ShortPixel vs. Optimole: which image plugin suits your website?

ShortPixel or Optimole? Both plugins make images in WordPress smaller and serve modern formats such as WebP and AVIF. Yet they work in fundamentally different ways, and that difference matters more than any feature list.

I use both in client projects. Here is my comparison: how they work, what they cost, what to bear in mind regarding data protection, and which plugin suits which situation.

The short answer

ShortPixel if you want to optimise your images once and then serve them yourself: no external dependency when a page loads, one-off packages available, and well suited to shops with lots of product images.

Optimole if you do not want to deal with anything and would like delivery via a CDN with an automatically matching image size for each device, and if you accept the privacy notice required for the CDN.

The core difference: compress or deliver

ShortPixel works at upload. A new image is sent to ShortPixel’s servers, compressed there and written back to your media library as a smaller file. If you wish, WebP and AVIF versions are created alongside it. The original is kept as a backup. From then on, the optimised files sit on your server, and your server delivers them.

Optimole works at delivery. The plugin rewrites the image URLs on your page, and the images come via the Optimole CDN, which runs on Amazon CloudFront. Optimole detects the visitor’s device and delivers the format, size and quality to match. Your originals remain unchanged; if you wish, they can also be offloaded to the Optimole cloud.

Both approaches work. The difference shows in cost, dependency and data protection.

ShortPixel and Optimole at a glance

	ShortPixel	Optimole
How it works	Compresses at upload, files sit on your server	Optimises at delivery via a CDN
WebP and AVIF	yes, as additional files	yes, automatically depending on the browser
Image size per device	via the WordPress image sizes	scaled automatically
Free version	100 credits per month	up to 2,000 visits per month
Pricing model	Credits: subscription or one-off packages	Subscription based on visitors per month
Dependency when a page loads	none (without the CDN option)	CDN must be reachable
Privacy policy	image transfer for optimisation	CDN delivery via AWS, visitors’ IP addresses
Provider	ID Scout SRL, Bucharest	Vertigo Studio SA, Bucharest

Prices and pricing model

ShortPixel charges in credits. Roughly speaking, each optimised image uses one credit, and the thumbnails WordPress generates for every upload count too. You get 100 credits per month for free. Beyond that there are two options (prices as of October 2026, according to ShortPixel):

• Unlimited subscription: US$9.99 per month or US$99.90 per year, for an unlimited number of images and websites.
• One-off packages: for example 30,000 credits for US$19.99 or 100,000 credits for US$49.99. These credits do not expire.

The one-off packages are ideal for many small websites: optimise the existing media library once, and afterwards the free allowance is often enough for new images.

Optimole charges by visitors. The number of images does not matter; what counts is unique visitors per day. According to Optimole, the free version covers websites with up to 2,000 visits a month. The paid plans are tiered by visitor numbers, from around 48,000 through 120,000 up to 300,000 visits and more per month. Optimole displays the specific prices differently depending on the region. Check them directly on the pricing page.

In practice, this means: with Optimole, costs rise with your success. With ShortPixel, they rise with the number of images.

Performance

Both make images considerably smaller, and both deliver WebP and AVIF. In my projects, I see no difference in pure file size that would justify a decision either way.

The difference lies elsewhere. Optimole delivers exactly the right image size to every device and comes with lazy loading. That is convenient if a theme sets image sizes poorly. ShortPixel relies on the WordPress image sizes. With a clean theme, that is no disadvantage.

On the other hand, ShortPixel has an advantage that is easy to overlook: there is no additional external connection when a page loads. If a CDN is slow or unreachable, your images are not affected. How image optimisation interacts with caching and the rest of the loading time is something I show in WordPress Page Speed 2026. And if you use a CDN for the whole site anyway, read the CDN comparison for WordPress first.

Data protection and the GDPR

Both providers are based in Romania, so within the EU. The difference lies in who receives your visitors’ data when a page loads.

With ShortPixel, only the image goes to the provider for optimisation. Your visitors then get the images from your own server. Your privacy policy should mention the image processing by ShortPixel. No personal data of visitors is transferred in the process. That changes if you activate ShortPixel’s optional CDN.

With Optimole, every visitor loads the images from the CDN, i.e. from Amazon CloudFront. In the process, the visitor’s IP address is transmitted to AWS, including to locations outside the EU. This can be solved: a notice in the privacy policy, and a data processing agreement with the provider. But it is one more point you have to document properly.

For websites with strict data protection requirements, for example in the healthcare sector, I therefore tend to recommend ShortPixel without the CDN.

Which plugin for which situation?

• Small website, few visitors, minimal maintenance wanted: Optimole for free, as long as you stay under 2,000 visits a month. Or ShortPixel with a small one-off package. Both work.
• WooCommerce shop with lots of product images: ShortPixel. The costs do not depend on visitors, and the images sit on your server.
• Website with a lot of traffic: ShortPixel. With Optimole, rising visitor numbers push you into more expensive plans.
• Agency with many client sites: ShortPixel Unlimited, because it covers any number of websites.
• Theme with poor image sizes, no time to tidy up: Optimole, because it adjusts the sizes automatically.

A note on combining them with caching plugins: some performance plugins have their own lazy loading or WebP features. If both are active, they get in each other’s way. More on this in my comparison WP Rocket vs. Perfmatters vs. LiteSpeed Cache.

Links to the providers: ShortPixel (affiliate link) and Optimole.

This comparison is part of my WordPress tool comparisons. You will find all the comparison articles collected there.

Frequently asked questions

What is the main difference between ShortPixel and Optimole?

ShortPixel compresses images at upload and stores the optimised files on your server. Optimole leaves the originals unchanged and delivers the images via a CDN, matched to the visitor’s device.

Which plugin is better for small websites?

With few visitors, the free version of Optimole is enough, as long as you stay under 2,000 visits a month. If you want to avoid external delivery, go for ShortPixel with a small one-off package.

Do both plugins support WebP and AVIF?

Yes. ShortPixel creates WebP and AVIF files in addition to the original. Optimole delivers the format automatically depending on the browser.

Can Optimole be used in a GDPR-compliant way?

Yes, but it takes some effort. The images come via Amazon CloudFront, which transmits visitors’ IP addresses. This has to be in your privacy policy, and a data processing agreement with the provider should be in place.

Can I switch from one plugin to the other?

Yes. With Optimole, first bring any offloaded images back into the media library, then deactivate the plugin, and your originals will be served directly again. With ShortPixel, you can restore the originals from the backup. Even so, test the switch on a copy of the website first.