In an attempt to speed up their websites, many WordPress users install a caching plugin. Is it a really necessary step?
Well, installing a caching plugin is indeed one of the most common practices to boost site performance. A caching plugin helps your site to be loaded faster by lightening up your server job. Commonly, a caching plugin works by generating the static HTML pages of your website and saves the files to your server. Every time a user is trying to access your website, the caching plugin serves the generated HTML files instead of processing the PHP scripts (processing PHP scripts means more resource usage) of WordPress to generate new ones. The result is a faster page load.
When your site is fast to load, not only it will get a better position on search engines. It will also have a good reputation in the eyes of both your clients and your visitors in general.
We have compiled the best WordPress caching plugins you can try. From free to paid.
Best WordPress Caching Plugins
1. SG Optimizer
SG Optimizer is a plugin developed by SiteGround, a popular web hosting provider. It is available for free. To use it, you need to be a SiteGround user as the plugin is designed to link WordPress with the SiteGround Performance services. The plugin doesn’t work on other web hosting providers. SG Optimizer itself supports both manual and automatic cache purge. SG Optimizer allows you to configure your dynamic caching and Memcached. In addition to the caching feature, SG Optimizer also comes with some features to optimize your site performance, including Lazy Load, frontend optimization, and so on.
2. Borlabs Cache
Borlabs Cache is not available on the WordPress plugin directory so it might rarely be mentioned in the caching plugin discussion. Borlabs Cache itself is released as a freemium plugin. You can use the free version of the plugin before updating it to the pro version to unlock more features. Borlabs Cache offers several caching presets you can enable. If you use WooCommerce, you can enable the E-commerce caching preset. If you have an online magazine or blog, you can use the Magazine/Blog caching preset. In addition to caching presets, Borlabs Cache also comes with the following features:
- Caching & preloading
- Fragment caching
- Cache view
- Individual cache lifetimes
3. Cachify
Cachify is a free caching plugin. Once installed and activated, it will automatically cache the pages and blog posts of your website (also support custom post types). If you want certain pages or posts not to be cached, you can also do so from the Cachify settings page. There is also an option to disable the caching process on certain web browsers (by the user agent). Cachify offers options to choose the caching whether via database, on the web server’s storage, or Memchaced (Nginx only).
4. LiteSpeed Cache
If you use LiteSpeed webserver on your website then LiteSpeed Cache is a perfect caching plugin you can install. LiteSpeed Cache also works on both Nginx and Apache, but you need to use QUIC.cloud service to make the caching feature of the LiteSpeed Cache plugin work.
5. WP Rocket
WP Rocket is probably the most popular premium WordPress caching plugin. It is used by many businesses and professionals who have a WordPress site. WP Rocket offers no free version. There is even no trial version. To use it, you need to spend at least $49 for a single website. Three main features offered by WP Rocket regarding the caching:
- Page caching
- Cache preloading
- Browser caching
If you use CloudFlare, WP Rocket offers a feature to make it easier for you to integrate WP Rocket with CloudFlare.
6. WP-Optimize
WP-Optimize is developed by the same team as UpdraftPlus, a popular backup plugin. So, if you use UpdraftPlus to backup your website then you might want to use this plugin to speed up your website as well. WP-Optimize is released as a freemium plugin, meaning that you can use it for free. The caching features offered by WP-Optimize include browser cache to tell web browsers to reuse the resources (such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) if no changes were made since the last request. Other features include cache preloading and device-specific cache.
7. WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a product from Automattic, a company behind popular plugins such as WooCommerce and Jetpack. It is one of the most popular WordPress caching plugins with over 2 million active users. WP Super Cache is released as a free plugin. If offers both Simple and Expert caching methods. You can exclude some post types from the caching process. There is also an option to enable dynamic caching and cache preload. WP Super Cache also allows you to set a custom location for the cache files.
8. W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is another popular enough caching plugin with over 1 million active users. You can use it for free with an option to upgrade to the pro version to unlock more features. W3 Total Cache offers some features regarding the caching. You can enable the following options from the W3 Total Cache settings page:
- Page caching
- Database caching
- Object caching
- Browser caching
9. WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache is another great option if you are looking for a free caching plugin. There is also a pro version you can upgrade to in case you need to unlock more features as time goes. The free version offered by WP Fastest Cache allows you to enable cache preloading and browser caching. You can also create rules to exclude certain post types from the caching process.
10. Cache Enabler
Cache Enabler is a plugin developed by KeyCDN, a CDN service. So, if you use KeyCDN as your CDN service then Cache Enabler is the perfect plugin. In order to make this plugin work properly, you need to edit the wp-config.php file on your WordPress to define the caching. Here is the example:
define( 'WP_CACHE', true );
Once the caching is defined, the plugin will start to work. To save your server storage, Cache Enabler allows you to automatically delete the cache files during certain period (in hours). You can also both exclude and include certain pages/posts from the caching.
11. Swift Performance
Swift Performance is a plugin that you can use to speed up your site by implementing some optimization techniques, including caching. The plugin is released as a freemium plugin. Regarding the caching functionality, Swift Performance allows you to enable browser cache and dynamic caching. You can also create separate cache for mobile devices which is useful if you have a non-responsive website yet has a separate mobile theme/layout. You can also set a custom location for the cache files.
