The speed of your website depends on the way it is built, the hosting you use, but also on how you set the caching. There are many caching plugins that can give your website a speed boost. In this article, we will introduce you to 4 caching plugins that will do this job for you.
Keep in mind that caching is often an interaction between what happens on the website itself and on the server on which your website resides. If your site is hosted by a good web host, caching often takes place at server level there as well.
WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a popular free caching plugin from Automattic, the company behind WordPress. Millions of websites use it, and you often see this plugin at the top of lists along with W3 Total Cache.
What WP Super Cache does is simple: it creates static HTML versions of your pages. As a result, WordPress does not have to run the heavy PHP scripts every time, and that speeds up your website considerably.
A big advantage of this plugin is that you can choose from three different cache modes:
- Simple Mode - easy and safe, perfect for beginners.
- Expert Mode - gives advanced users more control, including modifications to the .htaccess file.
- WP-Cache Mode - something in between, for users seeking a balance between convenience and control.
Simple mode is usually sufficient for most websites. It allows you to compress pages, cache them, and even link to a CDN for faster file distribution.
A useful feature of WP Super Cache is the garbage-collecting process. Old cache files are automatically cleared, so your site does not become slower as the cache grows.
Why WP Super Cache is a good choice:
- Free and reliable, with regular updates from Automattic.
- Easy to install and understand, even for beginners.
- Three cache modes for different experience levels.
- Garbage-collecting keeps your site fast and clean.
- CDN integration and page compression for improved performance.
In short, WP Super Cache is a solid, user-friendly option if you want a fast and stable website without any hassles.
W3 Total Cache
W3 Total Cache is one of the best-known caching plugins for WordPress. Millions of websites use this plugin to improve their load times. It is completely free and open-source, and you get a hefty amount of features at no extra cost.
The strength of W3 Total Cache is that it offers many different caching options. For example, you can minify HTML, CSS and JavaScript, enable database and object caching, and use HTTP compression. It also supports CDN integration, which means you can serve media files faster to visitors around the world. Moreover, it works well with SSL sites and is suitable for both desktop and mobile users.
One drawback is that the settings page can be quite overwhelming for beginners. There are a lot of options in there, and it can take a while to figure out what everything does. Fortunately, the plugin fills in many settings automatically, so your site will still be faster without you having to configure everything yourself.
Why W3 Total Cache is a good choice:
- Free and open-source, with millions of active installations.
- Supports all types of hosting: shared, dedicated, and clusters.
- Caching for mobile and desktop users.
- Minification and compression of files.
- Database and object caching.
- Easy integration with CDN for faster media files.
- SSL-compatible, ideal for eCommerce sites.
In short, W3 Total Cache is a powerful plugin that offers a lot of control over how your website is cached. For beginners, it may take some puzzling, but those willing to go through the settings will get a fast and reliable website.
WP Rocket
WP Rocket is a premium caching plugin for WordPress. You pay once for a licence, and updates and support are included as long as you make the annual payment. Prices are $59 for one website, $119 for three websites and $299 for an unlimited number of websites.
What makes WP Rocket special is that it is one of the most user-friendly and versatile caching plugins on the market. There is no free version, but you do get a 14-day no-quibble money-back guarantee.
The plugin stands out for its easy installation and clear interface. Even beginners can understand most of the settings and instantly make their site faster.
WP Rocket also works well with eCommerce websites, where speed is often crucial. While some free plugins only offer basic caching, WP Rocket has a broader package: page caching, browser caching, lazy loading for images and much more.
Why WP Rocket is a good choice:
- Easy to install and use, even for beginners.
- Optimises your database by cleaning up unnecessary files.
- Lazy loading for images, so they only load when someone scrolls to them.
- CloudFlare-compatible for extra speed.
- Integration with popular multilingual plugins.
- Supports multisite installations.
- Cache can be pre-loaded.
- Tools for minification and merging of CSS and JavaScript.
- Unique optimisation for Google Fonts.
- Support for object caching.
In short, WP Rocket is ideal if you want a powerful, complete caching plugin that satisfies both beginners and advanced users. The price of $59 for one website is well worth it considering all the features you get with it.
In this article, you will read exactly how to get everything out of WP Rocket. We explain how all the settings work and how to configure them.
WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache is a popular caching plugin known for its simplicity and speed. The plugin has a free version that you can get started with right away, and a premium version that you can buy through its settings. The premium version is a one-time purchase and adds extra features, but for most websites the free version is already more than enough.
The free version includes:
- Desktop caching
- HTML minification
- Combination of CSS and JavaScript
- Browser caching
- GZIP compression
The settings page is very clear. Everything is listed with checkboxes, often with brief explanations attached. This shows you exactly what each option does. You can also use tabs for additional features such as cache time-outs, image optimisation and CDN integration.
Why WP Fastest Cache is a good choice:
- Free version is powerful enough for most websites.
- Settings are easy to understand, even for beginners.
- Upgrade to premium can be done quickly via the dashboard, without separate downloads.
- CSS and JavaScript can be resized and merged.
- CDN support without complicated configuration.
- Image optimisation separate from caching, so you see exactly how much space you save.
- Ability to create separate cache for mobile themes, so that mobile visitors get a different cached version than desktop users.
While there is no central official documentation, there are plenty of tutorials available on the developers' blog to help you with configuration.
In short, WP Fastest Cache is a user-friendly plugin that can give your website a definite speed boost, without needing much technical knowledge.
Conclusion
Each caching plugin has its own strengths. It is smart to try several caching plugins and then see which one works best in combination with the hosting you purchase. Make sure you first create a staging environment (a copy of your website) on which you test the plugins.
