Frequently asked questions

Everything about scans, metrics, monitoring, privacy and plans.

Scans & measurement

What is turbometrics?

turbometrics is a performance analysis tool for websites – with a particular focus on WordPress. It measures TTFB, FCP, LCP, TBT, CLS and other signals, assesses caching, images, JavaScript, external services and WordPress-specific indicators, and returns a score from 0–100.

Alongside one-off scans, turbometrics offers recurring monitoring with alerts by email and webhook. More about scans →

Is measurement done with a real browser?

Yes. turbometrics measures with a real Chrome browser (Lighthouse-based) – for both desktop and mobile. Load times, JavaScript execution, rendering and Core Web Vitals are captured directly in the browser.

Preflight signals from HTTP headers and detected assets also feed into the overall assessment. Go to the metrics documentation →

Can I scan without an account?

Yes. Guest scans are possible without registration – the URL is scanned directly and the report shown immediately. Guest scans are always public and have limited functionality: no history, no alerts, no baselines.

An account is required for repeatable analysis and monitoring. More about account & access →

Can I scan password-protected or staging pages?

Yes. From the Pro plan upwards, you can configure HTTP Basic Auth or custom HTTP headers (e.g. API keys or bearer tokens) for scans. This applies to manual scans, scheduled scans and the API.

Auth data is stored encrypted and never output in reports or API responses. Go to the scan auth documentation →

What does the scan history show?

Every report shows a history block with the most recent scans of the same URL – with an interactive graph (score, TTFB, LCP, TBT, switchable), the score delta versus the previous scan, and direct navigation between scans.

The history is available for your own and for public scans. How long the history is kept depends on your plan. More about scan history →

What does the frame timeline on the scan report show?

The frame timeline shows how the page visually built up during loading – as a sequence of screenshots with timestamps. Coloured markers highlight important load events: FCP (first visible content), LCP (largest element loaded), Load (onload event) and Done (fully loaded).

The timeline is captured separately for desktop and mobile and can be switched via tab. With more than 5 frames, scroll arrows appear for navigation.

Can scans be run from different regions?

Yes. Scans can vary noticeably depending on location – due to CDN routing, hosting proximity or regional network effects. turbometrics supports location-based measurements.

The available regions depend on your plan. More about scheduled scans & regions →

What is a bulk scan?

With a bulk scan you can scan multiple URLs at once – for example all the subpages of a website. URLs can be entered manually or loaded via sitemap import.

Especially useful after a relaunch or deployment, to quickly get an overview of the performance of all your important pages.

  • Free: 5 URLs
  • Starter: 20 URLs
  • Pro: 50 URLs
  • Agency: 100 URLs

More about bulk scans →

Can I import a sitemap?

Yes. turbometrics can import URLs directly from an XML sitemap – for example for bulk scans or to quickly set up scheduled scan targets.

Simply enter the sitemap URL, and turbometrics reads out all the URLs it contains and lets you select the ones you want.

  • Free: 15 URLs
  • Starter: 50 URLs
  • Pro: 100 URLs
  • Agency: 200 URLs

Go to the sitemap import documentation →

Score & metrics

What does the turbometrics score mean?

The score is a number from 0–100, calculated from several weighted pillars: speed, images, caching, WordPress signals and general technical quality.

  • 90–100 – Excellent
  • 75–89 – Good
  • 50–74 – Room for improvement
  • 0–49 – Critical

The score is a starting point – the biggest bottlenecks and recommendations in the report provide the guidance that actually matters. How we score → · Score documentation →

What are TTFB, FCP, LCP, TBT, CLS and INP?
  • TTFB (Time to First Byte) – How long the server takes for its first response. An early sign of hosting or caching problems.
  • FCP (First Contentful Paint) – When the first element becomes visible.
  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – When the largest visible element has fully loaded.
  • TBT (Total Blocking Time) – How long JavaScript blocks the browser and delays interactions.
  • CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – How much elements shift while loading (jumps).
  • INP (Interaction to Next Paint) – How quickly the page responds to clicks and input. An official Core Web Vital since March 2024 – replaces FID.

LCP, CLS and INP are Google's Core Web Vitals and feed directly into Google ranking. TBT is not a Core Web Vital, but correlates strongly with INP and is an important lab signal. All metrics with target values →

What is the Google PageSpeed score in the report?

The scan report also displays a Google PageSpeed score for mobile and desktop. This figure comes from the Google PageSpeed Insights API and is based on Google Lighthouse – measured independently of turbometrics.

  • ≥ 90 – Very fast
  • 50–89 – Room for optimisation
  • < 50 – Slow – action needed

The turbometrics score and the Google PageSpeed score complement each other. Both measure synthetically under lab conditions, but apply different weightings – differences between the two figures are normal.

Why do external services affect the score?

Every external service – analytics, consent managers, tag managers, web fonts – forces additional DNS lookups, TLS handshakes and HTTP requests, which often block rendering.

turbometrics detects and counts external dependencies and assesses their impact on load time. Go to technical signals →

What are "Problems and Recommendations" in the report?

Alongside the score, every report shows concrete problems (e.g. missing compression, uncompressed images, render-blocking JavaScript) and prioritised recommendations for fixing them.

More about problems & recommendations →

What are the AI-powered recommendations?

In the "Recommendations" tab of one of your own scans, individual action recommendations are automatically generated based on the scan results. The analysis uses an AI language model and appears the first time you open the tab, with no further click needed.

The Free plan includes one generation per month. Paid plans have no limit – analyses already generated are automatically reused on subsequent scans.

The recommendations serve as non-binding guidance – they do not replace expert advice. No personal data and no URLs are transmitted to the AI model.

More about AI recommendations →

Comparison & baselines

Can I compare two scans with each other?

Yes. From the scan history or the domain view, you can compare two scans directly, side by side. The comparison shows score differences, metrics, new or fixed problems, and a screenshot slider for a visual before/after comparison.

More about scan comparison →

Can I compare two different domains with each other?

Yes – that's the domain comparison at /compare. It puts any two domains directly side by side: overall score, categories, metrics, and the desktop load process as a filmstrip.

If no current scan exists yet, a new one is triggered automatically. Both scans always run from the same region – for a fair, comparable result. The comparison gets its own URL, which can be shared without logging in.

Not to be confused with the scan comparison above, which shows two scans of the same URL at different points in time (before/after).

More about domain comparison →

What is a baseline and when should you set one?

A baseline is a deliberately set reference scan – for example before a deployment, plugin update or optimisation. All later scans are compared against this baseline, even when newer scans exist.

Especially useful for before/after comparisons and after relevant changes to the page. Go to the baselines documentation →

What is the difference between comparison and baseline?

A comparison is flexible – any scan can be compared against any other. A baseline is a fixed anchor point that stays permanently set as a reference and is always visible in the report.

Baselines & comparison →

Monitoring & alerts

What are scheduled scans?

Scheduled scans are automatically repeated performance measurements for a domain at a configurable interval. Alerts are triggered when something is off.

  • Free: weekly, daily
  • Starter: weekly, daily
  • Pro: weekly, daily, every 12 hours, every 6 hours
  • Agency: weekly, daily, every 12 hours, every 6 hours, hourly

More about scheduled scans →

What are alerts and when are they triggered?

Alerts notify you by email or webhook when a measured value goes above or below a configured threshold – for example:

  • Score drops below a limit
  • TTFB or LCP exceed a threshold
  • A scheduled scan fails

There are warning and critical levels. Recovery alerts notify you as soon as a value recovers. Go to the alerts documentation →

What are recovery alerts?

As soon as a measured value that triggered an alert falls back into the normal range, turbometrics automatically sends a recovery notification – by email and/or webhook. That way, no manual check is needed.

More about alerts →

How long is the scan history kept?
  • Free: 14 days
  • Starter: 30 days
  • Pro: 90 days
  • Agency: 180 days

After a downgrade, a 7-day grace period applies before older data is removed. Plans & limits →

Are there alerts for live data too?

Yes. Besides scan alerts, alerts can also be configured for live data. These trigger when the p75 value of a metric rises above a configured threshold.

  • Metric (LCP, CLS, INP, FCP, TTFB)
  • Threshold (e.g. LCP > 3,000 ms)
  • Evaluation window (last 30, 60 or 120 minutes)
  • Minimum number of measurements before an alert triggers
  • Number of consecutive checks before notification

Available from the Starter plan – notification by email and/or webhook. Go to the live data alerts documentation →

Live data & RUM

What is live data?

