Performance Budget Thresholds Template

The Problem: No Clear Definition of "Good"

Without concrete thresholds, you can't set performance budgets, explain pass/fail to clients, or know when to alert. "LCP should be good" isn't enough — you need numbers. This template gives you those numbers: ready-to-use thresholds by site type (e-commerce, agency client sites, content, SaaS, landing pages) so you can define "good" once and enforce it everywhere.

Benefits: One place for all your budget values, client-ready language, and clear escalation (warning vs critical). What you get: Set budgets per site, get alerted only when it matters, and report to clients with confidence.

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Your Ready-to-Use Performance Budget Template

Copy the thresholds below into a Google Sheet, CSV, or your monitoring tool. No theory — just the numbers, organised by site type and strategy.

If you want the "why" behind these numbers, read our Complete Guide to Performance Budgets first.

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The Template

Universal Thresholds (Google's "Good" Baselines)

These are the starting points for any site. For an introduction to what is Core Web Vitals, see our practical guide; the numbers below follow Google's documented thresholds. Adjust based on your baseline: If your current scores are far from these targets, use them as stretch goals and set interim budgets at your current values. Tighten as you improve.

Note: For LCP, INP, FCP, TBT, Speed Index — lower is better. "Poor" = exceed the max. For Performance Score and CLS — higher is better (Score) / lower is better (CLS).

Metric	Good	Needs Improvement	Poor	Unit
LCP	≤2500	2500–4000	>4000	milliseconds
INP	≤200	200–500	>500	milliseconds
CLS	≤0.10	0.10–0.25	>0.25	score
FCP	≤1800	1800–3000	>3000	milliseconds
TBT	≤200	200–600	>600	milliseconds
Speed Index	≤3400	3400–5800	>5800	milliseconds
Performance Score	≥90	50–89	≤49	points (0–100)

Budget Template by Site Type

E-Commerce

Metric	Mobile Budget	Desktop Budget	Priority	Notes
LCP	2000	1500	Critical	Product images are usually LCP — optimise aggressively
INP	150	100	Critical	Cart, filters, search must feel instant
CLS	0.05	0.05	Critical	Strict — shifts cause misclicks and lost revenue
FCP	1500	1200	High	First paint signals page is loading
TBT	150	100	High	Heavy JS frameworks common in e-commerce
Speed Index	3000	2500	Medium	Visual completeness — product grid rendering
Performance Score	90	95	High	Conversion-critical pages should target 95+

Agency Client Sites (Default)

Metric	Mobile Budget	Desktop Budget	Priority	Notes
LCP	2500	2000	Critical	Standard threshold; tighten after initial optimisation
INP	200	150	High	Most client sites are content-heavy, not interaction-heavy
CLS	0.10	0.10	Critical	Watch for ad slots, lazy images, font loading
FCP	1800	1500	High	Important for perceived speed
TBT	200	150	Medium	Matters most for interactive pages
Speed Index	3400	2800	Medium	Good general indicator
Performance Score	90	90	High	Client-facing threshold — below 90 needs attention

Content / Blog Sites

Metric	Mobile Budget	Desktop Budget	Priority	Notes
LCP	2500	2000	Critical	Hero images and article bodies are typical LCP elements
INP	200	200	Medium	Less interactive — standard threshold is fine
CLS	0.10	0.10	High	Ads and lazy-loaded images are the main risks
FCP	1800	1500	High	Fast first paint keeps readers engaged
TBT	200	200	Low	Minimal JS on most content pages
Speed Index	3400	3000	Medium	Article rendering speed
Performance Score	90	90	High	SEO-critical — content sites live or die by search

SaaS / Web Applications

Metric	Mobile Budget	Desktop Budget	Priority	Notes
LCP	2500	2000	High	Dashboard load time — users expect app-level speed
INP	100	75	Critical	App interactions must feel native — strict budget
CLS	0.05	0.05	Critical	Dynamic content loading needs careful layout reservation
FCP	1500	1200	High	Fast initial paint reduces perceived wait
TBT	150	100	Critical	Heavy JS is expected but must be managed
Speed Index	3000	2500	Medium	Complex UIs load incrementally
Performance Score	85	90	High	SaaS apps score lower due to JS — 85 is realistic on mobile

Landing Pages / Marketing Sites

Metric	Mobile Budget	Desktop Budget	Priority	Notes
LCP	2000	1500	Critical	First impression pages — speed is everything
INP	150	100	Medium	Limited interactivity but CTAs must be responsive
CLS	0.05	0.05	Critical	Zero tolerance — every shift is a potential lost conversion
FCP	1200	1000	Critical	Sub-second FCP is the goal for landing pages
TBT	100	50	High	Minimal JS — these pages should be fast
Speed Index	2500	2000	High	Visual completeness drives conversion confidence
Performance Score	95	98	Critical	Landing pages should be near-perfect

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How to Use This Template

Step 1: Choose Your Site Type

Pick the template that matches your site (or start with the "Agency Client Sites" default if you're not sure).

