9 Best WP Rocket Alternatives For 2024 (Comparison)
Looking for the best WP Rocket alternatives on the market? We’ve got you covered.
WP Rocket is a great WordPress performance plugin, but it’s not the right choice for everyone.
So, if you’re looking for an alternative, don’t worry—there are plenty of plugins like WP Rocket that could be a good fit for your needs.
To help you explore your options, we’ll be sharing what we think are the best WP Rocket alternatives on the market in this post.
We’ll review each plugin in detail and discuss all their key features, pros and cons, pricing, and more.
The best WP Rocket alternatives – overview
TL;DR:
NitroPack is our favorite alternative to WP Rocket thanks to its ease of use and ability to deliver significant load time improvements.
Paid plans are more expensive than WP Rocket, but I believe it is well worth the price tag given the features on offer. These include a CDN and automatic image compression which negates the need for additional plugins/tools.
It’s pretty much a ‘click and forget’ solution for website performance. This means you get a fast website without getting bogged down in the technical details.
Try it now for free or read more below.
#1 – NitroPack
NitroPack is our overall favorite WP Rocket alternative right now. It’s a ‘set it and forget it’ platform that takes care of literally everything for you right out of the box—no lengthy setup or complicated configuration required.
NitroPack is a true all-in-one website performance optimization platform.
Like WP Rocket, it boasts advanced caching and can handle all the usual optimizations like HTML, CSS, and JS minification.
But on top of that, it also has a few extra features that WP Rocket lacks.
For example, NitroPack comes with a complete image optimization stack. It can handle both lossy and lossless image compression automatically for you, as well as preemptive and adaptive image sizing, WebP conversion, etc.
And it even has an advanced Lazy Loading feature that works with all images on the page, including background images defined in the CSS.
Also, NitroPack comes with a built-in global CDN. In contrast, if you wanted to deploy a CDN with WP Rocket you’d have to purchase RocketCDN separately.
Another thing that differentiates NitroPack from WP Rocket is that it isn’t just for WordPress. You can also use it with other CMS platforms like Magento and OpenCart via connector plugins.
And because it’s a fully-automated solution, there’s no complicated setup process—it applies all the performance optimizations to your site automatically (but you can still disable any optimizations you don’t want to run in the settings).
All you have to do is install it and choose your preferred optimization mode depending on how aggressive you want the optimizations to be. The higher the mode, the faster your site will be.
NitroPack is particularly useful for site owners that are running bloated themes or resource-intensive page builders. This is because the performance improvements can be so dramatic.
We tested it extensively in our in-depth NitroPack review and were super impressed by how well it worked. It improved site speed metrics across the board by a significant amount.
Key features
- Advanced caching minification
- Image compression
- Adaptive image sizing
- WebP conversion
- Advanced Lazy Loading
- Global CDN
- Code minification/compression
- Critical CSS, DNS prefetching, preloading
- Safe Mode for testing
- WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, and OpenCart integration
Pros
- All-in-one solution
- Easy to use (set it and forget it)
- Incredible performance improvements
- Connector plugins for multiple CMS platforms
Cons
- More expensive than WP Rocket
Pricing
NitroPack offers a limited free plan that you can use for up to 5,000 page views or 1GB CDN bandwidth per month.
Paid plans start at $17.50 per month when billed annually and come with a 14-day money back guarantee subject to terms and conditions.
Read our NitroPack review.
#2 – FlyingPress
FlyingPress is another great WP Rocket alternative. It’s a powerful optimization plugin for WordPress that’s lightweight, easy to use, and can instantly boost your site’s Core Web Vitals.
As an all-in-one optimization plugin, FlyingPress aims to offer everything you need for a faster WordPress site in one lightweight plugin.
All you have to do is install and activate it on WP, then follow the step-by-step user interface to configure a few initial settings, and you’re up and running.
FlyingPess will then automatically apply all sorts of website performance enhancements for you.
It’ll automatically generate static HTML pages, and continue to generate new cached pages whenever you make changes to your site.
Plus, it’ll also minify your code, remove unused CSS, optimize Google Fonts, and clean up your database tables to reduce page weight and boost loading times.
When a visitor clicks through to your website page, FlyingPress will preload links, delay non-critical script execution, and lazy load images to reduce initial page weight so that your content loads faster.
And it’s not all about speed either. FlyingPress also handles other important performance optimizations that affect the user experience and your Core Web Vitals. For example, it can add missing width and height attributes to reduce layout shifts and improve visual stability.
