Are you looking to increasing your WP site speed? Using a caching plugin is one of the best ways to do this just that.
Nearly 50% of your visitors expect your site to load in under 3 seconds. So, it’s no surprise that Google continues to value site speed in its algorithm. The faster your site, the better your ranking, and you can attract more organic traffic.
Today, we will share with you which are the best caching plugins available for WordPress.
Do you need a caching plugin?
What a caching plugin does is generate static HTML pages of the site, and saves it on the server.
Each time a visitor accesses your site, the caching plugin serves up the HTML page which is lighter instead of processing the significantly heavier WP PHP scripts. This helps with decreasing your page load time.
WP Rocket
This is the most popular premium caching plugin for WP. Its easy configuration is what sets it apart from other plugins. Once activated, the plugin will immediately start caching pages.
Some benefits of using WP Rocket are:
- Site indexing will be improved
- HTML, CSS files and JavaScript are minified, in order to improve page load time.
- Your images will be uploaded when they are visible to visitors on their browser (lazy loading is applied).
- Due to the extra hooks which come with it, developers can extend its features. Price: Starts at $49 per site
WP-Optimize
A premium caching plugin which is currently used on over a million websites.
WP-Optimize cleans your database and speeds up your website by compressing large images and caching the site.
The plugin removes all unused data, cleans up the tables and makes your site faster and more efficient. The integrated image compression tool reduces the used server space by compressing large images and improving the page loading time.
It comes with all necessary features like other caching plugins, but with minimal set up configuration.
WP Super Cache
Another extremely popular caching plugin, with over million installs. WP Super Cache helps with generating static HTML files from your WP site. The plugin serves the static html page to visitors after processing the heavier WP PHP scripts on your site.
WP Super Cache will serve cached files in three ways:
- Simple: the most used method, as you do not have to edit PHP files, and the .htaccess file does not need any configuration.
- Expert: this is the fastest caching option for you to serve super cached HTML files to visitors, but you will need to modify the .htaccess files.
- WP Super Caching: you can use this method when caching pages for known users (the ones who actively engage with your content). It’s slower compared to other methods, but it also the most flexible one. Price: Free
W3 Total Cache
With its million active installs, W3 Total Cache is one of the most used caching plugins. It caches every aspect of your site thus improving your server performance. It also offers content delivery network integrations.
Recommended by a great number of companies, you will notice the reduced page load time and improvement of your server performance. At the moment, it is the only plugin for optimizing all of the practical hosting environments.
It provided support for Google Accelerated Mobile Pages and Secure Socket Layer.
Price: Free
WP Fastest Cache
This plugin offers fewer configuration settings for WP caching, making it one of the easiest WP caching plugins in the official WP repository.
Like any other caching plugin, it creates static HTML files from your dynamic site. In order to reduce the file size, the plugin minifies CSS and HTML files. You can also disable emojis in the site. It implements browser caching to reduce the page loading time for repeat visitors, and it also combines a lot of CSS files into one file, reducing the number of HTTP round-trips.
If you decide to go with the premium version, you will find a lot of additional features which increase your page speed, such as database cleanup, image optimization, mobile caching, etc.
After installation, you can buy the premium version from your WP dashboard.
Price: Both free and pro versions available.
Comet Cache
With its 60 000 installs, Comet Cache is another popular option. Unlike other plugins, it provides the option to cache logged-in users as well. This means, if you are running an eCommerce site or a membership site, then this plugin is a must for you.
Comet Cache uses browser caching with the Apache server, which means you can increase the page speed by avoiding a number of roundtrips between the browser and server.
You can serve all cached files on your website as well, from the CDN (content delivery network) of your choosing. It supports CDNs such as MaxCDN, CloundFront, etc.
To avoid generating a new version of the cache, while the server is busy, this plugin can monitor the server load while temporary disabling cache expiration.
You are also provided with cache statistics which help you gain a better understanding of the cache on your site.
Price: Free and premium version available. Single license is $39.
Cache Enabler
This is a very lightweight caching plugin which creates static HTML files and shows then to the majority of your visitors. It requires minimal configuration and comes with all necessary features you need from a cache plugin.
Unlike other free WP caching plugins, this one provides detailed documentation which helps you browse all of the different features, with esthetic videos and screenshots, the guide will walk you through the different features.
Price: Free
Hyper Cache
This plugin is written purely in PHP and can be used in high end servers and cheap hosting options as well.
It works with a set of default values, which makes it easy to activate.
A mobile theme is included which allows you to enable caching, no matter if you are using different layouts for desktop and mobile users. It can be handy if you are using a responsive theme for your site.
Price: Free
Which is the best caching plugin for you?
In terms of choosing the best option for you, there is no right answer. If you decide on a free version, go with WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache. Both are being constantly updated and used by over million users.
If you decide on a premium version with available support and minimal efforts in configuration, choose WP Rocket,
Do not hesitate to contact our Fixed team and ask for assistance when making your choice!
