WP Fastest Cache vs xSpeed Cache
Updated 31 Oct 2026. 25 features compared side by side.
Lightweight page caching plugin with free minify, combine, CDN and Cloudflare support, plus a one-time-fee Premium tier for images and JS.
Free WordPress cache plugin with static page caching, Redis and Memcached object cache, database cleanup and a built-in MCP server.
Choose WP Fastest Cache if…
- You prefer the more widely used option
Choose xSpeed Cache if…
- You need remove unused CSS and object cache
- You also want critical CSS and preload and prefetch
- You want the more complete feature set (100/100 vs 73/100)
xSpeed Cache has 6 that WP Fastest Cache lacks, including Object cache, Remove unused CSS and Critical CSS. Both include 19 of the 25 features we track.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
WP Fastest Cache xSpeed CacheCaching7/88/8
Writes static HTML files and serves them via mod_rewrite; purges on publish.
Static HTML served by the web server before PHP; auto-purge on publish.
Free option adds leverage-browser-caching rules for static files.
Cache-Control and Expires headers with separate TTLs for assets and HTML.
Free Preload feature crawls and caches the whole site automatically.
Sitemap-driven preloader on a schedule; predictive and scheduled prewarming are Pro.
No Redis or Memcached object cache integration is offered.
Redis and Memcached drop-in in the free plugin.
Free can skip caching for mobile; a separate mobile cache is Premium.
Separate mobile cache free, with an optional separate tablet cache.
Listed as compatible with WooCommerce; dynamic store pages are not cached.
Cart, checkout and logged-in customers are never cached.
Works on Apache and IIS; Nginx supported with manual rewrite config.
Apache, nginx, LiteSpeed and IIS; nginx and IIS need pasted config snippets.
WordPress Multisite is listed as supported in the free plugin.
Each network site gets its own cache; network-wide settings management is Pro.
CSS & JavaScript4/77/7
Free minifies HTML and CSS; JavaScript minification needs Premium.
Minify HTML, CSS and JavaScript with a safe-minify fallback.
Free Combine CSS and Combine JS; Premium adds Combine JS Plus.
Combine CSS and JavaScript in the free plugin.
Render-blocking JS deferral and Delay JS are Premium features.
Defer JavaScript and delay it until interaction, free.
No unused CSS removal feature is listed on WP.org or the vendor site.
Remove Unused CSS is Pro-only.
No critical CSS generation is offered.
Critical CSS generation is Pro-only.
Premium Google Fonts Async loads fonts without blocking render.
font-display swap, font preloads and self-hosted Google Fonts.
No preload, prefetch or preconnect controls for assets are listed.
LCP image preload, extra image preloads and preconnect hosts.
Media & delivery6/77/7
Premium lazy load for images and iframes with placeholder options.
Images, iframes and videos, with automatic missing image sizes.
Premium compresses JPEG and PNG images while keeping quality.
WebP/AVIF conversion, bulk conversion and AI Smart Image are Pro.
Premium converts images to WebP; AVIF is not mentioned.
WebP and AVIF conversion with server rewrite in Pro.
Free CDN tab rewrites asset URLs for Bunny CDN and other providers.
Pull-zone URL rewriting for any CDN.
Connects to Cloudflare API to purge its cache automatically.
Zone connection, auto-purge and development mode free; APO and cache level controls are Pro.
Premium lazy load swaps YouTube embeds for a thumbnail until needed.
Click-to-play video facade in the free plugin.
No vendor-run CDN; integrates with third-party CDNs only.
Cloudflare Enterprise add-on ($5/month on a paid plan) serves the whole site from Cloudflare.
Housekeeping2/33/3
Premium cleans revisions, trash, spam, transients and orphaned meta.
Cleans revisions, spam, trash, transients and orphaned meta on a schedule.
No Heartbeat API control is offered.
Dashboard, editor and front-end heartbeat control, free.
Free WP-CLI commands for clearing the cache.
Full WP-CLI command set in the free plugin.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
WP Fastest Cache Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Bronze | $49 lifetime, 1 site |
| Silver | $125 lifetime, 3 sites |
| Gold | $175 lifetime, 5 sites |
| Platinum | $300 lifetime, 10 sites |
xSpeed Cache Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Personal | $58 per year, 1 site |
| Business | $98 per year, 5 sites |
| Agency | $198 per year, 25 sites |
| Enterprise | $398 per year, Unlimited |
Downloads trend
WP Fastest Cache
87,750 downloads last week
xSpeed Cache
9,877 downloads last week
Verdict
xSpeed Cache scores higher on our feature checklist (100/100 against 73/100) and includes remove unused CSS, object cache and critical CSS that WP Fastest Cache does not. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
WP Fastest Cache: not included. xSpeed Cache: paid version (Pro). Remove Unused CSS is Pro-only.
WP Fastest Cache: not included. xSpeed Cache: included. Redis and Memcached drop-in in the free plugin.
WP Fastest Cache: not included. xSpeed Cache: paid version (Pro). Critical CSS generation is Pro-only.
WP Fastest Cache: not included. xSpeed Cache: included. LCP image preload, extra image preloads and preconnect hosts.
WP Fastest Cache: not included. xSpeed Cache: via add-on (Add-on). Cloudflare Enterprise add-on ($5/month on a paid plan) serves the whole site from Cloudflare.
WP Fastest Cache: not included. xSpeed Cache: included. Dashboard, editor and front-end heartbeat control, free.
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, WP Fastest Cache or xSpeed Cache?
xSpeed Cache scores higher on our feature checklist (100/100 against 73/100) and includes remove unused CSS, object cache and critical CSS that WP Fastest Cache does not. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
xSpeed Cache includes 25 of the 25 features we track, against 19 for WP Fastest Cache. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is WP Fastest Cache free?
WP Fastest Cache has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $49 lifetime.
Is xSpeed Cache free?
xSpeed Cache has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $58/yr.
Feature data last changed 31 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to WP Fastest Cache or xSpeed Cache. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.