Best Free Page Speed Testing Tools

1. Google PageSpeed Insights

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Google has its own free page speed tool, known as PageSpeed Insights. This means you’re getting performance insights and data from the search engine itself, so you can easily see if your site needs further optimization.

To use PageSpeed Insights, all you need to do is add your page URL and click “Analyze” – this will then generate an assessment of your Core Web Vitals. It’s not the most beginner-friendly report, with complex recommendations that might not make sense for tech novices, but it gives you a good overview of how your site can improve.

2. Experte

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A fellow reviewer of website builders, Experte, also provides useful tools for its readers, including its Page Speed Test. You can go about the testing in a few different ways: the tool can crawl your website to identify slow pages, you can bulk upload a list of select URLs, or you can enter a keyword for Experte to review the top 50 results on Google.

I was also impressed to see Experte give users the option to toggle whether the page speed would be assessed for phones or desktops. Once your report has been shared, you’ll see an overall website speed score (out of 100), as well as other important metrics, much like Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

3. SE Ranking

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SE Ranking’s Website Speed Test tool analyzes the URL you input – this can be reviewed for both mobile and desktop users. The data is fairly simple, producing a page speed score and Core Web Vitals data. SE Ranking’s tool will also flag any file size issues or if you have too many HTTP requests.

Unfortunately, SE Ranking doesn’t deliver actionable advice or recommendations, like some of the others on this list. So, I’d suggest using an additional page speed tool for further insights.

4. GTmetrix

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GTmetrix takes your URL and tests your page’s speed, delivering a performance grade and Core Web Vitals data based on the page. And, like Google’s PageSpeed Insights, areas for improvement will be flagged via actionable tips, such as avoiding too many page redirects.

I recommend signing up for a free account, though – if you’re logged out, you’ll be shown basic data and will be limited to the test server location in Vancouver, Canada, which isn’t ideal for testing page speed from other locations. With a free account, you can also test your page’s performance from the USA, UK, Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, and India.

5. Pingdom

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Pingdom’s free page speed test analyzes your URL instantly. You can also run the test from different locations outside the US, including the UK and Australia – a helpful bonus if you have customers in other markets. Depending on your page, you’ll be presented with graded results that detail how you can improve your site’s performance.

Overall, Pingdom provides a lot of useful and digestible information for a free tool. In my opinion, it’s best for beginners due to its general report; if you’re after something more detailed or advanced, I recommend checking out Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

Next Steps

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Once you’ve tried a page speed testing tool and got the data to hand, what comes next? If the tool gives you improvement tips, act on those as soon as possible to optimize your page’s performance. You can also check our guide on how to improve your website’s site speed for additional advice.