Speculative Loading vs WP Super Cache
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Speculative Loading v1.7.0 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 5.0/5 Visit Details | WP Super Cache v3.1.4 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free · ★ 4.3/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 70,000+ | 1M+ |
| Last updated | August 26, 2026 | September 30, 2026 |
| Editions | Speculative Loading | WP Super Cache |
| Pros | Near-instant page changes for visitors; Settings under Settings > Reading; Maintained by the WordPress Performance Team | Serves cached static HTML, reducing PHP load; Simple and expert modes; Cache preloading and automatic expiry of old files |
| Cons | Prerendering loads pages before the click, so page scripts may run early; Behaviour depends on browser support for the Speculation Rules API | No CSS or JavaScript minification; Cloudflare or other proxies can make the built-in test report false failures; Object cache support only applies when a persistent object cache is installed |
| Mentioned in our posts | — | 2 |
| Features (Speed Optimization plugins checklist) | ||
| Page cache | — | Yes |
| Browser cache | — | Yes |
| Minify CSS/JS | — | No |
| CDN | — | Yes |
| Object cache | — | Yes |
| Database cleanup | — | No |
| Free version | — | Yes |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Speculation rules printed in the footer, Prefetch or prerender mode and eagerness settings, Exclude paths from speculation | Scheduled cache preloading, Scheduled garbage collection of expired cache files, Simple and expert configuration modes, Built-in cache tester |
| Requires WordPress | 6.9 | 6.8 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |