Best WordPress plugins for image optimization

WordPress is another world, and if you talk about the plugins, there are multitudes of options available in the repository. For every website owner, it’s essential to optimize the content, but do you know what is even more integral? Adding and optimizing the images! Many website owners tend to ignore this point, which makes the site load slow. Remember, if the site doesn’t load in two seconds, the target user base might never come back.

The site’s loading time isn’t impacted by the images, but it's widely affected by the resolution of the images. There was a time when internet speed sucked, but today, the internet is blazing fast, and if the website doesn’t cooperate, the users already have thousands of options. If you have ever used a slow site with tons of images, you will get frustration. Surely, if the Wi-Fi connection is being used, the high-resolution picture won’t be an issue, but with the cellular network’s internet, one needs to optimize the images for faster loading.

This is where image optimization helps by enhancing the loading times. WordPress has multiple plugins that allow image optimization, and we have rounded up some of them in this article. These plugins are incorporated with numerous features for image compression, image resizing, and much more. So, let us path you down this road and help to optimize the images to make the websites blazing fast!

EWWWW Image Optimizer

If you don’t like dwelling on manual procedures, this plugin has all the essential tools to automate image optimization. After downloading the plugin, install it, and your images will be optimized as soon as you upload them. It supports PNG, GIF, and JPG formats, but the best part is its ability to optimize the media libraries in case of bulk images.

You don’t need to connect the plugin with third-party servers as everything is handled by the default servers in the minimum possible timelines. The small-sized files are optimized in seconds whereas the media libraries might take up to two minutes, but it’s still not bad, right? However, one needs to ensure that they have file execution permissions in the WordPress folder because else, issues can arise regarding the setup. This is because this plugin uses the compiled binaries.

This plugin comes with cloud support, which bypasses the setup and installation if the processes are taking up too much time. Plus, you can reduce the file size while optimizing the images without compromising on the graphics and pixels, yikes!

WP Smush

This plugin has been designed for regular and extended use and comes in premium as well as the free version. The app developer state that the images will be smushed (read, optimized!) as soon as you upload them. There is a bundle of optimization features that puts the users at liberty to execute multiple processes at one time. This feature works well if you want to optimize the bulk images or the media library.

In the free version, users can optimize fifty images at one time. By going to the media library, you are at liberty to optimize each picture individually (if you are one of those!) So, when you click on the image to optimize, it will open up a menu, and you need to tap on the “smush” option. This is handy if you don’t want to go overboard with the compression and if you're going to keep it low-key.

There are lossy compression features in the premium version, which enables the users to automate the multiple optimizations of the single picture. This feature is often implemented to reduce the file size without compromising the quality of the image.

ShortPixel Image Optimizer

This plugin has to be our favorite with the optimal compression features coupled with the simple and intuitive user interface. When you install this plugin, you can sit back, relax, and let the plugin do its work by automatically optimizing each uploaded picture. If you use the list view format for the pictures, you will have access to the individual optimization, or else; bulk optimization is offered as well.

There are lossless and lossy compression techniques to meet diverse user needs. During the upload process, it automatically optimizes the images while ensuring the removal of EXIF data. However, you can switch it off through the settings if you want to preserve the EXIF data. Alongside this, users have the liberty to gather the backup of optimized images, and the best part is zero compromises on the graphical quality.

This plugin is paid, but if you subscribe using the email address, you will get one hundred free compressions every month. If you have additional needs, you are entitled to buy the services.

Optimus

This plugin has the premium version in the free version, and one of them can be named the ability to compress even 100kb of the file. The settings menu is simple enough to help you customize the optimization process. This feature ensures the ultimate level of performance for the user base. It is designed to automate the optimization of the pictures during the upload phase.

However, the file size differences aren’t visible, and if you want to see that, you might want to check in the attachment details window. Also, when it optimizes the images, it tends to create multiple media files thumbnails, and sizes.

Imagify

As the name suggests, this plugin has been designed to optimize the images in a timely, accurate, yet simple manner. There are normal, aggressive, and ultra-optimization settings in the plugin. The aggressive setting is apt to downsize the file, but you might see the quality being comprised through the pixelation and color loss.

You can choose the optimization settings, and it will automate the image optimization. You will have the liberty to run individual or bulk compression processes. There were multiple bugs and slacking points in the plugin at the start, but with time, they managed to incorporate the enhanced features.