LiteSpeed Cache
Free server-level cache and optimisation suite from LiteSpeed Technologies; full-page caching needs a LiteSpeed web server or QUIC.cloud CDN.
94
NitroPack
Cloud-based speed optimisation service with caching, critical CSS, image optimisation and a built-in Cloudflare-powered CDN, billed by pageviews.
Free installs80K+WordPress.org, active
Est. Pro installs~26KLikely 13K–52K
Vendor claims281K+Vendor's own figure
Rating4.3/5311 reviews
Price from$84/yrFreemium
Last updated25 Sep 2026Version 1.20.3
Overview
NitroPack is a SaaS performance service, owned by WP Engine since 2024, that connects to WordPress through a free plugin on WordPress.org. Unlike traditional cache plugins, most of the heavy lifting happens on NitroPack’s own infrastructure: pages are optimised in the cloud, cached, and delivered through a built-in CDN running on Cloudflare’s network. The plugin will not work on its own; it needs a NitroPack account and API keys.
How it works
After connecting a site you choose an optimisation mode (Standard, Medium, Strong or Ludicrous). Each mode switches on a preset bundle: preconnects and image optimisation at the lightest level, then minification, CSS combining, critical CSS, lazy loading and render-blocking fixes, then font-display overrides and a resource loader, and finally delayed loading of non-critical scripts. Advanced users can fine-tune exclusions, cookies and cache rules.
- Page caching with smart invalidation and device-aware caching
- Critical CSS generation, unused CSS removal and CSS/JS combining
- Lossy/lossless image compression and WebP conversion
- Lazy loading and video facades for YouTube and other embeds
- Font optimisation, page prefetching and LCP preload
- Global CDN with Brotli and HTTP/3
Pricing and plans
Plans are metered by monthly pageviews and CDN bandwidth. The Free plan covers one site, 1,000 pageviews and 1GB of CDN traffic with a footer badge and only basic optimisations. Starter ($84/year) unlocks the core optimisation stack, Plus ($216/year) adds unused CSS removal, delayed scripts, LCP preload and cart cache optimisation, and Pro ($996/year) covers three sites with 540,000 pageviews. When limits are exceeded, optimisation pauses unless overages are enabled.
Limitations
Costs scale with traffic, the free plan is effectively a trial, and you depend on an external service. There is no database cleanup, heartbeat control or object cache integration, and multisite subsites each need their own NitroPack site entry and plan.
Who should pick it: non-technical owners of low-to-moderate traffic sites who want strong Core Web Vitals results with minimal configuration and are happy to pay a recurring, traffic-based fee.
Best for: Owners of small to mid-traffic sites who want hands-off Core Web Vitals optimisation and a bundled CDN, and accept a recurring usage-based fee.
NitroPack delivers impressive results with almost no tuning, and the bundled CDN is a real convenience. The trade-off is ongoing, traffic-metered cost and reliance on a third-party service, so high-traffic or budget-conscious sites may prefer a self-hosted plugin.
Pros
- Very little configuration thanks to preset optimisation modes
- Built-in Cloudflare-powered CDN included on every plan
- Critical CSS, image optimisation and WebP handled in the cloud
- Low server load because optimisation runs off-site
- Works on virtually any host
Cons
- Pricing scales with pageviews and bandwidth
- Free plan is tiny, shows a badge and lacks most optimisations
- Unused CSS removal and delayed scripts need Plus or higher
- No database cleanup or heartbeat control
- Site depends on an external SaaS connection
Key features
What NitroPack highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Cloud-based page caching
- Built-in CDN on Cloudflare network
- GZIP, Brotli and HTTP/3 delivery
- Smart cache invalidation
- One site, 1,000 pageviews monthly
- 1GB CDN bandwidth per month
- Preset optimisation modes
- WP-CLI integration
- WooCommerce compatible
- Cloudflare and APO compatibility
Pro / paid adds From $84/yr
- Critical CSS generation
- Minify and combine CSS/JS
- Image compression and WebP conversion
- Lazy load images, iframes and videos
- Video facades for embeds
- Advanced cache warmup
- Device-aware caching
- Font optimisation and display override
- Remove unused CSS (Plus)
- Delayed scripts and LCP preload (Plus)
- Cart cache optimisation (Plus)
- Font subsetting and GTM optimisation (Pro)
- Resource overages instead of pausing
Feature checklist
22 of 25 features we track in Caching & Speed, feature score 87/100
Caching 7/8
Page caching Key
Serves pre-built HTML pages.
Cloud-optimised page cache on all plans; Free limited to 1,000 pageviews/month.
Included
Browser caching rules
Sets cache headers for static files.
Plan guide lists browser caching under Starter; static assets cached on its CDN.
Paid version Starter
Cache preloading
Builds the cache before visitors arrive.
Advanced cache warmup preloads pages; listed from Starter.
Paid version Starter
Object cache
Redis or Memcached object caching.
No Redis or Memcached object cache integration.
Not included
Separate mobile cache
Different cache for mobile devices.
Device-aware caching serves separate optimised versions per device.
Paid version Starter
WooCommerce-aware caching
Excludes cart, checkout and account pages automatically.
Vendor states full WooCommerce compatibility; cart cache optimisation on Plus.
Included
Page cache on any server
Page caching works on Apache, Nginx and LiteSpeed alike.
SaaS optimisation runs off-site, so it works on most hosts.
Included
Multisite support
Works on WordPress multisite networks.
Multisite works, but each subsite needs its own NitroPack site and plan.
Partial
CSS & JavaScript 7/7
Minify CSS & JS
Strips whitespace from CSS and JavaScript.
