WordPress Caching Plugins: Which One Should I Choose?

Technology has made everyone impatient, especially when it comes to using websites. In fact, 47 percent of users won’t wait more than two seconds for a site to load. That means speeding up and optimizing your site’s performance is no longer optional — it’s an essential standard practice for any business.

Fortunately, several methods can help speed up a site, including implementing a content delivery network (CDN), optimizing videos and images, and using a WordPress cache plugin.

What is a cache plugin for WordPress?

When a first-time visitor accesses a website, the browser must execute many steps to load pages. A WordPress cache plugin stores many of the static elements of a page — on your server or in users’ browsers — so it loads much faster on subsequent visits.

Since returning visitors indicate an ongoing desire to engage with your business, using a cache plugin is a small, but important step to nurture those relationships.

A review of paid and free cache plugins for WordPress

We’ve sifted through the dozens of WordPress cache plugins available to provide you with this detailed top ten list, so you can make the best decision for your organization.

👁 WP Super Cache earns the top spot in our review with more than two million active installations.

1. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache earns the top spot in our review with more than two million active installations. This free plugin is popular for a reason: it simply makes and stores a static copy of each web page on your server, allowing lightning-fast loading for visitors.

Key features of WP Super Cache:

• Increases speed and performance of your site
• Costs nothing to install
• Boosts WordPress SEO
• Improves user experience
• Offers custom installation options
• Works with Jetpack Boost, which improves speed further with an image CDN, critical CSS rendering, and JavaScript (JS) and CSS optimization

Pros of WP Super Cache:

• WP Super Cache is a free and easy way to speed up your website, meeting the rising expectations of visitors.
• You can use it to boost your site’s performance, SEO, and user experience on all devices, including mobile.
• It’s built and maintained by Automattic, the team behind WordPress.com, for seamless and complete integration.
• WP Super Cache allows you to select pages you don’t want cached and choose the frequency of cached page deletion.
• It works together with other optimization tools, such as Jetpack Boost, to help you create a world-class site.

Cons of WP Super Cache:

• WP Super Cache doesn’t minify, combine, or defer CSS, JS, and HTML files.
• It doesn’t allow for DNS prefetching or have a mechanism for dealing with Google fonts.
• WP Super Cache has limits on how much it can speed up a site by itself. It should be used in combination with other tools, such as Jetpack Boost.

Ease of use:

WP Super Cache can be as simple or as advanced as you’d like. For site owners who just want to speed up their website’s performance, you can download, activate, and test in a few easy steps. Advanced tools are available for those who want to further enhance site performance and maintain additional control.

Pricing:

WP Super Cache is free.

👁 WP Rocket focuses on improving both the experience of the website visitor and the business that installs it.

2. WP Rocket

As a premium WordPress cache plugin, WP Rocket focuses on improving both the experience of the website visitor and the business that installs it. If you choose WP Rocket, you’ll pay a subscription price, depending on the number of websites you have.

Key features of WP Rocket:

• Implements a substantial portion of website performance best practices in minutes
• Includes file and browser caching and lazy loading features
• Optimizes JavaScript and CSS to remove unused functions and styles
• Is compatible with many hosting providers and other plugins

Pros of WP Rocket:

• It’s easy to install and configure.
• The tool comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
• WP Rocket automatically configures static page caching and enables both browser caching and gzip compression.
• It offers documentation that’s built into the WordPress dashboard.

Cons of WP Rocket:

• WP Rocket is only available for a subscription fee and does not offer a free trial.
• It doesn’t include image optimization or a CDN as part of the core plugin.
• Since WP Rocket is not available in the WordPress.org plugin repository, you need to download and upload it manually.

Ease of use:

Although WP Rocket requires some extra steps to download and upload to WordPress, it’s relatively easy to use. Setup takes about three minutes, and many of the most popular speed saving practices are installed out of the box.

Pricing:

WP Rocket costs $59 per year for one website, $119 per year for three sites, and $299 per year for an unlimited number of websites. The subscription price includes product updates and support.

👁 W3 Total Cache is one of the oldest WordPress caching plugins and has more than a million installations.

3. W3 Total Cache

Originally developed in 2009, W3 Total Cache is one of the oldest WordPress caching plugins and has more than a million installations. It works with any web hosting provider and includes a wide variety of speed optimization settings all within the free version. However, it can be a bit complicated to set up without much speed optimization experience. 

