The State of Web Vitals

Optimization plugins

Performance and optimization plugins detected on the page.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites Q2 2026 edition · Desktop 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 · desktop field datacorewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
2

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

Median INP (sites using feature)
0
100ms
200ms
300ms
400ms
500ms
Wp rocket51ms29% of sites
Litespeed cache50ms26% of sites
Autoptimize49ms22% of sites
Wp fastest cache48ms13% of sites
Cloudflare apo52ms6% of sites
W3 total cache47ms2% of sites
Flyingpress61ms1% of sites
Nitropack54ms1% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
Wp rocket
29%
51ms
Litespeed cache
26%
50ms
Autoptimize
22%
49ms
Wp fastest cache
13%
48ms
Cloudflare apo
6%
52ms
W3 total cache
2%
47ms
Flyingpress
1%
61ms
Nitropack
1%
54ms

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 · desktop 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?

The choice barely moves the INP: 100% pass at best, 99% at worst. This signal does not separate passing sites from failing ones.

The split is bigger on LCP. With Wp fastest cache, 83% of sites pass it. With Cloudflare apo, 73% do.

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