WordPress Directory

Best Lazy Load WordPress Plugins

6 plugins · 1.5M combined installs · 4.7/5 avg rating

Lazy load plugins for WordPress defer the loading of images, iframes, and videos that are outside the browser's current viewport, so those resources are only fetched when a user scrolls close to them rather than being downloaded all at once when the page first loads. This technique directly reduces initial page weight, improves Time to First Byte perception, and boosts Core Web Vitals metrics such as Largest Contentful Paint — particularly on image-heavy pages like WooCommerce category listings, photo galleries, and long-form articles with inline media. Performance-focused developers, site owners trying to improve Google PageSpeed Insights scores, and publishers whose audience is primarily on mobile or slower connections all benefit from lazy loading plugins. The best options in this category use the native browser loading='lazy' attribute where supported and fall back to an Intersection Observer polyfill for older browsers, while also offering threshold distance controls and exclusion rules for above-the-fold hero images.