If you are serious about the loading speed of your WordPress website, using a good caching plugin is the most important thing. For a fast-loading website, along with using a fast-loading WordPress theme, premium web host, and CDN, installing a WordPress cache plugin is equally important.
But, along with the time, numerous caching plugins developed, making it difficult for beginners to choose a perfect caching plugin for their WordPress website. There are many premium and free WordPress caching plugins available to download, I am writing this post to filter out the best caching plugins for WordPress websites to try in 2024.
Here’s What You Need To Know Before Choosing a Cache Plugin
Before you choose a cache plugin for your WordPress website, the first thing you should know is the caching itself. You should understand what caching does and what type of caching you need for your website.
So, website caching means temporarily storing webpages and data so that visitors can retrieve webpages much faster by reducing the server load. So, now you know how important the caching is.
After that, you need to know the types of caching. There are different types of caching you can implement on your WordPress website such as page caching, object caching, browser caching, and CDN caching.
Page caching is used to store fully rendered HTML versions of your web pages so that they can be served to visitors as fast as possible. On the other hand, object caching temporarily stores frequently accessed database objects instead of caching the entire page like page caching. Browser caching, as the name suggests, stores cached data on visitor’s browsers for a faster loading experience. CDN caching is implemented with the help of a CDN (Content Delivery Network).
Almost all the caching plugins available on the WordPress plugins repository offer page caching but only some of them support object caching. Some caching plugins and content delivery networks support browser caching features as well.
So, before choosing a caching plugin for your WordPress website, you must understand your caching needs. One more thing that you need to know before choosing a caching plugin is server compatibility. Some web hosts work best with a specific caching plugin recommended by them. So, it’s always better to consult with your web hosting provider for the recommended caching plugin for your WordPress website.
The Best WordPress Caching Plugins
Below in this post, I am going to share some of the best WordPress caching plugins to try in 2024. Check out their features and choose the one according to your needs.
1. WP Rocket
I have been using the WP Rocket plugin on one of my WordPress blogs for more than 6 years, now all I can say is that it is the best WordPress caching plugin for beginners. It comes with a user-friendly interface and very simple on/off settings that make this plugin a perfect choice for beginners.
The only thing that restricts beginners to not choose this plugin is that it is not a free plugin. Its price starts from $59/year. It is a completely premium WordPress caching plugin that doesn’t provide any free version.
Along with the page caching, the plugin allows you to enable the browser caching feature to take the speed of your WordPress website to the next level. The plugin also allows you to enable caching separately for mobile and desktop users.
The best part about this plugin is that along with caching, lazy loading, file compressing, and preloading, the WP Rocket plugin offers a database optimization feature to clean up your WordPress database and optimize tables.
Pros
- Beginner-friendly user interface.
- GZIP compression and lazy loading.
- Allows CDN integration.
- Prevents layout shifts by adding missing image dimensions.
- Database optimization.
- Automatically applies the best practices for beginners.
- Advanced options and code snippets for developers.
Cons
- It neither has a free version nor a free trial.
- The image optimization feature isn’t available.
- You’ll have to install a separate plugin for image optimization.
- There is no phone or live chat support available.
2. LiteSpeed Cache
It is yet another powerful caching plugin for WordPress that I have been using on two of my websites for more than 2 years. It is a premium caching solution but unlike WP Rocket, it comes with a free version with all the core features of the plugin.
This caching plugin offers many advanced features free of cost where other plugins are charging for them. With the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, you get the full page caching of your web pages.
The thing that makes this plugin more powerful is that it provides server-level caching. This is why to use this plugin, your web host should have Litespeed Web Servers.
Unlike WP Rocket, the LiteSpeed Cache plugin provides free CDN caching. Along with the CDN caching, LiteSpeed Cache offers Browser Caching and Object Caching as well. And all these different types of caching options for free of cost.
Pros
- Free object caching feature.
- More powerful caching solution due to server-level caching.
- CDN caching with the core plugin at no additional cost.
- Image optimization and lazy loading both are available.
- Comes with object caching with the free version.
- A large number of performance and optimization features.
Cons
- It’s not that beginner-friendly.
- Complex initial setup as compared to WP Rocket.
- Dependency on the LiteSpeed Web Servers.
- Advanced configuration settings require more technical knowledge.
3. WP Super Cache
Here comes the original WordPress caching plugin developed by Automattic, the same team that developed WordPress. This makes it more trustworthy in the market. The best thing about this plugin is that it is completely free, there is no cost involved.
With a very minimal configuration and beginner-friendly setup, it is specially designed for people who are new to caching and WordPress. If you are in the starting phase of blogging and running your blog on a shared hosting package, this is the perfect plugin for you because it uses very minimal server resources.
It offers full-page caching and preloading just like other plugins do. Along with this, it also supports browser caching with less control. But, unlike the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, it doesn’t have a built-in object caching feature.
Pros
- Easy-to-use setup specially designed for beginners.
- The lightweight plugin.
- Uses very minimal server resources.
- Original caching plugin by WordPress itself.
- Completely free and open source.
- Supports browser caching and CDN caching.
- Separately caches mobile pages.
Cons
- Doesn’t come with a built-in object caching feature.
- Features like image optimization and database caching are absent.
- Limited support mainly through community forums.
- You’ll have to clear the cache manually after making changes to your website.
4. W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is one of the highly-rated WordPress caching plugins that comes with both free and paid versions. The best thing about this plugin is that it supports all types of caching including page caching, browser caching, and object caching.
Another good thing about this plugin is that it is compatible with all kinds of hosting plans such as shared hosting, VPS, dedicated servers, etc. Additionally, it allows you to integrate CDN to reduce the load on your hosting servers.
The plugin also has built-in image lazy loading and resizing features but when it comes to image optimization, you will have to rely on any external image optimization plugin. It allows you to use the WebP Converter extension to improve the performance of media files.
However, despite having many premium features available for free in this plugin, some users found the settings difficult to understand. So, it might not be as beginner-friendly approach as the WP Super Cache.
Pros
- Plenty of features even in the free version.
- Supports caching for Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).
- Supports all kinds of caching including object caching and browser caching.
- Allows you to cache specifically for mobile devices.
- Millions of downloads and good ratings make it more reliable.
Cons
- A bit complex to understand for beginners.
- No built-in image optimization feature.
- Sometimes excessive server resource usage.
- Free support is limited to forums only.
Verdict: Which One is the Best?
Above in this article, you have gone through all the best paid and free WordPress caching plugins. For each plugin, I mentioned the pros and cons to make it easier for you to decide the perfect WordPress caching plugin for you. Now, it’s totally up to your preference.
I personally like the WP Rocket plugin because of its easy and automatic setup process. It has almost all the necessary features that are needed for an optimized and high-speed WordPress website. The only thing that may restrict you from using WP Rocket is not having a free version.
So, as an alternative to WP Rocket, I would suggest you try the Litespeed Cache plugin which is available for free with even more features than WP Rocket. The only thing you will need to cross-check before installing the Litespeed cache plugin is the compatibility with your web host.
