5 Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress in 2025 (Tested on Real Images)

There’s a lot that has been said about the best image optimization plugins for WordPress. Funnily enough, all of them will promise top performance and massive savings in disk space/load time. That’s all fine, but what happens when you actually put them to the test? I was really curious what the best plugin for image optimization truly is so I did just that. What you’re looking at here is a comparison of the top five image optimization plugins for WordPress. I’m looking at actual gains when optimizing different types of images, the extra features you get with each plugin to make your whole site more optimized, and how easy to use each of them is. Let’s look at the compression results first. Here’s how the plugins perform when optimizing JPG and PNG images. Key Takeaways Based on this experiment, Optimole proves to be the top all-around solution that’s either first or second when it comes to image compression results, while also delivering tons of other features that will make your site faster overall. I’m talking about things like integrated CDN, lazy loading, support for next-gen formats, and more. Lastly, the free plan is generous - letting you optimize images for up to 2,000 visits monthly. That said, if you’d like to just have “a plugin” that doesn’t require any integration with third-party platforms or APIs, then my other recommendation is EWWW . While its compression numbers are not as stunning, it does give you lots of options and settings, allowing to fine tune the plugin to your needs. Best image optimization plugins compared in detail for 2025 Now, let's dig into the plugins in more detail to help you choose the best plugin: 1. Optimole Optimole is a complete image optimization solution that goes beyond simple compression. It automatically optimizes, resizes, and serves your images through a global CDN with over 450 locations powered by Amazon CloudFront. Unlike most plugins that optimize static files on your server, Optimole works in real time. It delivers adaptive images that fit each visitor's device and screen size perfectly. A phone user gets a smaller, lighter image than someone browsing on a 4K monitor. Its machine learning-powered compression keeps images sharp while reducing size by up to 80%. It can also convert images to WebP or AVIF , use jQuery-free lazy loading to improve Core Web Vitals, and even handle automatic watermarking. Optimole also helps with SEO and Core Web Vitals. You can offload your media files to the cloud, freeing up your server. The plugin supports all common file types, including images, videos, audio, and documents. Everything runs in the cloud, so your hosting resources stay free. Setup is quick, too - just install it, and it starts working automatically. ⚠️ Note: Because Optimole optimizes each image in real time for each visitor, performance results can vary. In real-world use, it often performs even better than benchmark tests, since every image is perfectly sized for the device viewing it. Key features ⚙️ Optimize...

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