Autoptimize vs Perfmatters
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Autoptimize v3.1.16 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details | Perfmatters v2.6.8 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Paid Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 800,000+ | — |
| Last updated | September 26, 2026 | — |
| Editions | Autoptimize · Autoptimize Pro ($) | Perfmatters ($) |
| Pros | Aggregates and minifies CSS and JavaScript; Lazy-loads images with WebP and AVIF support; Works without changing theme code | Per-page control of scripts and styles; Lazy loading, minification and CDN rewrite included; Database cleanup built in |
| Cons | Aggressive script changes can break pages and need testing; Page cache, CDN and critical CSS need the paid Pro version | Paid product, updates need a licence key; Not a page cache or object cache; pair it with one; Many options can change how pages behave, so testing is needed |
| Mentioned in our posts | — | 1 |
| Features (Speed Optimization plugins checklist) | ||
| Page cache | — | No |
| Browser cache | — | No |
| Minify CSS/JS | — | Paid |
| CDN | — | Paid |
| Object cache | — | No |
| Database cleanup | — | Paid |
| Free version | — | No |
| More features | ||
| Other features | CSS and JavaScript aggregation and minification, Image lazy-load and WebP and AVIF settings, Extra options for fonts, emoji and script placement, Critical CSS through the criticalcss.com premium API ($), Pro upgrade tab in the admin | Per-page script and style control ($), Lazy loading for images, iframes and assets ($), Remove unused CSS and inline stylesheets ($), Resource preload hints ($), Google Fonts handling ($), Local copy of Google Analytics scheduled daily ($), WP-CLI commands ($), Safe mode notice for testing ($) |
| Integrations | ||
| Analytics | — | Google Analytics ($) |
| Other | criticalcss.com ($), Google Fonts | Google Fonts ($), Perfmatters license server ($) |
| Requires WordPress | 5.3 | 5.5 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 8.1 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | criticalcss.com, misc.optimizingmatters.com | perfmatters.io |
| Shortcodes | — | 1 |