ProRank vs LiteSpeed Cache: speed test and features

LiteSpeed Cache is free and does a lot, but its page cache depends on your web server. Here is what that means if your host runs Apache or Nginx, with our own speed test and its limits.

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Features and prices checked on 13 November 2026.
Speed test run by ProRank on 16 February 2026, with LiteSpeed Cache 7.7.

ProRank and LiteSpeed Cache in brief

LiteSpeed Cache is free, with no paid version of the plugin. Its page cache only works on a LiteSpeed web server or behind QUIC.cloud, LiteSpeed’s own CDN. On Apache or Nginx you still get its CSS, JavaScript, image, database and object-cache tools, without page caching.

Critical CSS, unused CSS removal and AVIF images run through QUIC.cloud services, which have a free monthly quota and then cost money. LiteSpeed Cache has no SEO features.

ProRank’s page cache is in its free plan and ran on the test’s Nginx server. If your host runs LiteSpeed, LiteSpeed Cache’s server-level cache is a strong option and these results do not show it.

Average mobile PageSpeed score, three themes

ProRank95.0
LiteSpeed Cache80.0
No speed plugin72.0

Mobile score by theme: ProRank higher on all 3 themes.
Mobile Largest Contentful Paint: ProRank faster on all 3 themes.
Average desktop score: ProRank 100.0, LiteSpeed Cache 97.7.
One lab test by ProRank, scores out of 100; details and caveats are below.

Speed test results

Google PageSpeed Insights lab results for the same test site with each setup. Scores are out of 100, higher is better; for the timings and layout shift, lower is better and the better figure is in bold.

PageSpeed scores

Theme	ProRank	LiteSpeed Cache	No speed plugin
Mobile score
Astra	96	76	69
Hello Elementor	93	76	69
GeneratePress	96	88	78
Average	95.0	80.0	72.0
Desktop score
Astra	100	96	96
Hello Elementor	100	98	96
GeneratePress	100	99	98
Average	100.0	97.7	96.7

Astra

Measure	ProRank	LiteSpeed Cache
Mobile
First Contentful Paint	1.8 s	2.4 s
Largest Contentful Paint	2.4 s	5.9 s
Total Blocking Time	0 ms	0 ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0.000	0.017
Speed Index	2.7 s	3.3 s
Desktop
First Contentful Paint	295 ms	499 ms
Largest Contentful Paint	407 ms	1.3 s
Total Blocking Time	0 ms	4 ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0.000	0.009
Speed Index	318 ms	1.0 s

Hello Elementor

Measure	ProRank	LiteSpeed Cache
Mobile
First Contentful Paint	1.1 s	2.6 s
Largest Contentful Paint	2.6 s	5.4 s
Total Blocking Time	0 ms	0 ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0.000	0.000
Speed Index	2.4 s	3.0 s
Desktop
First Contentful Paint	302 ms	667 ms
Largest Contentful Paint	561 ms	1.1 s
Total Blocking Time	0 ms	0 ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0.000	0.000
Speed Index	864 ms	1.1 s

GeneratePress

Measure	ProRank	LiteSpeed Cache
Mobile
First Contentful Paint	1.1 s	1.1 s
Largest Contentful Paint	2.7 s	3.8 s
Total Blocking Time	0 ms	0 ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0.000	0.000
Speed Index	1.1 s	2.3 s
Desktop
First Contentful Paint	304 ms	302 ms
Largest Contentful Paint	548 ms	701 ms
Total Blocking Time	0 ms	0 ms
Cumulative Layout Shift	0.000	0.000
Speed Index	347 ms	1.0 s

How the speed test was run

Run by

ProRank, on 16 February 2026. This is our own lab test, not an independent one.

Measured with

Google PageSpeed Insights (lab data). Median of three runs for each plugin and theme; the ProRank "v2" re-test used single verified runs.

Site

WordPress 6.9.1, PHP 8.3.6, Nginx 1.28.2, hosted with Hetzner, Germany. Elementor Pro, tested on Astra, Hello Elementor, GeneratePress.

Versions

LiteSpeed Cache 7.7 (the current version is 7.9.3, so results may differ today). ProRank is recorded as "v2" of ProRank SEO Premium.

Settings

Each plugin was configured by ProRank for its best result.