Step 2: Copy Into Your Tool

Google Sheets / CSV:
Copy the CSV data above into a spreadsheet. Add columns for:

• Current Mobile Score — Your latest test result
• Current Desktop Score — Your latest test result
• Status — Within Budget / Over Budget / Critical

Monitoring tool (like Apogee Watcher):
Enter the Mobile Budget and Desktop Budget values as your performance budget thresholds per site.

Lighthouse CI config:
Translate thresholds into your lighthouserc.json:

{
  "ci": {
    "assert": {
      "assertions": {
        "largest-contentful-paint": ["error", {"maxNumericValue": 2500}],
        "cumulative-layout-shift": ["error", {"maxNumericValue": 0.1}],
        "total-blocking-time": ["error", {"maxNumericValue": 200}],
        "first-contentful-paint": ["warn", {"maxNumericValue": 1800}],
        "categories:performance": ["error", {"minScore": 0.9}]
      }
    }
  }
}

Step 3: Baseline Your Sites

Run PageSpeed Insights on your key pages. Fill in the "Current" columns. Anything marked "Over Budget" is an immediate action item.

Step 4: Set Up Alerts

Configure your monitoring tool to alert you when any metric exceeds its budget. Without alerts, this template is just a document. With alerts, it's a safety net.

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Multi-Client Tracking Spreadsheet

For agencies managing multiple clients, use this structure:

Client	Domain	Page	Strategy	LCP Budget	LCP Actual	LCP Status	INP Budget	INP Actual	INP Status	CLS Budget	CLS Actual	CLS Status	Score Budget	Score Actual	Score Status	Last Tested
Acme Corp	acme.com	Homepage	Mobile	2500	2100	OK	200	180	OK	0.10	0.05	OK	90	92	OK	2026-02-10
Acme Corp	acme.com	Homepage	Desktop	2000	1400	OK	150	95	OK	0.10	0.02	OK	90	96	OK	2026-02-10
Acme Corp	acme.com	Pricing	Mobile	2500	3200	OVER	200	220	OVER	0.10	0.15	OVER	90	71	OVER	2026-02-10
Widget Co	widgets.io	Homepage	Mobile	2500	1900	OK	200	160	OK	0.10	0.08	OK	90	94	OK	2026-02-10
Widget Co	widgets.io	Shop	Mobile	2000	2800	OVER	150	190	OVER	0.05	0.12	OVER	90	67	OVER	2026-02-10

Color-code the Status column: green for OK, red for OVER. Review weekly.

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Budget Escalation Levels

Not all budget violations are equal. Use escalation levels to prioritise response:

Level	Condition	Response	SLA
Info	Metric within 10% of budget	Note for next review	Next monthly review
Warning	Metric exceeds budget by < 20%	Investigate cause	Within 1 week
Critical	Metric exceeds budget by > 20%	Immediate investigation	Within 48 hours
Emergency	Score drops below 50 or LCP > 5s	Treat as incident	Within 4 hours

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Adjusting Budgets Over Time

Budgets aren't permanent. Review quarterly:

Tighten when:

• Your team consistently meets budgets with room to spare
• Competitors are faster and you're losing rankings
• Client expectations increase

Loosen when:

• New required functionality legitimately impacts performance (e.g., adding a complex interactive feature)
• A temporary campaign requires heavier scripts (set an expiration date for the loosened budget)

Never loosen because:

• "We can't fix it right now" — that's a prioritisation issue, not a budget issue
• "The score fluctuates" — that's normal variance, not a reason to move the goalposts

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Download Options

This template is available as:

• CSV — Copy the CSV blocks above into any spreadsheet application (Google Sheets, Excel)
• JSON — Use the Lighthouse CI config format for CI/CD integration
• Monitoring tool — Enter the values directly into your platform's budget configuration

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FAQ

Can I customise these thresholds for my specific site?
Yes. The template provides baseline values. Adjust based on your current scores, site type, and competitive benchmarks. E-commerce and landing pages often need stricter LCP and CLS budgets; content sites can use the standard thresholds.

What's the difference between the "Agency Client Sites" and "E-Commerce" templates?
Agency Client Sites use Google's standard "Good" thresholds as a default. E-Commerce is stricter — lower LCP (2s vs 2.5s), tighter INP (150ms vs 200ms), and stricter CLS (0.05 vs 0.1) because conversion-critical pages need to feel instant.

How do I use this template with a monitoring tool?
Copy the budget values into your tool's configuration. Most tools let you set thresholds per metric, per site, and per strategy (mobile/desktop). Once set, the tool will run tests against these budgets and alert you when thresholds are exceeded.

Should I track all metrics or just LCP, INP, and CLS?
LCP, INP, and CLS are the Core Web Vitals — track them first. FCP, TBT, and Speed Index add useful context. Performance Score is a useful composite. Start with CWV + Score; add others if you need deeper visibility.

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What you can achieve: Every site can have clear pass/fail thresholds, alerts that fire only when metrics cross the line, and reports clients understand. Use this template so performance budgets stop being guesswork and start being something you can set, enforce, and show.

Managing performance budgets across multiple sites is easier with automation. Apogee Watcher lets you set budgets per site, get alerted when thresholds are exceeded, and track trends over time. Join the waitlist for early access.