5 Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress
Not all elements behave optimally on a website. This is why you should look for solutions like image optimization plugins.
Images can slow down your website as they are heavy elements that require a lot of data to function. However, they are essential for several reasons and you cannot simply ignore them in the name of your website’s performance, and to improve this you can use plugins.
But while images can be a problem, there are still excellent solutions to get everything running at the best possible speed. To get the best of both worlds, you can use some image optimization plugins. This way, images will be optimized to take up less space and make your website faster .
When it comes to WordPress image optimizer plugins, there are several options online. And to help you find the best of the best, we’ll put six of them to the test in this post.
The 5 best image optimization plugins for WordPress
1- reSmush.it
reSmush.it is one of the best WordPress image compression plugins. It allows you to automatically optimize images during download and offers a group optimization option for older images.
It uses the reSmush API to optimize images and also allows you to choose the optimization level for your downloads.
The downside is that it doesn’t have different compression levels. It also limits optimization to downloads below 5 MB.
If you need to add a full-size image, you can exclude images one by one from compression.
2- EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer is an excellent WordPress image compression plugin. In addition to being easy to use, it can automatically optimize downloaded images in real time. It can also compress and bulk optimize previously downloaded images.
EWWW does all the compression on its own servers, which means you don’t need to sign up for an API key.
It can also optimize images generated by other WordPress plugins and stored outside of your media library folders. Lastly, you don’t need to have an account to use the plugin, but you can sign up to the API to receive additional features.
3- Compress JPEG & PNG Images
Compress JPEG and PNG was created by the same team that made TinyPNG. In this case, you will need to create an account to use the plugin.
A possible downside is that you can only optimize 100 images per month with the free account. But it can also automatically compress images while downloading and you can also optimize old images.
The plugin options allow you to select the picture sizes you wish to optimize. You may also choose a maximum size for your original downloads. The plugin will automatically resize images that are larger than specified size.
4- ShortPixel Image Optimizer
ShortPixel Image Optimizer is another WordPress image compression plugin that can be very useful. Here, you have to get an API key and enter your email address.
Unfortunately, the free basic account allows you to compress up to 100 images per month and you will need to upgrade to a paid version to increase this limit.
It starts compressing images as soon as you activate the plugin and stores the original images in a separate folder. It also allows you to compare the original file with the compressed version to see the difference in quality.
A big advantage is that ShortPixel has advanced features and allows you to choose comparison formats.
5- WP Smush
WP Smush is another very popular WordPress image compression plugin. It automatically compresses images during download and can also be used to compress and optimize your old image files.
With it, you can also set the maximum image resolution and images will be reduced to more reasonable sizes during compression.
The free version of the plugin does not require you to create an account to use your API key. But to activate premium features, you may need to create an account.
Bulk Smush Optimization allows you to optimize up to 50 images at a time, and you can rerun the bulk optimizer to compress more images.
Now, what are the best image optimization plugins for WordPress?
Now it’s time to choose the ideal plugin for your website. But what should be the comparison parameters?
Well, if you are not looking for flexible image compression plugin options, reSmush.it offers the best results in terms of performance, making a real difference in image file size.
But if you want to pay for image compression, you can try ShortPixel, which performed very well in our tests.
EWWW Image Optimizer is an excellent plugin with flexible settings, but you will need the API key to access the compression levels that make a difference, which will generate costs.
Finally, if you’ve made it this far, you already know which plugins to test to optimize the images on your WordPress site. But these are just 5, as we selected the best to recommend to you. This means that you can find several others out there.