What is Perfmatters?
Perfmatters is a lightweight WordPress performance plugin created by brothers Brian and Brett Jackson — two developers with over 26 years of combined WordPress experience. Unlike traditional caching plugins, Perfmatters focuses on reducing bloat rather than just caching content.
The plugin adds zero front-end overhead — it doesn’t load any CSS, JavaScript, or fonts on your site. Instead, it works by disabling unnecessary WordPress features and giving you fine-grained control over which scripts load on which pages.
We tested Perfmatters on a fresh GeneratePress install. Here are the results:
| Metric | Before | After | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page Size | 187 KB | 112 KB | -40% |
| HTTP Requests | 24 | 12 | -50% |
| PageSpeed Score | 82 | 98 | +16 |
| Load Time (TTI) | 1.8s | 0.7s | -61% |
Test environment: GeneratePress theme, no caching plugin, Google PageSpeed Insights desktop.
Key Features Deep Dive
1. Quick Toggle Options (50+ One-Click Switches)
This is Perfmatters’ flagship feature — a dashboard full of simple on/off toggles that disable unnecessary WordPress features. Each toggle comes with a clear description of what it does and why you’d want to disable it. Key toggles include:
- Disable Emojis — Removes ~10KB of JavaScript and 1 DNS lookup per page
- Disable Embeds — Stops WordPress from loading oEmbed JavaScript
- Disable Dashicons — Removes ~30KB of CSS on the frontend
- Disable XML-RPC — Blocks a common DDoS attack vector
- Disable REST API — Hides /wp-json/ from unauthenticated users
- Disable Google Maps — Prevents Google Maps API from loading sitewide
- Remove RSD/WLW Links — Cleans up unnecessary head tags
- Limit Post Revisions — Reduces database bloat
- Change Login URL — Custom login page URL for security
Enabling all recommended toggles takes under 2 minutes. No coding required.
2. Script Manager
The Script Manager is Perfmatters’ most powerful feature. It lets you disable individual CSS and JavaScript files on a per-page/post basis. For example:
- Only load Contact Form 7 scripts on your contact page
- Disable WooCommerce scripts on non-shop pages
- Remove Elementor’s frontend CSS on pages that don’t use the page builder
- Stop social sharing plugins from loading on every page
You can target scripts by plugin, theme, or individual file handle. There’s also a MU Mode that runs the Script Manager as a Must-Use plugin for maximum compatibility, and Regex support for pattern-based matching.
3. Local Hosting for Google Fonts & Analytics
Third-party requests to fonts.googleapis.com and google-analytics.com create DNS lookups and render-blocking delays. Perfmatters can download and host these files locally on your server, eliminating external requests entirely. Benefits:
- Faster font rendering (no external DNS lookup)
- GDPR compliance (no data sent to Google)
- Better caching control (you set the cache headers)
4. Lazy Loading
Perfmatters includes lazy loading for images, iframes, videos, and even CSS background images (which most plugins miss). It uses native browser lazy loading with a JavaScript fallback and includes DOM monitoring for infinite scroll compatibility.
5. Preloading & Preconnect
Preload critical resources (fonts, CSS, hero images) and preconnect to external domains before they’re needed. This directly improves Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) scores.
6. Code Snippet Manager
Add custom PHP, CSS, and JavaScript snippets directly from the WordPress admin — no need to edit functions.php. Snippets are organized with titles, descriptions, and enable/disable toggles. Unlike the free Code Snippets plugin, Perfmatters’ manager is designed to not affect front-end performance.
Perfmatters vs WP Rocket: Do You Need Both?
This is the most common question we get. The short answer: they’re complementary, not competitors.
| Feature | Perfmatters | WP Rocket |
|---|---|---|
| Page Caching | ❌ | ✅ (core feature) |
| Disable WP Bloat | ✅ (50+ toggles) | ❌ (limited) |
| Script Manager | ✅ (per-page control) | ❌ |
| CSS/JS Minification | ❌ | ✅ |
| Lazy Loading | ✅ (includes CSS bg) | ✅ (images/iframes) |
| Local Fonts/GA | ✅ | ✅ (fonts only) |
| Database Cleanup | ✅ | ✅ |
| CDN Integration | ❌ | ✅ |
Our recommendation: Use both. WP Rocket handles caching + minification + CDN. Perfmatters handles script control + bloat removal + local hosting. Together they can push a well-built site to 100/100 PageSpeed scores.
Pricing
Perfmatters offers three plans, all with the same full feature set:
| Plan | Price | Sites |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $24.95/yr | 1 site |
| Business | $54.95/yr | 3 sites |
| Agency | $99.95/yr | Unlimited |
Get Perfmatters (30-day money-back guarantee) →
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Zero front-end overhead — doesn’t add any code to your site
- Instant results — toggles take effect immediately
- Granular Script Manager — the best per-page script control available
- Developer-built — created by experienced WP developers
- Excellent documentation — every toggle has a help link
- Regular updates — new features added frequently
Cons
- No caching — you still need a separate caching plugin
- Learning curve — Script Manager requires understanding which scripts do what
- No free version — only paid plans (30-day refund guarantee)
FAQ
Does Perfmatters replace WP Rocket?
No. Perfmatters doesn’t do page caching — that’s WP Rocket’s job. They’re designed to work together. WP Rocket handles serving your pages faster, Perfmatters handles making your pages lighter.
Will disabling emojis break my site?
No. Disabling WordPress emojis simply stops the extra JavaScript and CSS WordPress loads. Your browser’s native emoji support still works.
Can I use Perfmatters with GeneratePress?
Absolutely. GeneratePress + Perfmatters is our recommended stack. GeneratePress is already extremely lightweight (~10KB), and Perfmatters removes WordPress-level bloat. This combination consistently achieves 98-100 PageSpeed scores.
Does Perfmatters slow down the admin?
No. Perfmatters only affects the frontend. The admin dashboard runs at full speed regardless of which toggles you’ve enabled.
Verdict: 9.5/10
Perfmatters is the single most effective plugin for cleaning up WordPress bloat. If you’re serious about performance — especially Core Web Vitals — this is a must-have. At $24.95/year for a single site, it’s one of the best value-for-money plugins in the WordPress ecosystem.
Best for: Any WordPress site owner who wants faster load times without learning to code. Especially powerful when paired with WP Rocket and the GeneratePress theme.
Looking for a free alternative? Check out Disable Scripts Per Post, our free WordPress plugin that lets you disable CSS and JS on specific pages. It covers 80% of what Perfmatters Script Manager does, for free.