openlibrary.org speed test — 20 Oct 2026

Measured from the wfix.shop server on 20 October 2026 at 14:21 UTC. Grade B (89/100), with the screenshots, the timings and the fixes that matter.

https://openlibrary.org/

20 October 2026 at 14:21 UTC · Free test · report pt_d775751b722a
Grade
B
89/100
Performance94/100
Structure82/100

12 audit(s) passed, 4 need work

First byte (TTFB)405 msmeasured from this server
Fully loaded1.57 sfirst byte + slowest asset
Requests26document + assets
Page weight153.0 KBcompressed transfer
HTML document14.0 KBgzip
ProtocolHTTP/3nginx/1.30.6
Third-party82.7 KBother hosts

Where the first byte went

  • DNS lookup 54 ms 13%
  • TCP connect 54 ms 13%
  • Server wait 297 ms 73%

Measured on the connection that fetched the HTML. Every other request on the page waits for the end of this bar before it can start.

How this page compares

First bytefaster than 56% of 4,999 pages tested here405 ms against a median of 449 ms
Page weightlighter than 83% of 4,999 pages tested here153.0 KB against a median of 650.5 KB
Fully loadedfaster than 66% of 4,999 pages tested here1.57 s against a median of 1.84 s
Requestssends more requests than 100% of 4,999 pages tested here26 against a median of 26

Every report published here is in this comparison, so it is a reference population of pages tested from one server - not a benchmark of the whole web.

What these numbers mean

  • The first byte arrived in 405 ms. That is workable, and the cheapest win left is caching or a warmer connection.
  • The page transfers 153.0 KB over 26 request(s). Images files are 91% of it, so resize and recompress the largest images before anything else.
  • The HTML itself arrives gzip-compressed.
  • It runs over HTTP/3, so the assets share a connection instead of opening one each.
  • 54% of the weight comes from other hosts (analytics, fonts, embeds), which also means their slow day becomes your slow day.
  • The largest element painted at 756 ms, inside the 2.5 s Google calls good.
  • Layout shift is 0.104 (good is under 0.1): something without a reserved size is loading late - an image, an ad, or a font swap.
  • The main thread was blocked for 127 ms in total, which is not enough to feel.

Fix first: Server response time (TTFB) - Cut server think time: page cache, query indexes, fewer synchronous calls to third parties inside the request. Connection setup is distance, so a nearer region or a CDN edge helps instead.

Read on one shared server, not a visitor's phone: use it to compare pages against each other, not as a promise about every connection. We fix what these tests find.

Screenshot

What the page looks like

Loaded in headless Chromium on this server. Click an image to open it full size.

Desktop screenshot of openlibrary.org
Desktop 1366 × 768 · 249.2 KB · page is 3678 px tall
Mobile screenshot of openlibrary.org
Mobile 390 × 844 · 115.5 KB · page is 5015 px tall

Browser render

The same URL loaded in a real browser, so these are the readings curl cannot produce. The grade above is still built from the server measurements.

Largest contentful paint756 msgood is under 2.5 s
Cumulative layout shift0.104under 0.1 is stable
Total blocking time127 mslong tasks during load
First contentful paint756 msfirst content on screen
Browser page weight1.49 MB165 request(s), scripts included
Largest contentful paint756 ms
Goodgood under 2.5 s, poor over 4 s
Cumulative layout shift0.104
Needs improvementgood under 0.1, poor over 0.25
Total blocking time127 ms
Goodgood under 200 ms, poor over 600 ms

Page weight by type

What the page is made of

Images 25 requests
139.0 KB 91%

Transfer size, compressed as sent. 26 request(s) in total, 153.0 KB across all of them.

Top issues

Server response time (TTFB)

high impact

The first byte arrived after 405 ms. Of that, 297 ms was the server thinking and 108 ms was connection setup. A first byte under 400 ms is what a visitor feels as instant.

Fix: Cut server think time: page cache, query indexes, fewer synchronous calls to third parties inside the request. Connection setup is distance, so a nearer region or a CDN edge helps instead.

Render-blocking resources

high impact

3 render-blocking resource(s) in the document head (0 script(s), 3 stylesheet(s)). The page cannot paint until each one arrives.

Fix: Add defer or async to scripts that do not change the first paint, inline the critical CSS, and load the rest with media="print" plus an onload swap.

Cache static assets

medium impact

5 asset(s) answer without a Cache-Control max-age, so browsers revalidate them on every visit.

Fix: Version filenames on change and serve them with a long max-age plus immutable. That is what makes a returning visitor fast.

Strict-Transport-Security

low impact

HSTS is not set, so the first visit on a hostile network can still be downgraded to HTTP.

Fix: Send Strict-Transport-Security with a max-age of at least six months. Add includeSubDomains once every subdomain is HTTPS.

Waterfall

Slowest requests

IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/12376585-M.jpg
1.16 s
IMAGESopenlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/track.png
1.15 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/15155833-M.jpg
1.12 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8063264-M.jpg
1.12 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/12461562-M.jpg
1.09 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/9273490-M.jpg
1.08 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/12356249-M.jpg
1.08 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14656497-M.jpg
1.08 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8440296-M.jpg
1.08 s
IMAGEScovers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14746089-M.jpg
1.08 s

Each bar is one request's own response time, scaled to the slowest. Assets were fetched in parallel, so the bars overlap in real time rather than stacking. first party third party

RequestTypeStatusTimeSize
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/12376585-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.16 s0 B
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/track.pngimages2001.15 s1.8 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/15155833-M.jpg 3rd partyimages2001.12 s25.3 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8063264-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.12 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/12461562-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.09 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/9273490-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.08 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/12356249-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.08 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14656497-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.08 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8440296-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.08 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14746089-M.jpg 3rd partyimages2001.08 s12.9 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14627509-M.jpg 3rd partyimages2001.07 s15.9 KB
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/feedback.pngimages2001.07 s5.5 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/228066-M.jpg 3rd partyimages2001.07 s13.1 KB
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/fulltext.pngimages2001.07 s4.9 KB
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/read.pngimages2001.06 s2.8 KB
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/reading_goal.svgimages2001.06 s1.0 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/11838138-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.06 s0 B
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/volunteer.pngimages2001.06 s19.5 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14351077-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.06 s0 B
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/9274740-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.06 s0 B
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/ia-logo.svg?v=a01876b378eb260334ee915282df715bimages2001.05 s9.2 KB
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/openlibrary-logo-tighter.svg?v=cdd1b35cfbe357c697b12664033062a3images2001.05 s7.5 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/6507069-M.jpg 3rd partyimages2001.04 s15.4 KB
https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8997203-M.jpg 3rd partyimages3021.04 s0 B
https://openlibrary.org/static/images/onboarding/library_explorer.pngimages2001.01 s4.0 KB
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