W3 Total Cache vs WP Smush which is better? (2024 compared)

Today we'll be comparing W3 Total Cache vs WP Smush , to ultimately help you decide which is the best solution for you. The information below is based on real data from our community of users like you, giving you a truly unbiased comparison. In the collection " Plugins to Speed up your WordPress Site in 2024" W3 Total Cache is ranked 3rd while WP Smush is ranked 4th.

WP Smush dominates with an overall user/editors rating of 3.3/5 stars with 3 reviews and W3 Total Cache user/editors rating is 2.4/5 stars with 4 reviews. This data is calculated in real-time from verified user reviews or editors rating if there isn't enough data for user rating.

If for whatever reason by the end of this comparison you are unable to choose between W3 Total Cache or WP Smush, we have included a few useful alternatives like WP Fastest Cache based on our community recommendations.

As far as Value for money goes, WP Smush wins by 3.2 marks and WP Smush is also voted as the easiest solution to use

Without further ado, let's look at a detailed breakdown of W3 Total Cache vs WP Smush

Pros & Cons


Why is W3 Total Cache better than WP Smush?


FindrScore (fs) The Scoring is based on our unique algorithm that looks at reviews, votes, behavior, social signals and more. Learn more
+77

10 Reasons to consider this

  • Compared to others the price is reasonable
  • Great features list
  • When it comes to Sitemap Preloading W3 Total Cache has been rated 97% above WP Smush
  • When it comes to Developer Friendly W3 Total Cache has been rated 363% above WP Smush
  • When it comes to Page Caching W3 Total Cache has been rated 43% above WP Smush
  • Category leader in Plugins to Speed up your WordPress Site
  • Category leader in WordPress Cache Plugins
  • The core product is 100% free
  • Has 15 highlight features
  • Has Page Caching
  • Has Minification / Concatenation
  • Has Database Optimization
  • Best for Low cost software
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Why is WP Smush better than W3 Total Cache?


FindrScore (fs) The Scoring is based on our unique algorithm that looks at reviews, votes, behavior, social signals and more. Learn more
+54

11 Reasons to consider this

  • Compared to others the price is reasonable
  • Offers free plan with multiple advanced features
  • Great features list
  • When it comes to Database Optimization WP Smush has been rated 56% above W3 Total Cache
  • When it comes to Lazyload WP Smush has been rated 80% above W3 Total Cache
  • When it comes to CloudFlare Compatibility WP Smush has been rated 37% above W3 Total Cache
  • A contender in Plugins to Speed up your WordPress Site
  • Has 16 highlight features
  • Has Lazyload
  • Has Page Caching
  • Has Browser Caching
  • Best for Ease of use
  • Best for Low cost software
  • 100% of users say they would recommend WP Smush
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Overview


W3 Total Cache W3 Total Cache
(4 votes)

N/A/5

G2
+

N/A/5

Capterra
+

N/A/5

Trustpilot

With over a million active installs, W3 Total Cache is the most advanced plugin out there, which offers all these features to the webmaster One can configure those available features according to the... Read full review

Download/Demo
Comparison winner
WP Smush WP Smush
(3 votes)

N/A/5

G2
+

N/A/5

Capterra
+

N/A/5

Trustpilot

Even a single image in a post can increase the page load time by a big margin, considering the text part of a content doesn't consume a lot of server resources Now, if you wish to achieve a better... Read full review

Download/Demo

44 FS


55 FS


Reviews
Starting Price
Value for money 5/10 6.4/10
Quality of features score 5/10 6.4/10
Usability and Intuitiveness 4.2/10 6.6/10
Vendor Support 5.2/10 6.6/10
Likelihood of recommending 100 %
The reason for leaving cost
Sitemap Preloading
380%

150%
Database Optimization
270%

120%
Import/Export
290%

Unrated
Cache Preloading
470%

210%
CDN
2480%

120%
Minification / Concatenation
380%

Unrated
Google Fonts Optimization
270%

210%
GZIP Compression
520%

730%
Page Caching
4520%

660%
Developer Friendly
370%

10%

Ratings

When evaluating weather to go with W3 Total Cache or WP Smush which two criteria is most important to you.

WP Smush offers the best value for money and is also the is easier to use — deciding between the two is a question of tradeoffs.




