Both tools score websites using the same engine. The difference? PageGuard is built for business owners who need ongoing monitoring — not developers running one-time audits.
| Feature |
PG
PageGuard
|
Google Lighthouse |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing |
■
Free + from $9/mo
|
■
Free (Chrome only)
|
| Who is it for? |
✓
Small businesses, designers, agencies — no technical knowledge needed
|
✗
Developers with Chrome DevTools
|
| Automated monitoring |
✓
Yes — weekly or daily scans, email alerts
|
✗
No — manual scans only
|
| Email alerts |
✓
Yes — get notified when score drops
|
✗
No
|
| Scan multiple sites |
✓
Yes — up to 50 sites (Agency plan)
|
✗
One at a time, manually
|
| Score history & trends |
✓
Yes — 7 to 365 days of history
|
✗
No — no historical data
|
| AI-generated report |
✓
Yes — plain-English explanation of issues
|
✗
No — technical output only
|
| Shareable report URL |
✓
Yes — public link to share with clients
|
✗
No — export JSON or screenshot only
|
| REST API |
✓
Yes — programmatic access
|
✗
CLI only (not a hosted API)
|
| Requires install |
✓
No — runs in browser, no install
|
✗
Chrome extension or Node.js CLI
|
| Audit categories |
—
Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices
|
✓
Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices, PWA
|
| Powered by |
■
Google Lighthouse (same engine)
|
■
Google Lighthouse
|
Same scores as Lighthouse. No install. No signup required for the first scan.
Results in ~30 seconds. 4 scores: Performance, Accessibility, SEO, Best Practices.
They use the same engine and produce the same scores. PageGuard is better for ongoing monitoring: automated scans, email alerts, score history, and shareable reports. Lighthouse is better for developers who need one-time deep dives in Chrome DevTools or the CLI.
Yes — PageGuard runs Lighthouse via the PageSpeed Insights API. You get the exact same scores as running Lighthouse yourself, plus automated scheduling, historical tracking, email alerts, and AI-generated explanations.
Automated scheduled scans, email alerts when scores drop, score history and trends, shareable public report URLs, multi-site management, REST API access, and AI-generated plain-English explanations of issues. Lighthouse is manual-only with no tracking or alerts built in.
Yes — PageGuard is free to scan any site without signup, and offers a free monitoring plan (1 site, manual scans, 7-day history). Paid plans start at $9/month for 5 sites with weekly automated scans and email alerts.