Key features of W3 Total Cache:

• Includes page, browser, database, and object caching capabilities and support
• Offers minification of files
• Provides automatic CDN support
• Includes lazy loading of images and other media

Pros of W3 Total Cache:

• There’s an excellent balance between the configuration required and the performance improvements attained.
• W3 Total Cache comes with more caching options than many competitors, including browser, page, object, database, and fragment.
• Since this plugin offers comprehensive CDN integration, it’s easy to utilize all the major CDN providers.

Cons of W3 Total Cache:

• W3 Total Cache is an expensive option, especially if you want to use it on multiple websites.
• Customer support could be improved.
• The interface can be confusing, and there’s a lack of documentation, which makes it harder to use for beginners.
• The tool lacks sophisticated non-caching performance options like disabling scripts and database optimization.

Ease of use:

Because there’s a lack of documentation and support, W3 Total Cache is not as easy to use as some other cache plugins. There are also a lot of advanced settings that can be overwhelming for new users, and even cause them to accidentally break their site.

Pricing:

Although there’s a basic free version available, W3 Total Cache’s pro edition costs $99 per year, per site.

👁 Although Autoptimize can cache website pages like plugins, its true strength is in minifying and combining JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files to improve your website speed.

4. Autoptimize

Although Autoptimize can cache website pages like plugins, its true strength is in minifying and combining JavaScript, CSS, and HTML files to improve your website speed. It has more than a million installs and is offered for free for WordPress sites.

Key features of Autoptimize:

• Improves speed and performance by reducing the amount of code needed for each page load
• Creates cached pages
• Optimizes images
• Reduces the amount of data transferred between servers
• Facilitates easier crawling for search engines

Pros of Autoptimize:

• Autoptimize automatically minifies and compresses CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files to speed up your website.
• It aggregates and relocates stylesheets to the top of the page, which improves speed further.
• By optimizing font files, Autoptimize reduces HTTP requests and bandwidth required.
• Autoptimize is free.

Cons of Autoptimize:

• Autoptimize can require a fair number of A/B tests to achieve the best results.
• It can interfere with other plugins and can be difficult to debug.
• There can be compatibility problems with themes.
• No support is available for the free version.

Ease of use:

Although Autoptimize is easy to use once it’s set up, it can take a while and be challenging to customize it to work best for your site. 

Pricing:

Autoptimize is free.

👁 Hummingbird offers file compression, page caching, and deferring and minifying CSS and JavaScript styles.

5. Hummingbird

Hummingbird offers file compression, page caching, and deferring and minifying CSS and JavaScript styles. With more than one million installs, Hummingbird can scan WordPress sites and provide single-click optimizations.

Key features of Hummingbird:

• Prioritizes resources to improve speed
• Offers effective browser caching
• Minifies and strips unused code from CSS
• Delays loading of non-critical JS files and scripts until needed

Pros of Hummingbird:

• Hummingbird offers a very straightforward user experience, including tips and wizards that support users.
• It offers uptime monitoring to ensure that it works around-the-clock.
• This tool includes a wide array of caching abilities including page, browser, RSS, Gravatar, and preload.

Cons of Hummingbird:

• Hummingbird can only reduce the size of some WordPress resources.
• It’s not possible to use Hummingbird as a standalone plugin. Users must purchase a suite of tools, which can be expensive.

Ease of use:

Hummingbird scans websites and provides one-click optimizations, making it easy for users to improve speed and performance as well as SEO and the user experience.

Pricing:

Although there’s a basic Hummingbird Free version, the Hummingbird Pro plugin is only available with the WPMU DEV package. The Pro package costs $3 per month, while the Agency package costs $33 per month.

👁 WP-Optimize caches websites, cleans the database, and compresses images to boost speed and optimize the performance of WordPress sites.

6. WP-Optimize

WP-Optimize caches websites, cleans the database, and compresses images to boost speed and optimize the performance of WordPress sites.

Key features of WP-Optimize:

• Clears all unnecessary data, cleans up tables, and reclaims space from fragmented data
• Automatically compresses multiple images while retaining quality
• Offers cache preloading, gzip compression, exclusion rules, and both browser and device caching

Pros of WP-Optimize:

• WP-Optimize offers superior database management.
• It delivers quality image compression.
• The tool provides good caching and minification capabilities.

