Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN
by WPMU DEV - Your All-in-One WordPress Platform · Performance
Also makes 8 other plugins · 2.4M+ installs across the portfolio →
Compress and optimize images, enable lazy load, serve WebP & AVIF, and speed up your site with a global image CDN.
91 health vs 67 average across 1,076 Performance plugins
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Well tuned across the board
Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,421 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
602.2K
now · peak 1.4M
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
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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
16
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v4.1.2
163
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “1M+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Modeled within the band wp.org reports; tightens as we track daily.
Install history · since 2015-03-03 · 1,485 observations
Estimated value
What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.
Est. annual revenue
Est. acquisition value
A large install base, a clear pro tier and a steady trend. As reliable as an outside estimate gets. The range spans more than 10x because wp.org publishes install counts as broad bands, and conversion and price compound on top. Read the midpoint as an order of magnitude, not a valuation.
How we estimate this
Assumptions
- Free → paid conversion. 0.5%–2% of active installs pay for the pro tier. Typical for freemium WordPress plugins; the real rate varies a lot by product. Past 1M installs we taper the rate down: a giant free plugin’s long tail converts far worse.
- Annual price per customer. $49–$129 a year, typical for Performance plugins rather than this plugin's own pricing.
- Acquisition multiple. 2x–4x annual revenue, the going range for small WordPress-plugin businesses, the typical range for a steady plugin.
- Install base. 1M–2M active installs, from our install estimate (wp.org only publishes the floor).
Inputs
- Active installs
- 1M–2M
- Category
- Performance
- Pro tier
- detected (known freemium plugin with a public paid tier)
- Download trend
- steady (30d downloads flat vs prior 30d)
- Reviews
- 6,050
- Last updated
- 1 days ago
Revenue is installs × conversion × price; value is revenue × a typical acquisition multiple. Every factor is an assumption band, so the output is a wide range on purpose. If you're buying or selling, treat this as a starting point for due diligence.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 12 reviews to 2026-07-19Reviewers are pleased with compression results and bulk optimization speed, with one gripe about the free version lacking support for third-party CDNs.
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ ilarreola1mo ago
Ran it across our whole media library and total size dropped by close to 40%. Bulk smush queue took a while on the free plan but got there in the end.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hurtadodoo2mo ago
Compression quality is solid and the bulk optimization feature saved me hours. Noticed a small delay processing larger batches but nothing dealbreaking.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ webadmindassibiuro2mo ago
Great job! Worked like a charm! 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ royceandy2mo ago
I had 393 images to optimize and it worked quite fast and reduced size by 50 mb with 1:1 compression.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ esghero2mo ago
good plugin
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ robsonfarias20073mo ago
The program worked perfectly on my website, it optimized 120 images at once making my site more dynamic. I recommend 100% to everyone.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ elitevibesjordan3mo ago
Best service and fast
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ paknejad3mo ago
I have an CDN account in another site but this plugin doesn’t have any option to active and use any other CDN (Not Smush CDN) in Free version.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- 2026-08-24 Version 4.3.2 Improvement: Accessibility option in Smush Improvement: Improved transparent PNG detection accuracy Improvement: Improved savings calculation in the optimization complete modal Improvement: Updated Preload card descripti 4.3.2
- 2026-08-24 Version 4.3.1 Fix: Wizard not showing the correct image count 4.3.1
- 2026-08-10 Version 4.3.0 New: CDN 2.0 with multiple performance improvements and bug fixes New: CDN domain migrated from smushcdn.com to assetcdn.net New: Failed images list now displayed on the Directory Smush page Improvement: Implemented miss 4.3.0
- 2026-07-06 Version 4.2.0 New: Full RTL language support across all Smush pages, modals, and UI components Improvement: Improved bulk smush process reliability using atomic operations instead of MySQL locks Improvement: Bulk smush health checks n 4.2.0
- 2026-06-22 Version 4.1.2 Improvement: UX improvements 4.1.2
- 2026-06-11 Version 4.1.1 Improvement: Stability improvements and minor bug fixes 4.1.1
Known vulnerabilities
via Wordfence Intelligence6 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.
- Low · 2.7 Smush Image Compression and Optimization <= 3.17.0 - Authenticated (Admin+) Directory Traversal ↗2025-03-29 CVE-2025-22288 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') Affects <= 3.17.0 Patched in 3.17.1
- 2022-05-03 CVE-2022-1009 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 3.9.8 Patched in 3.9.9
- High · 8.8 Smush – Lazy Load Images, Optimize & Compress Images <= 3.0.0 - Authenticated PHAR Deserialization ↗2018-12-10 Deserialization of Untrusted Data Affects <= 3.0.0 Patched in 3.0.1
- Critical · 9.8 Smush – Lazy Load Images, Optimize & Compress Images <= 2.9.1 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗2018-12-10 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 2.9.1 Patched in 3.0.0
- 2017-09-21 CVE-2017-15079 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') Affects <= 2.7.5 Patched in 2.7.6
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 52 languages, 6 at 90% or more
Plus 28 more locales with partial translations.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
No tier crossings observed yet.
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).
-
Imagify Image Optimization: Optimize Images | Compress & Convert to WebP/AVIF 1M+ installs · 4.3★ · 4 shared tags A -
Converter for Media – Optimize images | Convert WebP & AVIF 500K+ installs · 4.9★ · 4 shared tags A -
ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ installs · 4.5★ · 4 shared tags A -
Kraken.io Image Optimizer – Compress, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Resize & Bulk Optimize 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 4 shared tags A -
DropAvif Image Optimizer – Convert WebP & AVIF | Compress Images 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 4 shared tags B -
OptiPic images optimization 70+ installs · 4.7★ · 4 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-smushit" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN: 1M+ active installs, 4.8★ (6,050 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-25. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-smushit