What is SpeedMate?
SpeedMate is a WordPress performance plugin that provides static HTML caching, automated optimization, and intelligent traffic management.
Core Philosophy
- Zero Configuration: Works out of the box with sensible defaults
- Automation First: Beast mode learns from traffic patterns automatically
- Performance by Default: Static cache enabled from installation
- Developer Friendly: Complete REST API and WP-CLI support
Architecture
SpeedMate uses a multi-layered caching strategy:
- Static HTML Cache: Disk-based cache served directly by advanced-cache.php
- Dynamic Fragments: Cache dynamic components separately
- Object Cache Integration: Works with Redis/Memcached when available
- Traffic Warmer: Proactive pre-caching of likely navigation paths
Key Features
Static Cache Engine
- Disk-based HTML caching with automatic invalidation
- Supports query strings, user agents, cookies
- Multisite-aware with per-site isolation
- Gzip compression for reduced bandwidth
Beast Mode
- Automatically identifies high-traffic pages
- Machine learning-based page selection
- Configurable whitelist/blacklist rules
- Real-time traffic analysis
Media Optimization
- WebP conversion with automatic fallback
- AVIF support for browsers that support it
- Lazy loading for images and iframes
- Responsive image srcset generation
Critical CSS
- Extracts critical rendering path CSS
- Inlines critical styles in
<head> - Async loads non-critical stylesheets
- Per-template CSS optimization
Developer Tools
- Complete REST API for cache management
- WP-CLI commands for automation
- Hooks and filters for customization
- Logging with structured JSON format
When to Use SpeedMate
SpeedMate is ideal for:
- Content Sites: Blogs, news sites, magazines
- WooCommerce: Product pages, category archives
- Membership Sites: Protected content with user-aware caching
- Multisite Networks: Per-site cache isolation
- High Traffic Sites: Automatic cache warming and Beast mode
When NOT to Use SpeedMate
Consider alternatives if you need:
- Full-Page CDN: Use Cloudflare or similar
- Database Query Optimization: Use Query Monitor
- Server-Level Optimization: Use Nginx FastCGI cache
SpeedMate focuses on WordPress-level optimization and works alongside other performance solutions.