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Summary of Our Top 8 Best WordPress Image Compression Plugins List 2022
- WP Smush: Popular WordPress image compression plugin
- ShortPixel: Useful WordPress image compression plugin
- EWWW Image Optimizer: Great WordPress image compression plugin
- ReSmush.it: Best WordPress image compression plugin
- Imagify: Best WordPress image optimizer plugin
- TinyPNG: Best Online Tools for Compress JPEG & PNG images
- Kraken: Good Image Optimizer Plugins
- Imsanity: Imsanity automatically resizes a huge image
Best WordPress image optimizer plugins– Do you know you will lose a massive amount of traffic if your site has a slow loading speed? When you use an image, it increases your page size, and if the page size of your site is large, then it will badly affect the loading time of your website.
Now some of you might be thinking that it’s tough to write content without images because it will make my content boring. You are true, and I also advise you to use images and videos to make your content engaging. The best solution to this problem is that you can compress your images, so it will not highly increase your website page size so it will not affect your loading time.
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There are many image optimizers on the internet google it, but the main problem with them is that they are time taking. You have to go on their site and then compress, download and upload to your article. So if you want to save your time, then I will recommend you to go with WordPress image optimizer plugins.
It is advisable to use WordPress image compression plugins because you have to just click on a button and it will compress your all unoptimized image. Isn’t that simple and easy?
8 Best WordPress Image Optimizer Plugins in 2022
In this article, I am going to tell you about the best WordPress image optimizer plugins including paid and free which will help you to decide the best plugin to optimize the image yourself.
1: WP Smush
WP smush is among very popular WordPress plugin. This WordPress image optimizer plugin compresses your images without any visible quality loss.
The best part of WP smush is that there is no limitation in the number of images you can optimize in the free version. It lets you optimize unlimited photos in the free version.
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This tool automatically compresses your images whenever you upload it, which saves a lot of time.
WP smush offers the feature of bulk smush, which means that you can compress your large number of old unoptimized images by a single click. In the free version of this plugin, you can only compress 50 pictures at one click. So if you have a lot of old image files, then you have to click the button several times to compress all images.
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In the free version, WP smush will not compress your image if the size of the image is above 5 MB. Earlier the limit was 1 MB. Now they modified it to 5MB which is pretty sufficient. In the pro version, the limit is 32 MB.
The process of optimization of your images doesn’t takes place in your server. It takes place in the server of WP smush, which ensures that the loading time of your site will not be affected while the optimization is taking place, and It will prevent any chance of server crash.
It provides you a very good amount of data about your images like the data of the space saved after image optimization.
Wp smush gives you a lazy load for free, which will help in increasing the speed of your website, and It will make the user experience better.
WP smush gives no control to you over the amount of image optimization.
In the free version, you only get the option of lossless compression. In lossless compression, your file will be compressed to a small extent, but the best part of lossless compression is that there is no quality loss of image. Its almost impossible for your eyes to notice the quality loss.
In the paid version, you can choose between lossless and lossy compression. Your images will be compressed to 60% in lossy compression, but there is some loss of quality.
In the paid version, you also get PNG to Lossy JPEG, which means that your PNG file will be converted into JPEG with some loss of quality to save additional space.
WP smush will store your original images, so whenever you want to get the full quality of the image, then you can restore it, but unfortunately, this feature is only for the premium version.
To get all the benefits like lossy compression and to remove the restrictions you can buy the paid subscription which costs 49$ per month. In that subscription, you get different tools for setting up your website, but it’s very costly if you just want the WP Smush.
I will not recommend you to go with the paid version due to its high price. However, you can go with a free version as it has pretty enough features for good image optimization.
2: ShortPixel
ShortPixel is among the best WordPress image compression plugin that comes with hell lot of features.
It’s the lightweight plugin to ensure that it doesn’t affect the loading speed of your website.
You can easily set up Shortpixel. It has extra tabs for advanced features, but if you don’t want to do a lot of modification, then the default settings are well enough.
To get an API key to this plugin, you have to give your email id.
