Nitropack Review 2023: Unleashing the Power of Website Performance Optimization

NitroPack is a performance optimization tool designed to enhance site speed and performance. In today’s digital age, speed is not just a luxury but an absolute necessity. It plays a crucial role in user experience, affecting everything from bounce rates to conversion rates.

Moreover, speed is a critical factor in search engine optimization (SEO), with search engines like Google prioritizing fast-loading websites in their rankings. As such, there is a growing demand for website optimization tools like NitroPack that can help businesses and personal websites improve their online presence and performance.

The Importance of a Fast Website

How many times have you clicked on a link to open a site, then sitting there waiting and waiting and waiting for it to load, only to close the website out of frustration?

Happens to me all the time. 

The same frustration is shared by millions of other people around the world. With everything being so fast-paced, the faster your website loads, the higher your click-through rates, engagement, session times and overall user experience will be. And guess what… Google loves to reward that. 

So, now that we know how vital speed is for both user experience and SEO, we can move on.

On the other hand, a fast-loading website can enhance user experience, increase engagement, and boost conversions. Furthermore, according to Google, website speed is absolutely taken into account when it comes to SEO, meaning faster websites are more likely to rank higher in search results. 

NitroPack Review: A Teaser

I’ve personally been using NitroPack for about 3 years now, and in fact, I’ve been working very closely with the NitroPack team during this time, so you can rest easy knowing that what I’m about to share with you isn’t some regurgitated nonsense that every Tom, Dick and Harry looking to make a quick buck, is talking about.

With NitroPack, you get a comprehensive solution for website performance optimization, boasting amazing and, quite frankly, needed features like caching, minification, and compression, to name but a few. It is compatible with various content management systems (CMS), making it a versatile tool for businesses of all sizes and types. In the following sections, we will delve deeper into the benefits and features of NitroPack, as well as its pros and, of course, the cons.

I’ll also cover some real-world performance data, the setup process, pricing plans, and more.

Pros and Cons of NitroPack

What I find a pro, you may find a con and vice versa. That being said though, I’ll share some of the internet’s top pros and their biggest gripes while adding my own comments as well.

NitroPack Pros

Ease of Use: NitroPack is praised for its user-friendly interface and ease of use. Even beginners can navigate the platform and optimize their websites without much technical knowledge.

Comprehensive Optimization: NitroPack has a wide range of optimization features, including caching, minification, compression, and image optimization. Simply put, NitroPack is an all-in-one speed optimization tool. *(Again, I agree with this point. Sure there are other tools out there with probably more features, but do you really need all those extra bells and whistles? Probably not)

Compatibility: NitroPack is compatible with various CMS, including WordPress, Magento, and OpenCart. This makes it a versatile tool that can cater to different types of websites.

NitroPack Cons

NitroPack is Expensive: Some users have expressed concerns about NitroPack’s pricing, which can be higher than other website optimization tools. However, many users believe that the benefits and features of NitroPack justify its price.

Limited Customization: While NitroPack is easy to use, it offers limited customization options. This may not be an issue for beginners, but advanced users may desire more control over their website optimization. *(I’m pretty neutral on this if I’m honest)

Potential for Errors: Some users have reported errors and compatibility issues when using NitroPack. However, NitroPack’s customer support is generally responsive and helpful in resolving these issues.

Again, these are subjective, and you need to look at what it will do FOR YOU and YOUR business. What I will say however, is that, overall, NitroPack has proved to be unbeatable.

What is NitroPack?

Let’s dig in a little deeper, shall we?

NitroPack is a comprehensive page speed tool that helps you speed up your site. It works by optimizing various aspects of website performance, including caching, minification, and compression.

We’ll get into that a bit more as we go along.

How NitroPack Works

NitroPack operates on a cloud-based infrastructure, which means it doesn’t rely on your server resources to perform optimizations.

When a user visits your website, NitroPack is a cloud-based performance optimization tool that serves them a static, optimized version of your site from its global network of servers hosted on Amazon’s AWS CloudFront DNS. This reduces the load on your server and ensures faster page load times.

Caching, Minification, and Compression

Caching is a technique that stores a version of your website on the user’s device, reducing the need for repeated data fetching and thus speeding up website load times.

Minification is the process of removing unnecessary characters (like spaces and comments) from your website’s code to reduce its size and improve load times.

Compression, on the other hand, reduces the size of your website’s files to make them load faster.

To put things into perspective, here’s a sample of caching, minification and compression before and after being handled by NitroPack:

Ease of Use and Compatibility

One of NitroPack’s biggest selling points is its ease of use. I’ve mentioned this before.