HTML, CSS and JS minification; WP.org lists it but plans restrict to Starter+.
Paid version Starter
Combine files
Merges CSS/JS files.
Combine CSS from Starter; intelligent JS combining on Plus.
Paid version Starter
Defer / delay JavaScript Key
Loads scripts after the page renders or on interaction.
Removes render-blocking resources; delayed scripts need Plus.
Paid version Starter
Remove unused CSS Key
Generates only the CSS each page uses.
Remove Unused CSS is listed among Plus plan additions.
Paid version Plus
Critical CSS
Inlines above-the-fold CSS.
Generates critical CSS in the cloud; part of Starter's CSS optimisation.
Paid version Starter
Font optimisation
Self-hosts or preloads web fonts.
Font-display override, compression and Google Fonts optimisation; subsetting on Pro.
Paid version Starter
Preload and prefetch
Preload fonts, images or links and prefetch DNS.
Preconnects and page prefetch/prerender; LCP preload on Plus.
Paid version Starter
Media & delivery 7/7
Lazy loading
Defers off-screen images and iframes.
Lazy loads images, iframes and background images from Starter.
Paid version Starter
Image compression
Compresses uploaded images.
Lossy and lossless image compression from Starter.
Paid version Starter
WebP / AVIF delivery
Serves next-gen image formats.
Automatic WebP conversion from Starter; AVIF not stated.
Paid version Starter
CDN integration
Rewrites asset URLs to a CDN.
Serves assets via its own CDN; docs cover coexisting with other CDNs, not URL rewrite.
Partial
Cloudflare integration
Purges or configures Cloudflare.
Compatible with Cloudflare and supports Cloudflare APO cache handling.
Included
Lazy-load video embeds
Replace YouTube and Vimeo embeds with a lightweight preview.
Video facades replace YouTube/Vimeo embeds until clicked; Starter+.
Paid version Starter
Included CDN service
A CDN is part of the product or plan, not just URL rewriting.
Cloudflare-powered CDN included on all plans with bandwidth quotas.
Included
Housekeeping 1/3
Database cleanup
Removes revisions, transients and spam.
No database cleanup tools are offered.
Not included
Heartbeat control
Limits the WordPress Heartbeat API.
No Heartbeat API control is offered.
Not included
WP-CLI commands
Clear or warm the cache from the command line.
Plugin includes WP-CLI integration.
Included
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free
Freeper month1 site
1,000 pageviews and 1GB CDN per month; NitroPack footer badge; basic optimisations only.
Starter
$84per year1 site
$7/mo billed annually or $8 month-to-month; 8,000 pageviews, 5GB CDN.
Plus
$216per year1 site
$18/mo billed annually or $22 monthly; 40,000 pageviews, 25GB CDN.
Pro
$996per year3 sites
About $83/mo billed annually or $99.99 monthly; 540,000 pageviews, 270GB CDN. Agency plan is custom-priced.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use NitroPack?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
80K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
281K+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~26K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: About 85K free installs x 25% (the usual share of free sites that also run the paid version when a hosted service whose free tier is tightly capped) gives 21K. The vendor claims 281K+ sites in total. Taking away about 85K free installs leaves 200K, and 80% of that is 160K. Vendor totals are loose, so we only move our figure part of the way toward it, from 21K to 26K. Likely range: 13K to 52K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
4,517 downloads last week, 5.3M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 1.20.3 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 25 Sep 2026 (38 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 4.7+, PHP 7.4+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 0 of 1 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 29 Aug 2019 |
Company & policy
| Refund policy | 14-day money-back (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|
| Trustpilot rating | 4.9 (source, 5 Oct 2026) As displayed on the vendor homepage. |
NitroPack compared
LiteSpeed Cache/NitroPack
NitroPack/WP Fastest Cache
NitroPack/Perfmatters
NitroPack/WP-Optimize
NitroPack/xSpeed Cache
NitroPack/W3 Total Cache
NitroPack/WP Super Cache
FlyingPress/NitroPack
Breeze/NitroPack
Hummingbird/NitroPack
Autoptimize/NitroPack
Jetpack Boost/NitroPack
Cache Enabler/NitroPack
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FAQ
Is NitroPack free?
Yes. NitroPack has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $84/yr.
How many sites use NitroPack?
WordPress.org reports 80K+ active installations of the free version. The vendor claims 281K+ sites in total. We estimate around 26K sites run the paid version.
Does NitroPack have page caching?
Yes: included. Cloud-optimised page cache on all plans; Free limited to 1,000 pageviews/month.
Does NitroPack have defer / delay javascript?
Yes: paid version (Starter). Removes render-blocking resources; delayed scripts need Plus.
Does NitroPack have remove unused css?
Yes: paid version (Plus). Remove Unused CSS is listed among Plus plan additions.
Is the NitroPack plugin free?
The plugin is free, but it needs a NitroPack account. The Free plan covers one site with 1,000 pageviews and 1GB of CDN traffic per month, shows a footer badge and excludes most advanced optimisations.
What happens if I exceed my pageview limit?
NitroPack stops optimising the site until the next billing cycle unless you enable resource overages, which let you set a budget for extra usage on paid plans.
Does NitroPack work with WooCommerce?
Yes. It is designed to cache stores without breaking dynamic pages, and the Plus plan adds cart cache optimisation.
Can I use NitroPack on a multisite network?
Yes, but each subsite must be added to your NitroPack account separately with its own API keys and plan.
Who owns NitroPack?
NitroPack was acquired by WP Engine in July 2024 and continues to be sold as a standalone service for any host.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.