10 tools that are better than Google Page Speed [Free & paid]

Meanwhile, there are plenty of alternatives on the market that are also very good at analyzing speed and giving optimization tips.

Because I'm sure you won't be much wiser from Google Page Speed Insights either, and because I'm sure you want to know what else is out there on the market, here are 10 free and paid tools for you that are better than Google Page Speed Insights.

In no particular order:

GT Metrix [Free & Paid]

Yes, the list is in random order, but I do start with my personal favorite: GT Metrix. GT Metrix is perfect for testing the speed of your website and, in my opinion, is the ultimate alternative to Google Page Speed Insights.

GT Metrix is more specific about what could be improved, pinpointing areas for improvement and then explaining what you need to do to address them.

Examples of areas for improvement include:

• Optimize the size of your images
• Remove sources that block loading
• Avoid redirects

Another great advantage of GT Metrix is that the data is displayed clearly and can be quickly understood even by a layman. This is mainly because there is always a button with "What's this mean?" and because the you also get a handy visual overview of exactly how your website loads, for example.

There have been a few times when GT Metrix did not work, but this was always due to the website itself. GT Metrix is stable and the values it gives are true. For that reason, for me it is the best alternative to Google Page Speed.

Another thing I want to give you is that creating an account is really a must, because then you will have even more functionalities.

Think with Google - Test my Site [Free].

Google Test My Site is a relatively new tool from Google that tells you more about your website's mobile speed.

With this tool, you can very easily decide in which country and on which network you want to test a website. That's where Google Test My Site really distinguishes itself from its competitors.

Furthermore, you can also compare the load time of your website with that of your competitors, and the tool tells you exactly how much more revenue you could make if your website became faster (of course, if you first specify how much revenue you make).

As icing on the cake, you are told exactly what the load time of your site is, you can find out the load time per page, and you are given tips to improve the speed of your website.

All of this is nicely designed into a report so that the input is manageable and understandable.

Pingdom [Free & paid]

Pingdom, like GT Metrix, always appears in the online lists that deal with programs that allow you to measure speed. For that reason, I have to include it in this list. After all, it is one of the most well-known in the market.

Still, I've never been a big fan of Pingdom. I see Pingdom as less good than GT Metrix, although they are very similar in the basics.

In fact, Pingdom also tells you exactly what the load time of your website is, how your website loads and what the improvements are. Also, the data coming out of Pingdom is truthful and accurate.

Pingdom's website also looks nice and fresh, but if you're used to GT Metrix, you won't want anything else.

Webpage Test [Free]

It is certainly not the most visually pleasing alternative to Google Page Speed, but it is one of the better ones. Webpage Test is different from the other options in the list because it focuses primarily on how your Web site loads rather than what the areas of improvement are.

This is then shown in a waterfall graph combined with important figures about your website's load time. Exactly what these numbers mean is a very technical story, but I'll give you a few examples anyway:

• Load time of the first byte
• Full load time
• Number of requests
• And some other technical terms that you may immediately forget.

What makes Webpage Test unique is that it doesn't do one test, it runs three right away. This ensures that your data is truly accurate and not affected by a bug within your website or within the software.

The final advantage of Webpage Test is that you can also test the loading time of a website within different browsers. So think Google Chrome, Firefox and Opera. And that is something Page Speed and the bulk of the other tools in this list cannot do.

Dareboost [Free & paid]

Of all the alternatives in this list, I have known Dareboost the shortest time. But by now I have known it for several months and am very pleased with the tool.

I see Dareboost as a kind of combination of GT Metrix with Webpage Test. Dareboost shows nice graphs with handy figures, but then also tells you exactly what you need to do to make the website faster. Of course, including waterfall, the improvements in order of priority and all the other technical details you may soon forget.

Actually, Dareboost has combined the best features of its competitors and alternatives into one powerful environment. As a result, this makes me like Dareboost better than Google Page Speed.

There is only one drawback... Dareboost is free to use once without an account and five times a month (for free) if you create an account.

Chrome DevTools [Free]

Chrome DevTools is an odd duck in this list. That's because it's not a Web site you have to plug your Web site into to determine how fast or slow your Web site is. No, DevTools is in Google Chrome by default.

And Google Chrome is the browser, which you use if you want to get everything out of your organic findability, because, after all, there are all these handy extensions that make online marketing easier.

You can use Chrome DevTools by right-clicking your mouse in Chrome, then clicking 'Inspect' and then going to 'Performance' at the top.

Then reload your Web site (or click the button) and DevTools goes to work for you. Compared to its competitors, DevTools can be a bit slow, but it does show you all the information you want to know. Think about:

• Waterfall showing how your website loads
• Number of requests
• Loading time
• And much more useful information

What sets DevTools apart from the rest (and thus from Page Speed Insights) is that you can turn the cache on or off and you can also determine how fast the connection should be. A fast 3g connection, a regular 3g connection or a slow 3g connection.

In short, a lot of useful features that don't require you to use a separate website.

Uptrends [Free & paid]

The moment I ran Uptrends' website speed test, the first thing I thought was: this looks suspiciously like Pingdom. The blocks, the numbers and the waterfall are all in the same place.

The difference is that Pingdom has a slightly nicer design. What is an advantage of Uptrends is that you can test the speed of your website on mobile and on desktop, and with mobile you can also determine from which device and connection you want to test it.

So you can test all variations of iPhones, Google phones and Samsung phones at 2, 3 and 4G. Then again, the competitors in the list and Google Page Speed cannot.

And that, again, is why Uptrends stands out from the rest.

SEOptimer [Free & paid]

SEOptimer does not really belong in this list because it is an SEO check rather than a speed analysis tool. But since it does have the most comprehensive speed analysis of all SEO checks, I give it an honorable mention anyway.

After all, normally you only get to see the load time, but SEOptimer shows you much more. Think about:

• Server response time
• Load time of all content
• Load time of scripts
• How big the page itself is in MBs
• What the page consists of
• And then what are possible areas of improvement to improve speed.

In addition to information about your website's load time, you also get a ton of tips on how to improve your website and become more findable. And all this information is nicely designed with all kinds of graphs making it easy to understand as well.

Google Analytics [Free]

I'm sure you weren't expecting this one in the list! In fact, analyzing your load time and seeing where the areas for improvement are can be done with Google Analytics. And hardly anyone knows this feature.

By clicking on "Site Speed" under the "Behavior" heading in Google Analytics, you can find all kinds of information about the speed of your website and pages.

You will then see a handy overview with:

• Average loading time
• Average detour time
• Average server connection time
• Average server response time

And in addition, you can also look for speed suggestions per page, the PageSpeed score per page and then also how many page views each page has had.

Because you can find out the PageSpeed score at a glance, that makes me like this way more than Google Page Speed Insights itself. You don't have to constantly check just one URL, which makes Analytics a good alternative.

Google Search Console [Free]

Google has been developing its Search Console hard lately. New features and functions are being added and Search Console is increasingly becoming a complete platform.

Recently, Google also added the heading "Speed" there to the list of optimization tools.

This feature allows you to see at a glance which pages within your website are slow, average and fast.

Then you can also click 'Open Report' to see what the problems of your slow or average pages are.

For a real developer, this is probably not enough, but for business owners and marketers, this is more than enough. Those can spot the problem and then pass it on to the experts. So this is also a great alternative to Google Page Speed Insights.