The platform offers a user-friendly interface that even beginners can navigate with ease. Moreover, NitroPack is compatible with various CMS, including WordPress, Magento, and OpenCart.

This makes it a versatile tool that can cater to different types of websites.

Benefits of NitroPack

In saying that, however, if we look at the average person who’s looking to speed up his/her website, the benefits offered by NitroPack far outweigh the benefits offered by other caching plugins or services.

Let’s look at a few of them.

Improved Website Loading Speed

One of the key benefits of NitroPack is improved website loading speed. (Duh, Ruoall)

By optimizing various aspects of your website, NitroPack can significantly reduce your page load times. This can enhance user experience, reduce bounce rates, and boost conversions.

Enhanced User Experience and Reduced Bounce Rate

A fast-loading website can greatly enhance user experience. Users are less likely to leave your website if it loads quickly, leading to lower bounce rates.

Basically, a fast-loading website can increase user engagement and boost conversions.

Use NitroPack for Higher Search Engine Rankings

We all know by now that website speed is a ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm.

Google has made several updates over the years that prioritize speed. In 2010, Google announced that site speed would be a ranking signal for desktop searches. This was followed by the “Speed Update” in 2018, which made page speed a ranking factor for mobile searches as well.

In 2020, Google introduced a new set of metrics called Core Web Vitals, which are part of Google’s Page Experience signals. These metrics measure the user experience of a page, specifically focusing on aspects like loading performance (measured by Largest Contentful Paint), interactivity (measured by First Input Delay), and visual stability (measured by Cumulative Layout Shift). These metrics are now a part of Google’s ranking algorithm, further emphasizing the importance of website speed and overall page experience.

Check this and this.

By improving your website’s speed, NitroPack makes higher search engine rankings easier. This can increase your website’s visibility and drive more organic traffic to your site.

Increased Conversion Rates and Revenue

A fast-loading website can boost your conversion rates. Users are more likely to engage with your website and complete desired actions (like making a purchase or filling out a form) if your website loads quickly. This can increase your revenue and ROI.

Let me borrow some words from one of my previous posts:

• You sell a product or service for $100.
• You get 1000 visitors.
• Your conversion rate is 5%.

Since your site takes forever to load, you lose 900 of those potential clients straight off the bat.

No matter how good your product or service is.

You’re left with 100 visitors at a conversion rate of around 5%.

Your income is $500

100 visitors * 5% = 5 clients * $100 = $500

• You sell a product or service for $100.
• You get 1000 visitors.
• Your conversion rate is still 5%.

Now that your website is loading faster, your visitors only drop around 30%

We can’t win them all, right?

You’re left with 700 visitors at a conversion rate of around 5%.

What you’re likely to make now, is significantly more than before.

700 visitors * 5% = 35 clients * $100 = $3500

NitroPack Features

A NitroPack account offers a wide range of features designed to optimize WordPress site speed and performance.

Let me break it down for you a bit.

Automatic Speed Optimization Mode

NitroPack automatically optimizes your website’s speed, saving you time and effort. It uses advanced algorithms to determine the best optimization strategies for your website. 

Now, by default, NitroPack’s optimization is set to Strong, and while that’s enough for most, I tend to opt for the insane. Ludicrous mode. 

Content Delivery Network (CDN)

NitroPack includes a built-in Amazon CloudFront CDN on all their packages, which distributes your website’s content across a global network of servers. This ensures that your website loads quickly for users around the world.

Amazon’s CloudFront is ranked top 5 on CDNPerf’s list of CDN providers. Pretty solid.

Caching and Minification

Caching and minification are features you get from Nitropack to improve your website’s load times. Caching stores a version of your website on the user’s device, while minification removes unnecessary characters from your website’s code. This further improves your pagespeed score.

Image Optimization

NitroPack optimizes your website’s images to reduce their size without compromising quality.

What I like about this feature is that it eliminates the need for any other third-party image compression plugins like ShortPixel for instance.

Either way, image optimization significantly improves your website’s load times.

Advanced NitroPack Performance Optimizations

You also get advanced optimizations like HTML, JS, and CSS optimization. While these features further improve your website’s speed and performance, I’d be a bit careful when changing these settings. 

From my personal experience, make one change, save and go through your website to see if anything broke. Then carry on doing the rest until you reach a Google pagespeed score that you’re happy with.

Smart Invalidation

One unique thing about NitroPack is its Smart Invalidation feature, which ensures that your website’s cache is always up-to-date. It automatically invalidates outdated cache and generates a new one when you update your website. 

