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11 Best WordPress Image Optimizer Plugins to Boost Your Site Performance in 2024

Last Updated on December 26th, 2023

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In this age of visual culture, images have become a crucial part of websites, and experts recommend that images be used in all articles. According to research, articles with photos get 94% more total views, which is why many popular websites like Facebook, Amazon, Twitter, Pinterest encourage you to use them. If you are an owner of an online store or you have a blog, you must include HD images to drive higher engagement or sales. 

However, the downside to uploading images to your website is that it could slow down the loading time for your visitors. Experts don’t recommend uploading large images, as they can make your website too slow, with the result that your visitors may choose to leave and find an alternative. To provide a better experience for your visitors, you should use a slightly higher resolution (150 – 300 kb) and larger dimensions for the featured image. Likewise, 1200 px by 800 px can also be a good place to start. However, the larger your image file sizes are, the longer it will take your web page to load.

The solution is to optimize your images with an image optimizer plugin so that they take up way less space. WordPress image optimizer plugins allow you to upload images to your website without compromising its speed. 

Benefits of Image Optimization

These are some of the main benefits of optimizing your website images: 

  • It helps you the lower file size 
  • With the image optimizer plugin, you are able to increase the loading speed 
  • It gives a better user experience
  • It increases the conversion rates
  • It improves SEO 
  • With the image optimizer plugin, making backups will be much quicker 

What to Look for in a WordPress Image Optimizer Plugin?

When choosing a plugin for WordPress, you should pay attention to its features, when each is updated, and which versions of WordPress and page builders it is compatible with. In addition to that, for the image optimization, you should consider the following: 

  • Type of compression used in the plugin: Plugins may offer lossy and lossless compression to help you reduce file size without sacrificing the quality of images. Lossy compression removes data that isn’t needed, such as the number of colors, thereby reducing the size of the image. Lossless compression does not remove any of the data, but also does not reduce the size of the data.
  • Limitations of the plugin: You may find some plugins that limit the number of images you can compress in a month. There may also be a limit to the number of images that you can bulk compress – usually those already in your media library.
  • File formats the plugin offers: If you tend to use jpeg or png file formats, then most plugins should work for you. However, if you use something different, you should check that the image optimization plugin will work for that format. 

In this article, we have reviewed some of the best WordPress Image Optimizer plugins this year, and by the end, we hope you‘ll have found the right one for you. The plugins we recommend are as follows:

ShortPixel Image Optimizer

shortpixel

ShortPixel Image Optimizer is a free solid plugin that improves the number of visitors and your sales by optimizing any image or PDF document on your website. In addition, it is able to compress all your past images and PDF documents with a single click. It has compatibility with gallery, slider, or eCommerce plugins.

This plugin can optimize any image you have on your website, even the images that are not listed in the media library like those in galleries such as NextGen, Modula, or added via FTP. It offers JPEG compression, which is a very high-quality algorithm exclusively designed for photographers. It works well for eCommerce websites via WooCommerce and other plugins. Also, it is WPML and watermarking plugins compatible. 

Pros

  • It is stable and easy to use the plugin 
  • It increases your website’s SEO ranking 
  • It is lightweight 
  • It provides great support 
  • It has no file size limit 
  • It is compatible with WP Retina 2x

Cons 

  • The unused monthly credits don’t roll over to the next month 
  • Panoramic images are blurry
  • It does not allow you to specify file size range to be filtered out in image compression 

Go to ShortPixel Image Optimizer

WP Compress 

WP Compress is another great image optimizer plugin for WordPress that you can use to automatically optimize your images to shrink file sizes, improve load times and help boost your conversions. This plugin is loaded with agency features like monthly client quotas, a centralized management portal, detailed client reporting, remote configuration optimization and bulk website linking. Other mention-worthy features include local and live optimization modes, local image optimization, adaptive images, one-click bulk optimization, one-click bulk restore, preserve EXIF data, hybrid CDN, ultra compression, centralized management portal, live chat support, Next-Gen WebP images, image lazy loading and so much more. 

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Pros

  • It loads quickly 
  • Its ranking is high 
  • It provides retina device support
  • It is easy to set up 
  • It is flexible and simple 
  • It provides retina support
  • It has frequent updates 

Cons 

  • None found 

Go to WP Compress

Optimole 

Optimole is the best WordPress Image Optimizer plugin to use for optimizing images. It is an image compressing tool that works in autopilot mode without the need for intervention. In addition to that, this plugin supports every image type, including retina and WebP formats. With this plugin, you can get a lazy image loading feature for boosting your site speed. Your web images will look the same while weighing 80% less due to this extension. Apart from that, Optimole compresses your image size based on web visitors’ network speed.

