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Hummingbird vs Jetpack Boost

Updated 5 Oct 2026. 25 features compared side by side.

Hummingbird

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (1,488)

WPMU DEV's performance plugin with page, browser and Gravatar caching, asset optimisation, Cloudflare tools and Redis; Pro adds critical CSS and a CDN.

Free installs70K+
From$60/yr
UpdatedNov 2026
Visit site Full profile
VS

Jetpack Boost

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 (612)

Automattic's one-click speed plugin: page cache, critical CSS, deferred JS, concatenation and an image CDN. Paid tier automates critical CSS.

Free installs200K+
From$239.40/yr
UpdatedOct 2026
Visit site Full profile

Choose Hummingbird if…

  • You need remove unused CSS and browser caching rules
  • You also want cache preloading and object cache
  • You want the more complete feature set (86/100 vs 49/100)
  • You want the lower entry price ($60/yr vs $239.40/yr)

Choose Jetpack Boost if…

  • You prefer the more widely used option

Hummingbird includes 9 features that Jetpack Boost lacks, including Browser caching rules, Cache preloading and Object cache. Both include 11 of the 25 features we track. 2 features are not yet verified for one or both plugins.

At a glance

Hummingbird
Jetpack Boost
86/100
Feature score
49/100
21 of 25
Features included
12 of 25
4.7/5
WordPress.org rating
4.7/5
70K+
Active installs
200K+
100%
Support threads resolved
75%

Feature comparison

Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.

Feature
Hummingbird
Jetpack Boost
Caching8/83/8
Page caching KeyServes pre-built HTML pages.
Hummingbird Included

Full page cache; uses WPMU DEV static server cache when hosted there.

Jetpack Boost Included

Disk-based static page cache for logged-out visitors.

Browser caching rulesSets cache headers for static files.
Hummingbird Included

Sets browser cache expiry, or Cloudflare browser TTL when connected.

Jetpack Boost Not included

Does not manage browser cache headers.

Cache preloadingBuilds the cache before visitors arrive.
Hummingbird Included

Preload caching option builds cached files automatically.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No cache preloading; pages cache on first visit.

Object cacheRedis or Memcached object caching.
Hummingbird Included

Redis integration for object caching when Redis is available.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No Redis/Memcached integration.

Separate mobile cacheDifferent cache for mobile devices.
Hummingbird Included

Cache on mobile devices option, on by default.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No separate mobile cache.

WooCommerce-aware cachingExcludes cart, checkout and account pages automatically.
Hummingbird Included

Excludes WooCommerce session cookies and cart/checkout pages by default.

Jetpack Boost Included

Honours DONOTCACHEPAGE, which WooCommerce sets on cart/checkout; URL exclusions too.

Page cache on any serverPage caching works on Apache, Nginx and LiteSpeed alike.
Hummingbird Included

Works on any host; switches to static server cache on WPMU DEV hosting.

Jetpack Boost Included

Works on most hosts; cache toggle hidden where the host runs its own page cache.

Multisite supportWorks on WordPress multisite networks.
Hummingbird Included

Network-level page cache controls with optional per-subsite opt-out.

Jetpack Boost Not verified

No documentation found on multisite network support.

CSS & JavaScript7/75/7
Minify CSS & JSStrips whitespace from CSS and JavaScript.
Hummingbird Included

Compress CSS/JS per file or automatically; Pro adds enhanced minify.

Jetpack Boost Included

Concatenate and minify CSS and JS modules.

Combine filesMerges CSS/JS files.
Hummingbird Included

Combine option per asset in Asset Optimization.

Jetpack Boost Included

Concatenates JS and CSS files to reduce requests.

Defer / delay JavaScript KeyLoads scripts after the page renders or on interaction.
Hummingbird Included

Defer free; Delay JavaScript until interaction needs Pro.

Jetpack Boost Included

Defers non-essential JavaScript until after load.

Remove unused CSS KeyGenerates only the CSS each page uses.
Hummingbird Paid version Pro

Full-page critical CSS mode can remove unused CSS.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No unused CSS removal.

Critical CSSInlines above-the-fold CSS.
Hummingbird Paid version Pro

Automatic critical CSS generation, incl. separate mobile CSS.

Jetpack Boost Included

Manual generation free; automatic regeneration on paid plan.

Font optimisationSelf-hosts or preloads web fonts.
Hummingbird Included

Preload fonts and swap web fonts; Google Fonts delivery optimisation.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No font optimisation module.

Preload and prefetchPreload fonts, images or links and prefetch DNS.
Hummingbird Included

Preconnect, DNS prefetch and preload key requests.

