Best WordPress Plugins for Image Optimization

What is Image Optimization?

Image optimization is the process of reducing the size of an image while maintaining its quality as much as possible. This can be done through techniques such as compressing the image, resizing it, and using the appropriate image file format.

Optimizing images is important for several reasons. First, it can help your website load faster, which is essential for user experience and search engine rankings. Second, it can save you storage space and bandwidth. Finally, it can also help you save money if you are paying for hosting or bandwidth. In this article, we will discuss the Best WordPress Plugins for Image Optimization that will increase the overall performance of your website.

There are several tools and techniques that can be used to optimize images, including web-based tools, desktop software, and WordPress plugins. Some common image file formats that are used for optimization include JPEG, PNG, and GIF.

There are many WordPress plugins available that can help optimize images on your website. Some popular options include:

1. Smush
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
3. ShortPixel Image Optimizer
4. Kraken.io
5. Imagify
6. Optimole
7. WP Compress

1. Smush

WP Smush is a WordPress plugin that helps optimize images on your website. It works by compressing images and removing unnecessary data, such as metadata and unused colors, to reduce the file size without affecting the quality of the image.

Main Features

• Automatic optimization of images as they are uploaded to your website
• Bulk optimization of existing images
• The ability to optimize images up to 32MB in size
• The option to preserve image EXIF data (metadata embedded in the image file)
• The ability to optimize images in different directories, including NextGEN Gallery and Media Library
• Integration with popular WordPress page builders and plugins such as WPBakery, Divi, and Gravity Forms
• A “Lazy Load” feature that speeds up the loading of images by only loading them as the user scrolls down the page
• The file formats this plugin supports are, JPG, PNG, GIF.

Pricing

WP Smush is free to use for optimizing up to 1,000 images per month. If you need to optimize more images, you can purchase a premium version of the plugin that allows for unlimited optimization.

2. EWWW Image Optimizer

EWWW Image Optimizer is another amazing WordPress plugin that helps optimize images on your website. This plugin allows you to automatically compress new images as you upload them to your website, saving storage space with the best compression and quality ratios. You can control which image sizes to generate and optimize. Using this plugin can also help reduce server usage.

Main Features

• The basic plugin is free to use and allows you to optimize an unlimited number of images. There is also a premium version of the plugin available with additional advanced features.
• This plugin provides a fully automated, one-click solution for optimizing images on your website. It automatically scales, converts to WebP format, and compresses images, delivering optimized versions to your visitors without altering the original images.
• This plugin speeds up your website by caching pages for faster response times. It also allows you to defer JS/CSS assets for a better user experience. You can control which scripts and stylesheets load on each page, reducing overhead and eliminating unused assets.
• EWWW Image Optimizer allows you to optimize an unlimited number of images, including those up to 150 MB in size.
• The plugin offers two types of compression algorithms: one that reduces file size at the expense of image quality (lossy), and one that reduces file size without sacrificing image quality (lossless). Either option can help you achieve up to 50% reduction in file size while maintaining image quality.
• This plugin supports the file types, Jpg, Png, Gif, and Pdf

Pricing

They have the free version as well as the premium one with more options and more features. The standard version starts from $7 /Month.

3. ShortPixel Image Optimizer

ShortPixel Adaptive Images includes all of the features you’ll need to optimize your WordPress images and boost your website’s performance.

You gain access to a slew of features and functions, including ShortPixel’s signature compression algorithm. It can help you reduce image file size by up to 90% while maintaining image quality.

Main Features

• The images will be appropriately sized, and delivered through a CDN, and optimized “next-gen” images will not be a problem.
• With ShortPixel, you can convert all your JPG/PNG images to WebP/AVIF in just a few clicks, making them available to all the browsers you want.
• The quality of your image is not reduced from 80% to 40% as others do. We optimized it differently, In order to obtain the smallest possible image size, we optimize each image multiple times to get the best possible result.
• New image formats like Webp and AVIF offer better image quality at the smaller file size, Shortpixel can convert your jpeg and Png images into Webp and AVIF in better image quality.
• The files formats it supports are, JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF, WebP, TIFF, BMP

Pricing

This plugin has free as well as premium versions, offering unlimited free CDN, Lazy Loading, and image resizing capabilities. But it does have a limit of compressing up to 200 images per month. If you need to optimize more images, you can upgrade to a premium version of the plugin that allows for unlimited image optimization. Their plans are as follows:

4. Kraken.io

Kraken.io is an image optimizer plugin that helps website owners and developers optimize their images for performance and speed. It is a powerful tool that allows you to compress images quickly and easily, with minimal effort. The plugin can reduce the file size by up to 90%, while maintaining the quality of the image. It also supports multiple file formats, so you can optimize any kind of image with ease. With Kraken.io, you can make sure your website loads faster and runs more smoothly, which will improve user experience on your site.

