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GOV.UK Toolkit vs HSTS

Based on 9 and 2556 real audits

View GOV.UK Toolkit details | View HSTS details
MetricGOV.UK ToolkitHSTSWinner
Performance8249GOV.UK Toolkit
Accessibility10089GOV.UK Toolkit
Best Practices10088GOV.UK Toolkit
SEO10091GOV.UK Toolkit
Security8270GOV.UK Toolkit
TTFB194ms364msGOV.UK Toolkit
Composite8675GOV.UK Toolkit
Performance
GOV.UK Toolkit
82
HSTS
49
Accessibility
GOV.UK Toolkit
100
HSTS
89
Security
GOV.UK Toolkit
82
HSTS
70
SEO
GOV.UK Toolkit
100
HSTS
91
Composite
GOV.UK Toolkit
86
HSTS
75

GOV.UK Toolkit outperforms HSTS in 7 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (86 vs 75). HSTS leads in no categories.

When to choose GOV.UK Toolkit

Choose GOV.UK Toolkit when your primary concern is server response time and performance. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

When to choose HSTS

HSTS doesn't clearly lead GOV.UK Toolkit in any category on the sampled sites — pick it based on developer experience, ecosystem, or existing team skills rather than the audit scores.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 9 audited GOV.UK Toolkit sites and 2556 audited HSTS sites in the BeaverCheck database. Every audit runs the same 100+ checks — Lighthouse performance, security headers, accessibility, SEO, server response time — against a real URL. No vendor input, no sponsorship, no affiliate links. Read the full methodology →

Small sample: one or both technologies have fewer than 10 audited sites. Treat these numbers as directional — medians stabilize around 20–30 audits per side.

FAQ

Which is faster, GOV.UK Toolkit or HSTS?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, GOV.UK Toolkit sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (82 vs 49 on average).
Which has better security, GOV.UK Toolkit or HSTS?
GOV.UK Toolkit sites score higher on security analysis (82 vs 70 on average).
Which has better accessibility, GOV.UK Toolkit or HSTS?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor GOV.UK Toolkit (100 vs 89). Both technologies can be made fully accessible with care — the difference reflects common patterns in the sampled sites, not inherent platform limits.
Which is better for SEO, GOV.UK Toolkit or HSTS?
GOV.UK Toolkit sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (100 vs 91 on average), which cover meta tags, crawlability, mobile friendliness, and structured data. Content strategy and backlinks still matter more than platform choice for ranking.
Which has faster server response (TTFB), GOV.UK Toolkit or HSTS?
GOV.UK Toolkit sites show lower Time to First Byte (194 ms vs 364 ms on average). TTFB depends heavily on hosting and CDN setup rather than the technology itself, but the sampled sites suggest a meaningful difference in common deployment patterns.
Should I choose GOV.UK Toolkit or HSTS for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. GOV.UK Toolkit scores higher on overall composite score while GOV.UK Toolkit may excel in metrics you care about most. Run a free BeaverCheck audit on a real site using each to compare the metrics relevant to your use case.
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