In addition, Optimole can produce responsive images after optimization. Due to this, your visitors will be able to browse them on every device without ruining its dimensions. Its features include smart cropping, a custom image lazy loading mechanism, format-based optimization, cloud library support, image optimization, smart crop, and many more. It’s also compatible with popular page builders. 

Pros

  • It is easy to use 
  • It has lossy and lossless compression options 
  • Compatibility with popular page builders
  • It is retina ready 
  • It is fast loading 
  • It offers smart cropping 
  • Its functionality is smooth and clean 

Cons 

  • The free plan has limited features 

Go to Optimole

Smush 

Smush is the best Image Optimizer for WordPress, used to optimize all the images across your network and configure each site individually. It is powerful and 100% free. Usually, you would need to optimize your images manually through resizing, coding, and time. But for image optimization in WordPress, you don’t need to worry about it.

This plugin does all the work for you and so much more. Its features include compression software settings, multiple styles, bulk smush, image resizing, automated optimization, Gutenberg block integration, multisite compatibility, and many more. In addition to that, Smush is compatible with page builders and media library plugins like WP All Import, WP Offloads Media, WP Media Folder, WP Retina 2x, NextGen gallery, WPML, Envira Gallery, Avada Fusion builder, etc. 

Pros

  • It is easy to use 
  • It improves Google page speed 
  • It is compatible with popular page builders 
  • It is super fast 
  • It does not compromise quality
  • It includes excellent features 
  • It is retina ready

Cons 

  • The performance of this plugin is not as effective as other methods. 
  • It doesn’t give you control over how much you can optimize an image.

Go to Smush

Optimus 

Optimus is another of WordPress’ best image optimizers that comes in three versions: Optimus (Free); Optimus HQ (Premium); and HQ Pro (Premium). The free version has some limitations, but Optimus HQ has some great functionalities for personal projects, and HQ Pro offers professional solutions for customer websites.

The features of the Optimus WordPress plugin include: progressive JPEGs, reduction of file size during the upload, optimization of all the preview images of a photo, WordPress mobile apps and windows live writer, bulk optimization, and many more. It is an effective WordPress plugin that reduces image file sizes by up to 70%, increasing your website’s performance and user experience. Apart from that, it improves the site speed and page speed score. 

Pros

  • It provides automatic file size reduction
  • It is great for site SEO and the audience 
  • It can optimize images without any reduction in the quantity
  • You do not need coding expertise 
  • It is fast loading
  • It is retina ready 
  • It supports WooCommerce 
  • It offers WordPress multisite support  

Cons 

  • The free version is only able to optimize images up to 100 KB.

Go to Optimus

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EWWW Image Optimizer

EWWW Image Optimizer is one of the best image optimization plugins for WordPress. It comes with unlimited file size, smooth handling, high torque, adaptive steering, free parking, media library, pre-configured folders, bulk optimization, comprehensive coverage, roadside assistance, and more. It allows you to make your website faster, improve your bounce rate and boost your SEO. With this plugin, you can optimize your images.

In addition to that, EWWW Image Optimizer is compatible with various plugins and themes, and supports BuddyPress, Meta slider slides, WP symposium pro avatars, GD bbPress, Grand media libraries, etc. Other plugins that it is compatible with include Cloudinary, Easy Watermark, FileBird, FooGallery, Grand FIAGallery, Gmedia Photo Gallery, MediaPress, Meta Slider, Microsoft Azure Storage, MyArcadePlugin, and many more, making image optimization in WordPress a breeze. 

Pros

  • It is user friendly 
  • It comes with good features 
  • It is simple 
  • It is compatible with popular page builders 
  • It offers great support 
  • It is translation ready 
  • No file size and number restrictions 

Cons 

  • Its file size savings is less than the other plugins 
  • The server needs to be strong and if it isn’t, then the plugin can crash your server 
  • This plugin might not provide you with a list of overall statistics about the total space saved 
  • The WP content folder is writable 

Go to EWWW Image Optimizer

Compress JPEG & PNG Images 

Compress JPEG & PNG Images is the best image optimizer for WordPress that can make your website faster by optimizing your JPEG and PNG images. It enables you to automatically optimize all your images by integrating with popular image compression services like TinyJPG and TinyPNG.