Live data (Real User Monitoring, RUM) measures the performance of your website directly in the browsers of your real visitors – on their devices, with their connection, from their region. Unlike a scan (which measures under lab conditions), live data shows what your visitors actually experience.

More about live data →

What is the difference between a scan and live data?

A scan is a controlled lab test – turbometrics launches a browser in a data centre and measures your page under defined conditions. The result is reproducible and comparable.

Live data is measured directly at your visitors – with all their different devices, connections and locations. Both perspectives complement each other: the scan shows technical problems, live data shows the real user experience.

What is p75 and why is it used?

p75 is the 75th percentile value – 75% of your visitors have a value below this threshold, 25% are above it. Google uses p75 for the official Core Web Vitals assessment.

Why not the average? Because a few very poor values pull the average sharply upwards. p75 gives a more realistic picture of how the majority experience your page.

Example: LCP p75 = 1,800 ms means – 75% of your visitors experience an LCP under 1,800 ms.

What are Core Web Vitals and how does Google assess them?

Core Web Vitals are three measurement signals that Google uses to assess user experience:

  • LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – Load time of the main content. Good: under 2,500 ms.
  • CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – Stability of the page layout. Good: under 0.1.
  • INP (Interaction to Next Paint) – Response time to clicks. Good: under 200 ms.

All three need to be in the green range for Google to rate the Core Web Vitals as "passed". turbometrics shows you whether your real visitors meet these thresholds.

How do I embed the tracking script?

After creating a domain under Live Data, you get a script tag:

<script src="https://turbometrics.io/tm.min.js" data-site-id="YOUR-KEY" async></script>

Add this once to the <head> of your website. For WordPress there is an official plugin that embeds the script automatically. Go to the embedding guide →

Is there a WordPress plugin?

Yes. The official turbometrics WordPress plugin embeds the tracking script automatically on all pages. Administrators can optionally be excluded from tracking. WooCommerce checkout pages are marked separately.

The plugin shows Core Web Vitals and all 5 metrics directly in the WordPress dashboard widget.

View plugin in the WordPress directory →

Why don't I see any data yet?

Data only appears once real visitors load the page. Possible causes:

  • Script not yet embedded in the <head>
  • Paths entered in the ignore list
  • You are logged in as an administrator, and administrators are excluded from tracking
  • Too little traffic – with very few visitors it can take a few hours before the first values appear

The live data dashboard shows a status indicating whether data is already coming in.

What is sampling and when does it make sense?

Sampling means that not every page view is measured – only an adjustable percentage. With 50% sampling, every second visitor is measured.

Useful for high-traffic websites that want to conserve their monthly page view quota. With sufficient traffic, p75 values remain statistically reliable even at 50% sampling.

The sampling rate can be set per domain in the live data dashboard.

What happens when my page view limit is reached?

Further page views are no longer captured for the rest of the month – at no extra cost. The quota resets automatically on the first of the month.

The quota applies account-wide across all your live data domains.

  • Starter: 50,000 page views / month
  • Pro: 250,000 page views / month
  • Agency: 1,000,000 page views / month
Are cookies set? Is this GDPR-compliant?

No – the script does not set cookies and does not use browser fingerprinting. Only anonymised technical performance data is captured.

IP addresses are anonymised immediately after country lookup. All data is processed exclusively on servers in Germany (Hetzner, Nuremberg/Falkenstein).

If you use this on your website, you should mention the measurement in your privacy policy. A ready-made text snippet is available in the live data dashboard. Go to the DPA → · Privacy →

Which metrics are measured?

The script measures all five performance metrics:

  • LCP – Largest Contentful Paint
  • CLS – Cumulative Layout Shift
  • INP – Interaction to Next Paint
  • FCP – First Contentful Paint
  • TTFB – Time to First Byte

In addition: device class, browser, operating system, connection type, country of origin and requested path – for breakdowns by device, region and connection quality.

Can I exclude certain pages from tracking?

