Google Lighthouse Alternative
Lighthouse tests one page in the lab, usually on your own machine. People looking for a Google Lighthouse alternative often want results that do not depend on that machine, field data from real users, or several pages in one run. The table compares Lighthouse with tools that build on it. PerfDelta runs Lighthouse through the PageSpeed Insights API and adds field data; test your site right here.
Google Lighthouse alternatives compared
Every detail about another tool comes from its official website or repository. Where no clear statement was found there, the cell shows a dash.
| Feature | PerfDelta | Lighthouse (DevTools, CLI) | Lighthouse CI | Unlighthouse | PageSpeed Insights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | none, test in the browser | built into Chrome; CLI and Node module via npm | package @lhci/cli in the CI pipeline | local CLI; web tool for up to 10 URLs | none, test in the browser |
| Test environment | PageSpeed Insights servers | your own computer and connection | the CI pipeline's machine | your own computer, several Chrome instances in parallel | Google servers with predefined device and network settings |
| Real-user field data | Chrome UX Report for URL and origin, mobile and desktop | – | – | – | Chrome UX Report for URL and origin |
| Pages per run | three for free, 25 to 500 URLs in projects | one page | several URLs per run | whole site via sitemap and internal links, up to 200 pages by default | one URL |
| History | measurements in your account, weekly field data trend over about six months | – | with your own LHCI server (SQLite, Postgres or MySQL) | scheduled monitoring in the paid cloud | – |
| Thresholds in the build | performance budgets per project, checkable via API and MCP | – | assertions and budgets per URL pattern | – | – |
| Competitor comparison | in every report, free with two competitors | – | – | – | – |
| License and price | free test, monitoring from the Solo plan | open source, free | Apache 2.0, free | MIT, free; cloud is paid | free |
– means: not clearly documented on the official website or repository.
As of October 2026 (retrieved October 19, 2026). Features and prices change; the provider's page is authoritative. Sources: Chrome: Introduction to Lighthouse, Chrome: Lighthouse performance scoring, Lighthouse CI: repository, Lighthouse CI: configuration, Lighthouse CI: server, Unlighthouse: home page, Unlighthouse: bulk testing, Unlighthouse: web tool, Unlighthouse: CLI and cloud, Google: About PageSpeed Insights.
Lighthouse on your own machine: strengths and variability
Lighthouse runs in Chrome DevTools without installation, also for pages behind a login, and can be automated from the command line or as a Node module. Because it measures on your own computer, the result depends on that machine. Google's documentation lists browser extensions, antivirus software, different devices and changing network routes among the causes of varying scores and suggests treating performance as a distribution of several runs.
Lighthouse CI: thresholds in the build pipeline
Lighthouse CI runs Lighthouse on every commit, checks several URLs per run against assertions and budgets and fails the build when a limit is exceeded. History with comparisons between commits requires your own LHCI server. It is built for developer teams with their own CI pipeline and measures in that pipeline's lab.
Unlighthouse: Lighthouse for the whole site
Unlighthouse finds the pages of a site through robots.txt, the sitemap and internal links and runs Lighthouse in several Chrome instances in parallel, up to 200 pages by default. The command-line tool is open source and runs locally; scheduled monitoring comes with the paid cloud. For a quick look there is a web tool for up to ten URLs.
PerfDelta: Lighthouse lab data plus field data, no setup
PerfDelta runs Lighthouse through the PageSpeed Insights API, on Google's servers instead of your computer. Next to every lab value it shows the field value of real Chrome users from the Chrome UX Report, mobile and desktop separated, plus the weekly trend of the domain and a comparison with competitors. For build pipelines, performance budgets can be set per project and queried via the REST API or MCP. PerfDelta does not test pages behind a login; Lighthouse in DevTools remains the tool for that.
Which tool for which purpose
For staging servers and logged-in areas, Lighthouse in DevTools fits. For thresholds on every commit, Lighthouse CI fits, and for a lab scan of the whole site, Unlighthouse.
To see lab values that do not depend on your own machine, field data from real users and a comparison with competitors in one report, run the PerfDelta test above.
How the Lighthouse score is calculated from the individual metrics is explained in Lighthouse performance score.
FAQ
Does PerfDelta use Lighthouse?
Yes. The lab data comes from Lighthouse, run through the PageSpeed Insights API on Google's servers. Field data from the Chrome UX Report is added on top.
Why does my local Lighthouse score differ from PerfDelta?
Locally the result depends on CPU, network, browser extensions and other running programs. PerfDelta measures with the fixed settings of PageSpeed Insights. Differences of a few points between two runs are normal in both cases.
Can PerfDelta check my site in a CI pipeline?
With the REST API or the MCP server you start a measurement and then query whether the project's performance budgets are met. The result can serve as a check step in a pipeline.
Where do the details about the other tools come from?
From the official websites and repositories, retrieved on October 19, 2026; the links are below the table. Where no clear statement was found, the cell shows a dash.
See also: PageSpeed Insights Alternative, Performance Budget Calculator.
Guides for every metric and finding are in the Website Speed Optimization.
A free account saves your tests and shows how your values change from one test to the next. Daily monitoring with field data and alerts starts with the Solo plan.