Blog
Performance news, deep dives, and case studies. Updated weekly.
Original Data
Core Web Vitals in April 2026: The Data
Original analysis of CrUX data reveals 55.7% of origins now pass all three Core Web Vitals. SVG visualizations of year-over-year trends, framework CWV pass rates, CMS comparisons, and mobile vs desktop performance gaps across millions of origins.
Analysis
The State of Web Performance in 2026
10 million URLs analyzed from the HTTP Archive. Trends in framework adoption, mobile performance, and the growing gap between static and dynamic sites.
Comparison
Next.js vs Remix: Performance Showdown
Head-to-head CWV benchmarks for the two dominant React meta-frameworks.
Data & Analysis
Industry Analysis
Core Web Vitals Update 2026: What Changed, What to Fix First
The 2026 update did not move the three published thresholds. It tightened the INP measurement methodology, expanded CrUX soft-navigation coverage, and surfaced TTFB as a more prominent diagnostic. Here is what actually changed and the fix priorities if your numbers slipped.
Industry Analysis
How AI Search Engines Evaluate Web Performance
Generative search engines pick citations differently than ten-blue-links ranking. A rigorous look at the retrieval -> rerank -> cite pipeline and why fast, schema-rich pages win 3x more citations in AI Overviews.
Original Data
Core Web Vitals in April 2026: The Data
55.7% of origins pass all three CWV. Year-over-year trends, framework rankings, CMS pass rates, and mobile vs desktop analysis with SVG visualizations.
Analysis
The State of Web Performance in 2026
We analyzed 10 million URLs from the HTTP Archive to understand where the web stands on Core Web Vitals.
Checklists
Announcements and roundups
Announcement
30 days, 105 pages, one thesis -- launch recap
The official wrap-up of our 30-day launch sprint: every section we shipped, every milestone we hit, and what month two looks like.
Roundup
Best of WebVitals.tools Q1 2026
A curated reading list -- the 12 must-read posts from our launch month, organized by topic. Read this if you only have an afternoon to get smart on web performance in 2026.
Framework Comparisons
Comparison
Next.js vs Vite 2026: Core Web Vitals Compared
Head-to-head LCP, CLS, INP, and TTFB benchmarks for Next.js 15.2 and Vite 6, plus bundle-size analysis and a clear pick-this-when decision tree.
Comparison
CDN Comparison 2026: Cloudflare vs Fastly vs Akamai vs Bunny vs Vercel Edge
Five major CDNs benchmarked on PoP coverage, regional TTFB, cache hit ratio, image optimization, and edge compute. Real numbers, not marketing claims.
Comparison
Vercel vs Netlify: 2026 Performance Showdown
A head-to-head look at edge networks, ISR, image optimization, cold starts, build performance, and Speed Insights across the two leading Jamstack hosts.
Comparison
Static vs Server-Side Rendering: Web Performance in 2026
SSG, ISR, SSR, and edge SSR compared on TTFB, LCP, hydration cost, INP, freshness, scaling, and SEO. Which rendering model wins for your workload?
Comparison
Lighthouse vs WebPageTest: Which Performance Tool Should You Use in 2026?
Lab vs synthetic accuracy, CWV measurement parity, real-device testing, automation, multi-step flows, filmstrips, and CI integration compared in detail.
Comparison
Next.js vs Remix: Web Performance Comparison 2026
Head-to-head Core Web Vitals benchmarks for the two dominant React meta-frameworks. LCP, CLS, INP, and TTFB data from real production sites.
Comparison
React vs Vue: Core Web Vitals Head-to-Head 2026
Data-driven comparison of React 19 and Vue 3.5 across LCP, CLS, INP, and TTFB. Benchmark data from 50,000 production origins.
Comparison
WordPress vs Shopify: Which Is Faster in 2026?
Core Web Vitals data from 700,000 origins reveals the real speed difference between WordPress and Shopify — and how to close the gap.
Case Studies
Case Study
How We Reduced LCP by 60%: A Step-by-Step Case Study
Detailed walkthrough of optimizing a Next.js e-commerce site's LCP from 4.8s to 1.9s. Covers image optimization, font loading, critical CSS, and third-party script management.
Case Study
Shopify Core Web Vitals Case Study: +17% Conversions, $1.2M Revenue
How a Shopify Plus store cut mobile LCP from 4.7s to 1.9s in 12 weeks and added $1.2M annual revenue. Full playbook: six fixes, A/B test, monitoring.
Tutorials
Tutorial
How to Measure Core Web Vitals: A Complete Guide
Step-by-step instructions for measuring LCP, CLS, and INP using Chrome DevTools, Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights, CrUX, and the web-vitals JavaScript library.
Tutorial
How to Set Up Performance Monitoring
Build a real user monitoring (RUM) pipeline from scratch using the web-vitals library, Google Analytics 4, and open-source dashboards.
Tutorial
How to Optimize Images for Web Performance
A practical guide to modern image formats, responsive images, lazy loading, CDN delivery, and automated optimization pipelines that improve LCP and CLS.
Tutorial
How to Lazy Load Everything: Images, Videos, Components & More
Master lazy loading for images, iframes, video, fonts, JavaScript bundles, and React/Vue components with real code examples and performance measurements.
All Posts
Accessibility
Skip Links and INP: When Accessibility Patterns Hurt Latency
Skip-to-main-content links remain a WCAG 2.4.1 staple, but the same focus handlers that satisfy auditors can add 80-140ms to INP on mid-tier mobile. A walkthrough of why this happens, what to measure, and how to keep the a11y pattern while passing INP.
Core Web Vitals
INP Optimization: Lessons from 50 Production Sites
We audited 50 production React and Vue applications and found the same INP patterns recurring across all of them.
Tooling
The Best Web Performance Testing Tools in 2026
A comprehensive comparison of Lighthouse, WebPageTest, SpeedCurve, Calibre, and the new generation of RUM tools.
Images
AVIF vs WebP: The 2026 Performance Comparison
We tested AVIF and WebP across 1,000 images at various quality levels. Here's when each format wins.
Architecture
Edge Rendering vs. SSG: A TTFB Comparison
When is edge rendering faster than static generation? We benchmarked both approaches across 12 global locations.
CSS
Critical CSS in 2026: Still Worth the Effort?
With HTTP/2 multiplexing and modern browsers, does inlining critical CSS still improve LCP? We tested it.
December 2025 Core Update: Performance Impact Analysis
How the latest Google core update changed the weighting of Core Web Vitals signals, and what it means for your site.
Frequently asked
Common questions
New blog posts ship roughly twice per week, weighted toward Tuesday and Friday publication. Posts fall into three categories: deep technical walkthroughs (2,000+ words with code samples and benchmarks), framework-specific case studies, and quarterly state-of-the-web roundups. Every post is dated and re-dated when the underlying tooling or recommendations change.
Yes. Every benchmark post documents the test environment (hardware, browser version, network throttling profile, sample size) and either links to the raw test traces or includes a public WebPageTest URL. Where the benchmark uses a private dataset, the post states the methodology and effect size clearly enough that an independent reviewer can replicate the test against their own data.
Subscribe to the monthly newsletter for a curated digest, or follow the RSS feed for every new post. Both are linked in the site footer. The newsletter typically includes the three most-read posts of the month plus one piece of original analysis not published elsewhere on the site.
Selectively, yes. Guest posts must include original data or original technical analysis -- republished framework documentation or vendor-supplied content is declined. The contribute page documents the editorial process and review criteria.