Advanced Database Cleaner vs Perfmatters
Updated 11 Oct 2026. 22 features compared side by side.
Freemium WordPress database cleaner with previews, keep-last-X-days rules, scheduled tasks and table tools; Premium adds orphan detection.
Premium performance plugin for script management, delayed JS, unused CSS removal, lazy loading and local fonts. Not a page cache; pair it with one.
Choose Advanced Database Cleaner if…
- You need orphaned & duplicate metadata and leftover plugin tables
- You also want autoloaded options control and leftover options & cron jobs
- You want the more complete feature set (89/100 vs 42/100)
- You want to start with a free version
Choose Perfmatters if…
- You need limit future revisions
- You want the lower entry price ($29.95/yr vs $39/yr)
- You prefer the more widely used option
Advanced Database Cleaner includes 11 features that Perfmatters lacks, including Orphaned & duplicate metadata, Leftover plugin tables and Leftover options & cron jobs; Perfmatters has 1 that Advanced Database Cleaner lacks, including Limit future revisions. Both include 8 of the 22 features we track.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Advanced Database Cleaner PerfmattersCleanup8/84/8
Deletes post revisions with a preview, optionally only those older than X days.
Database section deletes revisions for posts, pages and custom post types.
Cleans auto-drafts and trashed posts; trashed-post cleanup limited to core post types for safety.
Deletes auto-drafts and trashed posts.
Removes pending, spam and trashed comments plus pingbacks and trackbacks.
Deletes spam and trashed comments; no option for unapproved comments.
Cleans expired transients and lists all transients, flagging large ones for deletion.
Deletes expired transients, or all transients if chosen.
Removes unused and duplicated post, comment, user and term meta; Premium adds owner-based orphan detection.
Not among the database cleanup options listed.
Premium scans to find tables left by removed plugins; free only flags invalid-prefix tables.
No tool for finding or deleting leftover plugin tables.
Premium detects orphaned options and cron jobs; free flags cron jobs with no valid action.
No cleanup for leftover plugin options or cron events.
Premium cleans completed, failed and cancelled actions, their logs and orphan logs.
Action Scheduler data is not among the cleanup options.
Optimisation4/52/5
Optimise tables manually or on a schedule to reclaim space.
Runs OPTIMIZE TABLE in the background on optimisable (mainly MyISAM) tables.
Repairs corrupted tables and highlights ones needing repair.
No table repair option in the database section.
Shows large autoloaded options and lets you set autoload yes/no per option or transient.
No autoloaded options report or toggle in the documented features.
Action to convert table engines to InnoDB, added in version 4.1.0.
No engine conversion tool; docs only note OPTIMIZE skips InnoDB.
Cleans existing revisions only; no setting to cap future revisions is listed.
General setting to disable revisions or cap them at 1 to 30.
Automation & safety4/52/5
Free allows up to 5 scheduled cleanup/optimise/repair tasks, hourly to monthly; Premium is unlimited.
Selected optimisations can run daily, weekly or monthly in the background.
Sortable preview tables list the exact items and estimated space before cleaning.
Scan Database refreshes the item counts shown beside each optimisation.
Keep last X days is free; keep last X items (per parent or global) is Premium.
Cleanups remove all matching items; no keep-last-X setting documented.
No backup feature; the FAQ tells you to back up before cleaning.
No built-in backup; docs warn changes are permanent and say to back up first.
Core items are protected from deletion by default; no general user-defined exclusion list documented.
No way to exclude specific tables or items documented.
Insights & admin3/41/4
Shows database size, table sizes, row counts and estimated space each cleanup frees.
Shows counts only, not table sizes or space saved.
Premium labels which plugin or theme owns each table, option, cron job and meta key.
Does not show which plugin created a table or option.
Main site can clean the whole network in free; Premium adds per-site filtering.
Multisite works on the Unlimited plan, but no network-wide database cleanup is documented.
No WP-CLI commands are documented on WordPress.org or the vendor site.
WP-CLI commands cover licence, options and caches but not database cleanup.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Advanced Database Cleaner Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Starter | $39 per year, 1 site |
| Standard | $59 per year, 5 sites |
| Agency | $119 per year, Unlimited |
Perfmatters Premium
| Personal | $29.95 per year, 1 site |
|---|---|
| Business | $59.95 per year, 3 sites |
| Unlimited Sites | $124.95 per year, Unlimited |
Downloads trend
Advanced Database Cleaner
4,816 downloads last week
Perfmatters
No WordPress.org download data (premium-only plugin).
Verdict
Advanced Database Cleaner scores higher on our feature checklist (89/100 against 42/100) and includes orphaned & duplicate metadata, leftover plugin tables and autoloaded options control that Perfmatters does not. Perfmatters still has the edge on limit future revisions. Only Advanced Database Cleaner has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Advanced Database Cleaner: included. Perfmatters: not included. Removes unused and duplicated post, comment, user and term meta; Premium adds owner-based orphan detection.
Advanced Database Cleaner: paid version (Starter). Perfmatters: not included. Premium scans to find tables left by removed plugins; free only flags invalid-prefix tables.
Advanced Database Cleaner: included. Perfmatters: not included. Shows large autoloaded options and lets you set autoload yes/no per option or transient.
Advanced Database Cleaner: paid version (Starter). Perfmatters: not included. Premium detects orphaned options and cron jobs; free flags cron jobs with no valid action.
Advanced Database Cleaner: paid version (Starter). Perfmatters: not included. Premium labels which plugin or theme owns each table, option, cron job and meta key.
Advanced Database Cleaner: paid version (Starter). Perfmatters: not included. Premium cleans completed, failed and cancelled actions, their logs and orphan logs.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, Advanced Database Cleaner or Perfmatters?
Advanced Database Cleaner scores higher on our feature checklist (89/100 against 42/100) and includes orphaned & duplicate metadata, leftover plugin tables and autoloaded options control that Perfmatters does not. Perfmatters still has the edge on limit future revisions. Only Advanced Database Cleaner has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
Advanced Database Cleaner includes 19 of the 22 features we track, against 9 for Perfmatters. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Advanced Database Cleaner free?
Advanced Database Cleaner has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $39/yr.
Is Perfmatters free?
Perfmatters is premium only. Paid plans start at $29.95/yr.
Feature data last changed 11 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Advanced Database Cleaner or Perfmatters. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.