As usual, this image optimizer plugin has a paid and free version.
This plugin has so many features unlocked for free version except some essential features like It will only compress 100 images per month on a free version. It might be a sufficient number for some people, but for many people, it’s not enough, and in this case, you have to purchase their premium plans to extend image optimization limits.
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In their starting premium plan called short, you get optimization of 5000 images per month, but for that, you have to pay a good amount of 4.99$ per month. For getting more image compression limits, it has more plans.
If you refer ShortPixel to your friend then for each referral, you will get an extra 100 image compression per month.
Unlike WP smush, ShortPixel has no limit on an image size, which makes them different from others.
You can easily compress your old images by just clicking a button on this plugin. It will compress your new images automatically when you upload it, so you don’t have to worry about image compression. Overall it will save your significant amount of time, and that’s the reason we consider the plugin like ShortPixel over any manual method.
You can also resize your big images, and after that, you can see the amount of space you have saved from resizing.
It allows you to choose between lossless, glossy, and lossy compression. We know lossless, and lossy compression so let me tell you about glossy compression. Glossy compression falls between lossless and lossy compression. It will save more space than lossless but less then lossy. Its quality is better than lossy, but it’s a little bit less than lossless.
Overall, Glossy compression is the perfect choice for photographers because they want to save a significant amount of space for the speed of their site and on the other hand, they want a top-notch quality of images.
It shows you the comparison between the original image and the compressed image so you can clearly see the difference in the quality.
ShortPixel converts PNG images to JPEG to save additional space. It also optimizes PDF documents.
You can integrate Cloudflare with ShortPixel in case you are using a CDN.
Your images are compressed on their cloud servers, which ensures that your site will not be affected at the time of image optimization. It also saves you from any server crash. However, the cloud server will compress images slowly as compared to compression on your server.
ShortPixel stores your original image in a separate folder. You can restore your original image anytime if you aren’t happy with the compressed image. It gives you an option to store the backup of original images or not. So if you are really insecure about the compressed image, then I will recommend you to take backups.
3: EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer is one of the best and popular plugins for image optimization.
You can easily use this plugin, but its interface looks outdated, which doesn’t look pleasing to the eyes.
It takes your all burden related to image optimization as it automatically compresses your images when you upload it, It is really a time savior.
This plugin allows you to compress all your old images in bulk by just clicking a button.
This plugin can compress your JPG, PNG, GIF, and PDF documents.
It allows you to choose between lossy and lossless compression. As usual, if you want small image size with little sacrifice on quality then go with lossy and If you can’t compromise with the quality then go with lossless compression, but you will get a less compressed image in lossless.
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If you have photography kind of site, then go with lossless compression and if you have a blog and your primary motive is speed, then go with the lossy compression.
Unlike other plugins, EWWW Image Optimizer allows you to compress images of unlimited file sizes. This feature really makes them different from plugins like WP Smush.
This image optimization plugin has SSL protection for your files to protect it.
If you already optimized some images and don’t want them to be compressed again by this plugin, then don’t worry as this plugin will skip those optimized images.
You can also resize your large images to save additional space.
The process of image optimization takes place on your own server, and because of this, the process of compression will be done quickly as there is no sending and receiving of image files to the external server and it is beneficial if you are serious about privacy, but there are some drawbacks.
As the compression will run on your own server, It will slow your loading speed till the process of compression runs, and It may cause server crashes. The external server is slow in the process of compression as compared to your own server, but it is better because there is no effect on loading time, and there is no chance of server crash.
It has six tabs for modification of the settings, but if you are a beginner, then I will not advise you to make any change but don’t worry as the default settings of this plugin is perfect for most of the users.
You don’t need an account to get an API key as this plugin runs without it; however, you can sign up for an API to take benefit of extra features.
EWWW is a free image optimizer plugin, and I love this plugin because of its vast amount of features in a free version. You can also pay for API access, and with the help of it, you can shift the work of compression to other servers to protect your own servers from any possible crashes and from the effect on loading times.
4: ReSmush.it
If you are looking for a completely free plugin to compress your images with the best quality, then you can consider reSmush.it.