This feature proves invaluable, as it addresses a common issue many of us have faced: updating websites, only to be met with the frustration of still seeing the outdated cached versions. It’s a solution that spares us the hair-pulling exasperation of dealing with stubbornly persistent old content.

Integrations and Other Tools

NitroPack takes care of various CMS and integrations with other tools. Here are the services you can integrate with:

• Reverse Proxy (Varnish, NGINX, etc)
• Cloudflare (we all love Cloudflare)
• Sucuri (HIGHLY recommended for securing your website, btw)

This makes it a versatile and flexible tool for website speed optimization.

Let’s have a look at NitroPack’s performance data and how it can improve your website’s Core Web Vitals metrics.

NitroPack Performance Data

Test Methodology

To evaluate NitroPack’s performance, I conducted a series of tests using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool, GT Metrix, Pagespeed Compare and Webpage Test.

You’re welcome.

I tested a website before and after implementing NitroPack’s optimizations and compared the results.

Performance and the Core Web Vitals Metrics

My tests showed a significant improvement in the website’s Core Web Vitals metrics after implementing NitroPack’s optimizations. The website’s Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) scores improved significantly, indicating faster load times and less layout shift.

I do want to mention something important though. 

What I mean by that is, when accessing your website, scroll around, reload the pages a bit, see how it “feels”. Open it on your mobile device. Again, what’s the overall user experience? Better? Worse?

You get the point. It’s all about the user experience at the end of the day, so focus on that.

Before and After Speed Tests

Let’s look at the before and after results, shall we?

My speed tests confirmed NitroPack’s effectiveness in improving WordPress page speed. The website’s load times were significantly faster after implementing NitroPack’s optimizations.

Let’s look at what the score was before enabling NitroPack:

PageSpeed Compare Before

Google Pagespeed Before

GT Metrix Before

*(not bad to start with, but we can do better)

Webpage Test Before

Now let’s look at the results after enabling NitroPack and using it’s most default settings.

PageSpeed Compare After

Google Pagespeed After

GT Metrix After

Webpage Test After

I know and here’s why.

When we do a performance analysis of this website, we’re able to see what creates this delay and by digging in a little further, it turns out that it’s caused by WordPress Emojis. By the way, if you can, always disable that nonsense.

Let’s inspect it a little further.

See that “Self Time” sitting ugly at 98.9%?

Let’s open that one up.

Here we see wp-emoji-release.min.js creating havoc. Again. 

All we need to do is disable Emojis in WordPress (free Plugin) and Bob’s your uncle.

Happy days!

Remember, these solutions aren’t going to be perfect all the time. Sometimes it’s going to affect something else, which may require a bit of figuring out. 

It’s just the nature of this beast.

Anyway…

NitroPack’s Font Optimization Feature

One of the key features of NitroPack is its Font Optimization. This feature is designed to enhance the loading and rendering of fonts on your website, which can significantly improve your site’s performance and user experience.

When a web page is loaded, the browser needs to download the fonts used on that page before it can render the text. This can cause a delay, especially if the fonts are large or if there are many different fonts used on the page.

This delay is often referred to as “flash of invisible text” (FOIT) or “flash of unstyled text” (FOUT), and it can be a frustrating experience for users.

NitroPack’s Font Optimization feature tackles this issue in several ways:

1. Font Preloading: NitroPack allows you to preload your fonts, which means the browser will start downloading the fonts earlier in the page load process. This can help ensure that the fonts are ready by the time they’re needed, reducing or eliminating the FOIT/FOUT issue.
2. Font Hosting: NitroPack can host your fonts on its own servers, which are optimized for fast delivery. This can be faster than hosting the fonts on your own server, especially if your server is slow or if it’s located far from the user.
3. Font Format Optimization: NitroPack can convert your fonts to modern formats like WOFF2, which offer better compression and faster loading times than older font formats.
4. Font Display Optimization: NitroPack allows you to control how your fonts are displayed during the load process. For example, you can choose to use the “swap” option, which means the browser will display the text in a fallback font until the custom font is ready. This can eliminate the FOIT issue and improve the user experience.

Why Is It Important?

Font optimization is a crucial aspect of website performance optimization. Fonts can have a significant impact on your site’s load time, especially if you’re using custom or multiple fonts.

In conclusion, NitroPack will automatically optimize your fonts to help improve your website’s performance. Whether you’re a blogger, an e-commerce store owner, or a business owner, this feature can help you deliver a faster, smoother experience to your users.

How to Set Up NitroPack

Setting up NitroPack for your website is a straightforward process. While I’m not going to provide an in-depth NitroPack Tutorial in this article, here’s a basic step-by-step guide:

1. Create an Account: Visit the NitroPack website and create an account. You can sign up with your email or through Google or Facebook.
   
