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Comparison of caching plugins for WordPress

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What does caching mean?
What are WordPress caching plugins for?
Caching plugins for WordPress: most important functions
The best caching plugins for WordPress
WP Fastest Cache
WP Rocket
W3 Total Cache
WP Super Cache
Caching plugins for WordPress: direct comparison
Advantages of caching plugins for WordPress
Disadvantages of caching plugins for WordPress
Advantages and disadvantages of WP Fastest Cache: summary of the most important ones
Advantages and disadvantages of WP Rocket Premium, the caching plugin for WordPress
Advantages and disadvantages of W3 Total Cache: summary of the most important
Advantages and disadvantages of the WordPress caching plugin WP Super Cache

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Comparison of caching plugins for WordPress

Does your website have a long wait time or poor performance? For many visitors, the slowness of one web page is reason enough to switch to another, which could mean, in the worst case, the loss of potential customers. However, this is not the only factor affected by the optimization, or lack of it, of a web page: ranking in search engines, like Google, also positions fast pages better in the results list . A good tool to optimize the performance of your website are the plugins of caching for WordPress..

Before you start, you may want to know what a cache is.

Index
  1. What does caching mean?
  2. What are WordPress caching plugins for?
    1. Advantages of caching plugins for WordPress
    2. Disadvantages of caching plugins for WordPress
  3. Caching plugins for WordPress: most important functions
  4. The best caching plugins for WordPress
  5. WP Fastest Cache
    1. Advantages and disadvantages of WP Fastest Cache: summary of the most important ones
  6. WP Rocket
    1. Advantages and disadvantages of WP Rocket Premium, the caching plugin for WordPress
  7. W3 Total Cache
    1. Advantages and disadvantages of W3 Total Cache: summary of the most important
  8. WP Super Cache
    1. Advantages and disadvantages of the WordPress caching plugin WP Super Cache
  9. Caching plugins for WordPress: direct comparison

What does caching mean?

Every time a web page is visited, the browser sends a request to the server to send it all the necessary data for the desired page. The server then processes the request, including a request directed to the database, and then transfers all the required data and elements to the browser . Processing of the request can take some time, especially for long pages with many and especially complex CSS files, images, or JavaScript files..

To shorten these waiting periods, the so-called cache memory is used . Instead of requesting the dynamic items from the databases and loading them each time again, a static version of the website is cached. As a result, the user is shown a complete web page, which may not correspond to the most current state of the server, but which loads much faster. This is precisely the process that facilitate plugins for caching WordPress.

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What are WordPress caching plugins for?

The caching has many advantages across the board, so it is always necessary. Depending on the hosting service you use, the provider may already take care of caching from the server level , so you don't have to do anything else. This is especially useful for those without specialized knowledge.

Whether you decide on a hosting shared like WordPress host your site on your own server a plugin for caching WordPress will always be a good idea.

Advantages of caching plugins for WordPress

  • Shorter load times : Since items and files are cached, the browser loads pages faster.
     
  • Better user experience : A page that loads fast is much more attractive to visitors and reduces the bounce rate.
     
  • Lower consumption of resources of the server : The plug - in caching for WordPress reduces the workload of the server, you do not have to process many applications.
     
  • Better search engine optimization : Thanks to shorter loading times and a better user experience, search engine positioning can also improve.
     
  • Less time to first byte (TTFB or time to first byte ) : The TTFB indicates the response time of the server, that is, the time it takes the server to send the first byte to the browser. With a plugin for caching WordPress you can reduce this time.

Disadvantages of caching plugins for WordPress

According to the items you want to display on your website and how often they change the content a plugin for caching WordPress can have the following drawbacks:

  • It requires basic : Unlike the caching at the server level, managing plugins of caching for WordPress requires some knowledge of the subject. Without them, it will be difficult to configure the plugin appropriately for your website and prevent elements from being displayed incorrectly.
     
  • The information is not always up to date : If your website has to show active visitors at all times, the caching will make the browser always show the saved version of the data, which will be out of date. Until the cache is cleared, the current figure will not be displayed.
     
  • Prices on affiliate pages are out of date: Affiliate pages take the price of products from other online stores . With caching , if the price changes in the main store, the browser will not show the changes until the contents of the cache have been cleared. To avoid showing outdated prices on your website, you can configure the cache of affiliate pages in such a way that their content is automatically cleared every one to two hours.
Note

It is recommended to empty the WordPress cache every time you make changes or updates to your web page, so that the browser can directly display the web page with the changes made.

Caching plugins for WordPress: most important functions

The plugins of caching for WordPress offer very varied functions to improve loading times of web pages. The most important are the following:

  • Combining files : Web pages often work with multiple CSS and JS files, each of which requires its own request. To reduce the number of requests, the plugin groups the different CSS and JS files into one.
     
  • Browser caching : When a user visits a web page, the plugin saves copies of the page elements. Thus, if the user revisits the page, the necessary items are retrieved directly from the cache.
     
  • GZip compression : Gzip allows the WordPress caching plugin to reduce the size of HTML, CSS and JS files.
     
  • CDN (Content Delivery Network) : Through a CDN (or content distribution network) data can be transmitted more quickly.
     
  • Image optimization : Large images or in a large number can lengthen the loading times of the web page. Optimizing file size improves performance significantly.

The best caching plugins for WordPress

A wide variety of caching plugins can be found in the WordPress repository . We have chosen the best of them and we have compared them for you. They all offer very diverse configuration possibilities, so we recommend trying two or three different plugins and running a speed test with Pingdom . So you can check which of them best suits your website, your server and your needs.

