Which is the best plugin for your WordPress website?

Struggling to choose between NitroPack and WP Rocket? Here’s what this comparison review is for!
Although these two plugins come with different features and serve different purposes, let’s figure out which one will bring you more benefits according to your needs.

Some general information to start with:

WP Rocket

WP Rocket

  • is a WordPress premium caching plugin 
  • powers over 2,600,000 websites
  • offers 3 types of licenses (depending on the number of websites you have)
  • RocketCDN and image optimization tool, Imagify, are available as add-ons
  • rated 4.9 on Trustpilot
  • exclusively designed for WordPress
NitroPack

NitroPack

  • is an all-in-one web performance optimization tool
  • powers over 140,000 websites
  • standard licensing for 1 website only (not so suitable for freelancers and agencies)
  • includes CDN and image optimization
  • rated 3.9 on Trustpilot
  • not specifically designed for WordPress

Main Differences

Essential elements of these WordPress speed optimization tools compared

Performance

These plugins aren’t easy to compare since they offer different services and their features vary, but both are very powerful and will help boost your performance scores in their own way.

NitroPack is very much focused on bumping your PageSpeed scores when using the most aggressive settings, while WP Rocket is designed to improve your overall website performance.

WP Rocket is constantly in line with the latest web performance requirements to help you improve Core Web Vitals, address Google PageSpeed recommendations and achieve better performance scores, without ever compromising user experience.

Compatibility

NitroPack is compatible with most tools and hosts, although there are some issues with page builders.
Please note that if you are using AdSense, some users have reported a drastic decrease in Google Ads revenue after enabling NitroPack.

WP Rocket is compatible with 99% of hosts (and the only caching plugin allowed by WordPress.com and Pressable). It’s also compatible with the most popular tools, themes, plugins. Its Delay JS feature has improved compatibility with page builders which makes it more stable than NitroPack, with fewer risks of breaking even the most complex sites.

Updates

NitroPack was released as a standalone service in 2018. It now empowers +80.000 websites and is regularly updated with new features.

WP Rocket is an established and trusted product, which is regularly and constantly updated since 2013. Its team of web performance experts is always working hard to address the latest performance requirements and provide a great user experience.

Ease of Use

Both plugins are pretty easy and fast to set up.

NitroPack has a simple, 4-step installation process. User experience is a bit weaker than WP Rocket. There aren’t many possibilities when it comes to fine-tuning your settings. Image optimization and CDN are integrated into NitroPack but are only available as add-ons with WP Rocket.

Simplicity is one of the core values of WP Rocket and that is exactly what you get when it comes to the product interface. Pop-ups in the WP Rocket dashboard are there to help you out in case you need assistance.  WP Rocket’s default settings can get you started quickly with no risk of breaking your website.

Support

Priority support is included in NitroPack paid plans. However, due to fast company growth, NitroPack is currently struggling with ticket flow and slow response time, as evidenced by the  many bad reviews on the topic.

WP Rocket‘s support team is famous for being the backbone of the company’s success. A friendly, technical support team is available in different time zones for all your questions, no matter which type of license you have.
They help you achieve the best performance results possible.

Price

With NitroPack, pricing is based on page views. It offers a free version (only 5k page views/month) which comes with some constraints. You have to agree to having their banner on your website footer for example. Standard plans can be used on 1 website only but custom plans are available on request. Price starts at  $210/year for 1 website (CDN and image optimization included).

WP Rocket offers 3 different  yearly plans (for 1, 3 or an unlimited number of websites) starting at $59/year. All WP   Rocket users have access to the company’s other products (including extra benefits): RocketCDN and Imagify, their image optimization tool. Together, the 3 products cost $208,8 for the first year, with a renewal discount for the following years. The best part? RocketCDN comes with unlimited bandwidth.

A Few Words From Users
Who Tried Both Plugins

Real reviews from real users

I switched a site over to test Nitro out and would not recommend them whatsoever.

The performance score does go up but occasionally breaks site with the worst customer service, I had to message the CTO on LinkedIn to get any support. Images not appearing, broken CSS and JS, etc.I can get literally the exact same scores if not better with WP Rocket and asset cleanup pro, and tell you to disable everything else which I found limits what you can do to help tweak things.

