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
Perfmatters
Premium performance plugin for script management, delayed JS, unused CSS removal, lazy loading and local fonts. Not a page cache; pair it with one.
Est. active installs~190KLikely 120K–290K
Vendor claims185K+Vendor's own figure
Price from$29.95/yrPremium
Overview
Perfmatters is a lightweight, premium-only WordPress performance plugin built by brothers Brian and Brett Jackson (forgemedia LLC) since 2017. It is important to be clear about what it is: Perfmatters is not a page caching plugin. It focuses on reducing the code, requests and render-blocking work on each page, and is designed to run alongside a cache plugin or host-level caching.
What it does
The headline feature is the Script Manager, which lets you switch off individual plugin or theme CSS and JavaScript files per page, post type, device or login state, with a testing mode for safe experiments. Around that sit dozens of one-click toggles to disable WordPress bloat such as emojis, embeds, XML-RPC, dashicons, WooCommerce cart fragments and scripts on non-shop pages, and to limit revisions or throttle the Heartbeat API.
- Defer JavaScript and delay it until user interaction
- Remove unused CSS, with delay, async or remove modes for the original stylesheets
- Minify CSS and JavaScript with exclusions
- Lazy load images, iframes, videos and background images, with YouTube preview thumbnails
- Host Google Fonts and Google Analytics locally
- Preload, preconnect, DNS prefetch, fetch priority, Early Hints and speculative prerendering
- CDN URL rewriting, scheduled database cleanup, a code snippet manager and a login URL changer
Pricing
Plans start at $29.95 a year for one site, with renewals discounted by 15%. Multisite support is only included in the Unlimited plan.
Limitations
Because it has no page cache, no browser-cache rules and no cache preloading, you still need a caching layer. It also does not compress or convert images, does not generate separate critical CSS, does not combine files, has no Cloudflare API integration and no built-in CDN.
Who should pick it: developers and performance-minded site owners who already have caching from their host or another plugin and want precise control over which scripts load where.
Best for: Sites that already have page caching and want granular control over scripts, CSS and WordPress bloat.
Perfmatters is an excellent companion plugin for trimming scripts and fixing Core Web Vitals, but it does not cache pages, so it rarely works as a standalone speed solution. Pair it with host caching or a cache plugin.
Pros
- Per-page Script Manager to unload unneeded CSS/JS
- Delay JS and unused CSS removal in every plan
- Local Google Fonts and Google Analytics hosting
- Detailed preload, preconnect and speculative loading controls
- Low price with 15% off renewals
Cons
- Not a page cache; needs a separate caching solution
- No image compression or WebP/AVIF conversion
- No critical CSS generation or file combining
- Multisite only on the Unlimited plan
Key features
What Perfmatters highlights on its own website, split by version.
Included features From $29.95/yr
- Per-page Script Manager
- Disable WordPress and WooCommerce bloat
- Defer and delay JavaScript
- Remove unused CSS
- Minify CSS and JavaScript
- Lazy load images, iframes and videos
- YouTube preview thumbnails
- Host Google Fonts locally
- Host Google Analytics locally
- Preload, preconnect and DNS prefetch
- Speculative prerendering on hover
- CDN URL rewriting
- Scheduled database cleanup
- Heartbeat API control
- Code snippet manager
Feature checklist
13 of 25 features we track in Caching & Speed, feature score 50/100
Caching 3/8
Page caching Key
Serves pre-built HTML pages.
Not a caching plugin; it is designed to run alongside one.
Not included
Browser caching rules
Sets cache headers for static files.
Does not add browser-cache or expires headers.
Not included
Cache preloading
Builds the cache before visitors arrive.
No cache to preload; offers browser-side speculative prerendering instead.
Not included
Object cache
Redis or Memcached object caching.
No Redis or Memcached object cache integration.
Not included
Separate mobile cache
Different cache for mobile devices.
No page cache, so no separate mobile cache.
Not included
WooCommerce-aware caching
Excludes cart, checkout and account pages automatically.
No cache to exclude pages from, but can disable WooCommerce scripts and cart fragments.
Partial
Page cache on any server
Page caching works on Apache, Nginx and LiteSpeed alike.
