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
WP Rocket
Premium all-in-one caching and performance plugin for WordPress that applies page caching, file optimisation and lazy loading as soon as it is activated.
Est. active installs~3.5MLikely 2.3M–5.3M
Vendor claims5.5M+Vendor's own figure
Price from$59.95/yrPremium
Overview
WP Rocket is a commercial caching and page-speed plugin from WP Media. There is no free version on WordPress.org; every licence unlocks the full feature set, and plans differ only in the number of sites covered. Its main selling point is that page caching, browser caching, GZIP compression and cache preloading switch on automatically at activation, so a non-technical owner gets a meaningful speed gain without touching settings.
How it works
The plugin writes static HTML copies of pages to disk and serves them to visitors, keeping a separate cache for phones by default. A sitemap-based preloader rebuilds the cache after content changes, and WooCommerce cart, checkout and account pages are excluded automatically. On top of caching, the settings screens cover minifying CSS and JavaScript, combining JavaScript, deferring scripts, delaying JavaScript until user interaction, and two CSS strategies: Remove Unused CSS or asynchronous loading with generated critical CSS (both processed by WP Rocket’s own cloud service).
- Media: lazy loading for images, CSS backgrounds, iframes and videos, YouTube preview-image replacement and missing image dimensions.
- Fonts and hints: self-hosting of Google Fonts, font preloading, link preloading and automatic preconnect to external domains.
- Housekeeping: database cleanup with scheduling and WordPress Heartbeat control.
- Integrations: any CNAME-based CDN, plus built-in Cloudflare, Sucuri and Varnish add-ons.
What costs extra
Image compression is not part of WP Rocket; WP Media sells it as the separate Imagify plugin, and WP Rocket’s WebP option only serves WebP files that another tool has created. The bundled RocketCDN covers just three pages; whole-site delivery is a paid RocketCDN Pro subscription. There is no Redis or Memcached object-cache feature, and WP-CLI support comes through a separate wp-rocket-cli package.
Who should pick it
WP Rocket suits site owners, agencies and WooCommerce stores on ordinary Apache or Nginx hosting who want strong defaults and a tidy interface rather than dozens of low-level switches. Developers who need object caching, fine-grained cache backends or a free option will find W3 Total Cache or LiteSpeed Cache (on LiteSpeed servers) more flexible, and users on hosts that ban caching plugins should check compatibility first.
Best for: Site owners and agencies who want strong, low-effort speed improvements on standard hosting and are happy to pay a yearly licence.
WP Rocket is the easiest premium caching plugin to get good results from: most of the important optimisations are on by default and the rest are clearly explained. You pay every year and still need separate tools for image compression and object caching, but for most business sites the time saved justifies the price.
Pros
- Caching, browser caching and preload work immediately after activation
- Remove Unused CSS and critical CSS generation included in every plan
- Delay JavaScript execution with one-click exclusions for common scripts
- Separate mobile cache and WooCommerce page exclusions on by default
- Built-in database cleanup, Heartbeat control and Cloudflare add-on
- YouTube preview-image replacement and self-hosted Google Fonts
Cons
- No free version; licence must be renewed yearly for updates and support
- No image compression without buying or adding Imagify
- Bundled RocketCDN covers only three pages; full CDN is a paid subscription
- No Redis/Memcached object cache integration
- WP-CLI requires installing a separate package
Key features
What WP Rocket highlights on its own website, split by version.
Included features From $59.95/yr
- Page caching enabled on activation
- Automatic cache preloading from sitemaps
- Separate cache for mobile devices
- Minify CSS and JavaScript
- Remove Unused CSS
- Critical CSS with async CSS loading
- Defer and delay JavaScript execution
- Lazy load images, iframes and videos
- YouTube preview image replacement
- Self-host Google Fonts and preload fonts
- Database cleanup with scheduling
- Heartbeat API control
- Cloudflare, Sucuri and Varnish add-ons
- Rocket Insights performance monitoring
- RocketCDN free for three pages
Feature checklist
23 of 25 features we track in Caching & Speed, feature score 89/100
Caching 7/8
Page caching Key
Serves pre-built HTML pages.
Static HTML page cache is active as soon as the plugin is enabled.
Included
Browser caching rules
Sets cache headers for static files.
Adds browser cache rules for images, CSS and JS automatically.
Included
Cache preloading
Builds the cache before visitors arrive.
Sitemap-based preload rebuilds the cache after changes; link preloading also available.
Included
Object cache
Redis or Memcached object caching.
No Redis/Memcached object cache feature; use a separate object-cache drop-in.
Not included
Separate mobile cache
Different cache for mobile devices.
