W3 Total Cache Vs Quick Cache for WordPress
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Today I will be testing W3 Total Cache and Quick Cache on this blog to see which is better in a real time environment (ads were temporarily disabled). W3 Total Cache was my first choice due to its rating in WordPress Plugins, and I wanted to compare it to the next highest rated which was Quick Cache.
The options that W3 Total Cache has definitely outweigh Quick Cache, giving more control to the webmaster. I found myself enjoying the W3 interface, but Quick Cache was just an easy set and forget option.
When it came to installing, you definitely have to be more careful with W3 Total Cache: so if you are a new webmaster, you may have to pay careful attention to the tutorials on the internet.
I installed a page load app/extension onto my Chrome and ran went through the process of clearing cache and going through the website. On Average, W3 Cache took 20-30% less time on the initial page load and about evened out on every single consecutive page loaded (more on that below).
I did a test where I cleared cache (both browser and plugin) every time and averaged it out with 20 results per test. So the first load tests where taken from a sample of 20 first load tests on the same page, and the consecutive loads also had 20 (just without clearing of the caches). The Results are below.
Total W3 Cache First Load: (4.49 seconds)
| Event | Self time |
|---|---|
| Redirect | 0 ms |
| DNS | 0 ms |
| Connect | 0 ms |
| Request | 7 ms |
| First response | 578 ms |
| Response end | 60 ms |
| Content loaded | 2703 ms |
| DOM complete | 1146 ms |
| Load event | 1 |
Total W3 Cache Consecutive Load (1.36 seconds):
| Event | Self time |
|---|---|
| Redirect | 0 ms |
| DNS | 0 ms |
| Connect | 0 ms |
| Request | 3 ms |
| First response | 573 ms |
| Response end | 58 ms |
| Content loaded | 731 ms |
| DOM complete | 0 ms |
| Load event | 16 |
Quick Cache First Load: (6.18 seconds)
| Event | Self time |
|---|---|
| Redirect | 0 ms |
| DNS | 0 ms |
| Connect | 65 ms |
| Request | 0 ms |
| First response | 4230 ms |
| Response end | 191 ms |
| Content loaded | 634 ms |
| DOM complete | 1059 ms |
| Load event | 1 |
Quick Cache Consecutive Load: (1.24 seconds):
| Event | Self time |
|---|---|
| Redirect | 0 ms |
| DNS | 0 ms |
| Connect | 65 ms |
| Request | 0 ms |
| First response | 4230 ms |
| Response end | 191 ms |
| Content loaded | 634 ms |
| DOM complete | 1059 ms |
| Load event | 1 |
Results:
On Initial Page load for the first time, W3 beats Quick Cache by about 20-30% less load times. On each consecutive page, Quick Cache was in the lead by less than 0.2s on average. In my eyes, I believe that the 20-30% on initial load is more important for a blog, especially when it comes to new viewers going through for the first time.
The 0.2s is so small that most individuals will not even feel it. Winner: W3 Total Cache
You can grab it from the Plugins in your WordPress Dashboard, or from the link above.
W3 Total Cache WordPress Plugin
I am an internet marketer who strongly believes (and proves) that making money from home is possible. I am a jack of all trades, but I specialize in local SEO and web design. I've also been building up a rather lengthy list of authority websites in my spare time.
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15 Comments
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November 30, 2011 9:52:04 am
The only problem to me with the W3 is that it is to complicated to set up for a newbie like me. I will try Quick Cache, may be it it easier to work with. Any advice?
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November 30, 2011 11:09:55 am
For WordPress, I’d say Quick Cache is better. After installation + activation… all you ‘really’ have to do is switch it from off to on.
You’ll already begin to see close results (if not the same) than from what you’ll experience with W3.
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December 02, 2011 3:37:22 pm
Though I mentioned in this post that W3 total cache took a bit less time on the first initial load, it was about on par with quick cache once cached.
Keep in mind, that this was also taken in the old theme. I may try to do an updated test for the current updated theme, just to see if there is any difference.
Personally speaking, I use Quick Cache to avoid the W3 total cache headache on all my sites.
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December 09, 2011 7:09:48 pm
Once it caches for the very first (initial cache)time it never has to do it again. Therefore Quick cache would be the best one once the very first page view is outta’ the way!
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December 10, 2011 1:25:04 am
Agreed. I prefer Quick Cache
Ontop of the fact that it is loads simpler to set up.The only time when I use a more complicated wordpress plugin would probably be with Yoast (compared to simpler alternatives, that is)
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December 25, 2011 12:49:46 am
you sd that the winner is w3 total cache , but you are using the quick cache?
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December 25, 2011 3:00:48 am
It’s funny how things work out
The initial page load is a little bit longer but the consecutive loads are quicker.Ontop of that, quick cache is quite literally a 1 click setup, whereas w3 total cache takes a bit longer.
While this may not be difficult with importing/exporting, I have over 20 wordpress mini sites that all have quick cache on them, because its simpler to maintain and more user friendly (The ‘clear cache’ button saves me some time)
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February 18, 2012 1:08:27 am
I use both W3 Total Cache and Quick Cache and have experienced no incompatibility. And, yes, I went through all the settings for W3TC at a site I trust, DoItwithWP. Quick Cache sped up the loading of my initial blog.
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July 05, 2012 3:04:33 pm
W3 is one that I would like to use because all the big guys use it, but everttime I play with it it ends up caching and never unacaching some aspect of my site even when caching is disabled. Which frustrates me. It’s most likely user error though.
I’ve been using WP Quick Cache for the simplicity of it. For the comparative times… I’ll stay with it. Great article!
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September 06, 2012 8:53:58 am
I was thinkin to switch from quick cache to w3… but after reading this I’ll stick with quick cache.
Nice article.GD Star Rating
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September 29, 2012 3:51:29 pm
I struggled a lot with W3, then finally I gave up. It’s far too complicated to setup.
Quick Cache on the other hand is simple yet amazing, and I’m very happy with it. I have about 500 visitors per day, and it handles it really well.
Maybe for sites with a lot of traffic W3 set by a pro is better, but for lower traffic sites I highly recommend Quick Cache.
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September 29, 2012 5:02:32 pm
Thanks for the comment. Agreed wholeheartedly. This test was sheerly on the basic options.
After diving into it more, I have found some great benefits to W3 Total Cache over others. I may make a tutorial post on how to set things up, for those who are W3 Total Cache fans.
Andrew Sokalski recently posted.
Andrew Sokalski recently posted..How to Integrate News_Keywords into WordPress
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December 24, 2012 11:10:23 pm
I suggest users to use quick cache because it is easy to setup and responsive in result terms also. However other plugins also better but they need to setup like coding. So Use Quick Cache……
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February 04, 2013 9:17:04 pm
100% Quick Cache if u are beginner…
You can ruin ur blog if u try something stupid with W3
Matias recently posted..¿Que es la organizacion para un administrador?
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I also use Quickcache and W3 Total cache.. and this last one it’s more complicated to configure..but better.. even with Google Page Speed it gives you a higher number than Quickcache. I’m going to try it again and see how it works on my blog. Thanks for the awesome comparison!
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