About this plugin
ai API to shrink your images without a visible quality loss. Smaller images mean faster pages, better Core Web Vitals and less bandwidth.
All the work happens on the API. Your server never runs image processing, so there is no GD or Imagick load, no memory spikes and no slow uploads, which makes this safe on shared hosting.
Compression
- Three modes – Lossy (smallest files), Lossless (no quality change) and Smart (picks per format: PNG/GIF lossless, JPEG/WebP lossy).
- Automatic compression on upload – every new image is queued and compressed in the background, so uploading never waits on the API.
- Bulk compress your existing library – a live progress bar with pause, resume and start-over. It processes one image at a time with a cursor, so it uses the same small amount of memory whether you have 50 images or 50,000.
- Resize oversized images – scale the full-size image down to a maximum width before compressing. Thumbnails are never resized, so your theme’s layouts stay intact.
- Strip EXIF and metadata for extra savings.
- Thumbnails included – every registered thumbnail size is compressed too, not just the original.
Control over what gets compressed
- Choose which thumbnail sizes to compress, or exclude the ones your theme does not use.
- Skip small images – set a minimum file size, since tiny files are usually already efficient and still cost quota.
- Skip by file name – exclude any image whose name contains words you choose (for example logo, icon, keep-original), so images you want untouched stay untouched.
Backups and restore
- Automatic backups – the original is copied to a protected folder before it is replaced.
- One-click restore returns an image to exactly how it was.
- Space-saving mode (default) – backs up only the full-size original and rebuilds the thumbnails when you restore, which roughly halves the disk space backups use. Turn it off if you need every thumbnail file kept byte-for-byte.
- Configurable retention – keep backups for 3, 7 or 15 days, then they are cleaned up automatically.
- Before and after comparison – see the original and the compressed version side by side, with a per-size breakdown showing exactly what each thumbnail saved. These figures are stored permanently, so they remain visible even after the backup files expire.
Visibility
- Dashboard – total space saved, average reduction, how much of your library is covered, and a live quota bar.
- Activity log – the most recent compression requests with status, sizes before and after, percentage saved, number of thumbnails, how long it took and when. Failed and skipped attempts are logged too, with a plain-English reason, so it is easy to see why something did not compress.
- Media Library integration – a Compression column in the list view and a panel on the attachment edit screen showing that image’s full breakdown.
- Quota and usage – your plan, images remaining this cycle, renewal date and lifetime totals.
Built to stay out of trouble
- Integrity checks before writing – a compressed result is verified against the file that was sent before it replaces anything, so a mismatched result can never overwrite the wrong image.
- Never writes a larger file – if compression would not help, the original is left alone.
- Handles running out of quota gracefully – compression pauses, tells you what happened, and resumes on its own once you top up. Nothing is lost and nothing is compressed twice.
- Respects rate limits – backs off and retries rather than hammering the API.
- Non-destructive uninstall – removing the plugin keeps your backups and the record of what has already been compressed, so a reinstall never re-compresses your library.
ai. One token binds to one domain.
External services
ai API to compress your images. It is required for the plugin to function.
ai:
- The public URL of each image to be compressed, so the API can fetch it.
- Your site URL, to bind your token to your domain and prevent token sharing.
- Your API token, to authenticate the request.
- Your chosen compression options (mode, maximum width, whether to strip metadata).
The API returns a temporary download link for each compressed image, which the plugin downloads and uses to replace the original file. Compressed files are deleted from the API server immediately after download.
ai/privacy