This plugin started a revolution of free image compression, and it is a very popular plugin with 80,000+ active installs.
You can easily use this plugin, and it has a simple interface that looks pleasing to the eyes.
This plugin uses the resmush API to compress your images.
If you don’t like a burden of image optimization or don’t want to waste time in these things, then this plugin will automatically optimize your images once you upload it.
You can use a bulk optimize to compress your all old images file in two clicks, which is very useful. This free plugin really saves a lot of time, but if you don’t have any problem with time, then I will surely recommend you to go for manual optimization of images. It is better as you don’t need to install any plugin and we all know that plugin slows down the site.
The biggest con of this theme is that you can’t upload images files of more than 5mb, which is very frustrating for anyone.
The best part of this plugin is that you can choose the optimization level of your images by own.
This plugin allows you to enter between 1 to 100. If the number is low then it will do higher optimization which means small file size, I found that 92 is perfect because it provides you high compression of 50-60% and pretty high-quality image, so I will also recommend you to go with 92.
Unfortunately, this plugin doesn’t have different compression levels.
This plugin can compress your JPG, PNG, and GIF files.
This plugin supports different CMS like WordPress, Drupal, Prestashop, and Magento. The main features are the same in all CMS, but due to the difference in the interface, you will get a different experience.
This plugin creates a copy of your original images so that you can back up your images if you don’t like the compressed image. This feature is really nice as some popular image optimization plugins take charge of this, but this free plugin is providing this feature for free.
The worst part of this plugin is that its very slow, and it takes a lot of time when you will optimize so many images at once. You can upload images for optimization part by part as it is tough for this plugin to handle the huge amount of images.
This image optimization plugin lacks a lot of features as compared to its competitor, so if you are looking for a lot of features, then consider going with a different plugin.
ReSmush.it is a good plugin considering that it’s free, but we can’t forget its slow speed and very low features. Overall, I recommend this image optimization plugin if you have a small site and if you want an image optimization plugin for free.
5: Imagify
Imagify plugin is made by the developers of the Wp rocket plugin, which is the best caching tool according to me. Now let’s check the performance of their image optimizer.
You can easily use and modify this plugin. I loved the clean interface of this plugin, which looks very pleasing to the eyes.
To use this plugin, you just have to create a free account to get an API key.
The best part of this plugin is that it offers so many options in its free version, which makes this plugin different from others like WP smush, which has a very limited option in the free version.
This plugin offers three different types of compression,
You get Normal, Aggressive, and Ultra compression. Normal is lossless compression, Aggressive is lossy compression, and Ultra is the strongest compression, which means lossier.
In lossless you will see no loss in quality which is helpful for photographers, You will see little bit loss of quality in Aggressive, but there might be a major loss of quality in ultra like blurring, color ratio loss and slight pixelization,
Overall, I recommend you to go with Aggressive because it will give you a good balance between quality and file size. It will compress the image to a great extent, and you will get good quality too. It’s very hard to notice the quality loss in Aggressive with the eyes.
Now let’s test the percentage of compression of images in the Imagify plugin. Note- The percentage of image compression may differ in your case because it depends upon your image. However, My test will give you almost accurate data.
This plugin compressed my JPG image file to 34% in lossy compression, which is a bad performance when you compare it with plugins like ShortPixel. At least they should have performed much better. I personally prefer those plugins which give almost 70% compression in lossy. Overall the performance of Imagify in JPG disappointed me a lot.
The scenario is completely different on PNG image compression. It compressed the PNG image file to 78% in lossy compression. The performance in PNG image compression is very impressive, but unfortunately, it lacks in the most used file format that is JPG.
The only thing that I don’t like about this plugin is that you can’t upload images of more than 5MB in a free account. However, you can upload images of more than 5 MB in the paid account.
This plugin gives you all the feature which is required for image optimization like you get image resizing and bulk compression. This plugin allows you to resize your all images to a specific width.
This plugin gives you the option of enabling or disabling the compression of thumbnails.
