App Speed Report · Updated February 2026

Does Judge.me Slow Down Your Shopify Store?

Speed impact analysis of Judge.me (Product Reviews) — how much it affects your page load time, what scripts it loads, and how to mitigate the performance cost.

Judge.me Speed Impact Summary

Speed Impact Level Low Impact

Scripts Loaded

85KB

Total Script Size

100-200ms

Avg. Load Time Impact

App Name

Judge.me

How Judge.me Affects Your Store Speed

Judge.me is one of the most popular and affordable review apps for Shopify, offering photo reviews, review carousels, and star rating widgets across your store.

When a visitor lands on your store, Judge.me loads 2 JavaScript files totaling approximately 85KB. These scripts need to be downloaded, parsed, and executed by the browser — all of which takes time and competes with your core page content for network bandwidth and CPU resources.

The measured impact is 100-200ms of additional page load time. To put that in perspective: Google research shows that each additional 100ms of load time reduces conversion rates by up to 7%. If Judge.me adds 100-200ms to your page load, that's a measurable impact on your bottom line.

Judge.me has a relatively low speed impact compared to other Shopify apps. If you're looking to improve speed, focus on higher-impact apps first before optimizing Judge.me.

What These Scripts Do

Judge.me's scripts handle its core product reviews functionality on your storefront. This typically includes:

• Core functionality script — The main JavaScript bundle that powers Judge.me's features on your pages
• Tracking/analytics script — Monitors user interactions and behavior for Judge.me's dashboard and reporting

The problem isn't that these scripts exist — it's that they often load synchronously and on every page, even pages where Judge.me's functionality isn't needed. A visitor browsing your blog doesn't need Judge.me's full product reviews scripts loading and executing.

How to Reduce Judge.me's Speed Impact

You don't have to choose between Judge.me's functionality and a fast store. Here's how to minimize its performance impact while keeping the features you need:

Use Judge.me's 'Lite' widget mode if available — it loads a smaller JavaScript bundle

Only load the review carousel widget on pages where it's displayed (homepage, product pages)

Disable the Judge.me badge/medal widget in the footer if you don't need the social proof there

Use Judge.me's built-in lazy loading for review photos — verify it's enabled in app settings

Limit displayed reviews to 5-10 per page with pagination — loading all reviews at once is expensive

Consider using Judge.me's server-side rendered stars for SEO instead of client-side star widgets

🔍 SEO impact: Reducing Judge.me's speed impact helps your store pass Core Web Vitals — Google's official ranking signal since 2021. Better speed = higher rankings = more organic traffic.

The Bigger Picture: App Bloat on Shopify

Judge.me is just one app on your store. The average Shopify store has 15-25 apps installed, and each one adds its own JavaScript and CSS to your storefront. The cumulative effect is what really kills your speed score.

Think about it: if Judge.me adds 100-200ms and you have 10+ other apps each adding 100-400ms, your total third-party script overhead could be 2-5 seconds. That's the difference between a store that converts and one that loses visitors before the page even loads.

Manually optimizing each app's loading behavior is time-consuming and requires technical knowledge. You'd need to edit theme files, understand JavaScript loading patterns, and constantly monitor for regressions when apps update their scripts.

This is exactly the problem Thunder was built to solve. Thunder automatically scans every app on your store, measures each one's actual speed impact (including Judge.me), and optimizes how they all load — deferring non-essential scripts, reducing blocking time, and ensuring your critical page content loads first.

⚡ See How Judge.me Affects Your Store

Thunder scans your installed apps — including Judge.me — and shows you exactly how much each one impacts your speed. Then it fixes them automatically.

Install Thunder Free →

Free plan available · Scans all your apps · No code changes required

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Judge.me slow down Shopify stores?

Judge.me has a low speed impact on Shopify stores, typically adding 100-200ms to page load time. It loads 2 scripts totaling approximately 85KB. While this isn't negligible, you can mitigate the impact by deferring its scripts, limiting which pages it loads on, and using a speed optimization app like Thunder to manage its loading behavior.

How much does Judge.me affect my PageSpeed score?

Judge.me typically reduces your PageSpeed Insights mobile score by 3-5 points depending on your store's baseline performance and other installed apps. The 85KB of JavaScript it loads contributes to longer Time to Interactive (TTI) and potentially affects Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) if scripts block rendering. The actual impact varies — stores with fewer apps will notice it more.

Should I uninstall Judge.me to improve speed?

Not necessarily. Judge.me provides valuable functionality (product reviews) that likely benefits your store. Instead of uninstalling, optimize how it loads: defer non-critical scripts, limit it to pages where it's needed, and use Thunder to automatically manage its loading priority. Only uninstall if you're not actively using the app or if the speed cost outweighs the business value.

Can I use Judge.me and still have a fast Shopify store?

Yes. Many high-performing Shopify stores use Judge.me successfully. The key is optimization: don't load Judge.me's scripts on pages where they're not needed, compress your images to offset the script overhead, and use a tool like Thunder to defer Judge.me's JavaScript until after your critical content has loaded. A well-optimized store with Judge.me can still score 80+ on PageSpeed mobile.