The plugin is compatible with all of the most popular themes, plugins, and hosting providers, so you’re not likely to run into any annoying conflicts. And if you do have any technical issues, you can reach out to FlyingPress technicians for rapid, helpful support whenever you need it.
Key features
- Page caching
- Cache preloading
- Minify CSS & JavaScript
- Remove unused CSS
- Delay script execution
- Defer scripts
- Optimize databases
- Lazy Load
- Google Fonts optimization
- Reduce layout shifts
Pros
- Optimizes all Core Web Vitals
- Easy setup and configuration
- Good value for money
- Great support
- All in one solution
Cons
- No free trial version
- No monthly subscription option
- CDN and image compression requires paid add-on
Pricing
Plans start at $60/year ($42 on renewal).
You can purchase the FlyingCDN add-on separately for $3 per 100 GB/site/month. This will unlock additional features including a content delivery network, global file replication, and image compression & WebP.
#3 – WP-Optimize
WP-Optimize is our top-recommended free WordPress optimization plugin. There’s also a premium version available for those who need extended features and advanced optimization options.
WP-Optimize is one of the most popular optimization plugins in the WordPress plugin library, with over 1 million users.
And that’s not at all surprising, given that it gives you a ton of features for free that you’d usually expect to pay for.
In fact, the free version can do most of the stuff the paid WP Rocket plugin can (and a few things it can’t).
It takes care of all the critical website optimizations like site caching, CSS and JS minification, and database cleaning. And it even handles image compression and WebP (something you don’t get on WP Rocket).
For most site owners, these features alone should be more than enough to substantially improve your site speed.
But if you’re an advanced user with a more complex site (like a multisite) or a developer who needs more control, you might consider upgrading to the Premium version.
Premium users unlock the full power of WP-optimize and get access to advanced optimization options, lazy loading, enhanced logging and reporting, automatic Cloudflare cache purging, multisite support, and much more.
And if you’re running a WooCommerce store, you can use the geolocation features available in WP Optimize Premium to serve country-specific cached content to your customers with localized pricing, VAT, etc.
Key features
- Database cleaning
- Website caching
- CSS & JS minification
- Image compression
- WebP support
- Automatic spam deletion
- Cache preloading
- Device-specific cache
- Debugging
Pros
- Outstanding free version
- Includes image compression and core optimizations
- Advanced, developer-friendly options in Premium
- Regularly updated plugin
Cons
- Intrusive ads/upsells on the free version
- Occasional bugs and compatibility issues
Pricing
You can use the regular version of WP-Optimize for free. Premium licenses start at $49/year.
#4 – W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is the best WP Rocket alternative for advanced users. It’s a developer-friendly, web host agnostic, free web performance optimization plugin for WordPress.
W3 Total Cache claims to be able to boost overall site performance tenfold, reduce page load times, and save you up to 80% on bandwidth usage.
It does this by applying all sorts of best practices to your WP site, including caching, minification, script and image deferral, CDN integration, etc.
What makes it different from other plugins is how developer-friendly it is. It gives you a ton of control and flexibility when it comes to configuration. However, the flip side of that is that it’s also not as easy to use.
It takes longer to set up and you’ll need to know what you’re doing in order to configure it correctly, otherwise, you risk breaking your site. It’s also incredibly difficult to uninstall.
This is why we only recommend it to advanced users.
Key features
- CDN management
- AMP support
- SSL support
- Caching
- Code minification with granular control
- Minification of posts, pages, and RSS feeds
- Defer non-critical CSS and Javascript
- Lazy Load
- JavaScript grouping
- WP-CLI support
Pros
- Advanced, developer-friendly features
- Compatible with all web hosts
- Free version available
- Updated regularly
- Offers more flexibility and control
Cons
- Complicated configuration
- Not recommended for beginners
- Difficult to uninstall
Pricing
You can get started with the free version of W3 Total Cache. The Pro license costs $99/year.
#5 – Cache Enabler
Cache Enabler is a super simple but powerful WordPress caching plugin that starts working right out of the box. And it’s totally free!
Cache Enabler does exactly what it says on the tin: Enables caching on your website so that returning visitors can access your site faster.
What’s great about it is that you literally don’t need to spend any time configuring it. It’s been built to work right out of the box for most WordPress installations, so you just need to install and activate it—nothing else required.
That said, if you do want to configure it to better fit your needs, you can do so via the plugin settings page or using hooks.