You can use the Imagify plugin to optimize your JPG, PNG, and GIF files.
This plugin takes your burden related to image optimization. It will automatically optimize the image as you upload it in WordPress.
With the help of bulk optimizer, you can compress your all old unoptimized images. This plugin fulfills all the reasons for using a plugin over any manual method.
Imagify also provides a tool for the optimization of your Wordpress theme.
As of now, this plugin only supports WordPress CMS, but they will start supporting cms like Magento, Prestashop, Joomla, and Shopify soon so that you can use the great plugin on different cms.
This plugin provides you the option of backup so in case you don’t like the compressed image then you can restore your original version of the image, or you can optimize those images to different compression levels.
In the free version, you can upload the images of 1gb per month; If you want to upload images of more than 1gb, then you have to purchase paid plans.
6: TinyPNG: Compress JPEG & PNG images
TinyPNG is a very reliable and efficient image compression tool. It is very easy to use plugin and comes with a simple interface that is completely user-friendly and looks pleasing to the eyes.
TinyPNG is known for its high compression of images with very little quality loss.
Earlier, TinyPNG provides image optimization online, which means that you have to do manual optimization of your images, which is a time-consuming process, but now they launched their plugin, which is a time savior.
I personally prefer manual methods over any plugin if the time is not a big issue for you. Many experts recommend the manual compression of images in TinyPNG. Now, let’s test their plugin.
If you want to use this plugin, then you have to make an account for an API key of this plugin. You can use a single API key of this plugin for your multiple websites.
This plugin has only the option of lossy compression. It might not be a big issue because most of people prefer lossy because of its high compression with a small quality loss but its not good for photographers because they can’t afford even a little quality loss and unfortunately this plugin has no lossless image compression.
You can only optimize your JPG and PNG image files in this plugin.
This plugin compresses your JPG image file by 52%, which is an excellent performance. It just falls behind ShortPixel, but it outranks most of the plugin in our list.
If you upload the PNG file, then it will compress it to 74% which is again a fantastic performance. In the case of PNG, it outranks ShortPixel. Overall it has a fantastic performance on both JPG and PNG image.
You can also resize your big images by setting a height and width.
This plugin takes your workload of image optimization. It automatically optimizes your image as you upload it.
You can use bulk optimize to compress your all old unoptimized image.
If you want to compress your individual images, then you can do it by going into a media uploader.
The plugin has no limit on the image file size, and it really makes this plugin different from many plugins.
Earlier this plugin has a limit of uploading 100 images per month in the free version, which were very irritating for many users.
Thankfully, Now they extended their limit to 500 image uploads per month in the free version, which is enough for most of the small to medium level sites. Still, if you have a very high need, then you can go with a paid account which costs 85.50$.
You can use the dashboard of this plugin to monitor the data of image compression and statistics easily.
Overall, TinyPNG is a very good plugin that will fulfill your all needs related to the image optimization. It has sufficient features in the free version, which is enough for the perfect image compression, and it is very efficient. You can surely go with the plugin if you really want a high image compression with ease of use.
7: Kraken
Kraken is a paid image optimizer plugin, but it comes with a lot of advanced features, and it can easily outrank others plugin in features.
It is a reliable plugin as it has 4.7/5 ratings and 30,000 downloads, which is quite an impressive number.
I love this plugin because it provides the best balance between quality and file reduction. It gives a nice percentage of reduction to your files with a little bit of loss in quality, which is hardly noticeable by human eyes.
It’s easy to set up this plugin. You can watch some youtube tutorials that will make your task of configuration easier.
This plugin needs API of Kraken.io to run, so you have to create an Account to get an API key. The single API key will work on multiple sites.
This plugin gives you an option of lossless and intelligent lossy compression. The lossy compression of this plugin performs very nicely. It gave a good amount of compression with nice quality. In lossless, there is no loss of quality, but you will get a large size. I will recommend you to go with lossy, but you can go with lossless if you have photography types of site.
This plugin can compress your JPEG, PNG, and GIF (which includes animated GIF) image files.
