The State of Web Vitals

Optimization plugins

Performance and optimization plugins detected on the page.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites Q1 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
28.7%
Fleet share
Top: wp_rocket
2.8%
Sites with any
Of wp_rocket

Wp rocket leads the optimization plugins, on 28.7% of sites.

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 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
Autoptimize50ms21% of sites
Wp fastest cache48ms12% of sites
Cloudflare apo51ms9% of sites
W3 total cache47ms2% of sites
Flyingpress61ms1% of sites
Nitropack49ms1% of sites
VariantShare of sitesMedian
Wp rocket
29%
51ms
Litespeed cache
26%
50ms
Autoptimize
21%
50ms
Wp fastest cache
12%
48ms
Cloudflare apo
9%
51ms
W3 total cache
2%
47ms
Flyingpress
1%
61ms
Nitropack
1%
49ms

Optimization plugins. On the fleet: 28.7% wp rocket, 25.5% litespeed cache, 20.6% autoptimize. 2.8% of sites use at least one wp_rocket.

The State of Web Vitals · Q1 2026 · 94,910 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, 74% 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 94,910 sites, representing millions of real page loads · How we measured