Honest Comparison
An honest comparison of two different approaches to performance testing. WebPageTest goes deep on single-page analysis. Ahoj Metrics goes wide on global monitoring.
WebPageTest (now part of Catchpoint) is the gold standard for deep, single-page performance analysis. It's been around for years, it's open source at its core, and performance engineers trust it for detailed diagnostics.
Ahoj Metrics is a different tool for a different job. We're built for ongoing global monitoring, not one-off deep dives. Test from 18 regions simultaneously, track performance over time, get alerts when things degrade.
If you need to diagnose why a specific page is slow, WebPageTest is hard to beat. If you need to monitor how your site performs globally on an ongoing basis, that's what Ahoj Metrics does.
| Feature | Ahoj Metrics | WebPageTest |
|---|---|---|
| Testing Engine | Google Lighthouse | Custom engine + Lighthouse |
| Test Locations | 18 regions | 30 (Starter), 35 (Pro) |
| Simultaneous Multi-Region Testing | Yes (all regions in one audit) | No (one location per test) |
| Average Test Speed | ~2 minutes (all regions) | 5-15 minutes (single location) |
| Free Tier | 20 audits/month | 150 test runs/month |
| Cheapest Paid Plan | $35/month (Solo) | ~$19/month (Pro) |
| Automated Monitoring | Yes (Hourly/Daily/Weekly) | Yes (Pro, with Catchpoint integration) |
| Data Retention | 30 days - unlimited | 13 months |
| Team Features | Yes (Studio plan+) | Unlimited users (Expert plan) |
| API Access | Coming soon | Yes (Pro plans) |
| Waterfall Charts | No | Yes (industry-leading) |
| Filmstrip View | No | Yes |
| Video Capture | No | Yes |
| Real Browser Testing | Headless Chrome | Real Chrome, Firefox, Safari |
| Connection Throttling | Simulated | Applied (browser-level) |
| No-Code Experiments | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Core Web Vitals | Yes | Yes |
| Performance Score History | Yes | Yes |
| Real User Monitoring (RUM) | No | Yes (Expert plan, $11,988/year) |
| Real User Data (CrUX) | Yes (field data lookup, free) | No |
| Open Source | No | Yes (core engine) |
| Alert Notifications | Yes (Catchpoint integration) |
We believe in being honest. Here's where WebPageTest has the edge:
WebPageTest provides the most detailed waterfall charts in the industry. You can see exactly when each resource loads, how long DNS lookup takes, when the connection is established, and where bottlenecks occur. This level of detail is invaluable for debugging specific performance issues.
WebPageTest runs tests in real browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari) with real network-level throttling. Ahoj Metrics runs headless Chrome with simulated throttling. Real browser testing is more accurate for reproducing what users actually experience.
WebPageTest offers 30-35 locations depending on your plan. We have 18 regions.
WebPageTest Pro lets you test "what if" scenarios without changing your code. Block a third-party script, defer a resource, change an image format, and see the impact instantly. This is a unique feature nobody else offers.
See your page render frame by frame. Useful for presentations, stakeholder buy-in, and understanding perceived performance.
WebPageTest's testing engine is open source. You can self-host it and run unlimited tests on your own infrastructure.
GitHub Actions integration, Slack bot, VS Code extension, Node.js API wrapper. WebPageTest has years of ecosystem development.
Here's what Ahoj Metrics does differently:
An 18-region audit on Ahoj Metrics takes about 2 minutes. A single WebPageTest test can take 5-15 minutes depending on queue depth and configuration. Testing from 18 locations on WebPageTest sequentially could take over an hour.
One click, all regions, one dashboard. WebPageTest requires individual tests per location. Ahoj Metrics was designed from the ground up for "how does my site perform everywhere?"
Set up a monitor on Ahoj Metrics in about 30 seconds. Pick your URL, choose your regions, set your frequency. Done. WebPageTest's monitoring capabilities (through Catchpoint) are powerful but more complex to configure.
Ahoj Metrics monitoring starts at $35/month. WebPageTest's full monitoring capabilities through the Catchpoint Expert plan start at $11,988/year. The WebPageTest Pro plan (~$19/month) is affordable but more limited in monitoring features.
Ahoj Metrics does one thing: global Lighthouse monitoring. No experiments, no complex configurations, no learning curve. Run a test, see your results from every region.
WebPageTest's RUM is only available on the Expert plan at $11,988/year. Ahoj Metrics includes CrUX field data lookup for all users at no extra cost — look up any domain and see Google's 28-day Chrome user experience data (p75 and distributions for LCP, INP, CLS, FCP, TTFB) instantly.
| Ahoj Metrics | WebPageTest | |
|---|---|---|
| Tests | 20 audits/month | 150 test runs/month |
| Regions | 5 per audit | 30 locations (one per test) |
| Monitoring | No | No |
| Data Retention | 30 days | 13 months |
| API | Coming soon | No |
| Ahoj Metrics | WebPageTest | |
|---|---|---|
| Tests | 100 audits/month | 1,000 test runs/month |
| Regions | 5 per audit | 35 locations (one per test) |
| Monitoring | 5 monitors | Scheduled tests (via Catchpoint) |
| Data Retention | 90 days | 13 months |
| API | Coming soon | Yes |
| Queue Priority | N/A (no queue) | Yes |
Note on test counting: A single Ahoj Metrics audit testing 5 regions counts as 1 audit. The equivalent on WebPageTest would be 5 test runs (or more, since WebPageTest counts each page load within a test as a run).
See our full pricing page for details.
Use WebPageTest for deep-dive debugging when something goes wrong. Use Ahoj Metrics for continuous global monitoring to catch problems early. They complement each other well.
20 audits per month. 5 regions per audit. No credit card required. See how your site performs globally in under 2 minutes.
Start FreeAlready using WebPageTest? Many teams use both. WebPageTest for debugging, Ahoj Metrics for monitoring.
WebPageTest offers a free Starter plan with 150 test runs per month and 30 test locations. Their paid Pro plan starts at roughly $19/month for more runs, API access, and additional features.
Not currently. We provide Lighthouse performance scores, Core Web Vitals metrics, and detailed audit recommendations across multiple regions. For waterfall-level debugging, WebPageTest is the better tool.
WebPageTest runs tests in real browsers with real network throttling, which produces more accurate results but takes longer. Tests also go into a queue, which can add wait time. Ahoj Metrics uses headless Chrome with simulated throttling and ephemeral cloud workers with no queue, which is faster but less granular.
Not in a single test. You'd need to run separate tests for each location. Ahoj Metrics was specifically built to run all regions simultaneously in one audit.
Yes, the core WebPageTest engine is open source and can be self-hosted. The WebPageTest.org service and Pro features are managed by Catchpoint. Ahoj Metrics is not open source.
Ahoj Metrics includes CrUX field data — Google's Chrome User Experience Report — which shows aggregated real-user performance for any publicly accessible domain. It's not first-party RUM (which instruments your own visitors), but it covers the core use case of understanding real-world performance without the $11,988/year Expert plan. Available to all users at no extra cost.