WP Manifestindependent plugin directory
manifest / performance / vayu-speed

Vayu Speed

Free all-in-one WordPress speed plugin: page cache, CSS/JS optimisation, image compression and lazy loading, with no external service needed.

by sombentur · github.com/sombentur/vayu-speed · website

★ 0stars
0forks

Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/sombentur/vayu-speed/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
Readme github.com/sombentur/vayu-speed ↗

A free, all-in-one speed plugin for WordPress. Vayu Speed caches your pages, slims down your CSS and JavaScript, makes images smaller and loads them lazily, so your site opens faster for visitors and scores better in Google PageSpeed / Core Web Vitals.

It is a full alternative to plugins such as LiteSpeed Cache or WP Rocket, and it does not need any external service or account: everything runs on your own server.

Built with AI-assisted development (Claude).

Who is it for?

  • Site owners who want a faster WordPress site without a monthly subscription.
  • Sites on LiteSpeed hosting (very common on shared hosting): Vayu Speed uses the web server's own, extremely fast page cache.
  • Sites on Apache or Nginx hosting: Vayu Speed uses its own disk cache instead.
  • Blogs, news and magazine sites that publish often: when you publish or update a post, only the pages that show it are refreshed, automatically, within seconds.

What it does

Area Features
Page cache LiteSpeed server cache (pages served without starting PHP) or a disk cache on other servers. Smart purge of only the affected pages when content changes, also for posts published by schedule or through the REST API. Logged-in users, previews, password-protected posts, carts and sitemaps are never cached.
Preload Rebuilds purged pages right away and warms the whole site on a schedule, gently.
CSS & fonts Minify, optional combine, remove unused CSS (per-page, no external service), Google Fonts served from your own domain, font-display: swap.
JavaScript Minify, defer (order-safe), delay until the first scroll/tap for ads, analytics and social scripts (or for all scripts).
Media Native lazy loading, missing image sizes added (less layout shift), main image (LCP) preloaded, lightweight YouTube embeds, WebP / AVIF copies created on your server.
More HTML minify, instant page navigation (Speculation Rules), database cleanup, Redis/Memcached object cache, CDN URL rewriting, Cloudflare purge sync, WordPress tweaks (emoji, embeds, Heartbeat...), per-post switches, admin-bar purge menu, WP-CLI commands, import/export of settings.

Safety first: every optimization falls back to the original page if anything goes wrong, .htaccess changes are backed up and rolled back automatically if your server rejects them, and deactivating the plugin removes everything it added.

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.0 or newer
  • PHP 7.4 or newer (tested on PHP 7.4 and 8.3)
  • Any web host. Best results on LiteSpeed servers; Apache and Nginx work with the built-in disk cache.
  • Optional: the GD or Imagick PHP extension for WebP/AVIF images (almost every host has GD).
  • Optional: a Redis or Memcached server for the object cache.

Installation (no technical knowledge needed)

The short version is below. A detailed, illustrated-in-words guide with troubleshooting is in INSTALL.md.

  1. On this GitHub page, click the green Code button, then Download ZIP. Keep the ZIP file as it is (do not unzip it).
  2. Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
  3. Go to Plugins → Add New Plugin → Upload Plugin.
  4. Choose the ZIP file you downloaded and click Install Now, then Activate.
  5. A new menu item Vayu Speed appears. Open it: your site is already cached and optimized with the Recommended settings.

Using another cache plugin? (LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache...) Vayu Speed waits on standby while it is active, so the two never fight. When you are ready, click "Deactivate ... and switch" on the Vayu Speed dashboard.

Tip: always try new speed plugins on a staging copy of your site first, and make a backup.

How to use it

  • Dashboard: shows whether caching is active, health checks, recent activity and a Test a page button.
  • Presets: one click to choose Safe, Recommended (default) or Aggressive (maximum speed; check your menus, sliders and pop-ups afterwards).
  • Check that it works: open any page of your site in a private/incognito window and view the page source. At the very bottom you will see a line like ``.
  • Purge: the Vayu menu in the admin bar purges the current page, all pages, or CSS/JS.
  • Measure: run PageSpeed Insights before and after.

Things only you can set up (nothing is built in)

All of these are optional and entered on the Vayu Speed settings screens. The plugin ships with no keys, accounts or addresses of anyone:

Feature What you enter Where
Cloudflare purge sync Your Cloudflare Zone ID and an API token with "Cache Purge" permission Vayu Speed → CDN
CDN Your CDN address, e.g. https://cdn.your-site.com Vayu Speed → CDN
Object cache Redis/Memcached host, port and (Redis) password, if your host provides one Vayu Speed → Object Cache
Preload from a sitemap Your sitemap address (optional) Vayu Speed → Preload

Secrets (API token, Redis password) are stored in your own WordPress database, are never shown again in the settings form and are never included in exported settings files.

Uninstalling or going back

  • Deactivate the plugin: it removes its .htaccess rules, its drop-in files and the line it added to wp-config.php, and empties its cache. Your site works exactly as before.
  • Delete the plugin: it also removes its settings and its cache folder.
  • WebP/AVIF copies of your images are kept (they are harmless). Remove them first with Vayu Speed → Media → Remove all generated copies if you want them gone.

Known limits

  • The LiteSpeed server features were developed and tested against a simulated LiteSpeed environment and real WordPress installs; please test on your own hosting (a staging copy is ideal).
  • WebP/AVIF "server rewrite" delivery needs a server that reads .htaccess (LiteSpeed or Apache). On Nginx, or behind a CDN that ignores the Vary: Accept header, switch Media → Delivery to <picture>.
  • AVIF is smaller than WebP but slow to create on shared hosting; WebP is the default.
  • Aggressive mode delays all JavaScript and removes unused CSS. Most themes are fine, but some sliders, sticky headers or pop-ups may need an exclusion (add it under JavaScript → "Never delay").
  • Delayed ads/analytics load on the first interaction, or after 10 seconds for visitors who never touch the page (adjustable). Setting it to 0 gives higher PageSpeed scores but visitors who leave without scrolling are then not counted.
  • Object cache: Redis Cluster and Memcached SASL authentication are not supported.
  • Multisite networks have not been tested.
  • Only English texts are included (the plugin is translation-ready).

Disclaimer

This software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind (see LICENSE). Speed plugins change how your site is delivered: make a backup and test on a staging copy before using it on a live site. It does not handle money, health or legal matters.

Credits and licence