PageWeight vs GTmetrix vs DebugBear: what do you actually get for free?
All three test page speed, but their free tiers cover very different amounts of ground. GTmetrix limits how much you can monitor for free. DebugBear doesn’t have a free tier at all. Here’s what each one actually includes, and where PageWeight fits.
What does PageWeight check?
PageWeight runs your URL through Google PageSpeed Insights — the same engine behind Search Console and the Performance tab in Chrome DevTools — and turns the result into a plain-English report. Each scan covers:
- Image optimization — which images could be re-encoded as AVIF or WebP, with exact savings per file
- Core Web Vitals — how fast main content loads, when content first appears, interaction delay, and layout stability
- Third-party scripts — which external tools are blocking the page and by how much
- Render-blocking resources — JavaScript or CSS delaying the page from displaying
- Unused JavaScript and CSS — code downloaded by visitors but never executed
- Server response time and text compression — whether the server itself is the bottleneck
The report defaults to mobile, since that’s what Google’s mobile-first indexing actually ranks on, with a desktop toggle available in the results.
What's actually free on GTmetrix?
GTmetrix's free plan runs a limited number of tests per month and caps automated monitoring to a handful of URLs, with capped history retention on those results. Desktop testing and multiple test locations require a paid plan. It's a capable tool, but the free tier is built to get you to upgrade once you want to track more than a couple of pages regularly.
What's actually free on DebugBear?
Nothing, ongoing. DebugBear doesn't publish a free tier — it offers a 14-day trial, and every paid plan is a monthly or annual subscription gated behind account setup. Entry-level plans cover a single project with a modest monthly test allowance; real-user (RUM) data and multi-project support are reserved for higher tiers. It's a strong tool for teams that already know they want continuous monitoring across a real page count, but there's no free way to keep using it long-term.
What does PageWeight give you for free that the others don't?
Unlimited scans, no signup, no time limit. Every scan also gets a before/after comparison if you re-scan the same page, a shareable results link, a printable report, and an embeddable score badge. If you leave your email, PageWeight will alert you if that page's score drops later — at no cost.
What it doesn't do yet: track score history across multiple URLs on a dashboard. That's the one area where GTmetrix's paid plans and DebugBear are genuinely ahead right now.
If your site runs on WordPress
When a scan turns up unoptimized JPEG or PNG images, the fix is usually images, not tooling. Picqlo converts them to AVIF and WebP automatically, in the background, with originals kept intact.
On any other platform
For a one-off conversion without installing anything, picqlo.com/convert turns JPEG and PNG files into AVIF, WebP, or JPEG XL directly in your browser — no upload, no account.