The State of Web Vitals

Optimization plugins

Performance and optimization plugins detected on the page.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites Q2 2026 edition · Phone field outcomes
Metric LCP INP CLS
1

At a glance the headline numbers for Optimization plugins

Performance and optimization plugins detected on the page.

8
Categories
In the distribution
29.3%
Fleet share
Top: wp_rocket
2.7%
Sites with any
Of wp_rocket

Wp rocket leads the optimization plugins, on 29.3% of sites.

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
2

The optimization plugins mix who uses what, and how fast each group loads

Median LCP (sites using feature)
0
0.5s
1s
1.5s
2s
2.5s
3s
3.5s
4s
Wp rocket1.6s29% of sites
Litespeed cache1.6s26% of sites
Autoptimize2s22% of sites
Wp fastest cache1.9s13% of sites
Cloudflare apo2s6% of sites
W3 total cache1.9s2% of sites
Flyingpress1.5s1% of sites
Nitropack1.6s1% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
Wp rocket
29%
1.6s
Litespeed cache
26%
1.6s
Autoptimize
22%
2s
Wp fastest cache
13%
1.9s
Cloudflare apo
6%
2s
W3 total cache
2%
1.9s
Flyingpress
1%
1.5s
Nitropack
1%
1.6s

Optimization plugins. On the fleet: 29.3% wp rocket, 25.8% litespeed cache, 21.6% autoptimize. 2.7% of sites use at least one wp_rocket.

The State of Web Vitals · Q2 2026 · 189,915 sites · phone field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
3

Why this matters for the Core Web Vitals, and where to start fixing it

Optimization plugins exist because platform defaults are slow. They minify, defer, lazy-load, compress and cache what the theme ships, without anyone touching the theme. Their presence says something honest about a site: someone cared enough to install one.

They fix symptoms, and that is fine. A deferred script you could have removed is still a win, just a smaller one. The real risk is blind configuration: the same plugin helps one site and breaks another, usually when something inline depended on a script that is now deferred. Measure before and after, always.

How does this affect the Core Web Vitals?

Optimization plugins correlate with the LCP. With Litespeed cache, 84% of sites pass the LCP. With Autoptimize, 68% do. The causal link is weak: the choice mostly marks what kind of site made it.

Go fix it Defer jQuery in WordPress → WordPress Core Web Vitals guide → Free website cache warmer →
Related signals JS framework → Ad networks on page → Analytics on page → Third-party categories → Chrome field data from 189,915 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured