How to Identify and Remove Slow WordPress Plugins

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On April 6, 2025

Slow plugins are one of the most common causes of poor WordPress performance. Even if your hosting is fast and your theme is lightweight, a few heavy plugins can seriously impact load times, server response, and user experience. This guide will help you find and safely remove the bottlenecks.

Why Plugins Can Slow Down WordPress

Each plugin adds code, database queries, stylesheets, JavaScript files, and external requests. Over time, these accumulate and slow down:

Page load time
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
Admin dashboard speed

The more plugins you have, the greater the chance one is dragging the rest down.

How to Identify Slow Plugins

1. Use Query Monitor

Install the Query Monitor plugin and reload your pages. Look for:

Slow queries (above 100ms)
Plugins making excessive DB calls
Slow hooks and actions

2. Use Chrome DevTools

Open DevTools → Network tab → Reload page:

Check JS/CSS files added by plugins
Identify large or delayed requests (e.g., analytics, widgets, chat tools)

3. Use GTmetrix or WebPageTest

These tools let you view file size and load sequence (waterfall). Spot requests linked to plugin folders like /wp-content/plugins/plugin-name/.

Testing Plugins One-by-One

If unsure which plugin is the culprit:

Clone the site to staging
Deactivate plugins in groups
Test load speed after each change
Use GTmetrix to compare “before vs. after” TTFB and fully loaded time

Common Slow Plugins to Watch Out For

These are commonly reported as performance-heavy (not always, but often):

Page builders: Elementor (when used excessively), WPBakery
SEO: Rank Math with all modules enabled
Social sharing: AddThis, ShareThis
Analytics & tracking: MonsterInsights, Jetpack (when bloated)
Contact forms: Some versions of Contact Form 7 with many add-ons

Safe Replacements and Cleanup

Where possible, replace heavy plugins with lightweight alternatives:

Heavy Plugin	Lighter Option
Elementor	Block Editor + Kadence Blocks
Jetpack	Independent plugins for security, stats
Contact Form 7	WPForms Lite or Fluent Forms

Also consider replacing multiple small plugins with a single, multi-functional one like Perfmatters or WP Rocket.

Don’t Just Deactivate — Clean Up

Delete unused plugins (not just deactivate)
Clean up leftover data in wp_options, wp_postmeta
Check for autoloaded entries left behind

Read our guide on wp_options optimization for details.

Need Help Finding Plugin Bottlenecks?

Don’t want to break your site while experimenting? Request a free plugin performance audit from SpeedWP Pro — we’ll find the slowest plugins and suggest safe, optimized replacements tailored to your site.

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