Perfmatters vs WP-Optimize
Updated 5 Oct 2026. 46 features compared side by side.
Premium performance plugin for script management, delayed JS, unused CSS removal, lazy loading and local fonts. Not a page cache; pair it with one.
Free all-in-one plugin from TeamUpdraft combining page caching, image compression with WebP, database cleanup and minification.
Choose Perfmatters if…
- You need CDN integration and heartbeat control
- You also want limit future revisions
- You want the lower entry price ($29.95/yr vs $49/yr)
Choose WP-Optimize if…
- You need page caching and orphaned & duplicate metadata
- You also want leftover plugin tables and browser caching rules
- You want the more complete feature set (80/100 vs 50/100)
- You want to start with a free version
Perfmatters includes 3 features that WP-Optimize lacks, including CDN integration, Heartbeat control and Limit future revisions; WP-Optimize has 18 that Perfmatters lacks, including Page caching, Browser caching rules and Cache preloading. Both include 19 of the 46 features we track. 2 features are not yet verified for one or both plugins.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Perfmatters WP-OptimizeCaching & Speed: Caching3/87/8
Not a caching plugin; it is designed to run alongside one.
One-click page cache with URL, cookie and user-agent exclusions.
Does not add browser-cache or expires headers.
Browser static-file cache settings on Apache; Nginx needs server config.
No cache to preload; offers browser-side speculative prerendering instead.
Cache preloader emulates visits on a schedule.
No Redis or Memcached object cache integration.
No Redis or Memcached object cache integration is offered.
No page cache, so no separate mobile cache.
Option to generate separate cache files for mobile devices.
No cache to exclude pages from, but can disable WooCommerce scripts and cart fragments.
Skips pages marked DONOTCACHEPAGE such as cart, checkout and account.
Front-end optimisation plugin that is not tied to any server stack.
Cache works on Apache, Nginx and IIS servers.
No page cache; multisite settings push is only in the Unlimited plan.
Multisite support is a Premium feature.
Caching & Speed: CSS & JavaScript5/76/7
Separate CSS and JS minification with exclusions.
Free minification of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Does not combine CSS or JavaScript files.
Minify-and-merge mode combines CSS and JS files.
Defers JS and can delay it until interaction or a timeout.
Defers or asynchronously loads JS; Delay JS added in v4.0.
Removes unused CSS; originals can be delayed, async loaded or removed.
Premium removes unused CSS rules (added in v4.3).
No separate critical CSS generator; relies on used-CSS output.
No critical CSS generator in the free or Premium feature list.
Hosts Google Fonts locally with display swap, subsets and font preloading.
Optimises Google Fonts and Font Awesome with font-display swap.
Preload, preconnect, DNS prefetch, fetch priority and Early Hints.
Preload key requests and assets, plus auto LCP preload, are Premium.
Caching & Speed: Media & delivery3/75/7
Lazy loads images, iframes, videos and CSS background images.
Image lazy loading is Premium only.
Does not compress images.
Lossy/lossless compression with bulk and auto-compress.
Does not convert images; only lazy loads existing WebP/AVIF files.
Free WebP conversion; AVIF is not mentioned.
CDN rewrite with directory and file-type rules.
No CDN URL rewriting; only Cloudflare is integrated natively.
No Cloudflare API integration; docs only cover enabling Early Hints.
Premium purges Cloudflare cache when WP-Optimize clears its cache.
Swaps iframes for a preview thumbnail with an SVG play icon.
Premium replaces YouTube iframes with preview images (v4.2).
No vendor-run CDN.
No vendor-run CDN.
Caching & Speed: Housekeeping2/32/3
Cleans revisions, drafts, spam, transients and tables on a schedule.
Cleans revisions, drafts, spam and transients with scheduling.
Disable the Heartbeat API or change its frequency.
No Heartbeat API control for site owners.
WP-CLI commands cover licence, options and caches but not database cleanup.
Premium adds WP-CLI commands for running optimisations.
Database Optimization: Cleanup4/86/8
Database section deletes revisions for posts, pages and custom post types.
Free cleanup deletes post revisions; can keep a set number per post.
Deletes auto-drafts and trashed posts.
Free cleanups remove auto-drafts and permanently delete trashed posts.
Deletes spam and trashed comments; no option for unapproved comments.
