Caching Plugins
Caching Plugins.
If you use WordPress, sooner or later you'll need to look into caching plugins. These significantly speed up your website's loading time. There's an almost overwhelming number of plugins available for this purpose, both free and paid.
From very simple (just activate it and you're good to go) to plugins with a wide range of settings that are better suited for the pros among us.
In most cases, these caching plugins work seamlessly with image optimizers or include image optimization right out of the box.
I've put together a small selection in this article. I've tested all of the plugins mentioned myself or am still using them.
Image Optimizer
These are not caching plugins; image optimizers essentially complement your site’s caching and thus further reduce load times.
Over the years, I’ve taken a closer look at the following plugins:
- Imagify (from the same company as WP Rocket)
- EWWW Image Optimizer, one of the best-known plugins for image optimization
For a long time, I used Imagify for image optimization. Unfortunately, the developers gradually removed some features. After the lossless optimization option was also removed and Imagify started deciding how “smartly” images should be optimized, I started looking for an alternative. This was especially because the “smart” optimization made many images (particularly the WEBP versions) look unappealing.
That's how I came across EWWW Image Optimizer. There's a Lifetime Deal for it on Appsumo in collaboration with SWIS (more on that below), there’s a Lifetime Deal that’s significantly cheaper in the medium term than a subscription. EWWW gives me all the options I need to strike a good balance between file quality and size. There’s also a quite useful free plugin for the EWWW Image Optimizer. You can find it right in the WordPress plugin directory.
But now on to the caching plugins…
Cache Enabler
Cache Enabler was the first caching plugin I used. Combined with the Autoptimize plugin, it delivers quite good results.
There aren’t that many options; it’s more of an “activate and you’re done” plugin. Both plugins are free—so you can easily give them a try.
WP Rocket
The veteran among caching plugins and (no longer, in my opinion) the top-rated one in reviews. WP Rocket is a premium plugin; there is no free version. However, there is a “money-back” guarantee if you’re not satisfied with the plugin. In terms of performance, there’s little to complain about with this plugin. However, the version current as of this post’s publication is causing issues—at least for me—with the sliders in the Enfold theme.
Furthermore, the same applies as with Imagify: the developers believe they should decide what’s best for the user. If I encounter settings that can’t be changed (such as disabling emojis), I have to download a corresponding plugin from the WP Rocket website to reactivate the feature.
To be honest, I have no idea why there aren’t any options for such things directly in the plugin (as there were in previous versions). The plugin recommends its in-house image optimizer, Imagify, as a companion tool. However, integration with the aforementioned EWWW is just as seamless.
WP Rocket’s documentation and support are outstanding.
SWIFT Performance
This was the first plugin that caught my eye as an alternative. Swift combines several plugins into one:
the actual caching plugin, an image optimizer, a database optimizer, and a plugin organizer.
In terms of performance, Swift beats WP Rocket by a wide margin on my WordPress installation, but offers far more options. For pros, it’s a tuning paradise; for absolute beginners, it’s a bit overkill.
There are some negative reviews of this plugin, which I can’t really confirm—provided you’re patient enough to work through the setup process.
Compared to WP Rocket, the documentation is rather sparse. However, if you already have some experience with WordPress in general and caching plugins in particular:
In my opinion, Swift Performance is in a league of its own.
The developers have released another caching plugin: Swift AI. This one is a tad faster, but it causes some issues with the sliders for me.
Also, some options have been removed, and the AI makes decisions for me…. The removal of options already annoyed me with WP Rocket.
SWIS
As mentioned above, SWIS comes from the same developer as EWWW Image Optimizer and is currently my favorite caching plugin.
The backend offers a good balance between “turn it on and you’re done” and additional settings for fine-tuning.
The fine-tuning feature allows you to configure settings individually for each page or post via the front end. So if a problem ever arises that occurs only on one page in conjunction with SWIS, you can resolve it through the front-end settings. To do this, you simply need to be logged in as an administrator and then visit your own page.
In terms of speed, this plugin is roughly on par with Swift Performance for me, but it lacks database optimizers and the Plugin Organizer.
The plugin’s documentation is good, but it doesn’t quite measure up to WP Rocket’s. Then again, SWIS is still fairly new on the market.
What really stands out to me is the fantastic support provided by the team
TIP
It’s relatively easy to spend days and nights optimizing caching plugins. Sliders can really slow things down, but they also make pages “prettier.” The key here is to find a balance between speed and the page’s appearance. It won’t be possible to achieve a 100/100 score on PageSpeed Insights or an “A” grade on GTMetrix if your site has a lot of images, slideshows, or sliders. Please keep in mind that the results from such tools sometimes don’t reflect reality. For measurements on mobile devices, Google emulates a slow G4 throttling…
So don’t waste too much time optimizing your pages—unless you’re in a league where every 0.1-second increase in load time results in lost revenue. But in that case, you probably already have a team dedicated to optimization.
Conclusion
From a purely subjective perspective, WP Rocket has failed to incorporate new features that would justify its No. 1 ranking among caching plugins. The plugin is still good, but in my opinion, others are now at least just as good.
I can wholeheartedly recommend SWIS (especially in combination with EWWW). Instead of the subscription, you should check out the lifetime deal on Appsumo mentioned above.
It’s no coincidence that this plugin is my favorite—my experience with the support team has also played a role. For me, SWIS is (still) the best-kept secret among caching plugins.
In my opinion, Swift Performance is the best all-around solution among caching plugins, especially if you don't already have a database or image optimization plugin.
You can’t go wrong with it in terms of performance—and every now and then, there are lifetime deals available here as well. It’s also a good idea to join the Swift Performance group on Facebook. Questions about the plugin itself are answered in the group.
You can find plenty of other articles about WordPress, as well as tips on the SWIS plugin mentioned in this article, here on the blog.
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