Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

WebPagetest VS SpeedCurve

Compare WebPagetest VS SpeedCurve and see what are their differences

WebPagetest logo WebPagetest

Run a free website speed test from multiple locations around the globe using real browsers...

SpeedCurve logo SpeedCurve

Monitor your front-end. Beat the competition
  • WebPagetest Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-05
  • SpeedCurve Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-07

WebPagetest features and specs

  • Detailed Performance Metrics
    WebPagetest provides extensive performance metrics, including Time to First Byte (TTFB), Speed Index, and First Contentful Paint, allowing for a deep understanding of website performance.
  • Real Browsers
    Tests are conducted using real browsers, which ensures that the results are closely aligned with real user experiences.
  • Geolocation Testing
    Supports testing from various locations worldwide, which is useful for understanding performance in different markets.
  • Advanced Testing Options
    Offers advanced options such as scripting for complex interactions, multi-step transactions, and authenticating users.
  • Free and Open Source
    WebPagetest is free to use and its code is open-source, allowing for community contributions and customizable implementations.
  • Video Capture
    Provides video capture of the loading process, giving a visual representation of loading performance.
  • Waterfall Charts
    Generates detailed waterfall charts that help identify bottlenecks in resource loading.

Possible disadvantages of WebPagetest

  • Complexity for Beginners
    The extensive options and detailed metrics may be overwhelming for beginners who are not familiar with web performance testing.
  • Intermittent Performance
    As a free service, sometimes the performance can be inconsistent due to high demand or limited resources.
  • Dated Interface
    The user interface of the website is somewhat dated and could benefit from modernization to improve user experience.
  • Limited Instant Support
    Lack of immediate support options can be a downside; users often have to rely on forums and community support.
  • Potential for Inconsistent Results
    Results might vary between tests due to variability in internet speed, server conditions, and other external factors.
  • Configuration Overhead
    Advanced testing options require a significant amount of configuration, which can be time-consuming.

SpeedCurve features and specs

  • Comprehensive Performance Monitoring
    SpeedCurve offers in-depth insights into various performance metrics, such as page load times, rendering metrics, and user-centric metrics like First Input Delay (FID) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), providing a holistic view of website performance.
  • User Experience Focus
    The platform places a strong emphasis on user experience by visually representing data and providing tools to assess how real users are experiencing your site, allowing for optimization that directly improves UX.
  • Filmstrip and Video Playback
    SpeedCurve allows you to see frame-by-frame renderings and video playback of site load processes, making it easier to identify bottlenecks and understand how visual elements are impacting users.
  • Alerting and Benchmarking
    The tool includes robust features for setting performance alerts and benchmarking against industry standards or competitors, facilitating continuous performance improvements.
  • Integration Capabilities
    SpeedCurve can be integrated with various other tools and platforms, such as CI/CD pipelines and analytics, to streamline performance monitoring within existing workflows.

Possible disadvantages of SpeedCurve

  • Cost
    SpeedCurve can be relatively expensive compared to some other performance monitoring solutions, which might be a consideration for small businesses or startups with limited budgets.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    The depth of information and features offered can be overwhelming for beginners or those not deeply familiar with performance metrics, requiring a learning curve to effectively utilize the platform.
  • Limited Free Features
    The tool has limited features in its free version, restricting access to some of the more advanced performance insights and capabilities unless a premium plan is purchased.
  • Resource Intensity
    Using SpeedCurve effectively requires a commitment of time and resources to interpret data and implement optimization strategies, which may be challenging for teams with limited capacity.

Analysis of WebPagetest

Overall verdict

  • Yes, WebPagetest is considered a good tool for evaluating website performance. It is widely used by developers and performance engineers for its accuracy and the depth of information it provides.

Why this product is good

  • WebPagetest is highly regarded for its detailed performance analysis capabilities, offering in-depth insights into page speed and other performance metrics. It allows users to run tests from multiple locations, on various devices and browsers, which is crucial for assessing a website's performance under different conditions. The tool provides a comprehensive waterfall chart and numerous other diagnostic features that help identify performance bottlenecks and potential optimization areas.

Recommended for

    WebPagetest is recommended for web developers, performance engineers, SEO specialists, and anyone interested in optimizing website speed and performance. It is especially useful for those who need detailed insights into page load processes and performance optimization opportunities.

WebPagetest videos

WebPageTest - The State of the Web

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How To Use WebPageTest.org - For Beginners

SpeedCurve videos

Tracking Web Vitals with SpeedCurve

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WebPagetest and SpeedCurve)
Website Monitoring
67 67%
33% 33
Monitoring Tools
54 54%
46% 46
Performance Monitoring
66 66%
34% 34
Uptime Monitoring
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WebPagetest seems to be a lot more popular than SpeedCurve. While we know about 51 links to WebPagetest, we've tracked only 2 mentions of SpeedCurve. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

WebPagetest mentions (51)

  • A PageSpeed insight report, but for every page in your domain
    Trust neither. The most optimal option I've found is webpagetest.org Its been quite handy lately. This tool does look interesting. Source: about 2 years ago
  • How are you all accurately checking your website load time? Not sure PageSpeedInsights is very helpful.
    Webpagetest.org is another. Pagespeedinsights and lighthouse are great for identifying page load issues to fix, but actual page load times will always vary between the user and your web server. Universal analytics has some page load timings but that's going away soon and nothing afaik is in GA4. I've seen an example of building a page load timer in tag manager and dumping the results into an event. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Extreme confusing over Speed Index results -- webpagetest.org
    So I am working on rebuilding our company's site with a new stack. I am running tests using webpagetest.org, and I am having trouble fully understanding the speed index results as well as the film strip view. The page renders quite fast everywhere I test it. Google Lighthouse shows it in the 90s + for performance score, however when I test the page on webpagetest, I get load times of 77 seconds (NOT MS) which is... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Does anyone else experience pure ecstasy when they get 100 on Lighthouse? 😩
    Webpagetest.org is great, and checking OP's site they have done an incredible job, I don't think I have ever made or seen an Ecom site this slick. Super clean waterfall view. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Performance scores for Google Lighthouse/Insights seem to be very inaccurate
    Thanks for the recommendation regarding webpagetest.org, another user made a similar recommendation so I will check it out. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

SpeedCurve mentions (2)

  • Why your performance work is not seen
    If you are reading this, chances are you care about performance. Also, chances are, you have played around and established some form of Lab or RUM solutions to start capturing data about your application. If you haven’t, I have just the article for you. You have run Lighthouse reports and time after time you have seen that there are a few, or sometimes lots, of improvements that could be done, but it just seems to... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • NextJS Performance Checklist
    Frontend performance is measured (https://speedcurve.com/ ). - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing WebPagetest and SpeedCurve, you can also consider the following products

GTmetrix - GTmetrix is a free tool that analyzes your page's speed performance. Using PageSpeed and YSlow, GTmetrix generates scores for your pages and offers actionable recommendations on how to fix them.

DebugBear - Track site speed and Core Web Vitals

PageSpeed Insights - PageSpeed is addon for ...

Pingdom - With website monitoring from Pingdom you will be the first to know when your website is down. No installation required. 30-day free trial.

Google Lighthouse - Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages.

DareBoost - DareBoost is an online tool to test, analyze and monitor your website: speed, SEO, quality, security. All you need for website optimization in a single service.