This plugin can resize images for you. You can set the maximum width or height to avoid big images.
This plugin allows you to preserve Copyright data, date, profile, orientation, geotags, profile and EXIF metadata tags, which is an advanced feature.
You can upload image files of a maximum of 32 MB which is sufficient for almost any blog.
There is no need to manually rotate images in this plugin as the images are automatically oriented according to EXIF orientation.
This plugin supports WP-CLI.
The worst part of this plugin is that it has no bulk optimization, which means that, It can’t optimize your all old unoptimized images in a single click. You have to compress your all images manually which will consume you a lot of time. It makes no sense as we consider plugin over any manual method to save time.
I will not recommend you to use this plugin if your blog has already so many unoptimized images, and you are looking for a plugin to optimize them. I really like this plugin, but the missing of bulk optimization reduced the value of this plugin in my eyes.
In their web service, you can download images one by one or every image in a single zipped file which will save you a lot of time.
This plugin keeps backup of your original images in their cloud storage so you can restore your original images if you don’t like the compressed version of the images which is really a life savior.
The compression of images takes place in the server of Kraken, which is very helpful as compression doesn’t affect the loading time of your site, and the effect of loading time may irritate your users. It also prevents any possible server crash. The compression in this method is a bit slow as compared to the compression on your own server, but it’s better to be on the safer side.
You only get compression of the 100MB image file in the free version which is for one time testing only.
The paid version of this plugin costs 4.50$ per month in which you can compress your 10,000 images. The price of this plugin is very high, and if you have a small to medium-sized blog, then I will personally advise you to look at other free plugins which come with sufficient feature that will get your job done.
8: Imsanity
If you want to resize your image without putting your efforts in it, then Imsanity plugin might be the life savior for you.
It’s my favorite WordPress plugin for resizing, This plugin has 300,000+ active installation, and you can understand the huge popularity of this plugin by their number of installation.
You might be scared by the horrifying icon and feature image of Imsanity, but in reality, it’s very useful for your website.
This plugin is entirely different from the plugins in our entire list. The primary intent of other plugins is compression, and they do image resizing with it, but the plugin is made especially for Image resizing. If you are looking at this plugin for compression purpose too then kindly skip this plugin and look at other great plugins which we have mentioned.
Unspecified image dimension is one of the reasons for your page to load slow and as we all know that slow loading time affects the SEO of your site and it will increase your bounce-back rate which will harm your revenue. Thankfully, This plugin will scale it down to an appropriate size that will surely increase the speed of your website.
Also, This plugin automatically resizes your image to the reasonable size, which is good for display in the browser, but the best part is that these resized images are perfect for the use of your website.
The best part of this plugin is that it allows you to set max-width, quality, and height.
When you upload a large image then your specified value, this plugin will automatically scale that image down to your specified value, which will save a lot of time and prevent images of an extra large dimension.
This plugin provides the feature of bulk resizing so you can easily resize your old images.
Once you resize the image, you can’t go back to the original image in this plugin so I will advise you to keep backup of your images via any plugin which will help you to restore your original images if any unfortunate happens.
This plugin converts BMP to JPG to scale down your images. It also converts PNG to JPG to save additional space so your site can load faster.
This plugin also allows you to select the quality of JPG image files.
This plugin is good for only those who don’t want hi-resolution images.
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Conclusion
I hope that you liked this article on the best WordPress image optimizer plugin. Either you have a small or big site. I will recommend you to compress images on every kind of website because it will help you to increase the speed of your website.
According to Neil Patel, If your site has a loading speed of more than 3 seconds, then you will lose your 40% of traffic. Ultimately, You will lose your amount that is going to be generated from that traffic and it impossible to get fast loading speed without compressing image because they are heavy.
I personally use WP Smush, and it’s my favorite image optimizer plugin. However, you can choose any best WordPress image optimizer plugin according to your use.
I am sure that my article will surely help you to find the best WordPress image optimizer plugin. Keep in mind that I mentioned free plugins and they have some restrictions, but you can take their premium plan too where you will get a lot of benefits.
