ThemeGrill AuthorAre you looking for the best WordPress cache plugin to boost your website speed? Then, this article is just the thing for you.
We’ve seen a fair share of slow websites that had us closing the tab in annoyance. To prevent your visitors from having the same negative user experience, it’s important to optimize your WordPress site for speed. The first way to do that is to use a WordPress hosting provider with built-in caching (super-cacher).
We’ll be talking about the second option in this article, which is to use the best WordPress cache plugins. Installing and activating them means reducing the load time of your websites for fast performance.
But, before we get into the list of the best WordPress cache plugins, let’s learn a bit about how they work first.
How Do Cache Plugins Work and Why Use Them?
Every time a user clicks on your website’s link, all its files like pictures and videos have to be recovered from the server. These elements are then arranged into a complete page for the user to view.
However, the time taken to fetch a web page in this manner increases when there are too many files. Cache plugins solve this problem by creating static pages, saving them on your server, and delivering them to the user. This decreases the time that a user has to wait for the website to load completely.
That’s why millions of websites use these plugins to boost website speed. Besides, the best WordPress cache plugins help you with the following things.
- With cache plugins your site’s speed is boosted so, the rate at which visitors exit your site (bounce rate) decreases.
- Fast loading website means a better user experience which attracts more visitors. Therefore, it results in an increase in traffic of your site.
- The conversion rates rise as well. It means more visitors take action such as purchasing a product, filling a survey form, or subscribing to a newsletter.
- Using caching plugins also helps with Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That’s because site speed is crucial for higher ranking in Google search results.
With that said, here’s a list of the best WordPress cache plugins for you.
11 Best WordPress Cache Plugins
Now, before we talk about each plugin, here’s a comparison between them for you to quickly scan through.
| Plugins | Price | Ease of configuration | Support |
| WP Rocket | $49/Year | Easy to setup and user-friendly | Facebook Group, Documentation, and Video Tutorials |
| WP Super Cache | Free | Simple configuration | Support Forum and FAQs |
| W3 Total Cache | Free or $99/Year | Complex settings | Premium Support, Community Forum, and Support Forum |
| WP Fastest Cache | Free or $49.99 for 1 Site | Beginner-friendly | Support Forum and FAQs |
| Comet Cache | Free or $39 for 1 Site | Simple configuration | Premium Support, Knowledge Base Articles, and Community Forum |
| WP-Optimize | Free or $49/Year | Extensive settings can be hard to configure | Free and Premium Support, FAQs, and Forum |
| Breeze | Free | Easy to configure | Support Forum and Cloudways Community Forum for Cloudways Customer |
| Cache Enabler | Free | Cache Exclusion settings are harder to understand | FAQs and Support Forum |
| Swift Performance | $49.99/Year | User-friendly dashboard and settings | Ticket system |
| Cachify | Free | Easy to install and configure | Support Forum |
| Simple Cache | Free | Little or no configuration | Support Forum |
1. WP Rocket
WP Rocket is a premium WordPress cache plugin that lives up to its name. It’s one of the fastest cache plugins available for your WordPress website. The sites using this plugin load almost 3 times faster than the ones without any caching plugins.
Besides that, WP Rocket is feature-rich yet easy to set up and use. Even better, this plugin launches upon its activation and provides immediate results. It’s also compatible with major hosting services, themes, page builders, and plugins like WooCommerce, and Yoast.
Key Features:
- LazyLoad for faster performance.
- Database optimization options.
- Custom Content Delivery Network (CDN) called RocketCDN.
- File minification and GZIP compression.
- Cache preloading feature.
Price: $49/Year
2. WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a free WordPress cache plugin by Automattic, the company behind WordPress. It’s the most downloaded cache plugin with over 2 million active installs. Thanks to the easy configuration and performance optimization. The fast performance is because of static HTML files being served to 99% of your site visitors.
If you feel like your old cached files are cluttering your server, WP Super Cache has a garbage collection function. So, you can delete them all to make space for fresh content. To make things more convenient, it comes with a scheduler that will perform the garbage collection at specified intervals for you.
Key Features:
- Serves cached files in 3 ways.
- Supports CDN.
- Cache preloading option.
- Custom caching with hooks available.
- REST API endpoints to access the settings.
Price: Free
3. W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is one of the best WordPress cache plugins for increasing your website’s speed. In turn, this plugin will help you improve your site’s SEO as well. It can be considered a crowd-favorite with over a million active installations. And to add more, it’s compatible with different types of hosting like shared hosting, virtual private networks, and dedicated servers.
This plugin uses file minification and GZIP compression to minimize the amount of loading time for HTML, CSS, Javascript, and images. Plus, it supports Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) and Secure Socket Layer (SSL). This means your website loads faster on mobile devices and any sensitive information being transferred is encrypted.
Key Features:
- 10x performance improvement.
- Reverse proxy integration.
- Improves web server performance.
- Supports CDN.
- Saves 80% bandwidth with minification.
Price: Free or $99/Year
4. WP Fastest Cache
With features like file minification and image optimization, WP Fastest Cache is another amazing WordPress cache plugin. The best thing is, it’s a beginner-friendly plugin that’s easy to set up and use. And it has both premium and free versions. So, it’s suitable for people who are on a tight budget too.
Moreover, the plugin offers a cache timeout feature. That means you can choose which cached pages are deleted and at which time. If necessary, you can also block caching for specific pages or posts using shortcodes. Additionally, it comes with the Lazy Load option with which you can postpone the loading of offscreen images till all other important files have finished loading.
Key Features:
- Database cleanup.
- Cache preloading.
