Autoptimize vs Speed Optimizer
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| Feature | Autoptimize v3.1.16 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details | Speed Optimizer v7.8.5 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.2/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 800,000+ | 1M+ |
| Last updated | September 26, 2026 | October 20, 2026 |
| Editions | Autoptimize · Autoptimize Pro ($) | Speed Optimizer |
| Pros | Aggregates and minifies CSS and JavaScript; Lazy-loads images with WebP and AVIF support; Works without changing theme code | Page caching, minification and lazy loading in one place; Browser cache headers and database cleanup; Free, from the WordPress.org directory |
| Cons | Aggressive script changes can break pages and need testing; Page cache, CDN and critical CSS need the paid Pro version | Dynamic caching and Memcached are SiteGround-only; CDN premium tier depends on the hosting plan; Calls Google PageSpeed and Google Fonts services |
| Features (Speed Optimization plugins checklist) | ||
| Page cache | — | Yes |
| Browser cache | — | Yes |
| Minify CSS/JS | — | Yes |
| CDN | — | Paid |
| Object cache | — | Yes |
| Database cleanup | — | Yes |
| Free version | — | Yes |
| More features | ||
| Other features | CSS and JavaScript aggregation and minification, Image lazy-load and WebP and AVIF settings, Extra options for fonts, emoji and script placement, Critical CSS through the criticalcss.com premium API ($), Pro upgrade tab in the admin | Lazy loading of images, iframes and videos, Image optimisation, WebP image conversion, Force HTTPS, Heartbeat control, PageSpeed analysis |
| Integrations | ||
| Analytics | — | Google PageSpeed Insights |
| Other | criticalcss.com ($), Google Fonts | Google Fonts |
| Requires WordPress | 5.3 | 5.5.1 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 7.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | criticalcss.com, misc.optimizingmatters.com | www.googleapis.com, fonts.googleapis.com, sgwpdemo.com, api.wordpress.org |