Hated the UI – it is too basic so you are limited on what settings you can modify, and then when they do it they break the site and since their support sucks, your site is broken until you disable the plugin.

Daniel Lynch, CEO at Empathy First Media

Plugins Comparison at a Glance

All you need to know about WP Rocket vs. NitroPack

Set Up

Configuration is simple, fast and intuitive

Options to control and customize how caching, preload, file optimization features perform if needed

Performance

Blazing-fast + many possibilities to fine-tune your speed

WP Rocket doesn't guarantee specific Page Speed scores but will improve overall performance and is in line with the latest web performance requirements.

Support & Updates

Excellent support included in the yearly license

Regularly updated with new versions since 2013 (features, enhancements, compatibilities & bug fixes)

Compatibility

Exclusively designed for WordPress, ensuring better and broader compatibility

Delay JS feature is constantly updated with new exclusions to avoid unexpected errors

Very stable when used on complex sites with animations

Price

From $59 (1 year of support and updates included)

Plans for 1, 3 or an unlimited number of websites

Set Up

Configuration is simple, fast and intuitive

Fewer possibilities to fine-tune your settings (you cannot customize the features from your end)

Performance

NitroPack guarantees a bump in your PageSpeed score if you use the most aggressive settings (with a risk of breaking your website)

Support & Updates

Priority support included in paid plans, but slow response time

Regularly updated with new features

Compatibility

Not just designed for WordPress so its compatibility list is shorter than WP Rocket when it comes to hostings, themes, and plugins

Some known compatibility issues with pagebuilders

Price

Pro versions starts from $210/year (up to 50K page views)

Standard licenses for 1 website only (custom plans available on request)

Don’t Just Take Our Word For It

Here is what our users think 

Excellent

Rated 4.9 out of 5
based on 2053 reviews on Trustpilot

WP Rocket is the answer to the CWV

WP Rocket is the answer to the new updates from Google, core web vitals. I have tried a lot of other tools, plugins, etc. This is by far the best and easiest to use. I highly recommend it.

Tony Short

Simply the best cache plugin for WP

Simply the best cache plugin for wordpress. I tried a few other to use with divi, but none were as good. Thank you team rocket for inventing the best speed plugin in the world!

M-Martin

6 Good Reasons
to Switch

91%* of our customers used a free cache plugin before switching to WP Rocket.
Here are the most common reasons why they decided to change:

*Source: Customer Survey January 2020

  • The easiest setup
  • Improved performance results
  • Unique WP Rocket features
  • Won’t break your website
  • Excellent customer support
  • Constant updates and improvements

Already +3,823,000 Websites in Orbit

We’re only missing yours!
Get WP Rocket Now

Why So Many Website Owners
Have Said Yes To WP Rocket

A perfect plugin for every WordPress website

WP Rocket's results are immediate

Immediate Results

Install it, activate it, relax, and enjoy the speed boost: WP Rocket automatically applies 80% of web performance best practices right upon activation (yes, even if you didn’t enable any option). No need to touch the code, the default configuration will do the magic.

WP Rocket offers powerful caching features

Powerful Features

Page caching, browser caching, or GZIP compression are only some of the default features that will make your site faster in a blink. And suppose you don’t settle for the standard settings. In that case, WP Rocket includes advanced features such as fonts preloading, delay of JS execution, lazy loading,…and we’re always adding more.

WP Rocket is compatible with many hostings, themes and plugins

Unique Compatibilities 

Keep using your favorite tools without worrying about compatibility. WP Rocket is the only caching plugin accepted by the top managed WordPress hosting providers: WP Engine, Kinsta, and Pressable. Our team continuously works with themes and third-party plugins developers to avoid conflicts between our products.

Get Updates and Support with your WP Rocket's license

Updates and Support

When you’re stuck on a technical problem, your business ends up suffering as well. But WP Rocket has your back, always. Our developer and product teams work hard to implement enhancements, fix bugs, and ship constant updates. Friendly support is also included in the price and is available in different time zones.

A Better Performance Starts Here

You can choose between 3 license types 

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100% Money Back Guarantee

Although we don’t think you’ll ever want one, we’ll gladly provide a refund if you request it within 14 days of your purchase.