Do Plugins Slow Down WordPress?
Avoiding slow WordPress plugins will improve your website’s load time and Core Web Vitals score.
Before creating a website, it must be prioritized to load quickly and not crackle on different devices. It should be mentioned that the two main causes of a WordPress website’s slowness are always the same: Web Hosting and bad plugins.
However, many users don’t know this and continue to install as many plugins as they can, oblivious that this slows down their website and consumes too many resources from the hosting provider.
Why do plugins slow down WordPress?
Plugins act in two ways.
Depending on the type of plugin, the server must perform certain functions. These functions have the most varied functions, but they generally serve to add code to our website’s pages.
To illustrate: an SEO plugin will execute queries to add code to our website, such as meta tags. The server’s computations might affect the loading time of your WordPress site’s pages.
Queries can be done on the database through the numerous functions performed. For example, a plugin can be used to measure this parameter. Many plugins will also add CSS and JavaScript to your pages. For example, a plugin such as “contact form 7” adds a stylesheet and JavaScript to its operation.
These external files increase the number of resources that must be downloaded for the page to be properly visualized and, as a result, increase the page’s size. Not all plugins slow down WordPress, and they do not all do it the same way. For example, not all plugins execute front-end operations, and not all of them need the loading of stylesheets and JavaScripts.
Related posts plugins
This is a plugin that everyone should use to improve internal links and pageviews while reducing bounce rates. However, many are unaware that it wastes a significant amount of their hosting resources.
As an example, consider “Yet Another Related Post.” This plugin must run a series of queries on the database before showing relevant posts. What could be a viable solution? I recommend you have custom-related articles without a plugin or use one like OutBrain or Contextual Related Posts because it does not use your data.
Front-end plugins
Front-end plugins deal with the elements on your site and with which visitors interact. For example, lightboxes, fancy pop-up bars, media players, social sharing buttons, and social embeds are all layers of code that must interact with your database, load their dependencies, render for the visitor, and fetch photos and other media.
Backend plugins
Backend plugins deal with server-side issues, provide more control or capabilities in your admin dashboard, set up passive monitoring or active checks, and aid in sorting, organizing, and optimizing.
For example, a plugin that limits the number of login tries before locking you out, a plugin that analyzes your site for broken links, or a plugin that builds and refreshes a sitemap each time you publish new content; these aren’t going to harm the user experience in any way, particularly if you’ve installed a caching plugin.
Hit counters plugin
I’m not sure why people use those old-school hit counts on their websites anymore. Do they not understand Google Analytics? Consider this: if you have 10,000 visitors daily, the code counter will be executed 10,000 times.
Social share plugins
It is best to avoid using these plugins. They tend to include too much external code on the site, which might be problematic for your users’ privacy in some instances. These plugins have even resold visitor information to third parties in certain situations.
It is advised that you use the functions provided by the developers of the major social networks.
Jetpack plugin
Even though I would not use it, I chose not to add this plugin to the list of those to avoid.
The plugin has recently been improved and simplified, and it is modular, which means you can use the functionality you need.
Page builders
Page builders may be both a boon and a bane. They make things much easier but also introduce many bloated functions and unneeded code, particularly on the front end. Several page builders have gotten more performant with the advent of the Block Editor (Gutenberg), but they are still far from perfect.
Until the block editor is fully functional as a page builder, the most efficient option is a mix of Gutenberg and Advanced Custom Fields. This is also how Servebolt handles their page builders on their website. The page builder is ACF Flexible Content, and the block editor is used on blog entries.
Image management
Images are generally the element that takes up the most space on a website. So optimizing the images to decrease their size and loading time is a great idea. Unfortunately, many people install an image optimization plugin and assume they’re done.
We have tried and reviewed many image optimization plugins and were surprised to find that many are poor. EWWW Image Optimization is undoubtedly the plugin with the biggest detrimental influence. If you must use a plugin, choose one that does the optimization for you.
However, it is preferable to handle image optimization when the images are produced rather than using plugins. Use applications like jpegoptim, ImageMagick, and optipng to correctly export them or optimize the pictures server-side.
Warning signs of a slow plugin
The first and most straightforward method is to perform a before and after comparison. Next, run several performances benchmarking tools, such as GTMetrix and PageSpeed Insights, and keep track of the results. Next, install the plugin in question and repeat the tests. If your score is substantially lower and additional problems for extra JavaScript and CSS inclusions show, you may have uncovered the culprit.
Another item to look for in a before-and-after installation comparison is the list of.js and.css files loaded when your website loads. A plugin that adds new files and scripts to load (or increases the size of existing ones) will certainly cause your site to slow down.
