Having a caching plugin for most WordPress sites is a must have for a number of reasons but mostly SPEED. Everyone wants the fastest site they can possibly get ( or afford ) and the main plugins everyone turns to use is a caching plugin.
Today, we decided to put 4 major caching plugins to the test. Cache Enabler – WP Super Cache – WP Rocket and W3 Total Cache. 3 of the 4 are free. WP Rocket is the only 1 you have to pay for.
THE DIFFERENT TESTS CONDUCTED IN THIS SERIES:
THE ENVIRONMENT
For this test, we’re using the following environment and tools
Each site is hosted on a separate Virtual Private Server ( VPS ) in Chicago IL. utilizing VULTR VPS machines.
VPS Specs:
The Domain Names / Caching plugins installed Click the link to go to the site.
Theme used on each site
Each site had the exact theme with all stock everything. Nothing extra was added to any site. Whatever the theme came with ( Demo content ), that’s what was installed.
Required Plugins installed for the theme
Images were optimized with Optimus HQ for Cache Enabler (wphstest1) and ShortPixel for WP Rocket (wphstest2), WP Super Cache (wphstest3) and W3 Total Cache (wphstest4)
Speed test results with no caching plugin installed and no image optimizations
NO CDN / NO IMAGE OPTIMIZATION
The first page speed test ( with no image optimization ) was conducted on all 4 sites with Pingdom. Each site was submitted 5 times in the same location.
NO CDN WITH FULL IMAGE OPTIMIZATION
Second test with optimized images from Optimus ( wphstest1 ) + “Create an additional cached version for WebP image support” is checked in the Cache Enabler plugins settings. ShortPixel optimizer plugin was used for sites ( wphstest 2,3,4 ) All cache was cleared prior to beginning the test.
WITH KEYCDN AND FULL IMAGE OPTIMIZATION
Next, I wanted to test each site with the KeyCDN ( Content Delivery Network ) setup on each site enabled with the CDN Enabler plugin. The WP Super Cache and WP Rocket have a section in the plugin settings to enable the cdn so I used that instead of CDN Enabler plugin. All cache was cleared prior to beginning the test.
WITH CLOUDFLARE WITH NO RAILGUN AND FULL IMAGE OPTIMIZATION / KEYCDN IS OFF
next, I wanted to test each site with CloudFlare enabled without the railgun network optimizer. All cache was clear prior to beginning the test. Each site was given the exact cloudflare minification settings:
WITH CLOUDFLARE WITH RAILGUN ON AND FULL IMAGE OPTIMIZATION / KEYCDN IS OFF
Railgun ensures that the connection between your origin server and the CloudFlare network is as fast as possible.
Railgun achieves a 99.6% compression ratio for previously uncacheable web objects by using techniques similar to those used in the compression of high-quality video. This results in an average 200% additional performance increase. READ MORE
TEST RESULTS OF ALL 5 TESTS CONDUCTED IN ONE COMPARISON IMAGE IN THE ORDER IT WAS TESTED.
Click the image below to view full size
The next test I will conduct is using webpagetest.org More to come soon! Please, feel free to comment below! We’d love to hear your thoughts!