- Supports Cloudflare plus other CDNs and SSL.
- Enable/ Disable cache option for mobile devices and logged-in users.
- Cache statistics for better insight.
Price: Free or $49.99 for 1 Site
5. Comet Cache
Comet Cache is the best WordPress cache plugin that you can use to boost your website’s speed. With this WordPress plugin, the average page load time of the tested site decreased by 0.92 seconds (in the case of the GTmetrix tool). Plus, installing and activating it is all you have to do for it to start working.
Apart from the simple configuration, you have full control over the automatic cache clearing feature. You can also set an automatic expiration time for the cache files. In addition, it’s compatible with WP-CLI. You can make use of this command-line interface if you need to manage your WordPress site from the command prompt.
Key Features:
- Enables caching for logged-in users.
- Server load monitoring.
- Supports GZIP compression.
- Cache statistics and charts available.
- Client-side browser caching.
Price: Free or $39 for 1 Site
6. WP-Optimize
Another awesome cache plugin on this list is WP-Optimize. It compresses large image files to a size of 5 MB in order to prevent slowing down your site. Not just that, it also uses GZIP compression for files like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to decrease load time.
This plugin automatically cleans out old drafts, spam, and trash to free up space. For those who manage multiple websites, the premium version is a better choice since it provides multisite support. To speed up your site even more, the Lazy Load feature loads only visible elements of the site first before loading other parts.
Key Features:
- Database cleanup and optimization.
- Revert back to original images with ‘Restore Originals’.
- WP-CLI support.
- Cache preloading.
- Advanced cache exclusion rules.
Price: Free or $49/Year
7. Breeze
If you prefer plugins with simple configuration, then Breeze is a great option. Its user-friendly design makes setting it up and using it pretty easy. On top of that, you get important features like database optimization and GZIP compression for free.
Aside from that, it has a file exclusion option that lets you select which file types and URLs you don’t want the plugin to cache. It also offers built-in support for Varnish cache. You can use this alongside Breeze for a much faster website. Besides, it supports CDNs like KeyCDN and Amazon CloudFront for you to optimize your site’s performance even better.
Key Features:
- Simplified CDN integration options.
- WordPress multisite support.
- Compatible with major hosting providers.
- File minification.
- Compatible with important plugins.
Price: Free
8. Cache Enabler
KeyCDN provides one of the best WordPress cache plugins, Cache Enabler, for free. It automatically clears the cache when a page is updated with its smart cache clearing feature. But, that’s not the only method. You can manually clear cache in multiple ways, one of them being WP-CLI.
Besides, it’s compatible with many third-party plugins. So, you can use Cache Enabler with other caching plugins to optimize your site’s performance according to your needs. Additionally, it supports the WebP image format for better image compression. However, it’s important to note that you’ll have to use a plugin called Optimus to enable this feature.
Key Features:
- WordPress multisite network support.
- Cache exclusion options.
- GZIP precompression.
- Custom post type support.
- Manually set cache expiration time.
Price: Free
9. Swift Performance
Swift Performance is a WordPress cache plugin with plenty of useful features under caching, optimization, and WooCommerce. For instance, you get session caching for individual users, stock management, and multi-currency support for sites using WooCommerce.
On top of that, it enables flawless integration with Elementor, Contact Form 7, Nginx helper, and hosting services. This feature-rich plugin also has some interesting extra options like Google Analytics bypass, Whitelabel, Heartbeat Control, and Cronjobs. So, you’ll be able to do a lot more than just speeding your WordPress website.
Key Features:
- Cloudflare and other CDNs support.
- Lazy Load images and other content.
- Support for Varnish cache.
- Intelligent dynamic cache feature.
- Compatible with managed WordPress hosting providers.
Price: Free or $49.99/Year
10. Cachify
Cachify is another free WordPress cache plugin that lets you cache pages and posts to speed up your website. It uses 4 different caching methods: database, web server’s hard drive, Memcached, and Alternative PHP Cache (APC). You can choose from any of them depending on your requirements.
You’ll also need to clear cache in regular intervals to trash old cached files. For this, Cachify provides an automatic as well as manual cache reset feature. If you’re a developer, you can use hooks and filters to extend this plugin’s functionalities.
Key Features:
- WordPress multisite support.
- Manually set cache exceptions.
- Automatic cache management.
- Custom post types can be cached.
- Convenient ‘Flush Site Cache’ button in toolbar.
Price: Free
11. Simple Cache
Just like its name, Simple Cache has the simplest setup. It has ditched all complex configurations for a single-click installation. All you have to do to enable it is, turn on a switch after you install it. Despite its simplicity, it ranks fourth in aThemes’ WordPress plugin performance test, by decreasing a site’s average load time by 0.75 seconds (GTmetrix tool).
Besides that, it uses GZIP compression for fast site performance. And a fast site means increased traffic, improved SEO, and more leads and conversions. You can also clear the cache of old files of your site to free up cache memory.
Key Features:
- Deletion of this plugin won’t break website.
- File-based page caching.
- Purge cache option.
- Manually set cache expiration time.
- Advanced mode available for object caching.
Price: Free
Wrapping Up
So, this was our collection of the best WordPress cache plugins that will help you achieve blazing-fast page load time. A user-friendly interface and customizable functions like cache exclusion and cache clearing make them ideal for giving your website an instant boost-up.
Hopefully, this article made it easier for you to select the best WordPress cache plugin that works the best for you. If it did, please don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more. And please do share your experience of using any of these plugins in the comments.
Also, there are more plugins for you to explore such as e-commerce plugins and Google Analytics plugins. We recommended going through our plugins collection articles if you’re interested.
