Do you have difficulties speeding up your site despite having a quality web host and lightweight theme? Does your search engine ranking run short of your expectations?
If so, then you should consider installing a WordPress caching plugin. The goal of this article is to test and compare the best WordPress caching plugins to boost the performance of your website.
Before we look at the testing results, let’s take a closer look at what a caching plugin is and how it can help your WordPress website run faster.
Why to Use a WordPress Caching Plugin?
The main reason is that people and search engines dislike slow-loading websites. Slow websites indicate you have nothing meaningful to offer and will be obliterated by search engines in no time.
You’ll be loved to the moon and back if you provide your readers with fast-loading pages. And I’m sure you’ll feel the same way about slow-loading webpages. With that in mind, you have to be in beast mode at all times when it comes to website speeds.
When it comes to speed, the faster you can get people to your content (and search engines), the better the results will be. Otherwise, you will wait for your customers and keep waiting.
Therefore, don’t sacrifice your performance for a sluggish website. Take care of those slow pages with a WordPress cache plugin and you’ll find yourself addicted to speed. But how do WordPress cache plugins work?
What Does a Caching Plugin Actually Do?
WordPress works more efficiently when caching plugins are activated. Whenever someone visits a page on your WordPress website, the content is dynamically generated with a lot of backend activity, including multiple database operations and code executions.
Using a caching plugin, you can easily generate a static version of your content, eliminating many of the tasks required when a page is generated dynamically. As a result, your website will load quicker and your audience will be happier.
Best WordPress Caching Plugins for 2022
Whether you plan to run your own server or host your website on a shared server, these caching plugins are worth checking out. All of them have great reviews, though some are more user-friendly than others.
1. WP Rocket
WordPress caching plugin WP Rocket offers users an extensive set of features for optimizing your sites. More than one million websites use it, among them SeedProd, ThemeIsle, MainWP, Beaver Builder, CoSchedule, and Codeable.
This framework’s code is clean, commented, and contains hooks, making it an excellent choice for developers. It also supports WordPress multisite.
Features WP Rocket Plugin:
- Page Caching – The plugin includes a cache function by default, which is the most essential for improving the speed of a site.
- Browser Caching – WP Rocket caches static CSS and JS-based content in the visitor’s browser to minimize load times when they visit additional pages on your website.
- Cache Preloading – Creates a virtual visit that preloads the cache after clearing each, speeding up the process when engines crawl your site.
- Sitemap Preloading – URL’s from sitemaps generated by Yoast, Jetpack, and All-in-One SEO are automatically retrieved and loaded.
- Delay of JavaScript execution – The concept of lazy loading images is similar, but using JavaScript instead. This will give mobile users greater performance and improve PageSpeed scores on mobile devices.
- Image Optimization – When your visitors scroll down your page, the images will only appear as they scroll.
- Database Optimization – Automatically clean up the database of your site, and schedule regular cleanings to keep things working smoothly.
- Google Fonts Optimization – WP Rocket optimizes performance by grouping HTTP requests, like those made by Google Fonts.
- CDN Compatibility – By inputting your CDN’s CNAME, you can integrate with most CDNs.
Is WP Rocket Free?
With WP Rocket, you can host one website for as little as $49 and get one year of updates and support. Also you can get the renewals at a 30% discount. All plans are subject to a 14-day refund guarantee.
2. W3 Total Cache
As one of the best WordPress caching plugins, W3 Total Cache has more than one million active installations.
It is popular because it comes with an array of caching features that enable you speed up your website.
Features of W3 Total Cache Plugin:
- Page Caching – W3 Total Cache supports caching of pages, posts, folders, tags, comments, and search results using page caching.
- Browser Caching – Browser caching is supported with cache control, future expiration headers, and entity tags.
- File Optimization – Compresses HTML, CSS, and JS files.
- Image Optimization – By using lazy loading, you can avoid the negative effects of large images on site performance.
- CDN Integration – By using CDN integration you can also have your HTML, CSS, and JS files loaded from a CDN service.
Is W3 Total Cache Free?
Yeah, you can download W3 Total Cache directly from WordPress.org for free and access the vast majority of its settings. The Pro version costs $99 and includes fragment caching in addition to W3 Total Cache’s extension framework, both features intended to attract advanced users and developers.
3. Cache Enabler
The WP Cache Enabler plugin is a free WordPress caching plugin launched by KeyCDN, a leading content delivery network built to accommodate a diverse range of content management systems.
The plugin is lightweight and supports custom post types, WordPress multisite, and caching via WP-CLI commands, which involve clearing the cache for all pages, object IDs 1, 2, and 3, and particular URLs.
Features Cache Enabler Plugin:
- Page Caching – With Cache Enabler, caches are automatically cleared on-demand and automatically. Depending on your settings, you can even clear individual pages.
- File Optimization – There is a minification option for HTML and inline JS. For full optimization, KeyCDN suggests using Autoptimize.
- WebP Support – When used in conjunction with KeyCDN’s image compression plugin Optimus, Cache Enabler will turn compatible JPG and PNG files into WebP images.
Is Cache Enabler Free?
Absolutely it is. The WordPress plugin directory offers a free version of Cache Enabler that you can download for free.