Raw reports

Not published. The figures on this page are the recorded results. PageSpeed lab scores move between runs, so treat differences of a few points with caution.

Other plugins active

The test site ran 27 plugins, including both Yoast SEO and Rank Math SEO at the same time, which a real site would not do:

WooCommerce, BuddyPress, bbPress, Elementor Pro, Rank Math SEO, Yoast SEO, Jetpack, Contact Form 7, WPForms Lite, Wordfence Security, MonsterInsights, UpdraftPlus, WP Mail SMTP, All-in-One WP Migration, Classic Editor, Redirection, TablePress, Simple Custom CSS and JS, Insert Headers and Footers, Starter Templates, Akismet Anti-Spam, Health Check & Troubleshooting, Query Monitor, WP Super Cache (disabled), Safe SVG, User Role Editor, Advanced Custom Fields.

LiteSpeed Cache in this test

LiteSpeed Cache 7.7 was tested on Nginx, where its page cache does not run; LiteSpeed’s documentation says caching needs a LiteSpeed server or QUIC.cloud CDN. Its other optimizations were on. On a LiteSpeed server its results would likely be higher.

Features compared

What each plugin offers today, and which ProRank plan you need for it. LiteSpeed Cache is checked against its own website and documentation.

Feature	ProRank	LiteSpeed Cache
Caching
Page caching	Free plan	Needs a LiteSpeed serveror QUIC.cloud CDN
Cache preloading	Pro plan	IncludedLiteSpeed server
Browser caching headers	Free plan	Included
CDN integration	Free plan	IncludedOwn QUIC.cloud CDN
Database cleanup	Free plan	Included
Redis or Memcached object cache	Pro plan	IncludedRedis or Memcached
CSS and JavaScript
CSS and JavaScript minification	Free plan	Included
Delay JavaScript until interaction	Free plan	Included
Remove unused CSS	Pro plan	QUIC.cloud serviceFree quota, then paid
Critical CSS	Pro plan	QUIC.cloud serviceFree quota, then paid
Turn scripts off page by page	Pro plan	Not included
Images and fonts
Lazy loading	Free plan	Included
Image compression	Free plan	IncludedQUIC.cloud, free queue
WebP or AVIF conversion	Free plan	IncludedAVIF uses QUIC.cloud quota
Host Google Fonts locally	Free plan	Not included
Remove WordPress extras (emojis, embeds)	Free plan	Included
SEO
SEO titles and meta descriptions	Free plan	Not included
XML sitemaps	Free plan	Not included
Schema markup	Free plan	Not included
Redirect manager	Free plan	Not included

Checked on 13 November 2026 against LiteSpeed Cache’s own pages (version 7.9.3):

“Paid plan” means the feature needs LiteSpeed Cache’s paid version; “Paid add-on” means a separate paid product or service. “Not included” means the vendor’s own feature list and documentation did not offer it on that date. Rows we could not confirm are left out. ProRank’s plan labels come from our pricing page. Plugins change often; if you spot something out of date, tell us and we will correct it.

The speed settings in ProRank

Caching, CSS and JavaScript, images and the database each have their own switch in ProRank, and the presets set them in one step.

ProRank Performance screen in WordPress with switches for caching and CDN, asset optimization and image optimization, a conflict safe mode, and Standard, Aggressive and E-commerce presets

What each costs

Both have a starting point you can try first. Competitor prices are as shown on their own pricing pages on 13 November 2026. Prices change and sale prices end, so check before you buy.

ProRank SEO

Free: Free, on WordPress.org
Pro: $99 a year, 1 site
Business: $199 a year, 5 sites
Agency: $399 a year, 25 sites

US dollars, excluding VAT, billed yearly. 30-day money-back guarantee. The speed test ran ProRank SEO Premium; page caching itself is in the free plan.

LiteSpeed Cache

Free version on WordPress.org. Paid version from:

Free

The plugin has no paid tier. Critical CSS, unused CSS removal and AVIF images use QUIC.cloud services, which have a free monthly quota; page optimization then costs $5 a month for 10,000 requests. LiteSpeed server licences were not checked.

LiteSpeed Cache pricing page, read 13 November 2026

Try ProRank on your own site

The free plugin includes page caching, image compression and the SEO tools. It recognizes 39 common caching, asset and image plugins and turns off only its own overlapping features, so you can compare on your own pages.