Aside from caching, it can also handle automatic or manual cache clearing and minification of HTML.
Key features
- Cache engine
- Cache clearing
- WebP support
- Mobile Suppor
- Minification of HTML
- Real-time cache size display
Pros
- Very easy to use
- No configuration required
- Lightweight
- Simple but powerful caching solution
Cons
- Not an all-in-one optimization solution (no image compression, CDN, etc.)
- Not as developer-friendly as other tools
Pricing
The Cache Enabler plugin is completely free and open-source.
#6 – Autoptimize
Autoptimize is another easy-to-use optimization plugin for WordPress. It doesn’t handle caching, but it does pretty much everything else—so it works well alongside a dedicated caching plugin like WP Rocket or Cache Enabler.
You can install the free version of Autoptimize directly from the WordPress plugin database.
Once you’ve done that, it can instantly apply performance-enhancing optimizations to your site straight away. For example, it can minify HTML, aggregate; minify; and cache scripts and styles, defer aggregated full CSS, defer and move scripts to the footer, etc.
Plus, it can also optimize your website images and deploy lazy loading to reduce initial page loading times.
If you have specific configuration requirements, you can use the extensive API to tailor it as required.
And if you want to unlock additional optimization features like a CDN and automatic critical CSS rule generation, you can upgrade to Autoptimize Pro.
Key features
- Aggregate, minify, and cache scripts and styles
- Defer aggregated CSS
- Defer scripts to footer
- Minify HTML
- Lazy load images
- WebP support
- Google Fonts optimization
- Remove WordPress core emojis
- API
Pros
- Easy to use
- Free plugin
- Works well alongside caching plugins (less risk of conflicts)
Cons
- No caching features
- Support could be better
Pricing
Autoptimize is free to install. To unlock Pro features, you can purchase a license starting from $79/year or $11.99/month.
#7 – WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache is a dedicated caching plugin that only takes a second to set up.
Again, installation is super simple. Simply upload it to your plugin directory, activate it, and enable it on the options page, and you’re done—no configuration necessary.
Once you’ve done that, it’ll deploy a cache system that generates a static HTML file and saves it so that when your website visitors return to a page they’ve already visited, the page doesn’t have to be rendered again each time. This reduces the demand on your server and improves loading speeds.
Cache files are automatically deleted when you publish a new post or page, or at a preset interval, and you can also delete cached files manually through the plugin options page.
The free version of the plugin only handles basic caching. But if you upgrade to the premium version, you also get other optimization features like code minification, Gzip compression, browser caching, emoji disabling, etc.
Key features
- Mod_Rewrite cache method
- Automatically and manually delete cached files
- Shortcode to block cache for specific pages
- Cache timeouts
- CDN support
- SSL support
- Proxy cache
Pros
- Easy initial setup
- Simple but powerful caching
- Regularly updated
Cons
- Free version only includes caching features
- Limited support
Pricing
WP Fastest Cache is free to use. If you’re looking for a premium WordPress caching plugin, their lifetime license is from $49.
#8 – WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a dedicated caching plugin for WordPress by Automattic. It’s very popular, with over 2 million installations to date.
WP Super Cache works like any other caching plugin: It generates static HTML files for your WordPress pages, which are then served to your website visitors instead of much heavier PHP scripts.
But what’s cool is that it gives you 3 different ways of serving cached files: Expert, Simple, and WP Cache caching.
The Expert option uses the apache Mod_Rewrite module and is the fastest method as it completely passes PHP, but it requires modifying your .htaccess file which is inherently risky.
The Simple caching option is a safer, easier way to use the plugin. It serves static files by PHP and doesn’t require .htaccess file modifications.
Key features
- Multiple caching methods
- Rest API
- Custom caching
- Compression
- Clean up cache files
- Preloading
- CDN support
Pros
- 3 different caching methods
- Lots of configuration options
- Free and open source
Cons
- Not as easy to use as some plugins
- Requires some technical knowledge for proper configuration
- Other free plugins are much better
Pricing
WP Super Cache is completely free.
#9 – LiteSpeed Cache
Last but not least, we have LiteSpeed Cache—an all-in-one website acceleration plugin for WordPress
It offers a ton of useful optimization features for free, including image optimization, code minification, lazy load images, database cleaner, Cloudflare API, etc.
It’s also one of the only free plugins that support multisite. And it’s compatible with most popular plugins like Yoast, WooCommerce, etc.