One of the most serious issues I encounter with certain plugins is that they load a lot of plugin dependencies on every page of your site, even if those plugins aren’t being utilized. This may be important if the plugin must be loaded on every page of your site.
You may also examine the plugin itself. If you know how to code, you can go into the plugin files to discover how and where the plugin assets are being enqueued on your site’s front end. Sure, some of the more intricate plugins make this more difficult, but you can still obtain a fundamental understanding of how things function and how they interact with your site.
Quantity vs. Quality: Why Do Plugins Slow Down WordPress?
Common WordPress websites often have 20-30 plugins installed. For bigger commercial sites, this figure can easily exceed 50-60.
It is not the number of plugins that is the most detrimental to your site’s performance. The main issue, though, is the quality of the plugins.
Always go for plugins created by specialists with a high reputation. Because these plugins adhere to WordPress code standards, they should not have a detrimental influence on the speed and performance of your site.
How to find your slowest WordPress plugins
New Relic, GTmetrix, Query Monitor, and the WP Hive Chrome Extension can help you determine which WordPress plugins are slowing down your site.
Query monitor plugin
The Query Monitor Plugin is useful for locating slow database queries, themes, and particular functions. You only need to install and activate it.
Navigate to a page on your website, hover over the Query Monitor tab, then select Queries > Queries By Component. Check numerous pages/posts where you assume different plugins are loaded.
The table displays the load times of your slowest plugins.
Make use of GTMetrix waterfall and new relic.
The Query Monitor Plugin is similar to GTmetrix Waterfall and New Relic.
Your GTmetrix Waterfall chart displays which plugins generate requests and the load time for each request. However, it only displays plugins currently loaded on the front end.
This means it won’t display page builders, backup plugins, statistics plugins, and other plugins loading in the backend. Therefore it won’t offer you a true picture of your slowest plugins.
Chrome extension for WP Hive
WP Hive is a Chrome add-on detecting sluggish plugins in the WordPress repository. Install the extension, navigate the WordPress plugins page and search for any plugin. In addition, WP Hive displays whether the plugin impacts memory use or PageSpeed Insights.
List of top 50 slow WordPress plugins I’ve tested:
- AddThis
- AdSense Click Fraud Monitoring
- All-In-One Event Calendar
- Backup Buddy
- Beaver Builder
- Better WordPress Google XML Sitemaps
- Broken Link checker (use Dr. Link Check)
- Constant Contact for WordPress
- Contact Form 7 ( I still use this with Asset clean up )
- Contextual Related Posts ( I still use this with text only )
- Digi Auto Links
- Disqus Comment System
- Divi Builder
- Essential Grid
- Facebook Chat
- Fancy Gallery
- Fuzzy SEO Booster
- Google Analytics
- Google Language Translator
- Google Translate
- Google XML Sitemaps
- Jetpack
- Leaflet Maps Marker
- MyReview
- NextGEN Gallery
- NewStatPress
- Real Estate Website Builder
- Really Simple Share
- Reveal IDs
- Revolution Slider
- Sharebar
- ShareThis
- S2 member
- SEO Auto Links & Related Posts
- Share Buttons by AddToAny
- Share Buttons by E-MAILiT
- ShareThis
- Social Discussions
- Socialable
- Similar Posts
- Slimstat Analytics
- SumoMe
- Talk.To
- Tribulent Slideshow Gallery
- Ultimate Social Media & Share
- VaultPress
- WooCommerce Customer History
- Wordfence (disable live traffic reports)
- WordPress Facebook
- WordPress Related Posts
Alternatives for lightweight plugins
In certain circumstances, you may need to find alternatives for the plugin you removed. First, find high-quality, high-performance plugins, then install and configure them.
We propose analyzing your Slowest WordPress Plugins and replacing them with lightweight plugins or uninstalling them and selectively deactivating plugins from individual pages/posts where they do not need to load.
- SEO Plugins – Rank Math. Don’t enable all of their features!
- Backup Plugins – UpdraftPlus.
- Sliders – Soliloquy or MetaSlider.
- Page Builder – Oxygen or Gutenberg.
- Portfolio – Envira Gallery, FooGallery, or The Grid.
- WooCommerce – most important thing is to use fast hosting (e.g., Cloudways).
- Social Sharing – Grow By Mediavine.
- Comments – native comments or wpDiscuz with optimized settings configured with WP Speed Matters’ Flying Scripts Plugin to create timeouts for comments + Gravatars = no extra GTmetrix requests.