Main Features

• Automatically optimize images on upload with no manual intervention required.
• It reduces the size of the image while maintaining the quality.
• kraken.io generate the optimized images for all devices as the website should be well optimized to use on phones and tablets as well.
• Optimize images in bulk with one click.
• Resize images to fit specific dimensions.
• preserve EXIF data when optimizing Jpegs.
• Optimize multiple image sizes from a single source image.
• It compresses JPEG, PNG, GIF, and SVG files.

Pricing

They have 5 Premium plans, you can start all of them for free, each of them comes with a free 100MB quota, and you can upgrade the plan when you run out of your 100MB.

5. Imagify

Imagify.io is an amazing WordPress plugin that can compress the image size in just one click. It helps webmasters to reduce the size of their images without compromising on quality. It is a lightweight and user-friendly plugin that can be easily integrated into any WordPress website.

With Imagify, users can optimize large images in bulk and apply lossless compression techniques to reduce their file sizes without losing any of their original quality. The plugin also offers advanced features such as lazy loading, WebP conversion, and image resizing which make it an ideal choice for webmasters who want to speed up their websites and improve overall user experience.

Main Features

• It automatically optimizes all the images when you upload them on WordPress.
• Don’t worry about resizing your images before uploading them on WordPress, because Imagify will do it automatically for you.
• Optimize up to 2MB in size for free.
• You can also convert your optimized image into webp format.
• It reduces the image size up to 98% without compromising on the quality.

Pricing

They have a starter plan, which is free with some limitations, they give 20MB of free data per month which is approximately 200 images. then they have 2 premium plans starting from 4.99 a month. They also give 2 months free if you sign up for a yearly plan.

6. Optimole

Optimole is a cloud-based image optimizer, that doesn’t overload your server. With Optimole, users can easily optimize their images with just a few clicks and ensure that their websites are running smoothly. The plugin also offers advanced features such as lazy loading, resizing, and compression of images.

Optimole is a powerful WordPress plugin that helps With automatic image optimization, a customizable image CDN, and advanced resizing and compression options, Optimole makes it easy to improve the speed and efficiency of your website.

Main Features

• Automatic image optimization, lazy loading, and WebP conversion.
• It integrates seamlessly with popular WordPress themes and plugins, making it a convenient and effective solution for optimizing images on your website.
• It serves the images via a fast image CDN free of cost.
• Optimole works on autopilot, making your website load twice as fast.
• It is compatible with a lot of popular WordPress page builders.
• It has an easy-to-use dashboard with detailed analytics so users can track the performance of their images.

pricing

Their free version starts with 5000 free monthly visitors, in the free version you can have auto-scaled images, CloudFront CDN(400+) locations, 48H Email support and more. If you want some more advanced features you can always upgrade your plan to the premium level, they have three options, and you can also customize your plan according to your needs.

WP Compress

WP Compress is a WordPress image optimizer plugin. It allows you to reduce the size of your website images while maintaining their quality. WP Compress allows you to easily optimize your images for faster loading times, higher SEO rankings, and a better user experience. WP Compress is simple to install and use, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to improve the performance of their website.

Main Features

• Optimizes images automatically as soon as they are uploaded to your website.
• Allows for lossy and lossless compression for maximum optimization without sacrificing quality.
• It improves the load time by compressing the page size.
• Lowers the bounce rate on your site.
• Bulk optimization is supported, allowing you to optimize multiple images at once with a few clicks.
• You can optimize images in real-time and use lightning-fast CDN, or you can compress images locally and transfer it to any other site.
• You can configure WP Compress to meet your specific needs based on your specific website environment, so you can improve your website performance with just one click.
• Your images and scripts will be optimized automatically in real-time based on incoming visitors’ devices, browsers, screen resolutions, location on the page, and geo-location, so your site will load faster.
• Compresses all image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF.

Pricing

You can optimize up to 100 MB of images per month in their free version. You can upgrade to one of their three options if you need to optimize more images.

You can check out this article if you want to know more about how to speed up your website, “How to increase your WordPress Website speed?“

Conclusion

In conclusion, image optimization is an essential aspect of maintaining a fast and efficient website. The use of a plugin can greatly simplify the process, saving you both time and effort. There are a variety of image optimization plugins available for different website platforms, including WordPress, Magento, and Shopify.

Some of the best options include ShortPixel, EWWW Image Optimizer, and WP Smush. Each plugin offers a range of features and settings to help you optimize your images for the best possible results. Ultimately, the right plugin for you will depend on your specific needs and the platform you are using. With the right plugin, you can enjoy faster loading times, improved website performance, and happier visitors.

FAQs