In addition to the general features, there are some additional exclusive caching features for users who have a LiteSpeed server. These include automatic page caching, private caches for users that have logged in, automatic cache purges, API systems, etc.
Key features
- CDN cache
- Object cache
- Image optimization
- CSS, HTML, and JS minification
- Minify inline and external CSS
- Lazy load images
- CDN support
- Defer JS
- Database cleaner and optimization
- PageSpeed optimization
- Cloudflare API
- Server-level cache (LiteSpeed exclusive)
Pros
- Lots of advanced optimizations
- Free and open source
- Regularly updated
- All-in-one solution
Cons
- LiteSpeed server required for cache features
- Not as easy to use as some plugins
Pricing
LiteSpeed Cache is free to use. However, a LiteSpeed server is needed to unlock cache features.
The best WP Rocket alternatives FAQ
What is WP Rocket?
WP Rocket is known as a WordPress caching plugin, but it’s really more of an all-in-one performance optimization plugin.
Once you’ve installed it on your WordPress site and set up the basic configuration, it’ll automatically apply web performance best practices, so that your site loads faster.
For example, it’ll cache your web pages by creating static HTML files to reduce page loading times for future visitors. It also minifies code like CSS and JavaScript, which reduces page weight and further boosts speed.
WP Rocket also comes with a bunch of other performance-enhancing features, like LazyLoad images, database cleaning, etc.
Does WP Rocket compress images?
Image compression is one of the things WP Rocket can’t do—which is one of the reasons it might not be the right choice for everyone.
If you want a way to compress your images, you’ll either need to use WP Rocket alongside a dedicated image compression tool like Imagify.
Or alternatively, just use an all-in-one WP Rocket alternative like NitroPack.
NitroPack uses lossy compression and adaptive image sizing to reduce image file sizes. Plus, it can take care of all the other things you need to do to boost website performance, like caching, minification, etc.
What’s the best free WP Rocket alternative?
If you have a low-traffic site, we’d recommend the free version of NitroPack. It comes with all features but is restricted to 5,000 pageviews or 1GB of CDN bandwidth per month. If you exceed that, it’ll be automatically disabled.
If you have a high-traffic site that will exceed those limits, WP-optimize is probably your best bet. It will cache your site, clean your database, and compress your images for free. Just bear in mind that if you want to unlock premium features like Lazy Loading and multisite support, you’ll need to upgrade to the Premium version.
Should I use a caching plugin?
Yes, most WordPress website users could benefit from using a caching plugin as doing so can substantially boost your site performance, improve your Core Web Vitals, and reduce page loading times.
And this increase in performance and speed can improve both your website SEO and user satisfaction.
That said, remember that you only need one method of caching for your site. Installing and running multiple caching plugins at the same time can cause conflicts that break your site
Therefore, we’d always recommend running a comprehensive backup of your site before installing a caching plugin, and testing it out in a staging area before you roll it out to your live website. You can use a WordPress backup plugin for this.
How do I test my website speed?
Once you’ve installed and activated your WordPress plugin, you can run a speed test on your website to measure the impact it’s had.
The easiest way to test your website speed is to use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, Pingdom.
Make sure you test your site speed before and after installing the plugin to see the difference.
The average page speed of a page that ranks on the first page of Google is 1.65 seconds, so this is a good benchmark to aim for. If your pages are loading faster than that, your plugin is doing a great job.
How else can I improve my site speed?
Installing a WordPress optimization plugin like those in this roundup is just one way to improve your website speed.
Another way to boost your site speed is to choose a fast web hosting provider. Check out our roundup of the best web hosting services to explore your options. If you’re focused on WordPress, check out this comparison of managed WordPress hosts instead.
You can also try reducing the number of plugins on your site, reducing the number of images/videos you include on your website pages, and using a CDN.
Choosing the best WP Rocket alternative
That concludes our roundup of the best WP Rocket caching plugin alternatives.
All of the plugins in this roundup do a fantastic job of improving your site speed and performance, but if you’re not sure which one is the best fit for your needs, here’s what we’d suggest:
- NitroPack is the best choice if you just want the very best all-in-one optimization solution. It can do everything that WP Rocket can and more.
- FlyingPress is the next best thing if NitroPack is out of your budget range. It’s a little more affordable and shares many of the same features
- WP-Optimize is a fantastic free solution if you’re not ready to invest in a paid plugin yet. The free WordPress plugin can take care of most of the optimizations you need to improve your site performance.
Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. If you click on certain links we may make a commission.