Standout Features

1. Page Caching

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{PagexCaching_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{PagexCaching_2.status}}

    2. Lazyload

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{xLazyload_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{xLazyload_2.status}}

    3. Minification / Concatenation

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{MinificationxxxConcatenation_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{MinificationxxxConcatenation_2.status}}

    4. Database Optimization

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{DatabasexOptimization_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{DatabasexOptimization_2.status}}

    5. Google Fonts Optimization

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{GooglexFontsxOptimization_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{GooglexFontsxOptimization_2.status}}

    6. Cache Preloading

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{CachexPreloading_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{CachexPreloading_2.status}}

    7. Mobile Detection

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{MobilexDetection_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{MobilexDetection_2.status}}

    8. CDN

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{CDN_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{CDN_2.status}}

    9. Browser Caching

  • W3 Total Cache
  • WP Smush
  • {{xBrowserxCaching_2.status}}

    10. GZIP Compression

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{GZIPxCompression_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{GZIPxCompression_2.status}}

    11. Developer Friendly

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{xDeveloperxFriendly_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{xDeveloperxFriendly_2.status}}

    12. Remove Query Strings from Static Resources

  • W3 Total Cache
  • WP Smush
  • {{RemovexQueryxStringsxfromxStaticxResources_2.status}}

    13. Import/Export

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{ImportxExport_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{ImportxExport_2.status}}

    14. Sitemap Preloading

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{SitemapxPreloading_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{SitemapxPreloading_2.status}}

    15. Multisite Compatibility

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{MultisitexCompatibility_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • 16. Multilingual Compatibility

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{xMultilingualxCompatibility_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{xMultilingualxCompatibility_2.status}}

    17. CloudFlare Compatibility

  • W3 Total Cache
  • {{CloudFlarexCompatibility_1.status}}
  • WP Smush
  • {{CloudFlarexCompatibility_2.status}}

    We have ordered the list of features above by what users are telling us is more important to them. Technology is fast-moving so we always suggest that you check W3 Total Cache and WP Smush details page for any changes not mentioned here. Looking at the top 3 features when it comes to Page Caching W3 Total Cache wins the vote Look at Minification / Concatenation both W3 Total Cache and WP Smush scores below the industry.



    Your trust and accuracy is our top concern, we do our best to keep all information up to date and rely on your feedback along with the product creator to ensure the information you see today is accurate, That being said if you have ever used either W3 Total Cache or WP Smush spare 5 seconds of your time to help spot check the information below. Learn more.

    Does W3 Total Cache offer Browser Caching feature?
    Does WP Smush offer Multisite Compatibility feature?

    SoftwareFindr Radar

    The SoftwareFindr Radar compares all solutions on our platform in your chosen category and tries to segment them to give you a visual representation of the market. All the solutions are compared two-dimensionally which takes into account their FindrScore which is given based on numerous data points and research frequency. The average FindrScore for products like W3 Total Cache is 88 which we've used as a threshold to only show the top 10 solutions.

    The SoftwareFindr Radar compares all solutions on our platform in your chosen category and tries to segment them to give you a visual representation of the market. All the solutions are compared two-dimensionally which takes into account their FindrScore which is given based on numerous data points and research frequency. The average FindrScore for products like W3 Total Cache is 80 which we've used as a threshold to only show the top 10 solutions.

    The SoftwareFindr Radar compares all solutions on our platform in your chosen category and tries to segment them to give you a visual representation of the market. All the solutions are compared two-dimensionally which takes into account their FindrScore which is given based on numerous data points and research frequency. The average FindrScore for products like W3 Total Cache is 69 which we've used as a threshold to only show the top 10 solutions.

    The SoftwareFindr Radar compares all solutions on our platform in your chosen category and tries to segment them to give you a visual representation of the market. All the solutions are compared two-dimensionally which takes into account their FindrScore which is given based on numerous data points and research frequency. The average FindrScore for products like W3 Total Cache is 33 which we've used as a threshold to only show the top 10 solutions.

    The SoftwareFindr Radar compares all solutions on our platform in your chosen category and tries to segment them to give you a visual representation of the market. All the solutions are compared two-dimensionally which takes into account their FindrScore which is given based on numerous data points and research frequency. The average FindrScore for products like W3 Total Cache is 44 which we've used as a threshold to only show the top 10 solutions.

    There is an old notion that higher price equals better quality, whilst that is sometimes the case. The chart above aims to give clarity whether there is a correlation between Price and the FindrScore.