Jetpack Boost Partial

Prerenders Cornerstone Pages and optimises LCP images; no manual hint controls.

Media & delivery5/73/7
Lazy loadingDefers off-screen images and iframes.
Hummingbird Via add-on

Image lazy load comes from the free Smush plugin; Hummingbird lazy-loads comments.

Jetpack Boost Not included

Lazy-load module deprecated; relies on WordPress native lazy loading.

Image compressionCompresses uploaded images.
Hummingbird Via add-on

Handled by WPMU DEV's sister plugin Smush (free, with Pro tier).

Jetpack Boost Included

Image CDN resizes and compresses images; quality controls on paid plan.

WebP / AVIF deliveryServes next-gen image formats.
Hummingbird Via add-on

Next-gen formats served via Smush Pro's CDN, not Hummingbird itself.

Jetpack Boost Included

Image CDN serves modern formats such as WebP.

CDN integrationRewrites asset URLs to a CDN.
Hummingbird Not included

No field to rewrite assets to a third-party CDN; Pro uses WPMU DEV CDN.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No option to rewrite assets to a third-party CDN.

Cloudflare integrationPurges or configures Cloudflare.
Hummingbird Included

Connect via API key/token to manage browser cache, purge and APO.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No Cloudflare integration.

Lazy-load video embedsReplace YouTube and Vimeo embeds with a lightweight preview.
Hummingbird Not included

No video embed placeholder feature.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No video embed placeholder feature.

Included CDN serviceA CDN is part of the product or plan, not just URL rewriting.
Hummingbird Paid version Pro Basic

WPMU DEV asset CDN with Brotli; bandwidth allowance per plan.

Jetpack Boost Partial

Jetpack-run Image CDN for images only, free.

Housekeeping1/31/3
Database cleanupRemoves revisions, transients and spam.
Hummingbird Included

Database cleanup with optional scheduling.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No database cleanup.

Heartbeat controlLimits the WordPress Heartbeat API.
Hummingbird Not included

No Heartbeat API control.

Jetpack Boost Not included

No Heartbeat control.

WP-CLI commandsClear or warm the cache from the command line.
Hummingbird Not verified

No WP-CLI commands found in readme or developer docs.

Jetpack Boost Included

wp jetpack-boost commands to toggle modules and manage connection.

Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?

Pricing compared

Hummingbird Freemium

Free$0
FreeFree per year, Unlimited
Pro Basic$60 per year, 1 site
Pro Standard$100 per year, 3 sites
Pro Plus$200 per year, 10 sites

Jetpack Boost Freemium

Free$0
FreeFree per year, Unlimited
Boost$239.40 per year, 1 site

Downloads trend

Hummingbird

3,072 downloads last week

Jetpack Boost

18,378 downloads last week

Verdict

Based on our feature data Checked 5 Oct 2026

Hummingbird scores higher on our feature checklist (86/100 against 49/100) and includes remove unused CSS, browser caching rules and cache preloading that Jetpack Boost does not. Paid plans start at $60/yr for Hummingbird and $239.40/yr for Jetpack Boost. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.

Biggest differences

Remove unused CSS

Hummingbird: paid version (Pro). Jetpack Boost: not included. Full-page critical CSS mode can remove unused CSS.

Browser caching rules

Hummingbird: included. Jetpack Boost: not included. Sets browser cache expiry, or Cloudflare browser TTL when connected.

Cache preloading

Hummingbird: included. Jetpack Boost: not included. Preload caching option builds cached files automatically.

Object cache

Hummingbird: included. Jetpack Boost: not included. Redis integration for object caching when Redis is available.

Lazy loading

Hummingbird: via add-on. Jetpack Boost: not included. Image lazy load comes from the free Smush plugin; Hummingbird lazy-loads comments.

Separate mobile cache

Hummingbird: included. Jetpack Boost: not included. Cache on mobile devices option, on by default.

Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.

Which would you choose?

0 votes so far. Vote to see the results.

FAQ

Which is better, Hummingbird or Jetpack Boost?

Hummingbird scores higher on our feature checklist (86/100 against 49/100) and includes remove unused CSS, browser caching rules and cache preloading that Jetpack Boost does not. Paid plans start at $60/yr for Hummingbird and $239.40/yr for Jetpack Boost. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.

Which has more features?

Hummingbird includes 21 of the 25 features we track, against 12 for Jetpack Boost. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.

Is Hummingbird free?

Hummingbird has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $60/yr.

Is Jetpack Boost free?

Jetpack Boost has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $239.40/yr.

Feature data last changed 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Hummingbird or Jetpack Boost. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.