Web hosting speed test: is your host slow, or is it your site?

Enter the address above: we look up which network owns the server's IP address and read response headers that name managed hosts such as Kinsta, WP Engine, Netlify or Shopify. When a CDN such as Cloudflare sits in front, the real host is hidden and we say so. By hand, a WHOIS lookup of the server's IP address shows the network owner.

Because each measures a different trip. Real visitors include their own distance and mobile networks and every visit that misses a cache. Our test is one request from a data centre in Frankfurt. Lighthouse runs inside Google's data centres, often a few milliseconds from a CDN, so it flatters the server. The result names the cache that answered and says which gap matters; judge by the real-visitor number.

That Cloudflare passed the page on to your server instead of serving a copy from its cache, which is its default for HTML. Every visitor then waits for your server, however close the Cloudflare edge is. A cache rule for HTML that skips logged-in users, the cart and checkout lets Cloudflare answer from near the visitor. HIT means it did; MISS means it fetched the page and may keep it.

Look for a first byte that is fine at quiet times and slow at busy ones: run the check at different times of day and compare. A first byte that is always slow, well above the median for your host, points to the site itself, such as heavy plugins or no page cache. Slow only under load, or 503 and 508 errors at peaks, points to the plan's limits.

Not directly: Google does not rank a site lower because its server is in another country. Distance does add delay to every request, which slows the first byte for visitors far away and can hurt Core Web Vitals. A CDN such as Cloudflare narrows the gap. For targeting a country, use your domain, language and hreflang, not the server location.

Because your connection is rarely the bottleneck. The time is spent waiting for the server to build the page and in downloading and running the page's own files. A slow first byte points to the host or missing caching; a fast first byte with a slow page points to heavy images, scripts or plugins. This check tells you which one it is.

Then the host is not the limit; something on your site is. Turn on full-page caching first. On WordPress, look for slow plugins and database queries; Query Monitor shows them. If the site is already cached and lean, ask your host for a bigger plan or a server closer to your visitors, then check again.

From the latest getReport check of every site on that host in the last 90 days, one per site, recomputed every night. We store only counts and percentiles, never which sites they came from, and show nothing until a host has 50 different sites. Your own first-byte time joins the anonymous numbers without your domain.

Either the page is served through a CDN such as Cloudflare, which hides the server behind it, or fewer than 50 sites on your host have been checked so far. The page tells you which, and how many sites there are. You still get your own first-byte time and the network that owns the server.

Every site is timed from the same place, so the numbers compare fairly with each other. Visitors far from both your server and Frankfurt will see different absolute times; a CDN narrows that gap. One measurement can also catch a busy moment, so check twice before you decide to move host.