diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index fae56c4ceae..fff2cbe1999 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ jobs:
           name: Build html figures
           command: |
             . venv/bin/activate
-            pip install pandas statsmodels --quiet
+            pip install pandas statsmodels orjson --quiet
             python test/percy/plotly-express.py
       - run:
           name: Run percy snapshots
diff --git a/packages/python/plotly/plotly/basedatatypes.py b/packages/python/plotly/plotly/basedatatypes.py
index 038b5ded5cd..e4ab9f4ad44 100644
--- a/packages/python/plotly/plotly/basedatatypes.py
+++ b/packages/python/plotly/plotly/basedatatypes.py
@@ -916,6 +916,12 @@ def update(self, dict1=None, overwrite=False, **kwargs):
                             BaseFigure._perform_update(self[k], v)
                         else:
                             self[k] = v
+
+        # # instrumentation
+        # from plotly.io._json import to_json_plotly
+        #
+        # to_json_plotly(self)
+
         return self
 
     def pop(self, key, *args):
diff --git a/packages/python/plotly/plotly/express/_core.py b/packages/python/plotly/plotly/express/_core.py
index fe362c7e1a1..1bc46e96f33 100644
--- a/packages/python/plotly/plotly/express/_core.py
+++ b/packages/python/plotly/plotly/express/_core.py
@@ -2092,6 +2092,12 @@ def make_figure(args, constructor, trace_patch=None, layout_patch=None):
 
     configure_axes(args, constructor, fig, orders)
     configure_animation_controls(args, constructor, fig)
+
+    # instrumentation
+    # from plotly.io._json import to_json_plotly
+    #
+    # to_json_plotly(fig)
+
     return fig
 
 
diff --git a/packages/python/plotly/plotly/io/_json.py b/packages/python/plotly/plotly/io/_json.py
index 3bda778c76e..0bca132bbc3 100644
--- a/packages/python/plotly/plotly/io/_json.py
+++ b/packages/python/plotly/plotly/io/_json.py
@@ -57,7 +57,78 @@ def coerce_to_strict(const):
         return const
 
 
+def time_engine(engine, plotly_object):
+    import time
+    # time in seconds
+    t_total = 0
+    n_total = 0
+
+    # Call function for at least total of 2 seconds and at least 10 times
+    n_min = 10
+    t_min = 1
+
+    while t_total < t_min or n_total < n_min:
+        t0 = time.perf_counter()
+        _to_json_plotly(plotly_object, engine=engine)
+        t1 = time.perf_counter()
+        n_total += 1
+        t_total += (t1 - t0)
+
+    # return time in ms
+    return 1000 * t_total / n_total
+
+
 def to_json_plotly(plotly_object, pretty=False, engine=None):
+    if engine is not None:
+        return _to_json_plotly(plotly_object, pretty=pretty , engine=engine)
+
+    # instrucment _to_json_plotly by running it with all 3 engines and comparing results
+    # before returnin
+
+    import timeit
+    from IPython import get_ipython
+    ipython = get_ipython()
+    orjson = get_module("orjson", should_load=True)
+    results = {}
+    timing = {}
+    result_str = None
+    for engine in ["json", "orjson"]:
+        if orjson is None and engine == "orjson":
+            continue
+
+        result_str = _to_json_plotly(plotly_object, pretty=pretty, engine=engine)
+        results[engine] = from_json_plotly(result_str, engine=engine)
+        timing[engine] = time_engine(engine, plotly_object)
+
+    # Check matches
+    if "orjson" in results:
+        if results["json"] != results["orjson"]:
+            raise ValueError(
+                """
+    {json}
+    
+    {orjson}""".format(
+                    json=results["json"], orjson=results["orjson"]
+                )
+            )
+
+    # write timing
+    import uuid
+    import pickle
+    import os
+    uid = str(uuid.uuid4())
+    with open("json_timing.csv".format(engine), "at") as f:
+        f.write("{}, {}, {}, {}\n".format(
+            timing["json"], timing["orjson"], len(result_str), uid)
+        )
+    os.makedirs("json_object", exist_ok=True)
+    with open("json_object/{uid}.pkl".format(uid=uid), "wb") as f:
+        pickle.dump(plotly_object, f)
+
+    return result_str
+
+
+def _to_json_plotly(plotly_object, pretty=False, engine=None):
     """
     Convert a plotly/Dash object to a JSON string representation
 
@@ -466,7 +537,7 @@ def clean_to_json_compatible(obj, **kwargs):
             elif obj.dtype.kind == "U":
                 return obj.tolist()
             elif obj.dtype.kind == "O":
-                # Treat object array as a lists, continue processing
+                # Treat object array as plain list, allow recursive processing below
                 obj = obj.tolist()
         elif isinstance(obj, np.datetime64):
             return str(obj)
diff --git a/packages/python/plotly/tox.ini b/packages/python/plotly/tox.ini
index 5b4a8345545..ca9ec6a9676 100644
--- a/packages/python/plotly/tox.ini
+++ b/packages/python/plotly/tox.ini
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ deps=
     optional: matplotlib==2.2.3
     optional: scikit-image==0.14.4
     optional: kaleido
-    optional: orjson==3.4.6;python_version>"3.5"
+    orjson==3.4.6;python_version>"3.5"
 
 ; CORE ENVIRONMENTS
 [testenv:py27-core]