Can I manage the switches from the command line?

Yes, with WP-CLI. wp off-switch list shows every switch and whether it is on (filter with --status=on, --module=woocommerce, or --format=json). wp off-switch enable ... and wp off-switch disable ... flip individual switches, and wp off-switch disable --all puts WordPress back to stock. wp off-switch export prints your whole configuration as JSON, ready to import on another site with wp option update.

by Abhishek Deshpande 5 (6 reviews)

The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow)

Name: The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow)
Rating: 5.0 (6 reviews)
Author: Abhishek Deshpande

Disable unused WordPress features and remove bloat. 120 switches for performance, security and WooCommerce — pure PHP, no .htaccess, no upsell.

The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) ranks #12,945 among WordPress.org plugins with 200+ active installations, is #300 of 1,658 in the Performance category, a 5/5 rating from 6 reviews, and was last updated Oct 25, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1

v1.14.0 Current Version v1.14.0

Updated 1 week ago Last Update on 25 Oct, 2026

Refreshed 1 week ago Last Refreshed on

#300 of 1,658 in Performance Top 25% by installs Downloads -50.4% this week Actively maintained

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#12,945

— No change

Active Installs

200+

+19%

KW Avg Position

48.5

0.5 better

Downloads

6.7K

+5 today

Support Resolved

— No change

Rating

100%

Review 5 out of 5

5 (6 reviews)

Next Milestone 300

Total Progress 11%

200+ 300+

1,959

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

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Rank Changes

Current #12,945

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

5.0

6 reviews

Overall 100%

6 (100%)

0 (0%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

No known vulnerabilities on record for The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow). Checked 3 months ago.

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Plugin Details

Version: 1.14.0
Last Updated: Oct 25, 2026
Requires WP: 5.0+
Tested Up To: 7.1
PHP Version: 7.4 or higher
Author: Abhishek Deshpande

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5
Reviews: 6
Support Threads: 1
Resolved: 0%

Keywords

Optimize bloat core web vitals performance speed

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

This plugin is for WordPress site owners and administrators who want to reduce bloat and harden security without added complexity. It solves the problem of WordPress shipping many enabled-by-default features (scripts, headers, database overhead) that most sites don't need, by letting users toggle each one off individually.

104 individual feature toggles
Disable emoji script
Disable XML-RPC and hard-kill requests
Reduce Heartbeat API polling
Remove WP version tag and headers
Lazy load and prioritize images
Limit post revisions and trash retention
Block user enumeration and author archives

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow)

A fresh install starts with 25 switches on — the ones that are safe on almost any site. Everything riskier (jQuery Migrate, defer JS, scripts to footer, Require Login) is off until you choose it, and the settings screen refuses the few combinations that would break a site outright. Each switch does one thing; where two overlap, the card tells you. If something breaks, turn that switch off. Nothing is written to disk.

Yes. Pure PHP hooks, no .htaccess required.

Only if you don't use Jetpack, the WordPress mobile app, or any XML-RPC client.

Test on staging first. These two are the most likely to cause issues on complex sites - some themes and plugins rely on scripts being available synchronously in <head>.

Yes, with WP-CLI. wp off-switch list shows every switch and whether it is on (filter with --status=on, --module=woocommerce, or --format=json). wp off-switch enable <key>... and wp off-switch disable <key>... flip individual switches, and wp off-switch disable --all puts WordPress back to stock. wp off-switch export prints your whole configuration as JSON, ready to import on another site with wp option update.

No. This plugin removes unused WordPress features. For page caching, use a dedicated plugin.

Not currently. The plugin is designed and tested for single-site WordPress installs. Multisite support is planned for a future release.

Yes. When WooCommerce is active, a WooCommerce section appears in Settings -> Off Switch with 16 dedicated toggles for removing WooCommerce frontend overhead, admin adverts and background jobs. None of the core toggles touch WooCommerce - each module is independent.

Enable the Emoji Script toggle under Bloat Remover. It removes the emoji CDN script (~15 KB + 1 HTTP request) — modern browsers render emoji natively without it.

Enable the Heartbeat API toggle. It reduces admin polling from every 15 seconds to every 60 seconds. For most sites the difference is invisible to editors.