   
2. Install NitroPack: Once you’ve created an account, install the NitroPack plugin on your website. If you’re using WordPress, you can find the plugin in the WordPress plugin repository.
   
   
   
3. Configure the Plugin Settings: After installing the plugin, go to the NitroPack settings in your website’s dashboard. Here, you can configure the plugin’s settings according to your needs. Of course you can go into your Nitropack Dashboard (account) and further change the settings from there, but this is a good base to start from.
   
   
   
4. Test and Verify the Optimization: Once you’ve configured the settings, test your website’s speed using a tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights. If the optimizations are working correctly, you should see an improvement in your website’s speed.

NitroPack Pricing and Plans

NitroPack offers a range of pricing plans to cater to different needs, from small businesses to large enterprises. Each of the plans come with a set of features and resources that are designed to improve your website’s speed and performance. 

Many feel it’s unjustifiably expensive.

But for the sake of this review, let’s dig into each option. And yes, there IS a FREE plan for your cheapskates out there ;).

Free Plan

NitroPack offers a free plan that is perfect for testing purposes of for small websites. This plan comes with limited resources but allows you to get a feel for the service and see how it can improve your website’s performance.

This plan does come with one notable caveat – the NitroPack badge in your site’s footer. This badge is a small logo that appears on your website, typically in the footer, indicating that your site’s speed is powered by NitroPack.

Here’s what it looks like:

While some users may not mind this, others may prefer not to have third-party branding on their sites. Remember though, that this badge is only present in the NitroPack free plan. Upgrading to any of the paid plans – Business, Growth, or Scale – will remove the badge from your site.

This is a common practice among many software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers. It allows them to offer a free version of their service while also gaining some brand exposure. Kinda win-win if you think about it. If you’re just starting out or testing the waters, the Free Plan with the NitroPack badge can be a great option. However, if you prefer a more professional look without third-party branding, you might consider one of NitroPack’s paid plans.

Well worth it.

Business Plan

The Business plan is the entry-level paid plan offered by NitroPack. Priced at $21 per month (or $210 per year, saving you $42), this plan is designed for small businesses and supports up to 50,000 monthly visitors and 25GB of CDN bandwidth. The Business plan includes features such as:

• Caching (including Sitemap Optimization, Smart Invalidation, Cookie & Device Awareness, Integration with 3rd-party cache, Browser Caching, and Automatic Cache Warmup)
• Tier 1 CDN with ultra-fast static and dynamic content delivery
• CSS, HTML, and JS Optimization
• Image Optimization
• 14-day money-back guarantee

Growth Plan

The Growth plan is a step up from the Business plan, supporting up to 200,000 monthly visitors and 100GB of CDN bandwidth. Priced at $51 per month (or $510 per year, saving you $102), this plan is ideal for medium-sized businesses. It includes all the features of the Business plan.

Scale Plan

The Scale plan is the top-tier plan offered by NitroPack, supporting up to 1,000,000 monthly visitors and 500GB of CDN bandwidth. Priced at $146.67 per month (or $1,760 per year, saving you $351.96), this plan is designed for large businesses and enterprises. It includes all the features of the Growth plan.

In addition to these plans, NitroPack also offers custom plans for agencies, publishing businesses, enterprises, and digital creators with multiple websites. These custom plans are highly flexible and can be tailored to meet your specific needs.

All NitroPack plans include ongoing support, access to new features, automatic updates, and lower costs due to outsourcing the heavy lifting to NitroPack’s cloud-based service. This ensures that you always have access to the latest speed updates for your website without having to do anything yourself.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

My journey with NitroPack started back in 2020 when I was contacted by the founder, Deyan.

From there, we’ve built up a really good relationship over the past 3 years. This included dealing with multiple different people at NitroPack. 

What it comes down to is that my personal experience with dealing with the NitroPack team has been nothing short of wonderful. 

Plus, a 4.9 out of 5 Trustpilot rating doesn’t hurt either.

Black Hat Tool or Fair Game?

NitroPack and Google PageSpeed Insights

Some people have accused NitroPack of being a black hat search engine optimization tool because it can significantly improve a website’s score on Google PageSpeed Insights. However, this is a misunderstanding of what NitroPack does and what black hat SEO is.

NitroPack, on the other hand, is a legitimate website tool to speed up your site, which are factors that search engines like Google consider when ranking websites.

Addressing the Black Hat Allegations

NitroPack does not use any black hat techniques. It improves site speed by optimizing various aspects of website performance, such as caching, minification, and compression. These are legitimate, white hat SEO practices that can improve user experience and search engine rankings.

