Transient Cleaner vs Varnish/Nginx Proxy — WordPress

Transient Cleaner vs Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching

Name: Transient Cleaner
Rating: 5 (23 reviews)

Side-by-side comparison · 24 data points

Transient Cleaner

5.0·23reviews·1,000+installs

wordpress

Change

1. Listing metadata

Field-level data

	Transient Cleaner	Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching
Tagline	—	—
Description	3021 / 5000 chars60% used	2216 / 5000 chars44% used
Screenshots	—	—
Languages
Platforms	WordPress	WordPress
Developer	David Artiss	Razvan Stanga
Listed	—	—
Last updated	—	—

2. Categories & rankings

Shared categories on the same row · in-category position inline

Transient Cleaner

Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching

Shared

At a glance

4 metrics · auto-computed

Feature comparison between Transient Cleaner and Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching
Metric	Transient Cleaner	Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching
Rating	5.0 ★	5.0 ★
Total reviews	★ 23	10
Active installs	1,000+	600+
Free plan	—	—

Keyword	Transient Cleaner	Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching
faq	#385	Not ranked

5. App details

Long-form description · keyword frequency

Transient Cleaner

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.

Top keywords

transients10×2.00%
wordpress8×1.60%
expired6×1.20%
options5×1.00%
cleaning4×0.80%
table4×0.80%
added3×0.60%
code3×0.60%
data3×0.60%
database3×0.60%
expired transients3×0.60%
options table3×0.60%

Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching

Complete WordPress Varnish Cache 3.x/4.x/5.x and Nginx Proxy Cache integration. This plugin handles all integration with Varnish Cache and Nginx Proxy Cache. It was designed for high traffic websites. Main features admin interface, see screenshots console for manual purges, supports regular expressions so you can purge an entire folder or just a single file supports every type of Varnish Cache implementation, see screenshots for examples unlimited number of Varnish Cache servers use of custom headers when communicating with Varnish Cache does not interfere with other caching plugins, cloudflare, etc Varnish Cache configuration generator purge key method so you don’t need to setup ACLs debugging actively maintained You can control the following from the Varnish Caching admin panel : Enable/Disable caching Homepage cache TTL Cache TTL (for every other page) IPs/Hosts to clear cache to support every type of Varnish Cache implementation Override default TTL in posts/pages Purge key based PURGE Logged in cookie Debugging option console for precise manual purges This plugin also auto purges Varnish Cache / Nginx Proxy Cache when your site is modified. Varnish Caching sends a PURGE request to Varnish Cache / Nginx Proxy Cache when a page or post is modified. This occurs when editing, publishing, commenting or deleting an item, and when changing themes. Not all pages are purged every time, depending on your Varnish / Nginx Proxy Cache configuration. When a post, page, or custom post type is edited, or a new comment is added, only the following pages will purge: The front page The post/page edited Any categories or tags associated with the page Varnish Cache / Nginx Proxy Cache is a web application accelerator also known as a caching HTTP reverse proxy. You install it in front of any server that speaks HTTP and configure it to cache the contents. This plugin does not install Varnish/Nginx for you, nor does it configure Varnish/Nginx for WordPress. It’s expected you already did that on your own using the provided config files. Inspired from the following : https://wordpress.org/plugins/varnish-http-purge/ https://github.com/dreamhost/varnish-vcl-collection/

Top keywords

cache20×5.71%
varnish15×4.29%
varnish cache10×2.86%
nginx8×

Frequently asked

Common questions about this comparison

Which has better reviews, Transient Cleaner or Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

Transient Cleaner (5.0★, 23 reviews) and Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching (5.0★, 10 reviews) are essentially tied on rating. Look at review velocity and individual reviewer quotes — both visible on each app's detail page — to differentiate.

Should I choose Transient Cleaner or Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

AppRanks cannot separate these two on rating — both sit at 5.0★. Transient Cleaner does carry the larger published review base (23 vs 10). Read both apps' detail pages for the feature breakdown and recent listing changes.

Which is faster to set up, Transient Cleaner or Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

Both apps are one-click installs from the WordPress Plugin Directory. Transient Cleaner has the deeper published review base (23 vs 10), which often — though not always — accompanies better-tested setup docs. AppRanks doesn't measure setup time directly: read the recent reviews on each app's detail page for user-reported install experience.

Which works better for small vs large WordPress Plugin Directory site owners?

Transient Cleaner typically suits early-stage and growth-mode teams based on its published review base (23 reviews). Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching typically suits early-stage and growth-mode teams based on its published review base (10 reviews). A larger review base generally means the app has been exercised at scale — relevant if you are processing high volume or handling enterprise compliance requirements.

Can I migrate data between Transient Cleaner and Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

Migration support varies by app and category. Transient Cleaner and Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching both publish their export options on their marketplace listing pages (or in their support docs); some apps offer one-click import from competitors, others require CSV. The fastest check: search "import from Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching" in each app's help center. AppRanks does not track migration tooling directly — this is a category-specific capability worth verifying before commitment.

Transient Cleaner vs Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching

Transient Cleaner

1. Listing metadata

2. Categories & rankings

Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching

At a glance

AppRanks verdict

3. Search rankings

4. Activity in the last 90 days

Transient Cleaner · 1 changes

Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching · 0 changes

5. App details

Frequently asked

Which has better reviews, Transient Cleaner or Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

Should I choose Transient Cleaner or Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

Which is faster to set up, Transient Cleaner or Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

Which works better for small vs large WordPress Plugin Directory site owners?

Can I migrate data between Transient Cleaner and Varnish/Nginx Proxy Caching?

See full keyword rankings, install trends, and weekly alerts

More popular comparisons