Cons of WP-Optimize:

• WP-Optimize does not offer support for integrating an outside CDN.
• No advanced capabilities are available for minification or caching.
• Some page insight recommendations cannot be addressed.

Ease of use:

Although configuring WP-Optimize is fairly simple, the user interface is not as friendly and simple to use as other plugins.

Pricing:

For one or two site licenses, the price is $49 per year. A business package that includes five licenses is $99 per year, and an unlimited number of site licenses costs $199 per year.

👁 LiteSpeed Cache is a comprehensive acceleration plugin for WordPress that provides server-level caching as well as website optimization features.

7. LiteSpeed Cache

LiteSpeed Cache is a comprehensive acceleration plugin for WordPress that provides server-level caching as well as website optimization features. It’s compatible with most popular plugins. Developed by LiteSpeed Technologies, LiteSpeed Cache is free.

Key features of LiteSpeed Cache:

• Facilitates quick web page loading
• Localizes some JavaScript from third-party services allowing local, faster loading
• Converts and autoloads database tables
• Loads Google fonts asynchronously or removes them depending on user preference

Pros of LiteSpeed Cache:

• LiteSpeed Cache is free and can be used with the free community edition of OpenLiteSpeed server.
• It has integrated database optimization options and offers granular control over cache and optimization settings.
• Since LiteSpeed Cache is a true server-side caching plugin, it’s faster than PHP-based plugins.
• The tool has single-click database optimization.
• Many advanced CSS and JS optimization options are available.

Cons of LiteSpeed Cache:

• Too many granular controls can be confusing and intimidating, especially for beginners.
• LiteSpeed Cache has some trouble operating with other plugins.  

Ease of use:

The default configuration of LiteSpeed Cache works easily out of the box. Custom configuration is available if desired.

Pricing:

LiteSpeed Cache is free.

👁 WP Fastest Cache has both premium and free versions, with the latter effectively speeding up websites by caching pages.

8. WP Fastest Cache

WP Fastest Cache has both premium and free versions, with the latter effectively speeding up websites by caching pages. This plugin has more than a million installations, and its premium version offers many more performance-enhancing features.

Key features of WP Fastest Cache:

• Speeds up the loading of web pages
• Deletes all outdated cache files after a blog post or page is updated or at a user-defined time
• Offers ability to delete cached files, minified CSS, and JS files from its options page
• Allows enabling or disabling cache for specific pages, mobile devices, or logged-in users

Pros of WP Fastest Cache:

• WP Fastest Cache has an excellent, easy-to-use interface.
• Its free version performs well right out of the box.
• This tool generates near-instant results in speed tests after installation.

Cons of WP Fastest Cache:

• Although the interface for the free version of WP Fastest Cache is simple, it also lacks sophistication.
• The tool doesn’t have some of the features that many competitors provide.
• It has not been updated to specifically address Core Web Vitals.
• WP Fastest Cache hasn’t undergone any recent major updates

Ease of use:

Although WP Fastest Cache can be relatively easy to set up, it can be custom configured as well. The interface is quick to learn for beginners.

Pricing:

A free, basic version is available. The premium version of WP Fastest Cache has a single, lifetime fee depending on the number of site licenses needed. The bronze level is $49 for a single license; the silver $125 for three; the gold is $175 for five; and the platinum is $300 for ten site licenses.

👁 Cache Enabler creates static HTML files of web pages for storage on the server’s disk, allowing faster delivery to users.

9. Cache Enabler

Cache Enabler creates static HTML files of web pages for storage on the server’s disk, allowing faster delivery to users.

Key features of Cache Enabler:

• Offers fast and efficient caching
• Provides automatic smart, manual, or WP-CLI cache clearing 
• Optimizes and converts images to WebP
• Has Brotli and gzip pre-compression support
• Displays real-time cache size in WordPress dashboard

Pros of Cache Enabler:

• Cache Enabler can minify JS and HTML files, which improves the load time of web pages.
• It is compatible with other WordPress plugins.
• It’s the only plugin that supports WebP and srcset.
• This tool is incredibly easy to set up and use, making it a good choice for beginners.

Cons of Cache Enabler:

• Cache Enabler has trouble working with WordPress Multisite.
• It can negatively affect the mobile display of web pages.
• The cache expiry function does not always work well.
• Certain files are not compressed using gzip.

Ease of use:

Cache Enabler is simple to install and activate and has a user-friendly interface.

