Skip to content

HSTS vs Polyfill

Based on 2556 and 7 real audits

View HSTS details | View Polyfill details
MetricHSTSPolyfillWinner
Performance4953Polyfill
Accessibility8988HSTS
Best Practices8896Polyfill
SEO9181HSTS
Security7069HSTS
TTFB364ms46msPolyfill
Composite7578Polyfill
Performance
HSTS
49
Polyfill
53
Accessibility
HSTS
89
Polyfill
88
Security
HSTS
70
Polyfill
69
SEO
HSTS
91
Polyfill
81
Composite
HSTS
75
Polyfill
78

Polyfill outperforms HSTS in 4 of 7 categories, with a stronger composite score (78 vs 75). HSTS leads in accessibility, SEO, security.

When to choose HSTS

Choose HSTS when your primary concern is SEO and accessibility. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

When to choose Polyfill

Choose Polyfill when your primary concern is server response time and best practices. Its audit data shows consistent strength in these areas across the sampled sites.

How this comparison was built

Scores are medians across 2556 audited HSTS sites and 7 audited Polyfill 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, HSTS or Polyfill?
Based on real BeaverCheck audits, Polyfill sites score higher on Lighthouse performance (53 vs 49 on average).
Which has better security, HSTS or Polyfill?
HSTS sites score higher on security analysis (70 vs 69 on average).
Which has better accessibility, HSTS or Polyfill?
Accessibility scores measured by Lighthouse WCAG 2.1 checks favor HSTS (89 vs 88). 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, HSTS or Polyfill?
HSTS sites score higher on Lighthouse SEO signals (91 vs 81 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), HSTS or Polyfill?
Polyfill sites show lower Time to First Byte (46 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 HSTS or Polyfill for my website?
Both platforms have trade-offs. Polyfill scores higher on overall composite score while HSTS 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.
Audit your own site

Send Feedback