Separate mobile cache files are on by default (phones only; tablets treated as desktop).
Included
WooCommerce-aware caching
Excludes cart, checkout and account pages automatically.
Cart, checkout and account pages are excluded from cache automatically.
Included
Page cache on any server
Page caching works on Apache, Nginx and LiteSpeed alike.
Works on Apache, Nginx and managed hosts; not tied to a specific server stack.
Included
Multisite support
Works on WordPress multisite networks.
Supported; vendor advises per-site activation so each sub-site keeps its own settings.
Included
CSS & JavaScript 7/7
Minify CSS & JS
Strips whitespace from CSS and JavaScript.
Separate options to minify CSS files and JavaScript files.
Included
Combine files
Merges CSS/JS files.
Can combine JavaScript files; the old CSS combine option has been retired.
Partial
Defer / delay JavaScript Key
Loads scripts after the page renders or on interaction.
Load JavaScript deferred plus Delay JavaScript execution with one-click exclusions.
Included
Remove unused CSS Key
Generates only the CSS each page uses.
Remove Unused CSS generated by WP Rocket's cloud service, with a safelist.
Included
Critical CSS
Inlines above-the-fold CSS.
Load CSS asynchronously generates critical CSS per page, with fallback CSS.
Included
Font optimisation
Self-hosts or preloads web fonts.
Self-host Google Fonts and preload chosen font files.
Included
Preload and prefetch
Preload fonts, images or links and prefetch DNS.
Font and link preloading plus automatic preconnect to external domains (since 3.19).
Included
Media & delivery 7/7
Lazy loading
Defers off-screen images and iframes.
Lazy load images and CSS background images, with exclusions.
Included
Image compression
Compresses uploaded images.
Compression is provided by the separate Imagify plugin (free tier, paid plans).
Via add-on
WebP / AVIF delivery
Serves next-gen image formats.
WebP compatibility serves next-gen files created by Imagify or other plugins; no conversion itself.
Partial
CDN integration
Rewrites asset URLs to a CDN.
Rewrites asset URLs to any CDN CNAME you enter.
Included
Cloudflare integration
Purges or configures Cloudflare.
Built-in Cloudflare add-on for purging, dev mode and optimal settings.
Included
Lazy-load video embeds
Replace YouTube and Vimeo embeds with a lightweight preview.
Option to replace YouTube iframes with a preview image until clicked.
Included
Included CDN service
A CDN is part of the product or plan, not just URL rewriting.
RocketCDN free for 3 pages; whole-site RocketCDN Pro is $7.99/month.
Via add-on
Housekeeping 2/3
Database cleanup
Removes revisions, transients and spam.
Cleans revisions, drafts, trash, spam, transients and optimises tables on a schedule.
Included
Heartbeat control
Limits the WordPress Heartbeat API.
Reduce or disable Heartbeat separately for backend, editor and frontend.
Included
WP-CLI commands
Clear or warm the cache from the command line.
Free official wp-rocket-cli package adds purge, preload and settings commands.
Not verified
Feature checklist
7 of 22 features we track in Database Optimization, feature score 38/100
Cleanup 4/8
Post revisions Key
Delete old post and page revisions.
Posts cleanup deletes all post revisions.
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; unapproved comments are not covered.
Partial
Expired transients Key
Remove expired (or all) transients.
Transients cleanup deletes all transients (no expired-only option).
Included
Orphaned & duplicate metadata Key
Remove post, comment, user and term meta with no parent.
Not among the Database tab cleanup options.
Not included
Leftover plugin tables Key
Find and delete tables left behind by removed plugins.
No tool for leftover plugin tables.
Not included
Leftover options & cron jobs
Find options and scheduled tasks left by removed plugins.
No cleanup of 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 1/5
Optimise tables Key
Run OPTIMIZE TABLE to reclaim space and defragment tables.
Optimize Tables runs OPTIMIZE TABLE; InnoDB tables are skipped.
Included
Repair tables
Repair corrupted or crashed tables.
No repair option in the Database tab.
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 Database tab.
Not included
Convert to InnoDB
Convert MyISAM tables to InnoDB.
No engine conversion tool; InnoDB tables are just skipped.
Not included
Limit future revisions
Cap how many revisions WordPress keeps from now on.
Not verified
Automation & safety 2/5
Scheduled cleanup Key
Run cleanups automatically on a schedule.
Automatic cleanup runs the chosen options daily, weekly or monthly via cron.
Included
Preview before deleting
Shows counts or the exact items before anything is removed.
Settings page shows counts of optimisable items before you run a cleanup.