Pricing:

Cache Enabler is free.

👁 With more than two million installations, Comet Cache adds speed, simplicity, and reliability to a website.

10. Comet Cache

With more than two million installations, Comet Cache adds speed, simplicity, and reliability to a website. Installation takes just a couple of minutes, and web pages can almost immediately start loading faster as a result.

Key features of Comet Cache:

• Offers blog post, page, tag, client-side browser, and category caching
• Sets automatic cache expiration times
• Provides URI cache, HTTP referrer, and user-agent exclusion patterns
• Has gzip compression
• Works with WP-CLI

Pros of Comet Cache:

• Comet Cache is very easy to set up; it can be up and running in minutes.
• Its user interface is clean and straightforward.

Cons of Comet Cache:

• The pricing structure is complicated and difficult to decipher.
• Many basic features are only available in the paid version.

Ease of use:

Ease of use is one of Comet Cache’s advantages. Both set-up and customer experience are simple to learn, which means a fast start for beginners.

Pricing:

A free version of Comet Cache is available. Three premium versions of Comet Cache have a single, lifetime fee depending on the number of site licenses needed. The single-site license is $39; the three-site license is $99; and the unlimited package is $139.

Comparison of WordPress caching plugins

Compress Files?	Works with WooCommerce?	# of Active Installs	Free Version?	Starting Price
WP Super Cache	Yes	Yes	2 million	Yes	$0
WP Rocket	Yes	Yes	5 million	No	$59/yr
W3 Total Cache	Yes	Yes	1 million	Yes	$99/yr
Autoptimize	Yes	Yes	1 million	Yes	$0
Hummingbird	Yes	Yes	1 million	Yes	$3/mo
WP-Optimize	Yes	Yes	2 million	Yes	$49/yr
LiteSpeed Cache	Yes	Sometimes	2 million	Yes	$0
WP Fastest Cache	Yes	Yes	1 million	Yes	$49/life
Cache Enabler	Yes	Yes	100,000	Yes	$0
Comet Cache	Yes	Yes	40,000	Yes	$39/life

Caching features from hosting providers

Many hosting providers also offer caching tools, which are either built into their dashboards or are available as special plugins for their customers. One primary advantage of such tools is that they’re already integrated and working alongside other services from your hosting provider.

A main disadvantage is that some might not have the advanced features available with independent plugins. Another is that some hosts (especially managed providers) may prevent you from installing your own solution, limiting you to what they provide. 

Well-known hosting providers that offer caching features, including Pressable and Bluehost.

Popular types of caching

WordPress cache plugins may offer one or many different types of caching features. Here are some of the most popular kinds:

1. Site or page caching

Site or page caching means that things like images, page code, and files are stored in a static form the first time a web page is loaded. When users return to a website, those saved elements can be quickly served to them, significantly reducing access time and improving their experience.

Site or page caching is a one type of client-side caching, which means the stored data is controlled by the user. The website owner can only control how long that content remains in the cache.

This type of page caching works well with static content such as blog posts and landing pages. Since these pages rarely update, users can access information rapidly. Site or page caching can be challenging on interactive or ecommerce sites because content updates frequently. You’ll need to be able to disable page caching for dynamic pages or ensure that your selected WordPress cache plugin can manage them.

2. Browser caching

A second type of client-side caching is browser caching, which works just like site or page caching but happens through a browser. The browser retains copies of the elements of a website such as HTML code, CSS stylesheets, images, and JavaScript. Then, it simply grabs these static files as needed to speed up loading time.

Although a browser typically holds its cache for a specific amount of time or until it’s full, website owners can also manually clear the browser cache on demand.

3. Micro caching

Micro caching is not as well known as the other types of caching options. It stores files for only ten seconds and is often used to hold the static elements of a dynamic page, which limits its usefulness and applicability.

Micro caching works best on dynamic pages such as stock listings where product quantities may be changing rapidly but the graphics and tables are the same. Those static elements are stored and retrieved every ten seconds, while dynamic content changes as needed.

4. Server caching

Finally, server caching retains and administers the content on the server side instead of on the client side. Server-side caching is organized into the following categories:

• Object caching. Database queries are kept in a server-side cache so that content can be delivered immediately on subsequent visits.
• Opcode caching. The results of a PHP script request are stored for faster loading on repeat visits.
• CDN caching. The server closest to the user will deliver cached files to decrease loading times.