NitroPack vs WP Rocket: A Quick Comparison

WP Rocket is another popular performance optimization plugin. While both NitroPack and WP Rocket offer similar features, there are some key differences between the two.

1. Ease of Use: Both NitroPack and WP Rocket are user-friendly and easy to use. However, NitroPack’s interface is more intuitive, and the setup process is way simpler.
2. Features: Both NitroPack and WP Rocket offer a wide range of optimization features. However, NitroPack surpasses WP Rocket in that it has more advanced features like automatic speed optimization and smart invalidation.
3. Performance: Both NitroPack and WP Rocket can significantly improve website speed. However, NitroPack tends to deliver better results in terms of overall performance and speed improvements.

NitroPack

• Pros:
  • Comprehensive all-in-one speed optimization solution.
  • Built-in CDN feature for improved website speed.
  • Offers different optimization sets with a single button.
• Cons:
  • More expensive than WP Rocket, especially for larger sites.

WP Rocket

• Pros:
  • Premium caching plugin with advanced caching techniques.
  • Includes robust features like minification and lazy loading.
  • More affordable than NitroPack.
• Cons:
  • Doesn’t have a built-in CDN.
  • Doesn’t optimize images.

My Verdict

If what you need is an all-in-one solution and you’re willing to invest in your site’s performance, look at NitroPack. However, if you’re on a budget and don’t mind doing some extra work, WP Rocket is one of the more solid NitroPack alternatives to consider when doing WordPress Speed Optimization. Both tools can significantly improve your website’s speed and performance. The best one for you depends on your specific needs and budget.

NitroPack vs LiteSpeed: A Quick Comparison

LiteSpeed is a web server and optimization tool that offers similar features to NitroPack. Here’s how they compare:

1. Ease of Use: Both NitroPack and LiteSpeed are easy to use. However, NitroPack’s interface and simpler setup process takes the win here.
2. Features: Both NitroPack and LiteSpeed offer a wide range of optimization features. However, NitroPack has more advanced features like automatic speed optimization and smart invalidation.
3. Performance: Both NitroPack and LiteSpeed can significantly improve the speed of your website. However, NitroPack tends to deliver better results in terms of overall performance and speed improvements without breaking stuff, which is a bonus.

NitroPack

• Pros:
  • All-in-one WordPress performance optimization plugin with automatic optimization.
  • Built-in CDN powered by Cloudflare for fast data delivery.
  • Advanced caching mechanism with Smart Invalidation and Browser Caching.
• Cons:
  • More expensive than LiteSpeed, especially for larger sites.

LiteSpeed

• Pros:
  • All-in-one WordPress site acceleration plugin with server-level cache.
  • More affordable than NitroPack with more pricing options.
  • Uses QUIC.cloud CDN for caching WordPress dynamic content.
• Cons:
  • Requires users to configure various settings, which can be technically challenging. Like REALLY challenging.

My Verdict

NitroPack and LiteSpeed both offer robust features to speed up your website. NitroPack for WordPress stands out with its automatic optimization and advanced caching mechanism, while LiteSpeed shines with its affordability and server-level cache. NitroPack is an all-in-one solution that’s incredibly easy-to-use, especially if you barely know how to switch on a computer. However, if you’re technically inclined and looking for a more affordable option, LiteSpeed could be a better fit.

Conclusion

In the fast-paced digital world, website speed and performance are more important than ever. They not only affect user experience but also play a crucial role in search engine optimization. This is where NitroPack comes in. Nitropack is a cloud-based service which offers a wide range of features designed to enhance your website’s speed and performance. From caching and minification to automatic speed optimization and smart invalidation, NitroPack provides a one-stop solution for all your website optimization needs.

Whether you’re a small business owner, a blogger, or an e-commerce giant, NitroPack can cater to your specific needs and help you achieve your online goals. It’s easy to use, compatible with various CMS, and offers a scalable infrastructure that can handle websites of all sizes. Moreover, NitroPack’s performance data speaks for itself, with significant improvements in website speed and Core Web Vitals metrics.

However, like any tool, NitroPack has its pros and cons. While it offers a user-friendly interface and comprehensive optimization features, it may be pricier than other tools and offer limited customization options. Therefore, it’s important to consider your specific needs and budget before choosing NitroPack.

In conclusion, I only have good things to say about NitroPack and the Team behind it. It’s a worthy investment for anyone looking to enhance their online presence and achieve higher search engine rankings. So, if you’re ready to take your website to the next level, give NitroPack a try and experience the difference for yourself.