    Pricing


    '; Pricing Model Open Source 16 % Subscription34% '; Freemium25% '; One-time License25% Promotional Offers 39% Free Trials 3%
    $ 12.95

    That is the average price for a solution in this field.

    low Mid High
    After analyzing 13 similar solutions the data above show that iThemes Security Pro offers the lowest starting price while Wordfence Premium offers the highest entry price.That being said is also worthtaking a closer look at what's on offer because sometimes you may get way more value for a solution with a higher entry price and vise versa.

    Adoption By Geography

    According to our data gathered on our platform WP Smush is more popular in countries including Germany, France, Poland and 1 other Countries

    According to our data gathered on our platform W3 Total Cache is more popular in following countries- India, United States

    In order to give you more personalized recommendations, we tailor the ranking of a product to reflect what users are currently using in your geographical area.


    Type of Support to Expect


    • Forum
    52%

    Continue to avoid vendors after Bad Experience.
    66%

    Continue to avoid vendors after Bad Experience.
    • Forum

    Looking at data gathered on our platform the industry average for this category is 76.39% satisfaction rate which means both W3 Total Cache and WP Smush is below this category average

    Video Review


      After analyzing the data on our platform, it's clear that whenever W3 Total Cache and WP Smush go head to head within the same category W3 Total Cache has continued to be more popular over WP Smush. This ranking data gives you a better understanding of how these solutions stack up in various use cases.

      Average FindrScore in this Category

      1. 0%
        Lowest score
      2. 58%
        Average score
      3. ';
        93%
        Highest score

      Behind the scenes


      Hmm,sorry no one has uploaded a screenshot of the user interface yet.

      Hmm,sorry no one has uploaded a screenshot of the user interface yet.

      Which Should You Choose

      It's a win for W3 Total Cache ! W3 Total Cache offers Forum which users are happy with. Looking at the data gathered on our platform W3 Total Cache has a higher FindrScore of 44 which indicates that it could be a better fit over WP Smush While W3 Total Cache not as beginner-friendly, it’s still easy for most beginners to grasp, and currently proving a hit with users on our platform. However, you get a lot more functionality and flexibility with WP Smush which you may need to take into consideration. Hopefully, you now have a clear picture of W3 Total Cache and WP Smush pricing, features and user-experience provided these solutions. Both have pros and cons and which you choose will depend on your integration needs, pricing and more. Whichever solution you go with, please come back and leave a review for that product so others can benefit from your experience.

      Download/Demo

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q. Is WP Smush better than W3 Total Cache?

    Ans. We have analyzed 13311 data points to answer this question, in 2024 WP Smush is better than W3 Total Cache. the scoring 77 whilst W3 Total Cache scored 54

    Q. For beginners which is better WP Smush or W3 Total Cache?

    Ans. We ask this very question to our readers and the results are in, WP Smush scored better that W3 Total Cache by 24 points crowing it the most user friendly.

    Q. What's the price difference between WP Smush and W3 Total Cache?

    Ans. The solutions are priced slightly different so calculating the price would need to be over a set period. W3 Total Cache is open source whilst WP Smush is freemium,

    Q. What is the difference between WP Smush and W3 Total Cache?

    Ans. The main difference beyond price and support, is WP Smush has an overall higher FindrScore which looks at over 13311 data points powered by real user testing and overall satisfaction.

    Q. Out of WP Smush and W3 Total Cache which as the better support?

    Ans. The data gathered shows that WP Smush as a slightly better user satisfaction that W3 Total Cache.

    Q. What are a few good alternatives to WP Smush and W3 Total Cache?

    Ans. Users who research WP Smush and W3 Total Cache also look at WP Fastest Cache which as a FindrCsore of 94, See 13 more similar solutions

    Q. WP Smush or W3 Total Cache which is good for beginners?

    Ans. Looking at the scorecard for both these products, the results show that WP Smush is better for beginners

    Q. Which is better, WP Smush or W3 Total Cache in 2024?

    Ans. We’ve asked this very question to users like you and the results are in. The majority of users are recommending WP Smush.

    Q. How does WP Smush compare to W3 Total Cache?

    Ans. The main difference beyond price and support, is WP Smush has an overall higher FindrScore which looks at over 13311 data points powered by real user testing and overall satisfaction

    Other Alternatives to consider



    So W3 Total Cache and WP Smush isn't cutting it for you? Here are a few alternatives with similar features that users on our platform also looked at. For a more in-depth breakdown, we always recommend checking out the dedicated alternative page which gives more data on why which solution is recommended. If the price is a big factor to you, the WP Fastest Cache might be worth looking at. For an all-round great solution, then Defender Plugin as the highest FindrScore.



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