PerfoMetrix vs Google PageSpeed Insights
Google PageSpeed Insights (PSI) is Google’s free page speed test. It runs Lighthouse in a simulated environment for the Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO categories, on mobile and desktop, and shows real-user data from the Chrome UX Report when a page has enough visits.
PerfoMetrix calls PageSpeed Insights for its performance section, so the speed data comes from the same source. Around it, the report adds passive security checks, more SEO checks, AI readiness, signs of malware and monitoring, each issue with a plain-English fix.
Side by side
| Google PageSpeed Insights | PerfoMetrix | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | PerfoMetrix (uses the PageSpeed Insights API for speed) | |
| Speed data | Lighthouse lab data on mobile and desktop, Chrome UX Report field data | The same, mobile on free plans, mobile and desktop on paid plans |
| Security checks | Not among its categories | HTTPS, certificates, security headers, cookies, DNS and email records, vulnerable libraries, blocklists |
| SEO | Lighthouse SEO category | Lighthouse SEO plus titles, canonicals, sitemaps, robots.txt, structured data, hreflang and more |
| Monitoring and alerts | Not stated | 1 weekly monitor free; daily on paid plans, with e-mail alerts |
| Price | Free | Free scans; paid plans from $12 a month |
Choose Google PageSpeed Insights if
- You only need a quick speed check, desktop as well as mobile, straight from Google.
- You are debugging Lighthouse audits in detail and want Google’s own report view.
Choose PerfoMetrix if
- You want the speed results next to security, SEO and AI readiness, ranked by what matters most.
- You want to be told when something changes: certificates, scores, malware signs or new vulnerabilities.
Questions
Will my PerfoMetrix performance score match PageSpeed Insights?
It comes from the same API, so the numbers are close, but every Lighthouse run varies a little with network and server conditions. Compare trends rather than single runs.
Why does the free PerfoMetrix scan only test mobile?
Mobile is where slow pages hurt most and what Google uses for indexing. Desktop runs are part of the paid plans; PageSpeed Insights itself offers both for free.