Front-end optimisation plugin that is not tied to any server stack.
Included
Multisite support
Works on WordPress multisite networks.
No page cache; multisite settings push is only in the Unlimited plan.
Partial
CSS & JavaScript 5/7
Minify CSS & JS
Strips whitespace from CSS and JavaScript.
Separate CSS and JS minification with exclusions.
Included
Combine files
Merges CSS/JS files.
Does not combine CSS or JavaScript files.
Not included
Defer / delay JavaScript Key
Loads scripts after the page renders or on interaction.
Defers JS and can delay it until interaction or a timeout.
Included
Remove unused CSS Key
Generates only the CSS each page uses.
Removes unused CSS; originals can be delayed, async loaded or removed.
Included
Critical CSS
Inlines above-the-fold CSS.
No separate critical CSS generator; relies on used-CSS output.
Not included
Font optimisation
Self-hosts or preloads web fonts.
Hosts Google Fonts locally with display swap, subsets and font preloading.
Included
Preload and prefetch
Preload fonts, images or links and prefetch DNS.
Preload, preconnect, DNS prefetch, fetch priority and Early Hints.
Included
Media & delivery 3/7
Lazy loading
Defers off-screen images and iframes.
Lazy loads images, iframes, videos and CSS background images.
Included
Image compression
Compresses uploaded images.
Does not compress images.
Not included
WebP / AVIF delivery
Serves next-gen image formats.
Does not convert images; only lazy loads existing WebP/AVIF files.
Not included
CDN integration
Rewrites asset URLs to a CDN.
CDN rewrite with directory and file-type rules.
Included
Cloudflare integration
Purges or configures Cloudflare.
No Cloudflare API integration; docs only cover enabling Early Hints.
Not included
Lazy-load video embeds
Replace YouTube and Vimeo embeds with a lightweight preview.
Swaps iframes for a preview thumbnail with an SVG play icon.
Included
Included CDN service
A CDN is part of the product or plan, not just URL rewriting.
No vendor-run CDN.
Not included
Housekeeping 2/3
Database cleanup
Removes revisions, transients and spam.
Cleans revisions, drafts, spam, transients and tables on a schedule.
Included
Heartbeat control
Limits the WordPress Heartbeat API.
Disable the Heartbeat API or change its frequency.
Included
WP-CLI commands
Clear or warm the cache from the command line.
WP-CLI commands cover licence, options and caches but not database cleanup.
Not included
Feature checklist
9 of 22 features we track in Database Optimization, feature score 42/100
Cleanup 4/8
Post revisions Key
Delete old post and page revisions.
Database section deletes revisions for posts, pages and custom post types.
Included
Auto-drafts & trashed posts
Remove auto-drafts and emptied trash.
Deletes auto-drafts and trashed posts.
Included
Spam & trashed comments
Delete spam, trashed and unapproved comments.
Deletes spam and trashed comments; no option for unapproved comments.
Partial
Expired transients Key
Remove expired (or all) transients.
Deletes expired transients, or all transients if chosen.
Included
Orphaned & duplicate metadata Key
Remove post, comment, user and term meta with no parent.
Not among the database cleanup options listed.
Not included
Leftover plugin tables Key
Find and delete tables left behind by removed plugins.
No tool for finding or deleting leftover plugin tables.
Not included
Leftover options & cron jobs
Find options and scheduled tasks left by removed plugins.
No cleanup for leftover plugin options or cron events.
Not included
Action Scheduler logs
Clean WooCommerce Action Scheduler completed actions and logs.
Action Scheduler data is not among the cleanup options.
Not included
Optimisation 2/5
Optimise tables Key
Run OPTIMIZE TABLE to reclaim space and defragment tables.
Runs OPTIMIZE TABLE in the background on optimisable (mainly MyISAM) tables.
Included
Repair tables
Repair corrupted or crashed tables.
No table repair option in the database section.
Not included
Autoloaded options control Key
See the size of autoloaded options and switch heavy ones off.
No autoloaded options report or toggle in the documented features.
Not included
Convert to InnoDB
Convert MyISAM tables to InnoDB.
