Format vs Custom — Platform Benchmark

54.4

Format

73 sites

WINNER

51.8

Custom

254 sites

Score Summary

Avg AI Readability

54.8 52.2

Avg Security

66.5 37.2

Avg Efficiency

50.2 56.6

Avg Total Score

54.4 51.8

Avg Structure

47.4 47.1

Avg Load Complexity

50.9 67.6

Avg Lighthouse

52.4 54.9

Best Site Score

68.9 87.6

Worst Site Score

27.3 15.7

Format Custom

Performance by Industry

Average total score for each platform within shared industries.

Industry	Format	Custom
Architecture	—	52.4 6 sites
Content Creation	—	54.1 6 sites
Corporate-personal	—	47.3 86 sites
Design	—	66.2 3 sites
Photography	—	53.9 153 sites

Comparison Insights

Overall Verdict

Format holds a modest 2.6-point lead over Custom. The difference is real but not decisive.

Dimension Edge

Format leads in: AI Readability, Security. Custom leads in: Efficiency, Load Complexity, Lighthouse. Custom has a broader performance advantage across dimensions.

Opportunities for improvement

Format could target Efficiency, Load Complexity, Lighthouse to close the gap.
Custom could target AI Readability, Security to improve.

Industry-by-Industry Results

The platforms split industry wins evenly across 5 shared verticals - the overall score gap may be driven by a few outlier sites rather than a consistent pattern.

Sample Size Consideration

Custom has 3.5× more audited sites than Format. Larger samples surface more variation and may pull averages toward the mean, so this comparison should be read with that in mind.