Using WP Compress With LiteSpeed Server & LiteSpeed Cache

If your host uses a LiteSpeed server and has installed the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, you can still use WP Compress (including Page Cache and Aggressive Mode) without any issues.

The key idea:

Quick summary

• Leave the LiteSpeed Cache plugin active.
• Enable WP Compress Page Cache and turn on Aggressive Mode.
• It’s safe to turn all LiteSpeed optimization settings off to avoid double optimization.
• If you notice conflicts, turn off the performance tweaks in WP Compress (Cache, CriticalCSS, DelayJS) — but keep LiteSpeed active so we can still hook and purge server-side cache.

1. Keep LiteSpeed Cache plugin active

Do not uninstall or fully deactivate the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, even if WP Compress is handling most optimizations.

Why keep LiteSpeed active?

• Many hosts expect LiteSpeed Cache to remain active.
• WP Compress uses it to hook into server-side caching and send purge requests.
• It keeps your setup compatible with the LiteSpeed-powered hosting environment.

2. Use WP Compress as your main optimizer & cache

WP Compress can handle both front-end optimization and page caching.

Recommended settings in WP Compress:

• Image Optimization – enabled
• Lazy Load – enabled (if you want it)
• CDN / Delivery – enabled (if you’re using the CDN)
• Page Cache – enabled
• Aggressive Mode – enabled for the best performance

Optional performance tweaks in WP Compress (use if your site works fine with them):

• CriticalCSS
• DelayJS

This setup makes WP Compress your primary performance layer, while LiteSpeed stays in the background so we can hook and purge the server cache when needed.

3. Recommended LiteSpeed settings

Because WP Compress is handling optimization and caching, LiteSpeed Cache does not need to do the same work.

You can safely turn all optimization features off in LiteSpeed, for example:

• Image optimization and WebP
• Lazy load for images, iframes and videos
• CSS/JS minification and combination
• CSS/JS defer or delay options
• HTML minification and other front-end tweaks
• (Optionally) LiteSpeed page cache, if you’re using WP Compress Page Cache instead

The plugin stays active purely so:

• WP Compress can hook into LiteSpeed
• WP Compress can purge the server-side cache when content changes

4. What to do if you see conflicts

Sometimes very aggressive performance settings can cause:

• Layout shifts or broken designs
• Missing elements or flickering
• Scripts not running as expected

If something looks wrong after enabling Aggressive Mode or other performance tweaks in WP Compress, you don’t need to remove anything.

Step 1: Turn off performance tweaks in WP Compress

In WP Compress, temporarily disable:

• Cache
• CriticalCSS
• DelayJS

Keep these in place:

• LiteSpeed Cache plugin: active
• WP Compress: still handling image optimization and, if desired, CDN/delivery

This lets your host’s LiteSpeed environment handle more of the caching/JS behavior if needed, while WP Compress continues to:

• Optimize images
• Serve via CDN (if enabled)
• Hook into LiteSpeed to purge server-side cache

5. Final checklist

• LiteSpeed Cache plugin is installed and active
• WP Compress Page Cache is enabled
• Aggressive Mode is enabled in WP Compress
• LiteSpeed optimization settings can be off to avoid double optimization
• If conflicts appear, disable Cache, CriticalCSS and DelayJS in WP Compress first, but keep LiteSpeed active so we can hook and purge server-side

With this setup, you get the best of both worlds: WP Compress for smart optimization and caching, and LiteSpeed for tight server-side integration and purging.

Updated on: 11/14/2025