Being one of WordPress’ best image optimizers, it offers several features, including advanced background optimization, media library, bulk optimization, progressive JPEG encoding, color profiles, dashboard widget, and so much more. In addition, you can translate color profiles automatically to standard RGB color, compress an animated PNG, and see your usage on the settings page and during bulk optimization.

Pros

  • It is user friendly 
  • It provides multisite support
  • It is WPML compatible 
  • It is WooCommerce compatible
  • It is WP retina 2x compatible 
  • It has no file size limits

Cons 

  • JPEG images do not support layered images 

Go to Compress JPEG & PNG Images

Imsanity 

Imsanity is a WordPress image optimizer that is perfect for blogs that do not require hi-resolution original images to be stored and/or the contributors don’t want to scale images before uploading. This plugin can be used to automatically resize huge image uploads and choose whatever size and quality you like. In addition, it provides a bulk resize feature to resize previously uploaded images and free up disk space. Its features include bulk resize, resizing images directly in the media library, a configuration of max width/height and JPG quality, conversion of BMP and PNG files, and WordPress built-in image scaling functionality. Moreover, it is compatible with the latest WordPress versions. 

Pros

  • It is translation ready 
  • It is user-friendly 
  • It is faster than 99% of plugins
  • It is of overall good quality 
  • It is frequently updated 

Cons 

  • None found

Go to Imsanity

Imagify

Imagify is one of the best advanced WordPress image optimizer plugins that you can set up in just one click. This plugin enables you to get a lighter image, convert web and increase the speed of your website. It is integrated with WooCommerce. Apart from that, you will also be able to use this plugin to convert WebP images that will reduce the size of your website.

This plugin can also directly resize your images, saving you time by not having to resize your images before uploading them. Three optimization levels are available – Normal, Aggressive, and Ultra. It is a powerful and easy-to-use tool. Moreover, its user-friendly interface will provide an excellent settings module that makes Imagify WordPress image optimizer plugin standalone among its competitors. 

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Pros

  • It is compatible with NextGen Gallery
  • It is WooCommerce ready 
  • It saves time
  • It is SEO optimized 
  • You can get a lighter image without losing quality
  • It is user friendly  

Cons 

  • It can be time-consuming

Go to Imagify

reSmush.it

reSmush.it is a free WordPress image optimizer plugin that enables you to use image optimization based on the reSmush.it API, providing image size reduction upon several advanced algorithms. The API accepts JPG, PNG, and GIF files up to 5MB. In addition to that, reSmush.it has a bulk function, allowing you to optimize all your pictures in just a few clicks. It includes 400,000 websites on different CMS like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Magento, Prestashop, and many more. Moreover, it comes with an option to exclude some pictures of the optimizer. Overall, this plugin is an outstanding image optimizer. 

Pros

  • This plugin enables you to change your image optimization level to fit your needs
  • It is user friendly 
  • Great customer care 
  • It is free 
  • It is a simple plugin 

Cons 

  • None found 

Go to reSmush.it

Kraken Image Optimizer 

Kraken Image Optimizer is a simple and flexible plugin that allows you to optimize and resize new and existing WordPress image uploads through Kraken Image Optimizer’s API.  It supports file types like JPEG, PNG, and GIF. After Kraken.io’s lossy optimization, the system goes the extra mile to make sure that the results are of high quality. It is compatible with all kinds of devices like mobile, tablets, and desktop computers. Moreover, with this plugin, you will be able to improve your search ranking. Its features include web interface pro, image resizing, kraken.io zip uploader, full API access, WordPress and Magento plugins, optimization statistics, and many more. The bottom line is that you can completely rely on this plugin for great image optimization.

Pros

  • This plugin reduces the weight not quality 
  • It speeds up the apps and websites 
  • It reduces the operating costs 
  • It provides fast user support 

Cons 

  • The free version has limited options and features 

Go to Kraken Image Optimizer

Bottom line? 

All of these plugins are based on quality and come with great features and functionalities. If you want to have a fast website, you need to make sure that you are optimizing your images properly, and using one of the plugins mentioned above will ensure just that. Choosing the right plugin and integrating it into your website can be the best option for your online business. If you think we have missed your favorite image optimizer plugin, let us know in the comment section. 

A team of WordPress experts that love to test out new WordPress related software, WordPress plugins and WordPress themes.