Perfmatters

Perfmatters is a lightweight performance plugin focused on cutting the extra code your WordPress site loads. It is not a caching plugin. It is designed to work alongside your caching plugin: the cache serves pages quickly, while Perfmatters reduces the number of scripts and styles each page loads. It suits site owners and developers who want fine control over page speed.

Key features

One-click toggles

Switch off features most sites do not need, such as emojis, embeds, Dashicons, XML-RPC, jQuery Migrate, RSS feeds and WooCommerce cart fragments. You can also limit post revisions and change the autosave interval and Heartbeat API frequency.

Script Manager

• Disable scripts loaded by plugins or themes per page or sitewide
• Set rules by desktop, mobile, logged-in or logged-out visitors
• Use MU mode to turn off a plugin entirely on chosen pages
• Preview changes in Testing Mode before they go live

Tools that lighten the page

• Defer JavaScript or delay it until user interaction
• Remove unused CSS and minify CSS and JavaScript
• Lazy load images, iframes, videos and background images, and add missing width and height attributes
• Preload, DNS prefetch, preconnect and fetch priority settings
• Host Google Analytics and Google Fonts locally
• CDN URL rewriting and scheduled database cleanup

Perfmatters or WP Rocket?

They complement each other rather than compete. Use a caching plugin such as WP Rocket for page caching and Perfmatters for script control. When you run both, do not enable the same feature in each. Add Imagify Pro if you also want smaller images.

License and installation

The 1 year · 1 site option covers one WordPress site for one year, counted from the moment the license is installed and activated on your site. You do not receive a license key. Perfmatters is installed and activated directly on your site instead, so checkout asks for the site address and an administrator's username and password. Setup for this prepared delivery usually takes 5 to 60 minutes, and you are notified by email when it is complete.

Make sure the login works before you submit the details. Use a temporary administrator for the setup, then delete it or change its password.

Find more speed and SEO plugins in the WordPress plugins category.

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Users → Add New, create a temporary account with the Administrator role and log in with it once to confirm the details.
2. At checkout, enter the site address and the temporary account's username and password.
3. Once the setup email arrives, check under Settings → Perfmatters that the license is active. Turn settings on one at a time and check your site after each change.
4. Delete the temporary administrator or change its password.