Server caching allows a website to check this temporary storage area for requested information before it takes the time to search the rest of the server.

Benefits of caching

Using any of these WordPress cache plugins will generate a host of benefits for your website, including:

• Increased speed and performance. First and foremost, caching improves the speed and performance of your website. Static and stored files and elements will always load faster than dynamic database queries. When time is of the essence and visitors’ attention spans are minimal, this is critical.

• Reduced hosting server workload. Caching can decrease your hosting server’s workload, which will save server memory and I/O operations. This is especially important for those whose businesses and organizations operate on limited, shared hosting plans.

• Improved SEO rankings. The loading speed of your website is a key factor in how high your site ranks on popular search engines. SEO is a complex, yet vital, part of a successful website. Installing a WordPress cache plugin is a simple and cost-effective way to boost SEO.

• Better ecommerce experiences. Large JavaScript files are often used for things like shopping carts, wish lists, and animations. Caching static elements can help significantly speed up the buying experience.

• Decreased strain on mobile data plans. Mobile devices are often limited by bandwidth, so caching can help users who have bandwidth caps on their mobile data plans access what they need without continually downloading the same static files.

• A superior customer experience. Visitors who can quickly find what they are looking for on a website are much more likely to return in the future, provide a positive review, or refer friends and family to your site.

Factors to consider when choosing a cache plugin

Before selecting your WordPress cache plugin, you’ll want to consider any other plugins you rely upon, where your WordPress site is struggling with speed and performance, and the skill level of your user base.

Some cache plugins work well with others on a WordPress site, while others struggle and can cause errors or operational glitches. A more basic site may benefit significantly from only a cache plugin; complex sites may require an entire suite of speed- and performance-enhancing tools that extend to things such as a CDN, CSS minification, and image optimization. 

Finally, beginners will appreciate those plugins that are easy to install, work well out-of-the-box, and have a friendly interface. If you have a developer on staff, using a plugin that allows further customization may be desired.

Conclusion: Which WordPress cache plugin should I choose?

Selecting the best cache plugin for your WordPress site would depend on your organization’s specific needs, what other plugins and tools you rely on, and your hosting provider. 

However, WP Super Cache can be an excellent free choice for many because it’s supported by Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com. And it works seamlessly alongside many other performance-enhancing plugins like Jetpack Boost. 

Frequently asked questions

What makes a good WordPress caching plugin?

A good WordPress cache plugin makes and stores copies of pages that have been accessed before, making subsequent loading of those pages faster. A reliable cache plugin not only speeds up your site but also provides an easy way to clear WordPress cache manually or automatically, ensuring visitors always see the most up-to-date content.

How much does a caching plugin cost on WordPress?

Dozens of WordPress cache plugins are available. While many are free, some have subscription or lifetime pricing depending on the number of licenses needed. WP Super Cache, the top plugin on this list, is free.

Is it easy to set up a caching plugin on WordPress?

Some cache plugins are very easy to set up, while others can be quite complicated. The number one plugin, WP Super Cache, can be set up with just a few clicks.

What is caching, and why is it important for WordPress websites?

Caching is a process that makes copies of previously visited pages, stores them, and then delivers them faster during subsequent visits. Caching in WordPress is critical for improving the speed and performance of websites to keep visitors and customers engaged and coming back.

What are the benefits of using a caching plugin for WordPress?

The primary benefit of using a WordPress cache plugin is improving the speed and performance of your site.

Are there any risks or drawbacks to using caching plugins?

Some cache plugins may not work well with other plugins and cause errors or glitches on your WordPress site. However, such drawbacks can be overcome, either by selecting proven plugins that don’t cause these issues or by working through them with your implementation team.

Are there any specific caching plugins recommended for WooCommerce websites?

The most important factor in selecting a cache plugin for WooCommerce websites is the ability to exclude dynamic pages from caching. Pages that are constantly changing, such as shopping carts or payment pages, should never be stored. Most WordPress cache plugins can be used for WooCommerce sites, including WP Super Cache, WP Fastest Cache, W3 Total Cache, and WP Rocket.

Are there any methods in addition to caching plugins for improving website performance?

Yes. In fact, Jetpack Boost, which is compatible with WP Super Cache, can check your overall site performance and help optimize CSS loading, defer non-essential JavaScript, and improve the loading of images.

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