6 Best WordPress Image Optimization Plugins for 2024

Take a look at the top 6 WordPress image optimization plugins for faster website speed and better SEO in 2024 through real-world testing.Most of us know that website performance is crucial for ranking on search engines. It's common sense, but many website owners still upload memory-heavy images that cause their websites to load slowly. 

There are a couple of WordPress image optimizer plugins that can solve this problem and automatically shrink the image down small enough that it won't affect the performance of the site or lose too much quality and resolution.

What is the Image Optimizer plugin?

Image optimization plugins help webmasters to improve website performance and loading speed by compressing images effectively. Such plugins play a key role in improving website load times, search engine rankings and user experience by speeding up page loads. They provide automatic image compression, optimization of file size without loss of quality, and delivery of images in next-generation formats.

A variety of WordPress image optimization plugins are available to help improve website efficiency and visitor engagement. Here are some common features of WordPress image optimization plugins:

• Automatic image compression 
• Batch image optimization of existing images
• Convert to Next Generation Image Format
• Image resizing and cropping tools

These plugins ensure that website images are optimized, resulting in shorter load times and improved overall performance. This not only improves the user experience, but also contributes to better search engine rankings and more effective online presence.

A note on WordPress auto-compression

A lot of people will have questions now becauseWordPressOffering built-in image optimization, WordPress will still shrink any large images uploaded even without any plugins. Whether or not you don't need a dedicated plugin, you definitely do. The reason for this is that the compression provided by WordPress is not enough to ensure the desired level of site performance.

For example, I uploaded this image from Unsplash with an original size of 17.6MB and WordPress reduced it to 924KB. The proper image optimization plugin will reduce it to about 300KB, ensuring that the site loads quickly on desktop and mobile devices. In addition, the Image Optimizer plugin provides other important features, such as converting images to the more efficient WebP format.

Elementor's Image Optimizer

All of the plugins I tested went through the same installation and usage process and even found some areas for improvement in Image Optimizer.

initial setup

After installing the free plugin, I came across a very handy menu with all the settings I needed:

Initial setup involves connecting to Elementor's website. For new, unregistered users, the process takes a little longer, so be patient and follow the steps for a few minutes.

Is it optimized well?

The size of the tested images was significantly reduced from 693KB to 165KB. using Google PageSpeed Insights, the mobile score improved from 47 before optimization to 69 after. two other important SEO metrics were also improved. First Content Painting (FCP) increased from 2.7 to 1.8 and Largest Content Painting (LCP) increased from 25.7 to 5.6.

This is not a bad result considering that we didn't do any optimization other than clicking the optimize button.

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Image Optimizer has an interface advantage that no other plugin I've tested has: the ability to work in the background. This is especially important for sites with a lot of images. With most plugins, you have to stay on the optimization interface throughout the entire optimization process, which can really waste your time. With Image Optimizer, there is no need to pause the process to wait for the plugin to finish optimizing.

After installing Image Optimizer, any image you upload will be automatically optimized and converted to WebP format. You can also automatically optimize all existing website images through the batch optimization interface. The plugin can reduce each image from an average of 2MB to an average of 179KB. Another handy feature is that Image Optimizer is the only plugin that optimizes images in the background, allowing you to navigate from the optimization screen. It's also the only plugin that doesn't add another dashboard under Settings, instead keeping all screens under Media.

TinyPNG (small PNG)

initial setup

After installing the plugin, you need to register it via the form on the settings page. The basic setup is very simple, partly due to the fact that TinyPNG offers the least amount of features compared to the other plugins we tested.

Optimization results

TinyPNG scores in the middle for image optimization. It reduced 693K images to 347K and total page size from 9.3MB to 8.3MB.

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Similar to the previous plugin, TinyPNG also provides a simple interface to batch optimize images on upload or in the background. However, when I tested it on a small site, the optimization did not work in the background. One has to stay in the same window to continue with the optimization. Nor did I get any indication of the difference between the original image and the newly optimized image, so it was difficult to determine if the image was fully optimized.

EWW Image Optimizer

initial setup

EWWW Image Optimizer is really easy to get started with, with a very simple setup and user-friendly interface. The plugin's dashboard is easy to understand at a glance and makes it easy to view and adjust various optimization settings, even for the less tech-savvy.

