Hummingbird vs WP-Optimize
Updated 5 Oct 2026. 25 features compared side by side.
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 all-in-one plugin from TeamUpdraft combining page caching, image compression with WebP, database cleanup and minification.
Choose Hummingbird if…
- You need object cache and critical CSS
- You also want included CDN service
- You want the more complete feature set (86/100 vs 80/100)
Choose WP-Optimize if…
- You need lazy-load video embeds
- You want the lower entry price ($49/yr vs $60/yr)
- You prefer the more widely used option
Hummingbird includes 3 features that WP-Optimize lacks, including Object cache, Critical CSS and Included CDN service; WP-Optimize has 1 that Hummingbird lacks, including Lazy-load video embeds. Both include 18 of the 25 features we track. 1 feature is not yet verified for one or both plugins.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Hummingbird WP-OptimizeCaching8/87/8
Full page cache; uses WPMU DEV static server cache when hosted there.
One-click page cache with URL, cookie and user-agent exclusions.
Sets browser cache expiry, or Cloudflare browser TTL when connected.
Browser static-file cache settings on Apache; Nginx needs server config.
Preload caching option builds cached files automatically.
Cache preloader emulates visits on a schedule.
Redis integration for object caching when Redis is available.
No Redis or Memcached object cache integration is offered.
Cache on mobile devices option, on by default.
Option to generate separate cache files for mobile devices.
Excludes WooCommerce session cookies and cart/checkout pages by default.
Skips pages marked DONOTCACHEPAGE such as cart, checkout and account.
Works on any host; switches to static server cache on WPMU DEV hosting.
Cache works on Apache, Nginx and IIS servers.
Network-level page cache controls with optional per-subsite opt-out.
Multisite support is a Premium feature.
CSS & JavaScript7/76/7
Compress CSS/JS per file or automatically; Pro adds enhanced minify.
Free minification of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Combine option per asset in Asset Optimization.
Minify-and-merge mode combines CSS and JS files.
Defer free; Delay JavaScript until interaction needs Pro.
Defers or asynchronously loads JS; Delay JS added in v4.0.
Full-page critical CSS mode can remove unused CSS.
Premium removes unused CSS rules (added in v4.3).
Automatic critical CSS generation, incl. separate mobile CSS.
No critical CSS generator in the free or Premium feature list.
Preload fonts and swap web fonts; Google Fonts delivery optimisation.
Optimises Google Fonts and Font Awesome with font-display swap.
Preconnect, DNS prefetch and preload key requests.
Preload key requests and assets, plus auto LCP preload, are Premium.
Media & delivery5/75/7
Image lazy load comes from the free Smush plugin; Hummingbird lazy-loads comments.
Image lazy loading is Premium only.
Handled by WPMU DEV's sister plugin Smush (free, with Pro tier).
Lossy/lossless compression with bulk and auto-compress.
Next-gen formats served via Smush Pro's CDN, not Hummingbird itself.
Free WebP conversion; AVIF is not mentioned.
No field to rewrite assets to a third-party CDN; Pro uses WPMU DEV CDN.
No CDN URL rewriting; only Cloudflare is integrated natively.
Connect via API key/token to manage browser cache, purge and APO.
Premium purges Cloudflare cache when WP-Optimize clears its cache.
No video embed placeholder feature.
Premium replaces YouTube iframes with preview images (v4.2).
WPMU DEV asset CDN with Brotli; bandwidth allowance per plan.
No vendor-run CDN.
Housekeeping1/32/3
Database cleanup with optional scheduling.
Cleans revisions, drafts, spam and transients with scheduling.
No Heartbeat API control.
No Heartbeat API control for site owners.
No WP-CLI commands found in readme or developer docs.
Premium adds WP-CLI commands for running optimisations.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Hummingbird Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Pro Basic | $60 per year, 1 site |
| Pro Standard | $100 per year, 3 sites |
| Pro Plus | $200 per year, 10 sites |
WP-Optimize Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Starter | $49 per year, 2 sites |
| Business | $99 per year, 5 sites |
| Enterprise | $194 per year, Unlimited |
Downloads trend
Hummingbird
3,316 downloads last week
WP-Optimize
51,513 downloads last week
Verdict
Hummingbird scores higher on our feature checklist (86/100 against 80/100) and includes object cache, critical CSS and included CDN service that WP-Optimize does not. WP-Optimize still has the edge on lazy-load video embeds. Paid plans start at $60/yr for Hummingbird and $49/yr for WP-Optimize. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Hummingbird: included. WP-Optimize: not included. Redis integration for object caching when Redis is available.
Hummingbird: paid version (Pro). WP-Optimize: not included. Automatic critical CSS generation, incl. separate mobile CSS.
Hummingbird: not included. WP-Optimize: paid version (Premium). Premium replaces YouTube iframes with preview images (v4.2).
Hummingbird: paid version (Pro Basic). WP-Optimize: not included. WPMU DEV asset CDN with Brotli; bandwidth allowance per plan.
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, Hummingbird or WP-Optimize?
Hummingbird scores higher on our feature checklist (86/100 against 80/100) and includes object cache, critical CSS and included CDN service that WP-Optimize does not. WP-Optimize still has the edge on lazy-load video embeds. Paid plans start at $60/yr for Hummingbird and $49/yr for WP-Optimize. 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 20 for WP-Optimize. 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 WP-Optimize free?
WP-Optimize has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $49/yr.
Feature data last changed 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Hummingbird or WP-Optimize. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.