Skip to main content
The free version is a complete caching plugin: page cache, browser cache, minification, deferred JavaScript, lazy loading, font preloading, link prefetching, WordPress cleanup, and the Core Web Vitals monitoring that tells you whether it worked. Pro adds the optimizations that require more machinery: rewriting CSS per page, delaying execution until interaction, converting images, and cleaning the database on a schedule.

​
Cache

Nothing on the Cache tab is gated.

​
Asset optimizations

​
Media optimizations

​
Network improvements

Both prefetch features do the same job by different means. The free one prefetches links near the cursor or in the viewport; the Pro one uses the browser’s Speculation Rules API to predict and prerender the next page.

​
Bloat removal

​
Notifications

Score alerts are free. Lightify emails you when your Core Web Vitals score changes significantly in either direction.

​
Elsewhere

The integrations that propagate purges to Cloudflare, Varnish, and managed hosts are free and have no settings. They detect what is present and hook in. See integrations.

​
Which Pro features actually matter

If you are deciding whether a license is worth it for performance rather than for the membership, these are the ones that move the number.
1

Remove Unused CSS

Most themes ship far more CSS than any one page uses. This is usually the largest single improvement available, and it is the main reason to upgrade.
2

Delay JavaScript Execution

The fix for third-party scripts. Analytics, chat widgets, and ad tags stop competing with your content for the main thread.
3

Auto Image Optimization

WebP conversion of the images pages actually use, with the markup left intact.
4

Preload Critical Images

Directly targets LCP, which is 25% of the score.
Pro is sold as the DaftPlug membership rather than as a single-plugin upgrade. One license covers Lightify and every other DaftPlug Pro plugin, and plans differ only in the number of site activations.

See pricing

Compare the plans on daftplug.com.