Transient Cleaner is the #70 ranked cache app on WordPress, with a 5.0 average rating from 23 reviews, as of Aug 31, 2026.
Transient Cleaner is a WordPress Plugin Directory app by David Artiss. With a rating of 5.0★ from 23 reviews, it currently ranks #70 in the Cache category.
AppRanks data: Transient Cleaner ranks #70 in Cache on WordPress Plugin Directory, placing it in the top 19% of that category.
AppRanks verdict
Generated from live marketplace data — refreshed daily
Transient Cleaner is a category-leading WordPress app with a limited review volume. It is listed in the Cache category on WordPress Plugin Directory, which AppRanks treats as the canonical taxonomy node for ranking and competitor comparison. 23 reviews put it in the early-traction tier — useful for early-stage stores willing to be on the leading edge. Early-traction review counts are sensitive to single launch periods or feature events, so a 30-day re-check before bigger commitments often resolves whether the trend is sustained. Paid-only pricing means evaluating fit on the marketplace listing or via the developer's documentation before installing. AppRanks tracks rating, review count, pricing tier, and category position daily — the figures on this page reflect the most recent scrape from the canonical WordPress Plugin Directory listing.
Pros
- +High average rating (5.0★) signals consistent merchant satisfaction
- +Published by David Artiss — established developer track record
Cons
- −Limited review base (23) — ratings can shift significantly with new feedback
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How Transient Cleaner works
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Clean expired transients from your options table. The original and best!
Transient housekeeping was added to the core of WordPress after version 5.8. However, I have decided to open up this plugin to all versions to allow for manual transient cleaning. Longer term I am working on a new version of the plugin, designed specifically for all WordPress releases.
Tested up to PHP 8.2
Fully complies with WordPress coding standards
Compliant with the stronger WordPress VIP coding standards, as well as compatibility with their platform
Community plugin – visit the Github page to get involved with the latest code development, request enhancements and report issues
“Transients are a simple and standardized way of storing cached data in the WordPress database temporarily by giving it a custom name and a timeframe after which it will expire and be deleted.”
Unfortunately, expired transients only get deleted when you attempt to access them. If you don’t access the transient then, even though it’s expired, WordPress will not remove it. This is a known “issue” but due to reasons, which are explained in the FAQ, this has not been adequately resolved.
Why is this a problem? Transients are often used by plugins to “cache” data (my own plugins included). Because of this it means that expired data can be left and build up, resulting in a bloated database table.
Meantime, this plugin is the hero that you’ve been waiting for. Simply activate the plugin, sit back and enjoy a much cleaner, smaller options table. It also adds the additional recommendation that after a database upgrade all transients will be cleared down.
The Settings Screen Within Administration -> Tools -> Transients an options screen exists allowing you to tweak when you’d like cleaning to happen, including the ability to perform an ad-hoc run, and when you’d like the to be automatically scheduled.
You can even request an optimization of the options table to give your system a real “pep”!
Running in Lite mode A “lite” mode is available. By activating this the options screen will no longer appear and default settings will be used. The advantage? Improved performance to Admin and, especially if you’re running multi-site, no chance of anybody “tinkering” with the settings.
To activate, use the following…
define( 'TC_LITE', true );
This should be added to your wp-config.php file.
Using hooks If you’re the type of odd person who likes to code for WordPress (really?) then I’ve added a couple of hooks so you can call our rather neat cleaning functions…
housekeep_transients – this will clear down any expired transients
clear_all_transients – this will remove any and all transients, expired or otherwise
Acknowledgements I’d like to thank WordPress Developer Andrew Nacin for his early discussion on this. Also, I’d like to acknowledge the useful article at Everybody Staze for ensuring the proposed solution made sense, and W-Shadow.com for the cleaning code.
Iconography is courtesy of the very talented Janki Rathod.
Category rankings
As of Sep 5, 2026- Cache#70of 369Top 19%
See 90-day rank history for each category
Track daily rank changes, category shifts, and position volatility.
Keyword rankings
Transient Cleaner ranks for 1 keywords across WordPress Plugin Directory. Here are the top 1:
- 1.faqRank #385
Competitors & alternatives
Transient Cleaner doesn't have curated competitor matchups yet. Other tracked cache apps on WordPress:
Where Transient Cleaner stands in the Cache category
Transient Cleaner ranks #70 of 369 apps in the Cache category, placing it in the top 19% of the listing.
Frequently asked questions
What is Transient Cleaner?
Transient Cleaner is an app for WordPress. It currently holds a 5.0-star rating from 23 merchant reviews, and AppRanks has been tracking its public marketplace data on the refresh cadence published in our methodology. It is listed under the Cache category on AppRanks, where you can see its current category position, review-velocity trend, and how it compares against the top alternatives in the same space. Developed by David Artiss.
Who uses Transient Cleaner?
Currently around 1,000 active stores have installed Transient Cleaner. Its review base is still building, which usually maps to early-stage merchants and stores piloting a new workflow. It is part of the Cache category on WordPress.
Where does Transient Cleaner rank on WordPress?
Transient Cleaner currently sits at position #70 in the Cache category on WordPress. That places it in the top 19% of 369 apps tracked in the same category. Category positions are read from the live marketplace ranking and refresh on each scrape, so the number you see here reflects the most recent crawl rather than a long-running average.