VitalsLens vs webvitals.dev vs PageSpeed Insights vs Plausible
Each of these tools answers a different question. Use the table below to figure out which one fits your actual problem. Then run the relevant audit.
| What | VitalsLens vitalslens.com | webvitals.dev webvitals.dev | PageSpeed Insights pagespeed.web.dev | Plausible plausible.io |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Dual-axis discoverability audit | Single-axis CWV lookup | Single-axis perf audit (lab + field) | Website analytics (ongoing) |
| Measures performance? | Yes · CrUX field data | Yes · CrUX field data | Yes · CrUX field + Lighthouse lab | Only page-load events |
| Measures LLM-citation-readiness? | Yes · Aleyda 10-char checklist | No | No | No |
| Prioritized fix list? | Yes · top 6 by impact | Limited | Yes · Lighthouse opportunities | No (analytics, not audits) |
| Embeddable widget? | Yes · free forever | No | No | Stats dashboard embed (paid) |
| JSON API? | Yes · CORS open · 20 req/min/IP | No (use CrUX API directly) | Yes · Google PSI API · 25k req/day | Yes · Stats API (paid) |
| Cost | €0 until Nov 2026; then Free single-scan + Pro €19/mo for fleet monitoring | Free | Free | From $9/mo (10k pageviews); 30-day trial only |
| Best for | "Is my site findable by Google AND by AI?" | "What are my CWV right now?" | "How do I make this specific page faster?" | "How many people visit my site this week?" |
Which discoverability tool should you reach for in each scenario
If you want one audit that scores BOTH human-via-Google AND human-via-AI
→ VitalsLensYou're shipping content + you want to know if both Google's SERP and ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity will see it. That's the gap VitalsLens fills — every other tool here covers only one half. Free until November 2026.Run a dual-axis audit →
If you want a quick CWV lookup and nothing else
→ webvitals.devSingle-axis tool. Cleanest for “just give me LCP/INP/CLS for this domain.” No fix prioritization, no LLM-citation angle, no embeddable widget — but the data is correct and the UI is fast.
If you want lab data (Lighthouse) for a specific page you can iterate on
→ PageSpeed InsightsBest when you're debugging one page and want both field (CrUX) and lab (Lighthouse) data side by side, with actionable Lighthouse opportunities (e.g., “eliminate render-blocking resources”). VitalsLens uses field data only — lighter, faster, but won't tell you which specific script is slow.
If you want ongoing analytics (page views, referrers, events) without invasive tracking
→ PlausibleDifferent category. Plausible measures what's happening on your site continuously (who visits, from where, what they click). VitalsLens audits a URL once and tells you what to fix. You'd use both: Plausible answers “what's happening”, VitalsLens answers “what to fix to be findable.”
The honest summary of where each tool fits in your stack
Plausible and VitalsLens are not competitors— they're complements. Run Plausible for ongoing analytics, run VitalsLens monthly to make sure your site is still findable on both axes.
webvitals.dev and PageSpeed Insights are upstream toolsfor VitalsLens' Performance axis — they read the same CrUX dataset. VitalsLens adds the second axis (LLM-citation-readiness) and the dual-axis prioritization that combines both. If all you ever care about is Core Web Vitals, webvitals.dev is sufficient.
VitalsLens is the only tool here that scores LLM-citation-readiness.That's the bet: in 2026, 8-18% of new traffic to most sites originates from an LLM citation, not a Google SERP. The tool that scores both axes in one scan is the one your team will reach for when you have 30 minutes to triage a site.
Ready to try the dual-axis audit? Run a free audit →