Yes. Under Live Data → Ignore paths, you can enter URL paths or patterns. Wildcards are supported:

  • /wp-admin/* – exclude all admin pages
  • /checkout – exclude exactly this URL
  • /intern/* – exclude all subpages

The ignore list is applied immediately to all new measurements – historical data is filtered accordingly too. Go to the ignore documentation →

Sharing & visibility

Can I share a report without the recipient needing an account?

Yes. From the Starter plan upwards, individual scan reports can be shared selectively via a share link. The link is unique, not publicly searchable, and can be deactivated at any time.

Go to the share link documentation →

What is the difference between public reports and share links?

A public report is accessible to everyone and can appear in rankings or search results. A share link is not publicly searchable – only someone who knows the link can view the report.

The share link is recommended for sharing with clients or teams. Guest scans are always public. More about public reports →

What is the public status page?

The status page is a publicly viewable page for each of your monitored domains — no login required, directly shareable with clients or your team. It shows the current performance score, TTFB, FCP, LCP and the scan history of the last 30 scans.

Available from the Pro plan. Enable it under My domains → Domain settings → Public status page.

What is a custom domain for the status page?

With a custom domain, you can reach your status page under your own address — e.g. status.mycompany.com instead of under turbometrics.io. Your clients see only your domain. Example: turbopress.de ↗

Setup: After entering your domain, you receive a CNAME and a TXT record, which you need to add to your DNS. Once the records have propagated, the custom domain is activated automatically.

Availability: Pro: 3 domains, Agency: 25 domains. What happens once the limit is used up? You can't set up further custom domains, but existing ones stay active. To add a new one, you first need to remove an existing one.

Go to the guide →

Can I add notes to a scan?

Yes. A personal note can be added to any scan – directly in the report header. Notes are private, visible only to you, and appear as a preview in the scan list.

Typical uses: recording the deployment state, documenting context, or commenting on anomalies.

Can I colour-code domains or add a note to them?

Yes – via the colour dot and the domain note on My domains.

  • Colour dot: Clicking the small colour dot in the domain row opens a popover with five colours (grey, green, yellow, orange, red). The selection is saved instantly and also appears on the domain detail page and in the dashboard.
  • Domain note: The pencil icon in the domain row opens a short text editor (max. 50 characters). Typical uses: "Relaunch pending", "Client watching", or similar.

Both pieces of information are private and visible only to you.

What is the score badge and how do I embed it?

The score badge publicly displays the current performance score of a monitored domain on your own website – e.g. in the footer, similar to an SSL seal. Clicking the badge leads to a public verification page with a score ring and rating.

A scheduled scan (monitoring) for the domain is required – guest or one-off scans don't support a badge. Available on all plans, including Free. Enable it under Scheduled scans → Edit → "Enable the score badge for this domain".

If the scan is paused or older than 14 days, the badge shows a grey n/a instead of a figure that may be out of date. Go to the score badge documentation →

API, webhooks & MCP

Is there an API?

Yes. From the Starter plan upwards, a REST API with bearer token authentication is available. Available endpoints:

  • Start scans and retrieve results
  • Domain overview and scan history
  • Query alert data
  • Retrieve account information

API tokens are managed under Account → API. Go to the API documentation →

How does the webhook integration work?

An HTTPS URL is set in your account under Notifications. turbometrics sends a JSON payload for the following events:

  • alert.triggered – a scan alert was triggered
  • alert.resolved – a scan alert has recovered
  • scan.completed – a scheduled scan finished
  • rum.alert.triggered – a live data alert was triggered (p75 exceeds threshold)
  • rum.alert.resolved – a live data alert resolved (p75 drops below threshold)

Webhooks are available from the Pro plan and can be secured with an auth header. Go to the webhook documentation →

Does turbometrics work with Zapier or Make?

Yes. Via the webhook integration, scan results and alerts can be forwarded directly to Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), Slack, Teams, Discord and many other services.

Zapier integration → · Make integration →

Is there an API for live data?

Yes. The REST API includes endpoints for live data:

  • GET /api/v1/rum/sites – all live data domains
  • GET /api/v1/rum/sites/{id}/summary – p75 values for the last 24 h
  • GET /api/v1/rum/sites/{id}/history – p75 history
  • GET /api/v1/rum/sites/{id}/pages – slowest pages
  • GET /api/v1/rum/sites/{id}/alerts – RUM alerts

Two webhook events are also supported: rum.alert.triggered and rum.alert.resolved.