How to reduce the impact of plugins
Deactivate unused plugins
It will just take a minute to do this task. First, check your Plugins menu for any active plugins you aren’t utilizing and disable them.
When you deactivate a plugin, it no longer executes code or affects your site’s performance.
Deleting a plugin will free up some storage space on your server but will not affect how quickly your site loads (deactivating does).
Consolidate your plugins
After you’ve deactivated any plugins you’re not using, you may minimize the number of plugins you’re running by deleting redundant functionality.
I’ve seen several WordPress sites with two plugins that do the same function. One plugin, for example, provides a social media widget, while the other adds social buttons after the article. However, because these plugins cannot interact with one another, they load their files. So, look for a single plugin that can perform both of these things.
Use caching plugins
Optimization and performance plugins might improve your loading speed by experimenting with different plugins and loading methods. For example, caching plugins temporarily store files and graphics, so visitors’ browsers do not have to make as many HTTP requests. This improves performance and user experience.
Maintain Your Website
This guideline applies to all aspects of your website. The package includes WordPress core, plugins, themes, and underlying technologies like PHP and MySQL. The most recent upgrades can improve speed and performance while patching security issues.
Use CDN
Content Delivery Networks are an excellent choice if your visitors come from around the world. CDNs use a network of nodes to efficiently provide data based on the site visitor’s location.
Conclusion
As you can see, the quantity of plugins is not the primary cause of your site’s poor loading; rather, it is the quality of those plugins. As a result, ensure that the high-resource plugins aren’t slowing down your site.
If that’s the case, you now know how to determine which plugins are causing your WordPress site to slow down. So, follow the steps outlined above to assess your WordPress plugins’ performance and replace those slowing down your site’s loading speed.
Do Plugins Slow Down WordPress? FAQ
Common questions about WordPress plugins and their impact on site performance
Yes, plugins can definitely slow down your WordPress website. They affect performance in two main ways: by executing server-side code that runs PHP functions and database queries, and by adding extra CSS and JavaScript files that must be downloaded by visitors’ browsers.
For example, an SEO plugin will run queries to add meta tags to your pages, while a contact form plugin typically adds its own stylesheet and JavaScript files, creating additional HTTP requests. However, the impact varies greatly depending on the quality of the plugin’s code.
No, it’s not primarily the quantity of plugins but their quality that affects performance. Most WordPress sites run 20-30 plugins without issues, and commercial sites often use 50-60+ without problems. A single poorly coded plugin can slow your site more than dozens of well-optimized ones.
The article specifically states: “It is not the number of plugins that is the most detrimental to your site’s performance. The main issue is the quality of the plugins.” Always prioritize plugins created by specialists with high reputations who follow WordPress coding standards.
Plugins slow down WordPress in several specific ways. They execute server-side functions that perform calculations and database queries, which can increase processing time. Many plugins also add CSS and JavaScript files to your pages, increasing the number of resources that must be downloaded and the total page size.
For example, a related posts plugin must run complex database queries to find relevant content, while social sharing plugins often load external scripts that can significantly increase loading time. Even well-coded plugins add some overhead, but poorly optimized ones can dramatically impact performance.
Backend plugins generally have minimal impact on frontend performance. These plugins handle server-side tasks like login security, content organization, and dashboard controls without adding code to your public-facing pages.
As the article states: “Backend plugins deal with server-side issues… these aren’t going to harm the user experience in any way, particularly if you’ve installed a caching plugin.” Examples include plugins that limit login attempts, analyze broken links, or build sitemaps, which typically don’t load JavaScript or CSS on your frontend.
Front-end plugins typically have the biggest performance impact since they add code layers that visitors directly interact with. This includes page builders, sliders, lightboxes, popup displays, and social sharing buttons.
Other significant resource consumers include related posts plugins (complex database queries), hit counters (executing code for every visitor), social sharing plugins (loading external code), and image optimization plugins that run on each page load rather than optimizing images server-side.
Page builders can significantly impact performance. As the article states: “Page builders may be both a boon and a bane. They make things much easier but also introduce many bloated functions and unneeded code, particularly on the front end.”
While convenient for design, builders like Divi, Beaver Builder, and even Elementor add substantial code overhead. For better performance, consider using the native WordPress block editor (Gutenberg) combined with Advanced Custom Fields, which is how performance-focused sites like Servebolt handle their page building.
The article provides a comprehensive list of 50 slow WordPress plugins to avoid, including: AddThis, AdSense Click Fraud Monitoring, All-In-One Event Calendar, Backup Buddy, Beaver Builder, Broken Link Checker, Contact Form 7 (unless optimized), Contextual Related Posts, Disqus, Divi Builder, and Essential Grid.
