# Google Lighthouse

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/lighthouse/

9 people recommended Google Lighthouse in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 12 months, in 9 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free Google tool that flags accessibility issues like image alt text and colour contrast, and gives quick performance scores. Critics say its synthetic tests and scores can mislead.

Summary written by Claude from 14 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 12 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Finds accessibility issues like alt text (3 comments in the sample): "It will make some very helpful suggestions, like img alt text and colour contrast issues." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48390629)) "good old Lighthouse can point out a11y issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46259462)) "tools like WebAIM and Lighthouse help a ton" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46186597))
- Helps reach high performance scores (2 comments in the sample): "Bonus: I find it much easier to get 100 across the board on Lighthouse scores this way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46693310)) "run Google Lighthouse for a single visitor view of perf" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49051786))

## What people warn about

- Synthetic scores may mislead (2 comments in the sample): "the synthetic Lighthouse tests would be great but" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46346121)) "Lighthouse reports giving worse scores" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48748114))

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Google Lighthouse", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lighthouse/ (9 recommend, 1 mixed, 3 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.