The best Lighthouse APIs

The shortlist

5 options, and what each is best for

1. 1. URLpipeThat's us

   Docs

   Per-URL web data API

   One API for everything about a URL: Markdown, rendered HTML, a full-page screenshot, metadata, a summary, keywords, data in your own fields, a Lighthouse audit, console errors and the technologies it is built with — over HTTP or a hosted MCP server.

   Best for

   Several answers about the URLs you already have, for your code or your agent, with free cache hits and EU processing.

   Watch out for

   Single URLs only: no crawling or URL discovery, and no self-hosting. A PDF is read for its text, with no OCR for scans. Credits are weighted — Markdown is 1, metadata 1, a summary 17. The residential exit is one exit, not a rotating pool.

   To start

   $0 — 1,000 credits/mo, no card · Starter $19/mo — 20,000 credits

2. 2. PageSpeed Insights API

   developers.google.com

   Google's Lighthouse API

   Google's free API that runs Lighthouse on a public URL in a Google data center and returns the full report, plus Chrome UX Report field data where it has it.

   Best for

   Free Lighthouse runs on public pages, with real-user field data alongside.

   Watch out for

   Public URLs only, fixed throttling and test location, no custom headers or cookies; an API key is needed in practice, with quota set per Google Cloud project. Google plans to drop CrUX field data from this API.

   To start

   Free; API key recommended

   PageSpeed Insights API alternatives

3. 3. Browserless

   browserless.io

   Hosted headless browsers

   Hosted headless Chrome: connect Puppeteer or Playwright to it, or call REST endpoints for content, screenshots, PDFs, Lighthouse runs and crawls.

   Best for

   Teams that want to drive a browser with their own code, in the US or Europe.

   Watch out for

   Billed in units of up to 30 seconds of browser time; most REST endpoints are synchronous; the self-hosted version is SSPL-1.0 or a commercial licence.

   To start

   $0 — 1,000 units/mo, 2 concurrent · Prototyping $25/mo annual — 20,000 units

4. 4. Microlink

   microlink.io

   Metadata and browser API

   A browser API built around link previews: metadata, screenshots, PDF, Markdown and a Lighthouse report, as flags on one GET request, served from a CDN cache.

   Best for

   Link previews and screenshots at volume, with Markdown from the same request.

   Watch out for

   Free is 25 requests a day, and paid plans pause at the quota until the next cycle. No AI summary, keyword extraction or webhook delivery; its MCP server runs locally, and the repository was archived in July 2026.

   To start

   $0 — 25 requests/day, no card · Pro $49/mo — 46,000 requests

   URLpipe vs Microlink

5. 5. DebugBear

   debugbear.com

   Performance monitoring

   Web performance monitoring: scheduled Lighthouse-based lab tests, real-user data and alerts, with an API, a CLI and an MCP server.

   Best for

   Watching your own sites' performance over time, with trends and alerts rather than raw runs.

   Watch out for

   A monitoring product first — schedules, history and alerts — which a one-off audit of someone else's page doesn't use.

Criteria

What to look for in a Lighthouse API

1. 1
   The Lighthouse version. Lighthouse 12 removed the PWA category; version 13 reports four — performance, accessibility, best practices, SEO.
2. 2
   Delivery. An audit takes a while. Holding a connection for each one limits how many you can run.
3. 3
   Conditions. Device, throttling and test location change the numbers. Know which you get.
4. 4
   What else you learn about the page — a score says it's slow, not that a script threw.
5. 5
   Data or a report. Some teams want JSON to store; others want trends and alerts.

Example

Lighthouse on URLpipe

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"}'

Compared

Every option, side by side

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. Browserless: checked against browserless.io/pricing, docs.browserless.io/rest-apis/performance.md, docs.browserless.io/rest-apis/smart-scrape.md, docs.browserless.io/mcp/overview.md, github.com/browserless/browserless on September 24, 2026. Microlink: checked against microlink.io/pricing, microlink.io/docs/api/parameters/meta, microlink.io/docs/api/parameters/insights, microlink.io/docs/guides/content-conversion/url-to-markdown, microlink.io/integrations/mcp on September 24, 2026. DebugBear: checked against debugbear.com/docs/api on September 24, 2026. Products change — confirm on each vendor's site before you decide.