WP Fastest Cache

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From the WordPress repository you can download a free version of the WP Fastest Cache caching plugin, as well as its paid version. / Source: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-fastest-cache/

WP Cache Fastest which has over one million active installations, is one of the plugins of caching for most used WordPress. Its handling is very simple and offers a wide range of configuration options that can be activated or deactivated by clicking on the corresponding box.

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You can activate the necessary functions of the WordPress caching plugin WP Fastest Cache simply by clicking on the boxes.

WP Fastest Cache offers, in addition to its free version, a paid version with additional tools to speed up your WordPress page. However, the features of the free version are sufficient for most users.

Advantages and disadvantages of WP Fastest Cache: summary of the most important ones

Advantage Drawbacks
? CSS and HTML minimization ? Does not support Multisite
? Allows you to combine JS and CSS files. ? JS files combined and minimized in the footer are only included in the paid version.
? SSL and CDN compliant ? Image optimization is only available in the paid version.
? Compression with GZip ? Database optimization is only available in the paid version.
? Desktop cache  
? Browser caching  
? Pages, cookies, CSS files, and JS files can be excluded from the cache.  
? Provides the option to automatically clear the cache when updating or publishing a post or page.  

WP Rocket

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The WP Rocket WordPress caching plugin offers all the necessary features to get your WordPress page up and running quickly. / Source: https://wp-rocket.me/

WP Rocket is a very complete payment plugin that includes all the necessary functions so that your website loads without waiting. Its developers do not offer a free version, but they do offer a 14-day money-back guarantee when purchasing the paid version. Depending on the number of web pages to which the plugin is applied , its price varies between US $ 36.75 and US $ 186.75.

Thanks to its intuitive user interface, its simple configuration and its easy handling, WP Rocket is a good option especially for beginners in the world of caching plugins for WordPress.

Advantages and disadvantages of WP Rocket Premium, the caching plugin for WordPress

Advantage Drawbacks
? CSS and HTML minimization ? There is no free version.
? Allows you to combine JS and CSS files.  
? Allows lazy loading of JS files.  
? CDN compatible  
? Compression with GZip  
? Desktop cache  
? Browser caching  
? Database optimization  
? Exclusive Google Fonts optimization  

W3 Total Cache

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W3 Total Cache is one of the first caching plugins for WordPress and also one of the most popular. / Source: https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/

W3 Total Cache is completely free and does not offer any paid version with additional features. All the necessary functions are integrated in the basic version . Thanks to the wide range of functions it offers, this plugin can be a bit complicated for beginners, but it is a good choice to get all kinds of detailed configuration options for free.

Advantages and disadvantages of W3 Total Cache: summary of the most important

Advantage Drawbacks
? CSS and HTML minimization ? It does not offer database optimization.
? Allows you to combine JS and CSS files. ? It does not offer lazy loading option.
? Compression with GZip  
? Desktop cache  
? Caching in the browser  
? CDN compatible  
? Multisite compatible  
? Adaptation to mobile devices  

WP Super Cache

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WP Super Cache is, along with W3 Total Cache, the most demanded caching plugin for WordPress./ Source: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache/

Unlike W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache is relatively easy to handle. In particular, the caching modes are very useful : if you are just starting to use these types of plugins , the simple mode allows you to activate an efficient caching that does not carry many risks. If, instead, you want to apply more complex options, the expert mode offers a more detailed configuration . This mode, however, also requires a certain level of prior knowledge, since it modifies important files on the server.

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With the WordPress caching plugin WP Super Cache you can choose between simple mode and expert mode.

The company that has developed the WP Super Cache plugin is the same one that manages WordPress, so this plugin is considered among WordPress users as the official caching plugin of the system . Its biggest advantage is that it generates static HTML pages . This method, compared to obtaining information from the database, makes the browser display the page much faster.

Advantages and disadvantages of the WordPress caching plugin WP Super Cache

Advantage Drawbacks
? Three configuration modes according to the complexity required ? It does not offer Google Font optimization.
? Generate static HTML pages ? It does not offer lazy loading option.
? Compression with GZip ? It does not allow you to individually combine or minimize CSS or JS files.
? Desktop cache  
? Multisite compatible  
? Adaptation to mobile devices  
? CDN compatible  

Caching plugins for WordPress: direct comparison

Now that you have already presented four of the plugins of caching for WordPress best known in this table you can see a comparison of its most important functions.

Features WP Fastest Cache WP Rocket W3 Total Cache WP Super Cache
Browser caching Yes Yes Yes No
Desktop cache Yes Yes Yes Yes
CSS and HTML minimization Yes Yes Yes No
JS minimization Only in the paid version Yes Yes No
Combination of JS and CSS files Yes Yes Yes No
JS files in the footer Only in the paid version Yes No (only with programming knowledge about W3 Total Cache Tag) No
CDN compatible Yes Yes Yes Yes
Compression with GZip Yes Yes Yes Yes
Database optimization Only in the paid version Yes No  
Google Fonts Optimization Only in the paid version Yes No No
Adaptation to mobile devices Only in the paid version Yes Yes Yes
Multisite compatible No Yes Yes Yes
Lazy loading Only in the paid version Yes No No
Image optimization Only in the paid version No No No
Free version Yes No Yes Yes
Pricing for the paid version (as of July 2020) Starting at $ 49.99. Starting at US $ 36.75. Free Free

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