WP Rocket (view official page)
With its wide range of features and user-friendly interface, it’s no wonder WP Rocket is often recognized as the best caching plugin available. It’s easy setup and included features make it very user-friendly. Some features to highlight are its ability to optimize CSS and JavaScript, preload cache, and LazyLoad.
LazyLoad is extremely helpful when your page includes images. Usually, sites load to show the entire page. Although, if it is a long page with multiple images, lading time can skyrocket. With LazyLoad, specific elements are loaded when they are needed. Often, YouTube iFrames will be replaced with preview thumbnails. LazyLoad is extremely lightweight due to its disuse of jQuery or JavaScript, and it’s completely free with your QP Rocket subscription!
WP Rocket is also highly compatible. It works well with various themes, plugins, hosts, and website types. WP Rocket is best for users without technical expertise who want to enhance their website’s speed. However, there is no free version, even to test out its features you need to pay the premium license, starting at $59/year.
WP Fastest Cache (view official page )
If you’re looking for a reliable plugin that won’t break the bank, WP Fastest Cache is for you! It has over a million active users that have given it a 5/5 star rating. With WP Fastest Cache, you can schedule the deletion of all cached files, minified CSS, HTML, and JS files, and integrate CDNs. With one click the caching option can be turned on and off. WP Fastest Cache is great for anyone new to website optimization seeking increased website performance ranging from basic to moderate complexity.
WP Super Cache (view official page)
If you’re a more experienced user looking for something simple, WP Super Cache is best for you! After enabling the caching function, you can let the plugin handle the rest. WP Super Cache offers support for multiple caching types such as mod_rewrite PHP caching, and legacy caching. With all its options, you can choose the best strategy for your site. Lastly, Super Cache offers browser caching, cache preload, and CDN support. However, some users reported that they experienced compatibility problems. Some specific themes, plugging, and website functionality may cause problems with Super Cache.
UpdraftPlus (view official page)
UpdraftPlus is an industry-leading backup plugin that can help you efficiently back up and restore your site. With three million downloads, 4.8/5 stars, comprehensive features, and affordability, UpdraftPlus is a plugin you can count on! What sets UpdraftPlus apart is its flexible functionality. It can back up each WordPress element including databases, plugins, themes, and uploaded content. For advanced users, there is a premium version where site cloning, migration, and multisite support can take place.UpdraftPlus supports integration with cloud platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Onedrive. With the premium version, you can choose multiple storage options! The technical aspects of the plugin are presented so even non-tech-savvy users can be confident. On the contrary, some users report issues when restoring large, or high-activity e-commerce sites.
WP-Optimize (view official page)
WP-Optimize is a database cleanup and optimization plugin focusing on caching, database cleanup, and image compression. Optimize features 12 optimization tasks that you can run individually and simultaneously including table optimization, past revision cleanup, and removing unapproved comments. The scheduler tool lets you choose when to conduct auto-optimization and what tasks shall be performed. WP-Optimize is designed for beginners but the premium version increases flexibility. An interesting feature to experiment with is the Tables tab. This tab shows all the tables, records, data size, and overhead in your database; invaluable information to increase your performance. It is important to note that Optimize also works with UpdraftPlus, providing your database backup, and optimization.
WP Reset (view official page)
In need of a quick reset to your site’s database that won’t modify any files? WP Reset is the way to go! With a few clicks, the reset creature lets you restore an entire website and database to its original state. Individual tools like cache purge, transient removal, and table purge let you further optimize your site. There is a free and paid version of the site. If you want to create a copy of your database that you can restore after the reset, you’ll want the paid version so you can access the paid version. Therefore, free users should always create a backup beforehand to prevent accidental resets.
Advanced Database Cleaner (view official page)
With 5/5 stars and 90,000 downloads, Advanced Database Cleaner is the best out there for database cleanup and optimization. This plugin lets you manage up to 14 different elements including revisions, auto drafts, spam comments, and orphaned data. The scheduler feature lets you run the database cleanup automatically, saving you hours. The table detection feature organized themes, plugins, and orphan tables to improve navigation. It is highly recommended to install the premium version for this plugin as most of the helpful features are exclusive to premium users.
Smush (view official page)
WP Smush is one of the easiest plugins to perform image compression, removing unnecessary bytes from image files. With over one million installations and free access, it is one of the most popular plugins. Smush uses lossless formats so image quality is identical after the smush. Smush strips in-used color from images and metadata from JPEGs and integrates with the Smush.it.API.
