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LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes

By WP Media

Performance & Optimization / Caching Solutions

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes Review - In-Depth Analysis

The best free lazy load plugin for WordPress. Lazy load images, videos, and iframes to improve performance and Core Web Vitals scores.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.8/10

User Rating

4.2/5 (based on 139+ reviews)

Active Installations

100,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

6.1 / 10 (Medium Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

LazyLoad is the best free lazy load plugin for WordPress to lazy load images, videos, and iframes on WordPress. In a nutshell, LazyLoad displays images, videos, and iframes on a page only when they are visible to the user – that’s one crucial way to speed up your WordPress site and optimize images for Google PageSpeed.

You can lazy load images in post content or widget text, plus thumbnails, avatars, and smilies. LazyLoad takes care of iframe lazy load, too: you’ll easily replace Youtube iframes with a preview thumbnail to further speed up the loading time of your website.

No JavaScript library such as jQuery is used, and the script weight is less than 10KB.

Lazy loading is a key performance technique to make your site faster. You’ll reduce loading time, improve your Lighthouse performance score and optimize your Core Web Vitals grades.

Lazy loading your images on WordPress will help you achieve a better PageSpeed Insights score for three main reasons: You’ll address a specific PageSpeed Insights recommendation: Defer offscreen images, which means image lazy loading. You’ll improve the performance of two key metrics: First Input Delay (Core Web Vital) and Total Blocking Time (Lighthouse metric). You’ll make fewer HTTP requests – that is another way to boost your site speed and improve the Largest Contentful Paint score (another Core Web Vital).

Take a look at our complete list of reasons why you should use lazy loading. Then, turn on LazyLoad and make your WordPress website faster!

Dependencies: LazyLoad script: https://github.com/verlok/lazyload

Comparing to Alternatives

LazyLoad Plugin offers a straightforward lazy loading solution with several comparable plugins available that provide similar functionality with varying features.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Easy integration with custom WordPress themes
Improves page load speed by lazy loading images, videos, and iframes
No known security vulnerabilities
High user satisfaction with a 4.2 average rating
Free to use with no paid version required

Weaknesses

Some users report layout issues with embedded YouTube videos
Rare but severe issues causing content disappearance
Limited advanced customization options compared to some alternatives
No pro version with additional features available

User Sentiment Analysis

The plugin enjoys a strong positive reception with over 70% five-star ratings, though about 18% of users report significant issues, reflected in the lower ratings.

Positive highlights

"It’s working like a charm!" — Artneo
"Excellent plugin thank you very much" — equiroz2023
"This plugin works great." — netpotion
"Nice plugin, works fine for me." — nextthemes

Common complaints

Plugin caused all page content to disappear after activation (jamiegee)
Plugin disrupts padding and layout of YouTube videos (masalenasi)

Weaknesses

Occasional severe bugs affecting site content visibility
Layout compatibility issues with certain embedded media
Lack of advanced settings for fine-tuning lazy loading behavior

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, effective lazy loading plugin that integrates easily with custom themes and improves site speed without complex setup.

Not ideal for

Users who require advanced customization, have complex media layouts, or cannot risk potential content display issues should consider alternatives or test thoroughly before use.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version includes lazy loading for images, videos, and iframes with straightforward settings suitable for most users.

Final Verdict

LazyLoad Plugin is a reliable and user-friendly option for adding lazy loading to WordPress sites, boasting a strong positive user base and no known security vulnerabilities. It effectively enhances page load times and supports various media types, making it a solid choice for many users.

However, some users have experienced serious issues such as content disappearance and layout problems with embedded videos, which may limit its suitability for sites with complex content or those needing advanced customization. Users should weigh these factors and consider alternatives if these risks are a concern.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes plugin.

Defer Offscreen Images

Lazy Load

Lazy Load Images

Lazy Load Plugin

Lazy Loading

FAQ

To use native lazyload on browsers supporting this feature, you need to use the following line:

add_filter( 'rocket_use_native_lazyload', '__return_true' );

Browsers that do not support native lazyload will use the JS-based solution as before.

You can use the do_rocket_lazyload filter.

Here is an example to put in functions.php files that disable lazyload on posts:

add_action( 'wp', 'deactivate_rocket_lazyload_on_single' ); function deactivate_rocket_lazyload_on_single() {     if ( is_single() ) {         add_filter( 'do_rocket_lazyload', '__return_false' );     } }

You can use the rocket_lazyload_threshold filter.

Code sample:

function rocket_lazyload_custom_threshold( $threshold ) {     return 100; } add_filter( 'rocket_lazyload_threshold', 'rocket_lazyload_custom_threshold' );

The plugin will automatically lazy load background-images set with a style attribute to a div element:

<div style="background-image: url(image.jpg);">

You can also apply it manually. The element you want to apply lazy load on must have this specific markup:

<div class="rocket-lazyload" data-bg="url(../img/image.jpg)"></div>

The element must have the class rocket-lazyload, and a data-bg attribute, which value is the CSS url for the image.

Contributors and developers

“LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

WP Media

WP Rocket

Free Version Docs

WPS

6.8

Average

Ratings

4.2 out of 5 | 139

Version

2.4.1

Last updated

1 week ago

Active installations

100,000+

WordPress version

7.1.3 or higher

PHP version

7.4 or higher

Languages

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LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes Review - In-Depth Analysis

Performance Overview

What It Does

Comparing to Alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

Who Should Use This?

Pricing & Value

Final Verdict

Other Notable Features

FAQ

Contributors and developers

Ratings

Reviews (139)

Sort by:

Contributors & Developers

Interested in development?

Changelog

Security Status

Secure

No Unpatched Vulnerabilities

Known Vulnerabilities (2)

Previous Versions

WPS

6.8

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