It's very easy to install, unlike many other plugins that require an API connection. Of course, the premium version has this feature, but the free version does not. However, be aware that although the free version does not require an API connection, it may put some pressure on your server and sometimes slow down the loading of your website, which is not the same as the desired effect of the plugin itself.

There's also a small problem that when optimizing images, it shows all the different sizes of each image, which is a bit confusing to see and feels like a bit of a hassle.

Optimization results

I uploaded 10 images, but found that the file size barely changed, which was quite disappointing. I tried several plugins and all of them used the default settings. To be honest, the default settings of EWWW Image Optimizer didn't work very well, the image file size was only a little bit smaller and the quality didn't improve much. I tested, a page containing 10 images, the original size is 9.3MB, with this plugin only down to 8.9MB, which is really not obvious for site optimization.

Also, the plugin doesn't support WebP, a new generation of image formats, which doesn't make for a great deal of sense and detracts from its overall performance in terms of site optimization.

user

After registering and getting the API key, I'm a bit confused. The plugin seems to have changed and there are "Simple Mode" and "Advanced Mode" to choose from.

Also, I get an inexplicable notification when I try to log into the site, which is really confusing.

So, I can't log in to the cloud dashboard at all. Also, the interface of the EWWW website looks like one of those default WordPress templates, which doesn't feel very smooth to operate.

The "Advanced" mode is a real pain in the ass. There are too many screens, and it's so complicated to set up that I couldn't figure it out at all. Another thing is that the plugin doesn't automatically optimize newly uploaded images, which is also quite inconvenient.

Imagify(Imagine)

initial setup

While Magify requires registration and pasting of an API key, which is slightly more cumbersome, it's generally quite acceptable. However, the registration process does take up quite a bit of space in the WordPress dashboard and feels a bit cramped.

I personally prefer Imagify, it gives very clear instructions on the progress and status of image optimization.

Optimization results

Somewhat unluckily, I tried to optimize so many images, but none of them worked. However, Imagify did reduce the default image we tested from 693KB to 234KB, which is not bad.

user

Love the interface of Imagify, it's very well designed and minimalistic. I especially like the visual display of optimized and unoptimized images.

Smush 

initial setup

Smush's Getting Started wizard is really good, that's for sure. However, this plugin is a bit special in that it actually adds its own menu items. Honestly, I don't think image optimization plugins need to have so many extra menus.

To add to my headache, the Smush's menus are really kind of a mess. You guys might not believe it, but it has 10 different menus in its dashboard! That's incredible when you consider that we're just talking about an image optimization plugin.

And, what's inside each menu isn't simple either. Take the dashboard, for example, which has a whopping 12 different sections in it. Honestly, trying to find specific settings in the dashboard is as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.

user

Smush's interface is really quite complex, the dashboard looks messy and the navigation is confusing. This is a huge pain in the ass for users who just want to simply optimize their images. This plugin adds a bunch of menus to the WordPress dashboard, making the whole interface look cluttered and trying to find a specific feature or setting becomes particularly laborious.

ShortPixel

initial setup

Installation is quick and easy. There is a main settings page under "Settings".

You can get 100 points in the free version. ShortPixel works automatically without much setup. After installing the plugin, the actual optimization is done in the Batch Optimization menu under Media.

Optimization results

ShortPixel has a powerful optimization engine. It reduced the total page size we used from 9.3MB to 6.1MB, and the default image we tested from 693KB to 175KB.

user

ShortPixel's interface is really user-friendly and makes image optimization super easy, whether you know how to use it or not. Under the "Media" menu, you can find ShortPixel's batch optimization feature, which makes it easy to optimize all the images on your site in one go. The settings are easy to find, you can choose the type of compression (lossy or lossless), and it automatically converts to WebP format.Another good thing about ShortPixel is that it tells you exactly how much space you've optimized, so you can see at a glance how effective the optimization has been.

reach a verdict

We have quite a few plug-ins in this review, from Elementor's ShortPixel and Image Optimizer, to the more basic options like TinyPNG and EWWW Image Optimizer.Imagify, which has a particularly user-friendly interface and a startup wizard to help you get started. Moreover, Imagify's features are very comprehensive.

Elementor's ShortPixel and Image Optimizer! Both plugins do a great job of optimizing images and are the best choice for ease of use!