Last updated - June 13, 2022
Image compression helps to optimize the images that you add to your website, and thereby improves your site performance. In fact, image optimization plays a major role in determining how soon your site will load. You need to find a balance between image size and quality, and there are several tools that will help you with it. In this article, we will discuss some of the best WordPress Image Compression Plugins that will help you speed up your site.
WordPress Image Compression Techniques
When you consider image compression, you will see there are two different compression techniques. These are lossy and lossless compression. Let’s quickly try and understand the difference between the two.
Lossy compression
Lossy compression means some data from your image will be lost in the compression. However, as a result, there might be some reduction in the quality also. Also, this type of compression is not reversible. Even then, a lot of websites prefer this type of compression due to the fact that it reduces the file size considerably. And as a result, it will have a positive impact on your site loading speed. JPEG is an image format that supports lossy compression.
Lossless compression
Lossless compression, as the name says, does not reduce the quality of the image significantly after compression. That is because it removes only unnecessary meta data from the image. And, quite predictably, the reduction in file size also will be minimal in lossless compression. An example for lossless image format is PNG.
WordPress Image Compression Plugins
WordPress itself compresses images when you upload them to the Media Library. However, that won’t be always enough to optimize your site speed. That is where WordPress Image Compression Plugins can make a difference. Read on find out some of the best ones.
ShortPixel
ShortPixel is an excellent solution that will help you resize and compress images on your website so that the site will load faster. In addition, it will make sure to serve images from a CDN as well. The plugin will smoothly integrate with your WordPress website, and will automatically optimize all the images that you upload. Furthermore, you will be able to set up the plugin to optimize the images that you have uploaded earlier.
Features
- Resize and compress images in your WordPress site.
- Serve images through a CDN for better site performance.
- Supports multiple formats such as JPEG, GIF, PNG, PDF, etc.
- Ensures privacy for all your images.
You can get ShortPixel for free if you have less than 100 images to optimize in a month. For more images, you can find different pricing plans starting from $3.99 per month.
Optimole
Optimole offers reliable image optimization and delivery for your website with automatic compression. Depending on the user’s browser, it will determine the correct image size to be served. In addition, it offers a CDN for serving images more effectively, and also offers lazy loading while displaying them. The tool ensures that the images are optimized in real time and served readily to your users.
Features
- Automatically optimizes images for your WordPress website.
- Determines the right image size based on your viewer’s perspective.
- Serves images through a CDN and offers lazy loading.
- Supports all devices and screen sizes.
- Supports both lossy and lossless compression.
For a Starter pack of Optimole, you will have to spend $22.52 per month.
EWWW Image Optimizer
Ewww image optimizer could be the answer to your website performance woes. It will help you optimize your existing images, and automatically compress the future uploads as well. The plugin offers no restrictions in speed or file size. It has an ‘Adaptive Steering’ feature that helps you identify the most suitable file format for your images. Additionally, you will find features like Auto-scaling, lazy loading, Auto-WebP, etc.
Features
- Automatically optimize your images with progressive rendering.
- Premium compression for file types such as JPG, PNG and PDF.
- Optimize all the images in your site, and not limited to WordPress media library.
- Helps you pick the best image format suitable for different scenarios.
The Standard plan will cost you $7 per month.
Smush Pro
This is one of the most popular options among WordPress Image Compression Plugins, and has several advanced features. You will be able to optimize all the images in your site in a single click, while saving backups for original images. There are no limits to file sizes, and the plugin offers a fast CDN for faster image loads. Overall, the plugin is a great option to quickly implement all your Google PageSpeed recommendation when it comes to images.
Features
- Bulk optimize images in your WordPress website in a single click.
- Automatic resizing and scaling.
- Create backups of original images.
- No size limits in image optimization.
- Image CDN.
You can get Smush Pro for $5 per month and there is a 7-day free trial.
Imagify
Imagify will help you compress images on your WordPress site in a single click. You can configure it in such a way that images will be automatically compressed to a specified level. It also gives you an option to reverse the compression or choose another level of compression. Moreover, Imagify helps you serve optimized and responsive images on all devices.
Features
- Easily resize and optimize images with the support of a user-friendly interface.
- Bulk optimization options.
- Three different compression levels to choose from.
- Supports different formats such as JPG, PNG, PDF, etc.
- Option to connect to a well-documented API.
You can get the Starter plan for free, which will help you edit approximately 200 images per month. For higher volume, get their paid plans starting from $4.99 per month.
WP Compress
With WP Compress, you will be able to automatically optimize your images based on the incoming traffic, and improve your site’s page load speed. With a fast loading website, you will be able to improve your site’s user experience and conversion rate significantly. In addition, it employs advanced algorithms to reduce file size without affecting the quality. Also, WP Compress ensures that you images are served from a data center closest to the user’s location for better outcomes.
Features
- Automatic optimization of your site’s images and scripts.
- Optimize images based on the visitor’s location, device, browser, etc.
- Serves images from a datacenter nearby to the user.
- East to set up.
The Personal membership plan of WPCompress will cost you $9 per month. There is a free trial option for 7 days.
Compress JPEG & PNG images
This plugin will help you compress your JPG and PNG images effortlessly. The images will be optimized automatically while uploading itself. In addition, you will be able to optimize existing images in your Media Library individually or in bulk. Also, the plugin helps you preserve essential meta data like copyright information.
Features
- Automatically optimize images on your site.
- Supports JPEG, and animated PNG.
- Compatible with WooCommerce and WPML.
- Bulk optimization for existing images.
You can download the plugin for free from the WordPress plugin repository.
reSmush.it
This is another popular option to optimize images in your WordPress site. It supports JPG, PNG and GIF files. In addition, it gives you an option to exclude specific products from optimization.
Features
- Image optimization based on reSmush.it API.
- Supports PNG, JPG and GIF formats.
- Modify the optimization level according to your needs.
- Option to exclude images from the compression.
The plugin is available in the WordPress repository for free download.
Hopefully, these WordPress Image Compression Plugins will help you speed up your site. Feel free to leave us a comment if you have any doubts or concerns.