4. Breeze
Cloudways, a host that offers affordable plans and provides support for multiple CMS’s, offers Breeze, a free WordPress caching plugin. Sites on Cloudways have built-in Varnish caching systems built into them, which manage caching on a server level. Breeze complements Varnish with a page caching mechanism.
The plugin also supports WordPress multisite. Moreover, you can enhance your database and defer Java script loading, etc.
Features Breeze Plugin:
- Page Caching – Breeze is Cloudways’ way of caching individual WordPress pages, but you can also block specific file types or URLs from caching.
- File Optimization – This plugin aggregates HTML, CSS, and JS files in order to reduce file sizes whilst limiting the requests your server receives.
- Database Optimization – Breeze lets you clean up your WordPress database.
- CDN Integration – The plugin integrates well with most CDN services and gives the ability to load images, CSS, and JS files from a CDN.
Is Breeze Free?
With no doubt, Breeze is available free of charge for Cloudways customers and WordPress users likewise.
5. WP Fastest Cache
This is one of the most prominent plugins for caching websites in WordPress. The software is used on more than one million sites, and it provides numerous options for optimizing your site.
In spite of the plugin’s simplicity, there are still a range of technical settings and features that experienced users can configure to further optimize it.
Features of WP Fastest Cache Plugin:
- Page Caching – With this plugin, you can cache and minify pages and manually delete cached and minified files. In addition, you can specify the timeout period for cached files.
- Preloading – To avoid users from having to re-cache your site when it is cleared, preload a cached version of it when it is cleared.
- Browser Caching – Just like WP Rocket, WP Fastest Cache caches static content in the visitor’s browser to enhance your site’s performance as they navigate from page to page.
- File Optimization – Reduce the size of HTML, CSS, and JS for improved page performance. You can also use Gzip compression and render-blocking JS.
- Image Optimization – This plugin minimizes the file size of images and converts JPGs and PNGs into WebPs.
- Database Optimization – Removes trashed posts and pages, spam, and trashed comments, trackbacks, and transient options from your site’s database.
- Google Fonts Optimization – Enhances your site’s performance and speed by asynchronously executing Google Fonts.
- CDN Support – The plugin provides support for CDN services, in particular CloudFlare.
Is WP Fastest Cache Free?
Of course, by installing it from the WordPress plugin directory, you can start using WP Fastest Cache free of charge. And you will need to pay just $59 for the premium version.
6. WP Super Cache
Known for its caching capabilities, WP Super Cache is a well-liked WordPress caching plugin created and maintained by Automattic. This is a free and simple caching plugin you can install and run as it is, but you can also adjust its settings to suit your needs.
Designed to work with WordPress multisite, WP Super Cache includes a variety of hooks and features for developers to use and optimize.
Features of WP Super Cache Plugin:
- Page Caching – This plugin creates different predefined HTML files (or cached versions of your site) based on the actions of users on your site.
- Cache Preloading – Regularly preload a cached version of your site (after clearing the cache) to refrain search engines or visitors from being burdened with duplicate files.
- CDN Integration – WP Super Cache lets you serve cached versions of your site’s HTML, CSS, and JS files through a CDN service of your preference for improved performance.
- .htaccess Optimization – The plugin updates the .htaccess file on your site. Creating a backup of the file is advised before installing it.
Is WP Super Cache Free?
Yes, WordPress caching plugin WP Super Cache is free and downloadable from the official WordPress plugin directory.
7. Comet Cache
The Comet Cache plugin by WP Sharks is a freemium solution. There are numerous features available for developers as well as automatic caching for general WordPress users. In addition, developers can take advantage of an extensive plugin system and WP-CLI cache commands. Additionally, it is possible to configure the plugin’s cache settings in numerous ways.
It is also compatible with multisite WordPress installations, ManageWP installations, and InfiniteWP installations.
Features of Comet Cache Plugin:
- Auto Cache Engine – Automatically checks the cache of your site every 15 minutes to ensure that a cached version of your site is not created by search engine bots.
- Browser Caching – You can store static content in the browser of visitors to serve them additional pages faster.
- File Optimization – Using a HTML Compressor plugin, you can combine, minify, and resize HTML, CSS, and JS files. You can also use Gzip compression.
- CDN Compatibility – Comet Cache is compatible with multiple CDN hostnames, allowing you to host some or all static files from your CDN.
Is Comet Cache Free?
With Comet Cache, you can get going with page caching, browser caching, and advanced plugin support for free. The premium version of the program provides additional features for a one-time fee of $39 for a single-site license. For an additional year of support, you’ll have to pay $9. This fee covers three years of support.
Also Read: How to Make Sales Funnel on WordPress.
Also Read: Top 11 Best Landing Page Builders
Final Thoughts
Thank you for checking out our list of the 7 Best WordPress Cache Plugins for 2022! When in doubt, we recommend WP Rocket. I have used several plugins for caching but WP Rocket is what I have stick with.
How does the list of plugins compare with the ones you’ve used before? Which is your favorite WordPress plugin for caching? Feel free to share it in the comments.
Very Informative post. I am also using WP Rocket for my website Caching processes. You are doing great buddy!!!