Included
Keep recent data
Keep the last X days or revisions when cleaning.
Cleanups remove every matching item; no keep-recent setting.
Not included
Backup before cleanup
Built-in or integrated backup before running a cleanup.
No built-in backup; docs advise backing up first as changes are irreversible.
Not included
Exclusions
Exclude specific tables, options or items from cleanup.
No option to exclude tables or items from cleanup.
Not included
Insights & admin 0/3
Database size report
Shows table sizes and how much space a cleanup will save.
Shows item counts, 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 owns a table or option.
Not included
Multisite support
Clean and optimise across a multisite network.
Not verified
Pricing
Single
$59.95per year1 site
Full feature set; Rocket Insights included; 14-day money-back guarantee.
Plus
$119.95per year3 sites
Same features as Single, more sites.
Multi
$299.95per year50 sites
Pricing page also offers 100- and 500-site options; custom licences above 500 sites via sales. RocketCDN Pro is an extra $7.99/month.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use WP Rocket?
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
5.5M+
Sites/users claimed on the vendor's website. source
Estimated active installs
~3.5M
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: The vendor says 5.5M+ sites use it; we take 80% of that (4.4M) because vendor counts are rounded up and include lapsed sites. Website scans by WPoptic find the paid plugin (folder wp-rocket) on 1,163,100 live sites; the scans reach roughly 38% of WordPress sites, so each site found stands for about 2.6, giving 3.1M. Combining these (weighted average) gives about 3.5M. Likely range: 2.3M to 5.3M. 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 | 2013 (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|
| Refund policy | 14-day money-back (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
WP Rocket compared
LiteSpeed Cache/WP Rocket
WP Rocket/xSpeed Cache
Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions/WP Rocket
Database Cleaner/WP Rocket
Advanced Database Cleaner/WP Rocket
WP Rocket/WP-Sweep
Perfmatters/WP Rocket
NitroPack/WP Rocket
WP-Optimize/WP Rocket
Breeze/WP Rocket
Hummingbird/WP Rocket
Autoptimize/WP Rocket
Jetpack Boost/WP Rocket
Cache Enabler/WP Rocket
WP Rocket/WP Super Cache
W3 Total Cache/WP Rocket
WP Fastest Cache/WP Rocket
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NitroPack
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W3 Total Cache
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FAQ
Is WP Rocket free?
No. WP Rocket is a premium plugin. Paid plans start at $59.95/yr.
How many sites use WP Rocket?
The vendor claims 5.5M+ sites in total. We estimate around 3.5M active installs.
Does WP Rocket have page caching?
Yes: included. Static HTML page cache is active as soon as the plugin is enabled.
Does WP Rocket have defer / delay javascript?
Yes: included. Load JavaScript deferred plus Delay JavaScript execution with one-click exclusions.
Does WP Rocket have remove unused css?
Yes: included. Remove Unused CSS generated by WP Rocket's cloud service, with a safelist.
Does WP Rocket have post revisions?
Yes: included. Posts cleanup deletes all post revisions.
Does WP Rocket have expired transients?
Yes: included. Transients cleanup deletes all transients (no expired-only option).
Does WP Rocket have orphaned & duplicate metadata?
No: not included. Not among the Database tab cleanup options.
Does WP Rocket have leftover plugin tables?
No: not included. No tool for leftover plugin tables.
Does WP Rocket have optimise tables?
Yes: included. Optimize Tables runs OPTIMIZE TABLE; InnoDB tables are skipped.
Does WP Rocket have autoloaded options control?
No: not included. No autoloaded options report or toggle in the Database tab.
Does WP Rocket have scheduled cleanup?
Yes: included. Automatic cleanup runs the chosen options daily, weekly or monthly via cron.
Is there a free version of WP Rocket?
No. WP Rocket is sold only as a yearly licence; all plans include the same features and differ by the number of websites. A 14-day money-back guarantee applies.
Does WP Rocket compress images?
No. Image compression and WebP/AVIF generation are handled by Imagify, a separate plugin from the same company. WP Rocket can serve WebP files that Imagify or another image plugin has produced.
Is RocketCDN included?
Every licence includes RocketCDN for three pages. Serving the whole site through RocketCDN Pro (Bunny CDN network) costs $7.99 per month. You can also connect any other CDN by CNAME.
Does it work with WooCommerce?
Yes. Cart, checkout and My Account pages are excluded from the cache automatically, and mobile caching is on by default.
Can I use it on a multisite network?
Yes, but WP Rocket recommends activating it per sub-site rather than network-wide. Sub-sites on the same domain share one licence; separate domains each count toward the site limit.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.