xSpeed Cache is a caching and performance plugin for WordPress from WPDeveloper. The free version on WordPress.org covers page caching and most of the optimization work. A separate add-on, xSpeed Cache Pro, installs alongside it and adds further modules to the same dashboard. Normally, WordPress builds every page from scratch on each request by running PHP, loading plugins, querying the database and assembling the theme output. xSpeed builds a page once, saves it as a static HTML file, and serves that file to later visitors. Most of the speed gain comes from skipping PHP and the database this way.

How fast the cached page is served depends on your server. On Apache, the plugin writes the needed rewrite rule into .htaccess itself, and on nginx it generates a configuration block that you paste in once before reloading the server. With that in place, the documentation cites roughly 5–15 ms per cached page on nginx and 25–40 ms on Apache. Without the rewrite, a PHP drop-in still returns the saved page, at about 85 ms. That is also the path used on LiteSpeed. Each response carries an X-XSpeed-Cache header, so you can check which path is answering.

Beyond page caching, the plugin covers most of the usual performance checklist. It can minify and combine HTML, CSS and JavaScript, enable GZIP compression, lazy load images, iframes and video, and add font-display: swap to Google Fonts. It also handles browser cache headers, persistent Redis or Memcached object caching, CDN URL rewriting with a Cloudflare connection, database cleanup, and removal of unused WordPress defaults. Built-in diagnostics include a hit-ratio panel, a site scan, PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix audits, and an activity log.

The defaults are cautious. Logged-in users, admin, AJAX, cron and REST requests are never served cached pages, and cart, checkout and account pages are excluded out of the box. Activating the plugin does not turn caching on until you choose to. The recommended setup profile leaves JavaScript minification and defer off, since those are the settings most likely to break a theme. Because a static rewrite rule is needed for best performance, the plugin is a good match for site builders who are comfortable with a one-time server configuration step. As with any caching plugin, test logged out, since your own signed-in visits are never cached. xSpeed Cache is available in annual and lifetime plans.