Hi all,
I am running a WordPress website and I've used both Pingdom and GTMetrix to test the load speed. The grade from Pingdom was a D. The grade from GTMetrix was an A. Can anyone who has used these website speed tests explain why there is such a disparity?
Thanks.
Dennis
It depends on what speed the website is tested, on which device, which locaton etc.
Gtmetrix is using desktop as default with unlimited internet speed or high speed , I am not exactly sure.
AFAIK pingdom have their own unique algorithm, and it isn’t based on CWV – it’s fairly high level. WebPageTest and SpeedVitals are more technical.
GTMetrix uses Lighthouse tool (good), but it runs it with desktop profile by default, which is easier on the marks.
If you use PageSpeed Insights [https://pagespeed.web.dev](https://pagespeed.web.dev) (Google’s own hosted version of Lighthouse) you will get results for mobile profile as well, and your site isn’t doing as great on that one.
It’s not horrible, but there is definitely room for optimization. Especially with number of requests, top thing highlighted by Pingdom, you seem to be using some “noisy” plugins that add a lot of files to the page.
That is not how you use those tools. The detail is in the waterfall. The grades are just for noobs.