 23, 2026

## Pricing

As of Oct 23, 2026, GTmetrix has a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.99 per month, billed yearly ($5.99 billed monthly).

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **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.
- **Free trial:** None listed.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://gtmetrix.com/pricing/ on Oct 23, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with GTmetrix before buying.

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- Checking why a single page loads slowly
- Testing speed from a particular region, browser or device
- Developers adding speed tests to their own tools through an API

## Worth knowing

- 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Oct 23, 2026. GTmetrix runs Lighthouse speed tests from a choice of locations, browsers and simulated devices, records the page loading as video and can retest pages on a schedule. Lite is $4.99 a month on yearly billing, but holds 50 tests a month and 1 monitored page, with the API only as a 10-credit trial. Hourly checks wait on Advanced at $24.99, team seats on Expert at $49.99, and refunds turn into account credit after 14 days.

- **Value for money: A.** Lite 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.
- **Free plan and trial: C.** A 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.
- **Features: C.** Lighthouse 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.
- **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record. Tests run on GTmetrix's own site, with nothing to install or connect before the first report.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with a REST API, an OpenAPI specification and a GTmetrix for WordPress plugin. No desktop or phone app.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from GTmetrix's own pages on 23 October 2026, with its prices read from its pricing page in a browser on 24 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among technical SEO tools

- GTmetrix's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 64 of the 83 other technical SEO tools we grade, and level with 8.
- It stands best on value for money (A, above 54 of 83) and worst on features (C, above 10).
- Its paid plans start at $4.99 a month, against a middle price of $22.41 for the category: 3 of the 52 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/technical-seo

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** Nothing GTmetrix does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 2 things listed below take a company. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 64 of the 83 other technical SEO tools we grade. It costs $59.88 a year.

- You could not: Speed tests run from real browsers on a schedule.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, WordPress among them, and has an API.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

WordPress

**Tags:** Page speed, Public API

## Alternatives

- [WebPageTest](https://toolgpa.com/tools/webpagetest): Page speed tests from real browsers in locations around the world. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gtmetrix-vs-webpagetest)
- [PageSpeed Insights](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pagespeed-insights): Free Google speed test with real-user Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gtmetrix-vs-pagespeed-insights)
- [DebugBear](https://toolgpa.com/tools/debugbear): Page speed and Core Web Vitals monitoring with lab tests and RUM. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/debugbear-vs-gtmetrix)
- [SpeedVitals](https://toolgpa.com/tools/speedvitals): Page speed tests from 35 locations, TTFB checks and speed monitoring. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gtmetrix-vs-speedvitals)
- [PageVitals](https://toolgpa.com/tools/pagevitals): Page speed monitoring with Lighthouse tests, RUM and CrUX data. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gtmetrix-vs-pagevitals)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 23, 2026:

- https://gtmetrix.com/pricing/
- https://gtmetrix.com/api/docs/2.0/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/gtmetrix
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).