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Perfmatters : Why Choose This Best Speed Optimization Plugin in 2025?

In this new technological world, a millisecond can sometimes be the difference between a conversion and a bounce. Business owners expect their sites to load quickly because faster-loading websites will perform well in search engines.

Are you struggling with a slow WordPress site? Try Perfmatters, a lightweight performance plugin built to speed up your website without the bloat.

But does it really live up to the hype? In this in-depth review, I’ll share my experience with Perfmatters and whether it’s worth the investment in 2025.

What is Perfmatters?

Perfmatters is a premium performance optimization plugin for WordPress. It was built by brothers Brian and Brett Jackson, but ultimately built for one reason: to optimize your website's performance by disabling options and features you couldn't care less about.

Whereas most caching plugins focus on compression, caching, and minifying files, Perfmatters works to optimize the underlying technical junk. It includes the background tasks, scripts, and WordPress defaults that slow down your website, often without you being aware of it.

Perfmatters was built to be ultra-lightweight, simple, effective, and in most instances, compatible with almost any WordPress install. It works from a basic blog to a complex WooCommerce store. And because Perfmatters will not conflict with caching plugins, it can be used seamlessly alongside WP Rocket, FlyingPress, & LiteSpeed Cache.

Why Use Perfmatters?

To truly understand the value of Perfmatters, you need to change how you think about speed. Speed isn't just about caching static files. But it's all about minimizing what the browser and server need to do in the first place.

For instance, your homepage loads 15 different CSS and JavaScript files, but you're only using five on that page. What about the other 10 files? Wasted load time.

With Perfmatters, you can stop the loading of things that you don't need, at the page, post, or even custom post-type level. Just this alone shrinks the page size, improves Time to First Byte (TTFB), and improves your Core Web Vitals.

It's helpful if:

You're using a multipurpose theme or page builders.
Your PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix score keeps nagging you for unused JS/CSS.
You want better control over performance without hiring a developer.

Practical Tips and Hacks to Speed up your WordPress Site

Perfmatters Pros & Cons

Pros

Extremely lightweight and non-bloated
Works with all major caching and CDN plugins
Script Manager gives unmatched control.
WooCommerce-specific performance tools
Excellent documentation and regular updates
Supports multi-site networks

Cons

Requires careful handling; disabling the wrong script can cause layout issues.
No built-in caching (you'll still need a caching plugin)
Not free, but worth every penny for serious users

Key Features That Actually Matter

Perfmatters isn't bloated with features, and that's a good thing. Every feature is designed to tackle specific performance issues that typical plugins overlook. Let's walk through the most impactful ones:

Script Manager for Asset Loading

This is Perfmatters' most powerful feature, allowing you to disable scripts and styles per post, page, device, or post type. No other tool offers this level of control with such ease.

Example: Disable contact form scripts everywhere except your contact page.
Benefit: Fewer HTTP requests, smaller page size, improved TTFB.

You can also target scripts by regex, user role, or device. It is ideal for advanced users managing complex websites.

General Settings Tweaks

Perfmatters lets you toggle off dozens of WordPress features that are enabled by default but not always necessary:

Disable emojis, embeds, XML-RPC, REST API, RSD, and shortlinks.
Remove jQuery Migrate.
Hide WordPress version.
Limit post revisions.

Each of these options removes a layer of overhead. The best part? When combined, they lead to noticeable frontend and backend speed gains.

Preloading and Resource Hints

Perfmatters pulls down:

Preloading: Fonts, hero images, and other important assets load even faster.
DNS Prefetch & Preconnect: Quickly establishes connections to external services (like Google Fonts, your CDN) early.
Resource hints: Tells the browser what to prioritize in the critical loading moment.

All of these features directly impact FCP (First Contentful Paint) and LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) scores.

Lazy Loading with Customisation

Images and iframes are typically the heaviest elements on a page. Perfmatters gives you granular lazy load control:

Lazy load images, videos, and iframes
Exclude specific classes or file types.
Replace YouTube embeds with a lightweight preview thumbnail.

Result? Less layout shift, faster perceived performance, especially on mobile.

WooCommerce Optimization

WooCommerce sites often suffer from:

Cart Fragments: WooCommerce sends background requests on every page, even when there’s no cart. Perfmatters disables this to speed things up.
Unnecessary Scripts: WooCommerce loads its files across your whole site. With Perfmatters, you can stop that and load them only where needed.

Perfmatters lets you disable:

Cart fragments
WooCommerce scripts/styles on non-WooCommerce pages
Status meta boxes on admin dashboards

It's a godsend for store owners trying to hit performance targets.

