Website audit tools at no cost: what each type checks, where it stops and which to use

Free website audit tools fall into a handful of types, and each one answers a different question: is the site fast, can Google read it, can everyone use it, what do visitors do, and why don't they buy. A top score in one says little about the others. Pick the tool by the question you are trying to answer, not by the word "audit".

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One example makes the point. In the video, a real store with weak ad returns is compared with a leader in its niche. A speed score wouldn't have explained the gap, but a look at what a shopper sees did. This guide compares the main types, says what each is good for and where it stops, so you can cover the whole picture without paying for tools you don't need. We don't quote prices for anything here, because they change; check each tool's own page.

What types of website audit tool exist?

There are five questions worth auditing for, and each has its own kind of tool. Most founders run the first two and stop, then wonder why traffic still doesn't turn into orders.

Not sure which one your problem needs? Run the audit on your store →

Speed and performance: PageSpeed Insights

What it checks. Google's PageSpeed Insights reports on a URL in two ways, per its documentation. Lab data comes from a simulated Lighthouse run and scores four categories: Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO. Field data comes from the Chrome UX Report and reflects real users over the previous 28 days, with the Core Web Vitals (INP, LCP and CLS) deciding whether a page passes.

Where it stops. It tells you how fast a page is, not whether anyone wants what is on it. A page can pass every vital and still fail to make an offer clear. Use it to catch slow pages (Google's guidance calls an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less good), not to judge selling power.

SEO: Google Search Console and crawlers

What it checks. Google Search Console is a free service from Google that helps you monitor and troubleshoot your site's presence in search: which queries show your pages, how often people click, whether pages are indexed and whether Google's crawlers can reach them. A crawler such as Screaming Frog goes through your own pages like a search engine would; its pricing page lists a crawl limit of 500 URLs for the free version.

Where it stops. These tools show whether search engines can find and read your pages, and how people reach them. They say nothing about whether a visitor trusts you or understands the offer. For a store with a few dozen pages the 500-URL limit rarely matters; for a large catalog it does.

Accessibility: Lighthouse and WAVE

What it checks. Accessibility audits look for barriers for people with disabilities. PageSpeed Insights includes an Accessibility category in its Lighthouse run, and WAVE describes itself as a suite of evaluation tools that helps authors make their content more accessible, working from a page address.

Where it stops. Automated checks catch many issues but not all, and WAVE's own page notes it also supports human evaluation. An accessibility pass improves usability for everyone, but it is not a conversion audit.

Behavior: Microsoft Clarity and Shopify's own reports

What it checks. Behavior tools show what real visitors do. Microsoft Clarity describes itself as a behavioral analytics tool with session recordings, heatmaps and funnels, and states that it is a free service with no obligation to upgrade. Inside Shopify, the Conversion rate breakdown report shows how sessions move through your store, per Shopify's help page: all sessions, sessions with cart additions, sessions that reached checkout and sessions that completed checkout.

Where it stops. Behavior tools need to be installed and need enough traffic to be meaningful. They tell you where visitors go and drop, but you still have to interpret why. A recording of someone leaving doesn't tell you what you should have said.

Conversion: reading what a shopper sees

What it checks. A conversion-focused audit judges the page the way a first-time buyer would: is the offer clear, is there proof, does the layout lead to one action, do the visuals fit the niche. This is the type that answers "why don't they buy?" and the one generic website graders skip. Ours is the Shopify store audit (ours — full disclosure): it reads a screenshot of your live storefront and returns a score, an annotated screenshot and fixes ranked by impact. The Free plan includes one full audit with one set of fixes unlocked and no card required.

Where it stops. Because it works from a screenshot, it judges what a shopper sees. It doesn't read your analytics, your recordings or your checkout flow, so use it alongside the behavior tools above. A score is also only as useful as the ranking behind it: a single grade that averages unrelated factors hides the one problem costing you most.

Which tool should you use for your question?

Start from the symptom, not the tool. The diagram pairs the common ones with where to look first.

If the symptom is "traffic but no sales," a speed score and an SEO crawl won't help; they check different things. Begin with the funnel report to see where visitors drop, then use a conversion audit for the page they drop on. Our guide to Shopify store analysis walks through those steps in order, and the Shopify CRO audit checklist goes page by page.

How do you build a no-cost audit stack in a week?

You don't need to run everything at once. A realistic order for a small store is this. On day one, run your home page and best-selling product page through PageSpeed Insights and note the mobile results. On day two, connect Search Console, so data starts accumulating. On day three, install a behavior tool such as Clarity so recordings and heatmaps begin to collect; it needs traffic and time. Then, with that running, use the funnel report and a conversion audit to look at the pages where visitors drop. By the end of the week you have a baseline for each question and a short list of what to fix first, which is more than most stores have.

One caution on behavior tools: they record what visitors do, so treat consent and privacy seriously. Clarity's documentation includes controls for cookies, consent and masking, and notes that it shouldn't be used on sites aimed at users under 18. Check the rules that apply to your market before you install anything.

Why do generic website graders mislead?

Many "website grade" tools average unrelated factors into one number. A store can score well because its images are compressed and its tags are tidy while the offer is invisible. The number feels like an answer and tells you almost nothing about what to do first. Prefer tools that separate the questions, show their evidence and rank what to change, and be suspicious of any single score that claims to cover everything.

What limits do all audit tools share?

• A score is not a diagnosis. A number tells you how you did, not what to change first. Prefer tools that rank fixes.
• Tools measure what they were built to measure. Check the method before you trust the number: lab data and field data differ, and a crawler doesn't see shoppers.
• Free tiers have limits. Crawl caps, like the 500-URL limit above, and limited runs are common; read each tool's page before you rely on it.
• No tool tells you how you compare. The comparison that decides a sale is with the store next to you in the shopper's other tab, which is why we keep coming back to the top store in your niche.

Which tool should a Shopify store start with?

If you run a Shopify store with traffic but few sales, start with Shopify's own funnel report and a conversion audit, because they point at where and why visitors leave. Add PageSpeed Insights when pages feel slow or your phone sessions look weak, and Search Console once you care about organic traffic. Add a behavior tool when you have enough visits for recordings to show patterns. Accessibility checks are worth doing at some point, but they are rarely the first fix for a store that doesn't convert.

Related guides

If you are weighing paid help, see how much a CRO audit costs from freelancers, agencies and tools, and what an ecommerce CRO specialist does. For help with the daily work, see what to delegate to a virtual assistant for Shopify. For what Shopify itself added recently, read new free Shopify tools, and for the numbers behind AI in ecommerce, AI ecommerce statistics. To put AI to work in your store, see how to boost ecommerce sales with generative AI.

Cover all five questions without overspending

You can answer the first four with the no-cost tools above, and the fifth with a conversion audit. Run them in the order of your symptom, fix what each finds and re-check. The store that wins in your niche is not the one with the most tools; it is the one that fixes what matters first. Run the audit on your store →