W3 Total Cache vs WP Super Cache Comparison: Which is Best?
Cache Plugin is the best way to speed up your WordPress site. However, there are several ways to improve website loading speed, in which caching is the most effective way.
There are a lot of cache plugins in the market, but W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache plugins work great and are widely used by WordPress users.
In this tutorial, I'm going to share W3 Total Cache vs WP Super Cache Comparison which will help you decide which one is better for your blog.
Why You Need Caching Plugins
Website loading speed is a Google ranking factor. If your site loads fast, your site will rank better in Google search engine.
Cache plugins create static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress blog. And when a visitor request for a page, your web server serves static HTML files instead of heavier WordPress PHP scripts.
As a result, your site will load fast in visitor's device. Apart from this, these plugins also minify JavaScript and CSS files.
Here are the reasons why caching is beneficial for your site
- Improve speed and performance
- Reduce the load on your hosting server
- Save your site’s bandwidth
- Improve website ranking
- Improve user
exprience
Keeping in mind the many benefits of caching, let's start W3 Total Cache vs WP Super Cache Comparison.
W3 Total Cache vs WP Super Cache: Head-to-Head Comparison
In this W3 Total Cache vs WP Super Cache comparison, I'll cover terms of installation, features, pricing, and support.
Overview
Let’s start with WP Super Cache...
WP Super Cache is one of the best caching plugin out there created by Automattic, the company behind WordPress. This cache plugin is great for shared hosting.
It creates static HTML files of your WordPress site and serves to your website’s visitors instead of PHP scripts. This method makes your site faster.
WP Super Cache plugin serves cached files in 3 method
- Expert - fastest method is by using Apache mod_rewrite to serve "
supercached " static HTML files. This method completely bypasses PHP. - Simple - this is the recommended way by the plugin. With this method, static files can be served by PHP.
- WP-Cache caching - it’s the most flexible caching method and slightly slower. WP-Cache caching will also cache visits by unknown users if
supercaching is disabled. This mode is always enabled but you can disable.
WP Super Cache comes with easy configuration. A beginner can also easily setup it. The plugin also supports Content Delivery Network (CDN), means boost your site’s speed.
Now, let’s see W3 Total Cache.
W3 Total Cache is another most popular caching plugin available in the market. It can make your site blazing fast by compression and perfect tuning, also 10x improvement in overall site performance.
W3 Total Cache comes with dozens of settings like Page cache, Database Cache, Object caching, Minify Browser cache etc. W3 Total Cache is better for advanced users. Also, the plugin supports some popular extensions - AMP, Cloudflare, Yoast SEO, Feedburner and more.
WTC fully compatible with shared hosting, virtual private/dedicated servers and dedicated servers/clusters.
Verdict: Both WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache plugins provide fantastic caching functionality. You can use any one. But if your site is hosted on a VPS or Dedicated server, you should use the W3 Total Cache plugin.
Ease of Setup
You can install WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache plugin directly from your dashboard. Just navigate to Plugins >> Add New. Search the name of the plugin you want to install on your blog. Then click on Install Now and hit on Activate button. Once activated, let's look at their settings.
First I will start with WP Super Cache.
When you install and activate WP Super Cache, it will add a new menu item under settings section with WP Super Cache label. Just click on it. This will take you to the plugin's settings page. Here, check the Caching on and hit on Update Status button. You can see screenshot below.
For advanced settings, navigate to Advanced tab. Here is a complete
WP Super Cache provides easy configurations with some simple check box options.
Now let's see the settings of W3 Total Cache.
When you activate W3 Total Cache plugin on your site. It will add a new menu item to your WordPress dashboard with Performance label. Just click on Performance >> General settings. This will take you to the plugin basic settings page. You can see screenshot below.
The plugin settings are divided into separate sections so that anyone can easily configure it on their site. For complete setup see this guide - The Best W3 Total Cache Settings
Verdict: The settings of WP Super Cache are very easy while W3 Total Cache comes with more advanced settings which can put a
Pricing
WP Super Cache
W3 Total Cache is available in both free and premium versions. Its free version also works very well and fully compatible with Cloudflare, New Relic and WPML plugin. Pro version comes with additional features such as Fragment caching, Exclusive extension framework, Genesis Framework compatibility.
Verdict: If you run small site or blog, WP Super Cache is a great solution with Zero cost. But if you run e-commerce or multisite, you should use W3 Total Cache Pro to get better performance.
Support
Both WP Super Cache and W3 Total Cache offers great support with regular updated.
When you install and activate WP Super Cache, you’ll see a Need Help? From here you can get support.
Apart from this, it marks recommended settings that help in configuring the plugin perfectly.
W3 Total Cache offers more advanced features, its FAQ and support forum are great. Apart from this, there are plenty of online guides that can help you set up. The plugin offers Premium Support with $200.00 that is too high.
Verdict: Both plugins provide great support. And a lot of tutorials are available to configure them.
Our Verdict on W3 Total Cache vs WP Super Cache
Both plugins are very popular and highly rated, which take the speed of your website to a new level. But in terms of performance, functionality, features and integration, the W3 Total Cache is at the top. It also works great with any web host and theme.
However, if you are looking for a simple, reliable and free caching plugin then the name of the WP Super Cache comes first. It works great with shared hosting as well as high traffic site.
I used both plugins on my site and I found W3 Total Cache most effective.
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