Speed Insights now has a free tier that gives you a high-level performance overview from your real users. The new free tier:
Is available on every plan, for any number of projects
Includes 10,000 events per team, every 30 days
Install Speed Insights:
npm install @vercel/speed-insights
Install Speed Insights via the CLI
Previously, free Speed Insights was limited to a single project on Hobby, and upgrading to Pro meant losing access unless you paid for the add-on. Now your free tier carries over, and you only pay if you upgrade.
The paid product, now called Speed Insights Plus, includes deeper diagnostics and historical data. If you were already paying for Speed Insights, only the name has changed, and your capabilities and price are the same.
Install @vercel/speed-insights in your project to start reporting real-user data, or open the Speed Insights dashboard to view your results.
Learn more in the Speed Insights documentation.
Speed Insights reports how real visitors experience your pages, using live traffic rather than lab conditions. Speed Insights Plus adds slow-route diagnosis and detailed breakdowns for finding where pages get slow, and historical data to track performance over time. It also provides access to Drains and the Vercel CLI for working with performance data outside the dashboard.
Contributors
Jas Garcha, Pranav Kanchi, Blake Mealey
Facts Only
* Speed Insights offers a free tier with a high-level performance overview from real users.
* The free tier is available on every plan for any number of projects.
* The free tier includes 10,000 events per team every 30 days.
* Installation requires running `npm install @vercel/speed-insights` or using the CLI.
* Paid access is called Speed Insights Plus and includes deeper diagnostics and historical data.
* Previously, free Speed Insights was limited to a single project on Hobby plans.
* The free tier structure now carries over, requiring payment only for upgrades.
* Speed Insights reports visitor page experiences using live traffic.
* Speed Insights Plus adds slow-route diagnosis and historical performance tracking.
* Contributors include Jas Garcha, Pranav Kanchi, and Blake Mealey.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The shift from a restrictive free tier to an inclusive, functional offering represents a strategic move toward product adoption and feature gating. By decoupling the basic real-user reporting from the paid tier's advanced diagnostics, the platform establishes a clear value ladder. The pattern here involves easing initial friction—providing immediate, high-value data access for free—to build a user base that can then be monetized through specialized, in-depth analytics. This addresses the common obstacle where users need to see tangible value before committing financially. The introduction of Speed Insights Plus, layered on top of existing paid structures, suggests an incremental monetization strategy rather than a complete rehaul, which allows established paying customers to maintain their investment while enhancing capabilities. The implication is that performance transparency moves from being a feature for power users to a baseline expectation for all users, creating a new standard for performance measurement in the ecosystem.
What incentives exist for organizations to adopt the free tier immediately rather than waiting for Pro features? How does this tiered approach influence user expectations regarding data depth versus cost? What are the long-term structural implications of making core real-user metrics universally accessible?
Sentinel — Human
This text reads like a direct product announcement or update from a technical source, characterized by functional clarity rather than complex narrative structure.
