What’s the right caching stack for a WordPress site in 2026?

Cloudflare + WP Rocket + object cache. The order matters.

The stack, top-down

1. Cloudflare (edge). APO enabled. Page Rules for cache-by-cookie on logged-out traffic. HTTP/3, Brotli, Polish for image optimization. £4/mo for Pro tier if you need real APO.
2. WP Rocket (page cache). Page caching with cache preload, mobile-specific cache, lazy-loading off (Cloudflare does it better), critical CSS inlining on.
3. Redis object cache (server-side). Most managed hosts ship this now. Persistent object cache is the biggest single TTFB win on dynamic pages.
4. OPcache (PHP). On by default in PHP 8+; verify opcache.jit_buffer_size is set.

What kills the stack

Two page-cache plugins fighting. A “performance” plugin that minifies CSS in a different order than Rocket. A WP-Admin tool that bypasses cache for “fresh” logged-out previews — and shows it to everyone. Every fight between layers is a regression waiting to happen.

The cheap version

Cloudflare free tier + WP Super Cache + your host’s object cache. Sub-1 s LCP achievable. The £30/mo for Rocket + Cloudflare Pro is worth it if you’re paying yourself anything per hour for the maintenance.