No engine conversion tool; docs only note OPTIMIZE skips InnoDB.
Not included
Limit future revisions
Cap how many revisions WordPress keeps from now on.
General setting to disable revisions or cap them at 1 to 30.
Included
Automation & safety 2/5
Scheduled cleanup Key
Run cleanups automatically on a schedule.
Selected optimisations can run daily, weekly or monthly in the background.
Included
Preview before deleting
Shows counts or the exact items before anything is removed.
Scan Database refreshes the item counts shown beside each optimisation.
Included
Keep recent data
Keep the last X days or revisions when cleaning.
Cleanups remove all matching items; no keep-last-X setting documented.
Not included
Backup before cleanup
Built-in or integrated backup before running a cleanup.
No built-in backup; docs warn changes are permanent and say to back up first.
Not included
Exclusions
Exclude specific tables, options or items from cleanup.
No way to exclude specific tables or items documented.
Not included
Insights & admin 1/3
Database size report
Shows table sizes and how much space a cleanup will save.
Shows counts only, not table sizes or space saved.
Not included
Identify table & option owners
Shows which plugin or theme created each table or option.
Does not show which plugin created a table or option.
Not included
Multisite support
Clean and optimise across a multisite network.
Multisite works on the Unlimited plan, but no network-wide database cleanup is documented.
Partial
Pricing
Personal
$29.95per year1 site
Renewals get an automatic 15% discount; 30-day money-back guarantee.
Business
$59.95per year3 sites
Renewals 15% off.
Unlimited Sites
$124.95per yearUnlimited
Only plan that includes multisite support; renewals 15% off.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use Perfmatters?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
—
No free version on WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
185K+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated active installs
~190K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: The vendor says 185K+ sites use it; we take 80% of that (150K) because vendor counts are rounded up and include lapsed sites. Website scans by WPoptic find the paid plugin (folder perfmatters) on 84,312 live sites; the scans reach roughly 38% of WordPress sites, so each site found stands for about 2.6, giving 220K. Combining these (weighted average) gives about 190K. Likely range: 120K to 290K. 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.
Company & policy
| Founded | 2017 (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|
| Refund policy | 30-day money-back (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
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FAQ
Is Perfmatters free?
No. Perfmatters is a premium plugin. Paid plans start at $29.95/yr.
How many sites use Perfmatters?
The vendor claims 185K+ sites in total. We estimate around 190K active installs.
Does Perfmatters have page caching?
No: not included. Not a caching plugin; it is designed to run alongside one.
Does Perfmatters have defer / delay javascript?
Yes: included. Defers JS and can delay it until interaction or a timeout.
Does Perfmatters have remove unused css?
Yes: included. Removes unused CSS; originals can be delayed, async loaded or removed.
Does Perfmatters have post revisions?
Yes: included. Database section deletes revisions for posts, pages and custom post types.
Does Perfmatters have expired transients?
Yes: included. Deletes expired transients, or all transients if chosen.
Does Perfmatters have orphaned & duplicate metadata?
No: not included. Not among the database cleanup options listed.
Does Perfmatters have leftover plugin tables?
No: not included. No tool for finding or deleting leftover plugin tables.
Does Perfmatters have optimise tables?
Yes: included. Runs OPTIMIZE TABLE in the background on optimisable (mainly MyISAM) tables.
Does Perfmatters have autoloaded options control?
No: not included. No autoloaded options report or toggle in the documented features.
Does Perfmatters have scheduled cleanup?
Yes: included. Selected optimisations can run daily, weekly or monthly in the background.
Is Perfmatters a caching plugin?
No. Perfmatters does not create page caches. It optimises scripts, CSS, fonts and media, so you should pair it with your host's caching or a page-cache plugin.
Is there a free version of Perfmatters?
No. It is premium-only, starting at $29.95 per year for one site, with a 30-day money-back guarantee and 15% off renewals.
Does Perfmatters support multisite?
Yes, but multisite support is only included in the Unlimited Sites plan, which can push network default settings to subsites.
Does it optimise or convert images?
No. It lazy loads images and can preload critical ones, but compression and WebP/AVIF conversion need a separate image optimisation tool.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.