Other notable performance-draining plugins include Facebook Chat, Revolution Slider, NextGEN Gallery, social sharing tools like ShareThis and SumoMe, SlimStat Analytics, and Wordfence with live traffic reports enabled. The article recommends lightweight alternatives for many of these functionalities.
Yes, related posts plugins are specifically highlighted as performance issues. The article states: “This is a plugin that everyone should use to improve internal links and pageviews while reducing bounce rates. However, many are unaware that it wastes a significant amount of their hosting resources.”
These plugins must run complex database queries to find relevant content, which consumes server resources. The recommendation is to either use custom-related articles without a plugin or choose optimized options like Contextual Related Posts with text-only settings that don’t use your server’s resources as heavily.
The most straightforward method is a before-and-after comparison. Run performance tests using tools like GTMetrix or PageSpeed Insights before installing a plugin, then repeat the tests after installation. A significant drop in performance score indicates the plugin is causing problems.
Other warning signs include an increase in the number of JavaScript and CSS files loaded, plugins that add files on every page regardless of whether they’re being used, and noticeable increases in load time after installation. Examining the plugin code can also reveal if assets are being inefficiently loaded.
The article recommends several specific tools for finding slow plugins. The Query Monitor plugin is highly effective – after installation, check “Queries > Queries By Component” to see loading times of your slowest plugins across different pages of your site.
GTmetrix’s Waterfall chart shows which plugins generate requests and their loading times. New Relic provides similar insights with more detailed metrics. For researching new plugins before installation, the WP Hive Chrome extension shows potential performance impact by displaying memory usage and PageSpeed effects.
The article provides specific instructions: “Install and activate the Query Monitor Plugin. Navigate to a page on your website, hover over the Query Monitor tab, then select Queries > Queries By Component. Check numerous pages/posts where you assume different plugins are loaded.”
The resulting table displays the load times of your slowest plugins, allowing you to identify resource-intensive extensions. This tool is particularly valuable because it reveals backend performance issues that might not be apparent through frontend testing tools alone.
Yes, you can use the WP Hive Chrome extension mentioned in the article. It allows you to detect potentially slow plugins while browsing the WordPress repository. After installing the extension, you can see whether a plugin impacts memory usage or PageSpeed Insights scores before adding it to your site.
Other pre-installation checks include reading plugin reviews specifically mentioning performance, checking the support forum for speed-related issues, and looking at update frequency (regularly updated plugins often include performance improvements). For critical sites, testing plugins on a staging environment before adding them to your live site is recommended.
The article offers several strategies: “Deactivate unused plugins, consolidate your plugins, use caching plugins, maintain your website, and use CDN.” Start by removing or deactivating any plugins you’re not actively using, and look for plugins that can handle multiple functions rather than using separate ones for each feature.
Implementing a caching plugin can dramatically improve performance even with resource-intensive plugins installed. Keep all plugins updated to benefit from performance improvements, and consider using a CDN (Content Delivery Network), especially if your visitors come from around the world.
The article provides specific lightweight alternatives for common plugin categories: For SEO, try Rank Math (but don’t enable all features). For backups, UpdraftPlus performs well. Replace heavy sliders with Soliloquy or MetaSlider, and consider Oxygen or native Gutenberg instead of heavier page builders.
For portfolio and gallery needs, use Envira Gallery, FooGallery, or The Grid. For social sharing functionality, Grow By Mediavine is recommended over heavier options. For comments, either use WordPress native comments or wpDiscuz with optimized settings rather than Disqus or other external systems.
Yes, caching is specifically recommended in the article as a key strategy for reducing plugin impact: “Optimization and performance plugins might improve your loading speed… Caching plugins temporarily store files and graphics, so visitors’ browsers do not have to make as many HTTP requests.”
Caching can significantly offset the performance impact of necessary but resource-intensive plugins by reducing server processing time and minimizing HTTP requests. The cached versions of pages allow faster loading even when the underlying plugins would normally cause slowdowns. Various caching plugins are available, with different features suitable for different hosting environments.
The article clearly states both are equally important: “It should be mentioned that the two main causes of a WordPress website’s slowness are always the same: Web Hosting and bad plugins.” Neither can fully compensate for problems with the other.
Even perfectly optimized plugins will perform poorly on inadequate hosting, while the best hosting can’t fully overcome extremely inefficient plugins. For optimal performance, invest in both quality WordPress-specific hosting with proper server-side caching and carefully select well-coded plugins from reputable developers. For resource-intensive sites like WooCommerce stores, specialized hosting is particularly important.