Separate free cleanups for spam, trashed and unapproved comments, plus pingbacks/trackbacks.
Deletes expired transients, or all transients if chosen.
Removes expired transients; a checkbox extends this to all transients.
Not among the database cleanup options listed.
Free cleanups for orphaned post, comment and user meta and orphaned term relationships.
No tool for finding or deleting leftover plugin tables.
Tables tab offers a Remove button for tables not used by an active plugin.
No cleanup for leftover plugin options or cron events.
No cleanup for leftover plugin options or cron events beyond transients.
Action Scheduler data is not among the cleanup options.
Database Optimization: Optimisation2/53/5
Runs OPTIMIZE TABLE in the background on optimisable (mainly MyISAM) tables.
Runs OPTIMIZE on tables for free; Premium can target individual tables.
No table repair option in the database section.
Tables flagged as corrupted get a Repair button that runs REPAIR TABLE.
No autoloaded options report or toggle in the documented features.
No engine conversion tool; docs only note OPTIMIZE skips InnoDB.
MyISAM tables in the Tables list get a Convert to InnoDB button.
General setting to disable revisions or cap them at 1 to 30.
Only keeps N revisions during cleanup; it does not cap revisions WordPress stores.
Database Optimization: Automation & safety2/55/5
Selected optimisations can run daily, weekly or monthly in the background.
Free daily/weekly/fortnightly/monthly schedules; Premium adds set times and per-task schedules.
Scan Database refreshes the item counts shown beside each optimisation.
Each cleanup shows a count first; Premium adds a preview to select exact records.
Cleanups remove all matching items; no keep-last-X setting documented.
Settings to keep the last X weeks of data and always keep N post revisions.
No built-in backup; docs warn changes are permanent and say to back up first.
Checkbox to take an UpdraftPlus backup before cleanups (UpdraftPlus must be installed).
No way to exclude specific tables or items documented.
No exclusion list; Premium lets you pick which tables or sites to optimise.
Database Optimization: Insights & admin1/33/3
Shows counts only, not table sizes or space saved.
Tables tab lists rows, data and index size and overhead per table.
Does not show which plugin created a table or option.
Tables list names known plugins using each table; Premium adds a table usage report.
Multisite works on the Unlimited plan, but no network-wide database cleanup is documented.
Premium can optimise any site or combination of sites on a network.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Perfmatters Premium
| Personal | $29.95 per year, 1 site |
|---|---|
| Business | $59.95 per year, 3 sites |
| Unlimited Sites | $124.95 per year, Unlimited |
WP-Optimize Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Starter | $49 per year, 2 sites |
| Business | $99 per year, 5 sites |
| Enterprise | $194 per year, Unlimited |
Downloads trend
Perfmatters
No WordPress.org download data (premium-only plugin).
WP-Optimize
51,513 downloads last week
Verdict
WP-Optimize scores higher on our feature checklist (80/100 against 50/100) and includes page caching, orphaned & duplicate metadata and leftover plugin tables that Perfmatters does not. Perfmatters still has the edge on CDN integration and heartbeat control. Only WP-Optimize has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Perfmatters: not included. WP-Optimize: included. One-click page cache with URL, cookie and user-agent exclusions.
Perfmatters: not included. WP-Optimize: included. Free cleanups for orphaned post, comment and user meta and orphaned term relationships.
Perfmatters: not included. WP-Optimize: included. Tables tab offers a Remove button for tables not used by an active plugin.
Perfmatters: not included. WP-Optimize: included. Browser static-file cache settings on Apache; Nginx needs server config.
Perfmatters: not included. WP-Optimize: included. Cache preloader emulates visits on a schedule.
Perfmatters: not included. WP-Optimize: included. Lossy/lossless compression with bulk and auto-compress.
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, Perfmatters or WP-Optimize?
WP-Optimize scores higher on our feature checklist (80/100 against 50/100) and includes page caching, orphaned & duplicate metadata and leftover plugin tables that Perfmatters does not. Perfmatters still has the edge on CDN integration and heartbeat control. Only WP-Optimize has a free version. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
WP-Optimize includes 20 of the 25 features we track, against 13 for Perfmatters. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Perfmatters free?
Perfmatters is premium only. Paid plans start at $29.95/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 Perfmatters 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.