PageSpeed Insights API alternative
PageSpeed Insights API alternatives
PSI is free, and for a Lighthouse score on a public page it is the obvious first call. Here is what it doesn't do, and what to use when you hit that.
By Roger Campos · Last updated: September 2026
TL;DR
Keep the PageSpeed Insights API for free Lighthouse runs on public pages and for CrUX field data while Google still returns it. Use URLpipe when you want audits delivered asynchronously to a webhook, Lighthouse next to the page's console errors, screenshot and Markdown, and results you can collect for 30 days — at 2 credits an audit. For monitoring over time, DebugBear.
Free plan, no credit card. 1,000 credits a month.
Credit where due
What the PageSpeed Insights API does well
One GET — https://www.googleapis.com/pagespeedonline/v5/runPagespeed?url=… — runs Lighthouse in a Google data centre and returns the full lighthouseResult for any of four categories (performance, accessibility, best practices, SEO), for mobile or desktop. Where Chrome has enough real-user traffic, it adds CrUX field data. It costs nothing.
Why switch
Why people look for an alternative
- A key and a quota. Google recommends a key for automated use, and quota is set per Google Cloud project. A keyless call we made on September 24, 2026 was refused with a zero daily quota.
- Fixed conditions. Throttling, device and test location are Google's choice — a data centre in North America, Europe or Asia — with no custom headers or cookies.
- Field data is going. Google's docs say it plans to stop including CrUX data in this API and points to the CrUX API instead.
- Synchronous. An audit takes a while and you hold the connection for it; there is no webhook.
- Only the audit. No console errors, no Markdown of what the page said, no full-page screenshot with your options.
The alternative
Lighthouse on URLpipe
/lighthouse runs Lighthouse 13 in a real Chrome on our own custom-built rendering engine in Europe, and returns the four category scores and the audits. It is async by default, like every endpoint: the request returns a token, and the report arrives at a signed webhook or waits at GET /result/:token for 30 days.
curl "https://www.googleapis.com/pagespeedonline/v5/runPagespeed?url=https://example.com&strategy=mobile&category=PERFORMANCE&key=$PSI_KEY"curl -X POST https://urlpipe.dev/lighthouse \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $URLPIPE_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"url": "https://example.com", "report_to": "https://your-app.com/webhooks/urlpipe"}'Lighthouse is the heaviest thing URLpipe runs and has its own lane, which is why it costs 2 credits rather than 1. An audit is a measurement of one load, so page options don't apply to it — blocking ads would change the score it reports.
One key
The audit plus what broke
A performance score says a page is slow; it doesn't say a script threw on load. /console captures console.error, console.warn, uncaught exceptions and unhandled promise rejections from the same page, for 1 credit. It does not capture console.log or failed resource loads.
Want a report, not JSON?
URLpipe sells the audit as data. If you want monitored reports, trends and a verdict across a whole site, Full Stack Audit is our sister product built on exactly that.
Side by side
URLpipe and PageSpeed Insights API, feature by feature
| Capability | URLpipe | PageSpeed Insights API |
|---|---|---|
| Clean Markdown from a URL | Yes | — |
| Renders JavaScript (real browser) | Yes | Yes |
| Rendered HTML | Yes | — |
| Screenshots | Yes | — |
| Full-page screenshots | Yes | — |
| Element, dark-mode and hidden-selector screenshots | Yes | — |
| Metadata / Open Graph | Yes | — |
| AI summary | Yes | — |
| Keyword extraction endpoint | Yes | — |
| Lighthouse audits | Yes | Yes |
| JavaScript console capture | Yes | — |
| Several outputs from one page visit | /scrape | — |
| Whole-site crawling | No | — |
| Schema-based structured extraction | No | — |
| PDF input or output | No | — |
| MCP server | Hosted | — |
| Async + webhook for a single URL | Yes | — |
| Idempotency key on retries | Yes | — |
| Your own labels on requests, usage by label | Yes | — |
| Cached results cost nothing | Yes | — |
| Residential-IP fetching | One exit, +25 credits/visit | — |
| Official SDKs | No | — |
| Self-hostable | No | — |
| Free tier | 1,000 credits/mo | Free with an API key |
| EU processing, AI included | Yes | — |
PageSpeed Insights API: checked against developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/v5/get-started, developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/v5/about, developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/rest/v5/pagespeedapi/runpagespeed on September 24, 2026. Products change — confirm on each vendor's site before you decide.
Pricing
What each one costs
| URLpipe | PageSpeed Insights API | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | $0 — 1,000 credits/mo, no card | Free; API key recommended |
| Entry paid plan | Starter $19/mo — 20,000 credits | — |
| Mid plan | Pro $49/mo — 55,000 credits | — |
| Billing unit | Credits per call: Markdown, HTML, screenshot or console 1, Lighthouse 2, metadata 5 | Quota per Google Cloud project |
| Overage | Paid plans never cut off — $1.50 per 1,000 credits | — |
| Cache hits | Free, up to 30 days old | — |
PSI is free within your project's quota. On URLpipe an audit is 2 credits, so 1,000 credits a month is 500 audits and Pro is 27,500.
Who it's for
An honest recommendation
Choose URLpipe if…
- You want audits delivered to a webhook instead of holding a connection
- You want console errors, a screenshot or Markdown of the same page
- You'd rather not manage a Google Cloud project and its quota
- Your agent should run audits over MCP
- Results should be collectable for 30 days
Choose PageSpeed Insights API if…
- You want Lighthouse runs for free
- You want CrUX field data alongside the lab run, while it lasts
- You only ever audit public pages
- Google's fixed throttling and devices are what you want to compare against
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is URLpipe a good PageSpeed Insights API alternative?
Is the PageSpeed Insights API free?
Does the PageSpeed Insights API still return CrUX data?
Can PSI audit a page behind a login?
Try URLpipe on the free plan.
1,000 credits a month, no card. Confirm your email and your key is live — most people make their first request inside five minutes.