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Website Speed Test

Where a page's time goes and what it weighs. Free, and checked from our server, so you see what the public internet sees — no sign-up or install.

About Website Speed Test

One page, measured from the server: the DNS lookup, the TCP connection, the TLS handshake and the protocol it negotiates, the wait for the first byte, and the time to read the rest. Then every file the HTML asks for is fetched too, so the page's weight and request count are counted rather than estimated.

Time to first byte is the number that matters most here, because nothing else can start until it arrives. Under 200 ms is quick, under 600 ms is fine, and past a second and a half a visitor is looking at a blank page long enough to leave. What comes after it is weight: the heaviest files are drawn to scale, because a page that is too big is almost always too big for one or two reasons rather than fifty.

The handshake phases are timed on a connection of their own, because fetch will not say where its milliseconds went. That makes them a like-for-like probe of the same host rather than a breakdown of the request underneath them, and the tool says so rather than pretending otherwise.

By default it measures every file the page references, up to a ceiling of 150 in one run; set a number if you only want the first few. Runs matter too: one measurement of a network is a rumour, so ask for three and the middle time is quoted with the spread beside it. You can also request as a phone, refuse compression to see what a file weighs on disk, or narrow the file types to the ones you are working on.

The score is the category's shared one, built from the findings: a slow first byte and a page over 3 MB cost the most, uncompressed HTML and HTTP/1.1 cost less, and each threshold is named in the finding it produces so it can be argued with.

Where it helps

  • Measures the connection phases and the first byte separately, so a slow DNS server and a slow application look different.
  • Counts the real transferred size of every file, compression included, rather than trusting a content-length header.
  • Names the protocol the connection actually negotiated, so a site still on HTTP/1.1 is obvious.
  • Draws the heaviest files to scale, which is where a page's weight always turns out to be.
  • Checks compression and cache headers across the files, not just on the page itself.
  • Repeats the measurement on request and reports the spread, because one timing of a network says very little.
  • Names how much of the page comes from other hosts, which is the weight you do not control.

Limits

  • There is no browser here: nothing is rendered, no JavaScript runs, and so there are no Core Web Vitals, no Largest Contentful Paint and no layout shift.
  • It measures from one server in one place on a fast connection — a visitor on a phone in another country will see different numbers.
  • Files that a page loads from JavaScript after it starts are invisible to a checker that reads the HTML as served.
  • A cold cache at the far end can make a first measurement look worse than the site normally is; run it twice.
  • Rate limits apply, the HTML is read to 2 MB, and the files together to 25 MB.

Frequently asked questions

Why are the numbers better than PageSpeed Insights gives me?

Because this is not the same measurement. There is no browser, no rendering and no throttled mobile connection here — this measures what the network and the server did, which is one input into the score those tools give you.

What is a good time to first byte?

Under 200 ms is quick, under 600 ms is fine for most sites, and over a second means the server, the database or the origin is the thing to look at rather than the front end.

Why is the connection time sometimes larger than the first byte?

The handshake is timed on a separate connection, so the two numbers come from two different round trips. If the second one reused a warm path it can genuinely be quicker.

How many files does it measure?

Every one the page references, up to 150 in a single run. Put a number in “Stop after” if you only want the first few, or clear the file types to time the document on its own.

Why would I turn compression off?

To see what a file weighs before the server compresses it. It is the quickest way to tell an image that is genuinely too big from a text file that is merely being sent badly.

Does page weight matter if my visitors are on fibre?

Most are not. A megabyte is a second or two on a mobile connection before anything renders, and it is the same megabyte your server pays to send every time.

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  • SERP Preview — Your page as a search result, measured in pixels
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