Pods Alternative Cache
by Jory Hogeveen · Performance
Also makes 9 other plugins · 101.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Pods Alternative Cache is a file-based or database-based caching solution for hosts that have limitations on object caching.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 75/100
Few reviews
Active installs
5K+
≈5.9K estimated
Momentum
+30%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “limitations”, “memcache” and “object caching” to your wp.org tags. You rank #8, #14 and #16 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
75 health vs 69 average across 1,806 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →7.5%
of downloads still active
At least 5K of 66.6K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,099 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 249 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.3★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
30
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.6
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.2
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| pods your tag | #3 | #14 | 0 |
| wpengine your tag | #4 | #10 | down 1 |
| limitations | #8 | #22 | down 1 |
| object caching | #16 | #22 | down 3 |
| db cache | #7 | #15 | 0 |
| persistent object cache | #8 | #17 | 0 |
| memcache | #14 | #16 | down 1 |
| apc | #15 | #14 | 0 |
| full page cache | #23 | #21 | — |
| browser cache | #23 | #20 | down 3 |
| object cache | #23 | #21 | down 3 |
| clear cache | #24 | #22 | 0 |
| cache your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
27 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 12 listed. 15 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “limitations”, “memcache” and “object caching” to your wp.org tags. You rank #8, #14 and #16 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 4.6K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
8mo ago
latest release · v2.3.0 · 24 Feb 2026
7
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 70% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “5K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 23 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 6 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Dennis Bareis3.8y ago
PODS itself is great, this looks like crap, the only thing it seems to do is prevent proper editing of “POD Pages” as the template selection and other fields are gone!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ thdnunes7.8y ago
It helped me to clean up the autoloaded data in the wp_options table. Before: 0.775MB After: 0.065MB
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Nic Ford10.4y ago
A site we built was totally grinding to a halt on our BlueHost shared hosting account when we started getting traffic over a few hundred sessions. Other caching options weren’t working and Pods Alt Cache did the trick! After setting up the cache parameters, it very quickly resolved the issue. Great file-based solution for server configurations that don’t offer customized control over object/mem caching.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bubencode11.0y ago
Works like a charm! I had to disable object caching on one site due to inconsistency of GoDaddy’s caching with another plugin (Google Calendar Events). After renaming of the /wp-content/object-cache.php file (to just make object caching not function) – PODS ended in Fatal Error crashing the entire website: Cannot call overloaded function for non-object in …/general.php on line 230 Then I spotted this cute “Pods Alternative Cache” plugin, installed it and made the trick with object caching disabling again. Keeping my breath I reloaded my website and ALL WORKED! Now both PODS and GCal Event are functioning with no errors. Thank you guys very much for creating this addition to your beautiful PODS framework!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ General Seed11.7y ago
Works fine, excellent, five starts, keep updated. Thanks 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Mark Sund12.3y ago
This plugin made a huge speed improvement in our Pods-based site hosted on WP Engine. That’s impressive considering WP Engine already provides server-side caching. Our site has highly-connected Pods relationships resulting in hundreds of database calls per page. Our initial experience with the Pods Alternative Cache is it takes longer to generate uncached pages, but once they’re cached they’re lightning fast.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.3 New minimum requirement: WordPress 6.3+ Fixed: Tested on WP 7.0 (@sc0ttkclark) Fixed: Resolved Plugin Checker issues across codebase. (@sc0ttkclark) 2.3
- — Version 2.2.1 Fixed: Tested on WP 6.8 and PHP 7.2+. (@sc0ttkclark) 2.2.1
- — Version 2.2.0 New requirements that match Pods: WP 6.0+, PHP 7.2+, and Pods 3.0+ (@sc0ttkclark) 2.2.0
- — Version 2.1.8 Fixed: Resolved a PHP notices with the storage set method. (@sc0ttkclark) Fixed: Resolved an issue which was causing the cache group not be utilized properly when setting the fallback value. (@sc0ttkclark) Fixed: Tested 2.1.8
- — Version 2.1.7 Fixed: Caught a bug hanging around for a few years that only happened in edge cases — checking if file/directory still exists before trying to delete/remove it. (@sc0ttkclark) 2.1.7
- — Version 2.1.6 Fixed: Prevent issue that sometimes happens with persistent object cache fallback when clearing cache for a group. (@sc0ttkclark) 2.1.6
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 1 language, 0 at 90% or more
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
3 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Pods Alternative Cache is a file-based or database-based caching solution for hosts that have limitations o..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("use this"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,246 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 3 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-12-11 4K+ → 5K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-12-09 5K+ → 4K+ down after 166 days in tier
- 2024-06-26 4K+ → 5K+ up after 411 days in tier
- 2023-05-12 3K+ → 4K+ up after 198 days in tier
- 2022-10-26 2K+ → 3K+ up after 22 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 600+ → 2K+ up after 558 days in tier
- 2021-03-25 400+ → 600+ up after 914 days in tier
- 2018-09-23 100+ → 400+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
WP Super Cache 1M+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag B -
Breeze Cache 300K+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag B -
OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Pods Alternative Cache into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/pods-alternative-cache" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Pods Alternative Cache — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Pods Alternative Cache: 5K+ active installs, 4.3★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/pods-alternative-cache
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