Akukita Image Optimizer & WebP Converter vs Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN

Akukita Image Optimizer & WebP Converter speeds up your WordPress site by automatically compressing every image you upload and creating a modern WebP copy — all done on your own server. Your media is never sent to an external service, so it stays private and you are never rate-limited or charged per image. On top of optimisation, it does two things most image plugins don’t: it finds unused images sitting in your media library, and it catches uploads from form plugins (Gravity Forms, WPForms, Formidable) that normally bypass WordPress and never get optimised. Why this plugin? Large images are the number one cause of slow WordPress sites, and over time the media library fills up with images nobody uses any more. This plugin tackles both: it optimises new uploads the moment they arrive, and it shows you the clutter you can safely review and clean up. Free features Find unused images — scans your media library for images not referenced anywhere and lists them with their wasted disk space, so you can review what to remove. Detection is conservative and review-only; nothing is ever deleted automatically. Form-plugin integrations — automatically optimises images uploaded through Gravity Forms, WPForms and Formidable Forms, which normally bypass the WordPress media flow and never get compressed. Scan Uploads folder — finds JPEG/PNG images that exist on disk but were never optimised (placed there by migrations, FTP, or other plugins), and lets you optimise them all in one click. Automatic compression on upload for JPEG and PNG, at a quality level you control. WebP conversion — a .webp copy is generated for each image and its thumbnails. Automatic WebP delivery — visitors whose browsers support WebP are served the smaller file automatically; everyone else gets the original. EXIF / GPS metadata stripping for smaller files and better privacy. 100% local processing using your server’s Imagick or GD library. No accounts, no API keys, no per-image limits. Savings dashboard showing how many images were optimised and how much space you saved. Translation ready and fully internationalised. Premium features A separate Premium add-on unlocks: Safe bulk deletion of unused images, with a backup so you can undo. Bulk optimisation of your entire existing media library, processed in the background. AVIF conversion for even smaller files than WebP. Scheduled re-optimisation and per-folder rules. One-click restore of original files. Priority email support. Premium is optional. The free plugin is fully functional on its own. Privacy This plugin does not send your images, or any personal data, to any external server. All optimisation happens on your hosting. It does not phone home and sets no cookies.

Compress images, optimize images, and enable image lazy load automatically with the powerful Smush image optimizer to keep your WordPress site fast, without losing quality. Smush makes it easy to optimize images, compress images, and deliver images faster across your entire WordPress site. This all-in-one image optimizer automatically reduces image file sizes, enables image lazy load, and serves modern formats like WebP and AVIF, all without breaking image quality or adding extra work. Whether you’re running a blog, store, or portfolio, Smush helps you optimize images at scale and keep your site fast with a trusted WordPress image optimizer. Trusted by 1+ Million Sites | 4.8/5 Star Rating Get everything you need to optimize images and speed up your site. Smush works out of the box with no complicated setup – just install and let it handle the rest. Compress images without losing quality Reduce image file size automatically while keeping your images sharp and clear. Smush is an easy-to-use image optimizer which let’s you compress images using both lossless and lossy compression, giving you the best balance of quality and performance without extra work. You can also compress images outside the media library using Directory Smush, making it easy to optimize images stored in theme folders, plugins, or other directories on your server. Lazy load images for faster pages Enable image lazy load across your site so images load only when needed. This image optimizer improves initial page speed and creates a smoother experience for visitors without extra configuration. Serve WebP and AVIF images automatically (PRO) Convert images to WebP and AVIF and serve them automatically to supported browsers. Smush helps you optimize images using next-gen formats to reduce file size and improve load times across your WordPress site. Deliver images faster with an Image CDN (PRO) Serve images through a global image CDN to reduce latency and improve load times for visitors around the world. 119 global CDN servers Up to 500 GB of bandwidth Faster image delivery based on visitor location Improved performance for image-heavy and high-traffic sites Automatically resize and fix image dimensions (PRO) Eliminate common PageSpeed warnings and improve layout stability with automatic image sizing. Smush dynamically resizes images to perfectly fit their containers, regardless of original size, helping fix the “Properly size images” warning in Google PageSpeed Insights. It also automatically adds missing width and height attributes to your images, improving rendering speed and reducing layout shifts. This helps you meet the “Ensure images have explicit width and height” recommendation without any manual work. Optimize your entire site, automatically Smush works across your whole site as a powerful image optimizer to optimize images as you upload them and maintain performance over time without manual work. Optimize images automatically on upload Compress images in bulk or individually Works with your existing media library No need to re-upload images Enable image lazy load across your site Convert images to WebP and AVIF Deliver images with an integrated image CDN Automatically resize and serve correctly sized images Optimize images outside the media library with Directory Smush Built for performance Smush improves page speed and overall performance by reducing image weight and improving how images are delivered. Reduce page load times Improve user experience Better performance for image-heavy pages Supports image lazy load and preload images (PRO) for faster perceived performance Works with your existing setup Smush is built to work with your current WordPress setup, including popular themes, page builders, and plugins. Compatible with Gutenberg, Elementor, WPBakery, and more Works with WooCommerce stores No need to change your workflow Easy to enable and configure Designed to be simple You don’t need to be a performance expert to optimize images with Smush image optimizer. Works out of the box Simple settings when you need them No technical knowledge required Safe to use on any site Why choose Smush? There are plenty of image optimization plugins, but Smush focuses on making it easy to optimize images, compress images, and improve performance without complexity. As a leading WordPress image optimizer, Smush gives you powerful optimization tools without the technical hassle. Trusted by over 1 million WordPress users Built specifically for WordPress Regular updates and improvements Backed by the WPMU DEV team Get started in minutes Install Smush, activate it, and start to compress images, optimize images, and enable image lazy load right away. This easy-to-use image optimizer helps most sites see improvements immediately without changing how they upload or manage images. About Us WPMU DEV is a premium supplier of quality WordPress plugins, services and support. Learn more here: https://wpmudev.com/ Don’t forget to stay up to date on everything WordPress from the Internet’s number one resource: WPMU DEV Blog Hey, one more thing… we hope you enjoy our free offerings as much as we’ve loved making them for you! Contact and Credits Originally written by Alex Dunae at Dialect (dialect.ca, e-mail ‘alex’ at ‘dialect dot ca’), 2008-11.