The 4 web performance test tools you should be using
Here at Niteco, we live and breathe web performance. Not only have our specialists spoken on the topic on numerous occasions, but it’s also one of the things we focus on the most when we build or maintain a project.
Performance makes a difference, in a site’s usability and, ultimately, in your bottom line. Good web performance is the difference between a user being wowed by your site’s extremely quick loading time and them abandoning your site after waiting for it to load for several seconds. And studies have shown many times that users are not forgiving to bad performance. You’re not even given the colloquial three strikes. It’s two seconds and you’re out.
For websites or applications that are already live, Niteco offers its popular 24/7 Proactive Response service for many clients, such as Avensia. As part of this service, a team of specialists distributed across different time zones around the world monitors not only the security and integrity of your application, its integrations and more, but also measures performance.
We asked the experts in the 24/7 Proactive Response team to name the tools that they recommend for use in conducting web performance tests. These are the best 4 tools they named (both free and paid):
Below are the details like key features, advantages, pricing, and more:
Niteco’s Performance Insight Tool – Best all-in-one performance testing tool in 2024
Price: Free
Key features:
- Comprehensive website performance assessment (eg. Web Vitals, CrUX field data, site requests).
- In-depth comparison and competitive benchmarking.
- Mobile browser and device compatibility testing.
- Highlights strengths and weaknesses for future optimization.
Niteco’s Performance Insight Tool stands out as a premier solution for performance review in 2024, offering a swift and intelligent platform designed to meticulously scan and evaluate the critical metrics that impact Ecommerce websites. Functioning as an all-in-one platform for the comprehensive assessment of website performance across various devices, Niteco's Performance Insight Tool not only generates detailed reports on key technical performance indicators and user experience metrics such as loading speed and core web vitals. It also facilitates a comparative analysis between the performance of your web pages and those of your competitors.
More importantly, the tool not only provides insightful data but also excels in swiftly detecting strengths and weaknesses within critical factors across up to 60 web pages. It offers a concise overview of how to optimize these areas effectively. A report will be sent to your registered email address, providing hassle-free access to the report outside of the system.
Niteco’s Performance Insight tool impresses as a robust, all-in-one benchmarking tool, ensuring that your optimization work is seamlessly integrated into a process geared towards delivering a tangible return on investment (ROI).
Try out the Niteco Performance Insight tool HERE.
SpeedCurve - Top performance testing tool for loading speed
Price: Free trial for 30 days, starts $11/month at the cheapest subscription plan
Key features:
- In-depth insights into the loading of the site.
- Collect information for both the website’s front-end and back-end.
- Show web performance’s impact on your business metrics.
SpeedCurve provides insights into the information that is collected over a period of time, which you set yourself. It collects information for both the front-end and back-end on one aspect of the site with each run, e.g Performance scoring, PWA assessment, etc.
Along with the technical results and bare numbers – using which you can compare synthetic and real user monitoring data –, SpeedCurve also provides detailed suggestions for improving the score. For instance, it could make you aware of a file not being in the static cache. Clear information like this will help your development team or development partner to know what to do in order to improve the performance. The team can then even debug web performance issues at the page level.
SpeedCurve also provides you with in-depth insights into the loading process of your site. In a waterfall diagram, it shows exactly which elements are loaded and rendered at what point in the process. This lets you see at once where there is room for improvement and which critical content should perhaps be moved forward in the loading process. To make sure that your site performs well on all devices, you can even simulate its loading process on various screen sizes and mobile devices. This helps you in ensuring that the user experience is the best it can be, however users come to your site.
The tool also allows you to see the performance impact of ads and third-party integrations. If you use the addData function of the LUX API to feed your own customer and conversion data into the tool, SpeedCurve can even show you the impact that web performance has on your business metrics.
To keep a constant eye on how your site’s performance develops, SpeedCurve lets you test continually and create performance budgets so you can receive alerts when certain thresholds are crossed.
Yellow Lab - Best testing tool for front-end codes
Price: Free
Key features:
- Focus on reviewing front-end code.
- Provide global score of the website.
- Assess the quality of requests on the website.
Yellow Lab focuses on reviewing front-end code. The reports created by Yellow Lab evaluate page scores on several aspects.
For one, the tool evaluates front-end quality. It highlights quality problems in the HTML, DOM, CSS, Javascript etc. To help you work on web performance, it also checks if performance Best Practices have been applied.
Dareboost - Recommended tool for comprehensive webpage analysis
Price: Contact for price
Key features:
- Monitor your pages’ speed.
- Comprehensive web page analysis from SEO to security.
- Provide comparison with competitors.
Dareboost provides performance analysis and monitoring only at the time the tool scans the website, not for continuous testing.
It measures your site’s performance in terms of loading speeds and also provides data on its accessibility.
Does your site have performance issues or do you need a team that takes care of your project around the clock? Contact Niteco today to find out how we can help you.
FAQs about the best performance testing tool in 2024
What is performance testing?
Performance testing employs various techniques to analyze a system's behavior under specific workloads, assessing metrics like response times, resource consumption, and stability. This helps ensure the system meets performance requirements and handles expected user demands efficiently.
Why do you need a website performance testing tool?
Website performance testing tools are crucial for identifying and addressing potential issues in your site's functionality and user experience. They simulate real-world conditions, ensuring your site can handle various scenarios, ultimately saving time and resources in the development process.
Which is the best performance testing tool?
The optimal tool depends on your project requirements. Noteworthy options include Niteco's Performance Insight Tool, renowned for its comprehensive assessment features, SpeedCurve, known for its loading speed testing capabilities, Yellow Lab, valued for its front-end code evaluations, and Dareboost, recognized for its thorough webpage analysis.
How can you choose the best performance testing tool?
The best performance testing tool should align with your project requirements and can ensure effective performance testing and optimization. Before deciding, you should clearly define critical performance metrics and consider factors such as technology stack compatibility, scalability, and integration ease. In the meantime, you should evaluate the tool's support, documentation, and community engagement for a seamless adoption process.
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