Available from the Starter plan. Go to the API documentation →

What is the MCP server, and how do I connect turbometrics to Claude?

turbometrics offers an MCP server (Model Context Protocol) that lets you connect turbometrics directly to Claude Desktop or other AI tools – no copy-paste, no opening the dashboard.

You ask questions in natural language, and the AI tool queries turbometrics in the background:

  • "What's the current score for example.com?"
  • "Has my website improved this week?"
  • "Show me all open alerts"
  • "Start a new scan for my domain"
  • "Compare two domains directly"

Requirements: Starter plan, an API token under Profile → API, Claude Desktop (Mac/Windows) or another MCP-compatible tool such as Cursor or Windsurf.

Go to the MCP documentation with setup guide →

Privacy & GDPR

Where is my data stored?

All account and scan data is stored and processed exclusively on servers in Germany. Scan workers can measure from different regions – they only transmit measurement results and do not store any data themselves.

Is turbometrics GDPR-compliant?

Yes. All personal data and scan results are stored exclusively in Germany. Scan workers only transmit anonymous measurements. No data is shared with third parties.

The full privacy policy is available under Privacy.

Are scanned pages stored or shared?

turbometrics only stores measurement results (metrics, scores, signals) and screenshots. The content of scanned pages is not stored permanently or shared. Scan workers load the page once and transmit only the measurements.

Do I need a DPA for live data?

If you use the live data feature, turbometrics.io acts as a data processor within the meaning of Art. 28 GDPR.

You can find the data processing agreement (DPA) at turbometrics.io/dpa. By using the live data feature, the DPA is considered concluded.

Is there a weekly report?

Yes. On request, turbometrics sends an email summary every Monday with the score history of your domains, live data figures, and alerts triggered during the past week.

Available from the Starter plan – can be enabled under Profile → Notifications.

Plans & account

Can I try turbometrics before registering?

Yes — the demo mode lets you explore turbometrics in full without registering. The demo account contains a pre-filled sample account with realistic scan data, RUM analytics and alerts. You can view all screens and reports, but you can't make any changes.

You can reach demo mode directly via the "View demo" button on the homepage or at /demo/login. The demo session expires automatically after 30 minutes.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. Individual scans can be run for free without registration. A free account adds private scans, a limited history, up to 3 scheduled scans (including a daily interval), and email alerts.

A paid plan is required for API, webhooks, the MCP server, RUM/live data, share links, and threshold alert notifications. Go to the pricing overview →

What's the difference between the plans?
Free Starter Pro Agency
Scheduled scans 3 15 75 300
Fastest interval Daily Daily Every 6 hours Hourly
History 14 days 30 days 90 days 180 days
Email alerts
Warning alerts
Webhooks
Share links
REST API
Scan authentication
Live data (RUM) 50,000 PV/month 250,000 PV/month 1,000,000 PV/month
Bulk scan
Weekly report

Compare all plans → · Plans & limits →

What happens after a downgrade?

After a downgrade, scan targets with intervals not allowed on the new plan are automatically reset to the next allowed interval. A 7-day grace period applies to older scan data that exceeds the new history limit.

More about plans & limits →

Can I cancel at any time?

Yes. All plans can be cancelled monthly, with no minimum term. After cancellation, access remains available until the end of the paid period.

I came from turbopress.de – what applies to me?

turbometrics is integrated directly into turbopress hosting packages. Your account is set up automatically and linked to your domain. More for turbopress customers →

What are passkeys and how do I set them up?

Passkeys let you sign in with a fingerprint, facial recognition or device PIN — without a password. They are based on the WebAuthn standard and are stored securely on your device.

Set them up under Account → Security → Add passkey. You can set up multiple passkeys for different devices. Your password still works — passkeys are entirely optional.

More about accounts & passkeys →

Can I sign in with Google or GitHub?

Yes — turbometrics supports signing in with Google and GitHub. You'll find the relevant buttons on the login page and the registration page.

If an account already exists with the same email address, you are signed in directly and the OAuth connection is added. If no account exists yet, one is created automatically — the email is considered verified because the provider has already confirmed it.

Your password is retained and continues to work. OAuth, passkeys and password login can all be used side by side.

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