Database Cleanup

Keep your database clean without extra plugins:

Remove revisions, drafts, and transients
Delete spam/trash comments.
Schedule automatic cleanups

This helps improve server response time and reduces backend lag, especially valuable for older sites with years of accumulated junk.

CDN Rewrite & Local Analytics

CDN Rewrite: Rewrite your static content URLs to use your preferred CDN (e.g., BunnyCDN).
Local Google Analytics: Host GA scripts locally to reduce third-party requests and pass PageSpeed tests.
These subtle improvements have a cumulative impact on load speed and score consistency.

Pricing: Is It Worth It?

Considering the depth of control and performance gains Perfmatters offers, the pricing is surprisingly modest, especially when you compare it to bloated performance plugins or developer fees for custom optimisation.

Their entry-level Personal plan is worth $29.95 per year, ideal for solo site owners who want to optimise a single website without getting technical. It's budget-friendly yet unlocks the full power of the Plugin. There are no feature restrictions based on the plan you choose.

The Business plan, worth $59.95 per year, caters to small teams or developers managing up to 3 websites. It's perfect if you're handling client sites or running multiple blogs.

For Agencies or seasoned WordPress professionals, the Unlimited Sites license removes any caps, allowing you to install and use Perfmatters across as many sites as you need, without tracking usage limits.

So even if you're on the fence, you can try the Plugin risk-free, and if it doesn't meet your expectations, you get a full refund. What really stands out is their 30-day money-back guarantee. No hassle, no hard feelings.

Perfmatters Plugin Pricing Details:

1 Site – Personal	3 Sites – Business	Unlimited Sites
$29.95 per year	$59.95 per year	$124.95 per year
1 year premium support & updates 30-day money-back guarantee	1 year premium support & updates 30-day money-back guarantee	1 year premium support & updates 30-day money-back guarantee Multisite support
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How to Set Up Perfmatters?

The best part about Perfmatters and its installation is how quickly and easily the program is to configure. While many of the other performance plugins require you to know a little bit about development or how to manage some fairly difficult settings, Perfmatters is much easier to set up, without taking away any of the control.

Step 1: Install the Plugin

After purchasing Perfmatters from its professional site, you will be provided with a .zip file that you will download. Head to your WordPress dashboard, then to Plugins - Add New - Upload Plugin, and upload your downloaded .zip file. Select Activate once the file is installed.

Step 2: Add Your License Key

Now that the Plugin is activated, you will need to activate your license. You can find the license key in your Perfmatters account. Inside your dashboard, head to Settings -Perfmatters. Paste the key into the License key field and select Activate License. After this, you will receive all updates in the future, and your service will be activated.

Step 3: Explore and Configure Settings Tabs

Perfmatters organises its settings across several clean, well-labelled tabs, each one designed to address a specific layer of your site's performance.

General Tab: Here, you need to disable unwanted WordPress features, such as emojis, embeds, XML-RPC, REST API, and many others. Disabling these background scripts that are often overlooked by a regular user could help to shave milliseconds off of your loading time.

Assets Tab: This is where the powerful Script Manager lives. You can disable unused JavaScript and CSS files on a page-by-page or post-type basis, dramatically reducing bloat. There's also support for conditional loading, which helps you keep functionality intact while cutting down excess load.

Preloading Tab: This tab gives you the ability to add the DNS prefetch, preconnect, and preload directives, all of which are resource hints that tell browsers what to prioritize. For example, preloading fonts and critical JS files on this tab can help to improve your metrics such as First Contentful Paint (FCP).

Lazy Loading Tab: You will be able to enable lazy loading for images, iframes, and even videos. In addition, you will be able to exclude specific images and have the option to have fade-in effects. Allowing the browser to only load non-critical media when it's needed, which builds speed and visual stability.

Pro Tip: Turn on Test Mode first, before disabling any major scripts. This will allow you to understand how your changes will appear on the frontend before pushing them live. Always verify results with Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or WebPageTest.

Final Verdict

If you're serious about speed, not just caching, but true, under-the-hood optimisation, then Perfmatters is a no-brainer.

It provides you with surgical control of your site's loading behavior without you ever writing a single line of code. If you're running a blog, a portfolio, or an eCommerce store, being able to remove what you don't need is absolutely priceless.

It's not a substitute for caching, it's the missing link that makes your caching plan actually work!

Perfmatters Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I Install Perfmatters plugin to my WordPress Website?

Once you are done with Perfmatters plugin payment, you will receive an email confirmation along with login details of to download 'Perfmatters' plugin.

How do I activate perfmatters plugin and what are its settings?

Once you are done installing Perfmatters plugin, you can do the basic settings by following the instructions given at: https://perfmatters.io/docs/settings-recommendations