Shift8 CDN
This is a plugin that integrates a 100% free CDN service operated by Shift8, for your WordPress site. What this means is that you can simply install this plugin, activate and register with our CDN service and all of…
Use with caution
Shift8 CDN works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 500+ sites, is rated 4.4/5 and was last updated 8 months ago, and scores 56/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (500+ active installs)
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.9 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Shift8 CDN stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| cdn | #12 |
| content delivery network | #31 |
| free cdn | #5 |
| performance | >100 |
| speed | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 from 40 reviews
About Shift8 CDN
From the official readme · v2.0.1Description
This is a plugin that integrates a 100% free CDN service operated by Shift8, for your WordPress site. What this means is that you can simply install this plugin, activate and register with our CDN service and all of your static assets on your website will be served through our global content delivery network.
Migration Notice
Shift8 CDN as a service is migrating into Atomic Edge. Your user account has been migrated to the new dashboard, click here to reset your password.
Community Support
If you need support, please head over to our community discourse forum for you to more easily access support resources.
Check out our new Shift8 CDN website
You can now create your own dashboard account to add/remove/manage your sites : Shift8 CDN. Note if you have a site created prior to this dashboard, you can submit a request on the support forums and we can migrate the site for you.
Instructions for setup
- Register for an account by CLICKING HERE
- Once your account is activated, go to the Shift8 CDN dashboard and click “Create Site”
- Enter your site URL exactly as it appears (i.e. https://www.yoursite.com) and click “Add”
- Once added successfully, click “View” to view the site details and copy the API key and CDN prefix
- Install this WordPress plugin and activate
- Go to the plugin settings page (Shift8 > CDN Settings) and enter the site url, API key and CDN prefix and then click “Save Changes”
- Once saved, you can click the “Check” button to ensure everything matches with our system
- Click the “Test URL” to ensure it actually works and if so , click “Enable Shift8 CDN” at the top of the settings page to enable. You can use this to quickly disable if there are any problems.
Instructions for upgrading from a version prior to 1.30
- It is important before you upgrade the plugin to disable the CDN and unregister your site. Your site needs to be unregistered before upgrading, otherwise we will have to manually migrate the site for you
- Once the “Enable Shift8 CDN” setting is disabled, and your site is unregistered, update the plugin via the WordPress plugin update system
- Once the plugin is updated, head to our site to register your account on our systems
- Enter your site URL exactly as it appears (i.e. https://www.yoursite.com) and click “Add”
- Once added successfully, click “View” to view the site details and copy the API key and CDN prefix
- Go back to the plugin settings page (Shift8 > CDN Settings) and enter the site url, API key and CDN prefix and then click “Save Changes”
- Once saved, you can click the “Check” button to ensure everything matches with our system
- Click the “Test URL” to ensure it actually works and if so , click “Enable Shift8 CDN” at the top of the settings page to enable. You can use this to quickly disable if there are any problems.
Newly added entpoints
New endpoints added :
- Frankfurt, Germany
- Ukraine
Free Content Delivery Network for your Static Content
Shift8 has rolled out a consistently-growing CDN with endpoints all over the world. This plugin will make your site load way faster by using latency-based and geographic-based DNS resolution for requests made to your site to be served by an endpoint closest to the user making the request. This means that a user making a request in Mumbai, India will hit the Mumbai server to download the static content from your website, improving performance remarkably.
Current endpoints in use (more added regularly) :
- USA – Northern California
- USA – Northern Virginia
- USA – Dallas, TX
- USA – Miami, FL
- Canada – Toronto
- Europe – London, England
- Europe – Stockholm, Sweden
- Europe – Warsaw, Poland
- Europe – Frankfurt, Germany
- Europe – Ukraine
- Asia Pacific – Hong Kong, China
- Asia Pacific – Tokyo, Japan
- Asia Pacific – Sydney, Australia
- Asia Pacific – Singapore
- Asia Pacific – Mumbai, India
- Latin America – Sao Paulo, Brazil
You can learn more about how the CDN was setup and how it works by reading our blog post.
Want to see the plugin in action?
You can view three example sites where this plugin is live :
- Example Site 1 : WordPress Hosting
- Example Site 2 : Web Design in Toronto
Features
- 100% Free CDN for static assets on your site (CSS, JS, Images, Font files and more)
- Geographic and latency based DNS routing of requests to the nearest endpoint server across the globe
- Super easy set up : just install plugin, activate and register to start using within minutes.
Installation
This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working.
e.g.
- Upload the plugin files to the
/wp-content/plugins/shif8-cdndirectory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress
- Navigate to the plugin settings page and define your settings
- Hit the “Register” button to register your site with our CDN network.
- Within a few minutes the change will propagate to all our systems across the network.
Frequently asked questions
I tested it on my site and its not working for me!
Send us an email to cdnhelp@shift8web.com or post in the support forums here and we will help. We are constantly improving and updating the plugin also!
I noticed on lazy load images, the CDN isnt being used
This is a known issue with how lazy loading is implemented in some scenarios. Currently if you want the CDN to be used for lazy load images, you have to turn lazy load off.
Changelog
2.0.1
- Notice: Added admin migration notice with links to Atomic Edge plugin and password reset
- Change: Unified CDN hostname suffixes to use .wpcdn.shift8cdn.com
2.0.0
- MAJOR: Complete admin UI redesign with modern card-based layout
- Enhancement: New sub-tab navigation system (General, Minification, Advanced, Resource Optimization)
- Enhancement: Replaced checkboxes with modern CSS-only toggle switches
- Enhancement: Implemented minimal link-style sub-tab navigation (WooCommerce-inspired)
- Enhancement: Added save confirmation notifications with dismissible success messages
- Enhancement: Fixed settings persistence across sub-tabs with hidden input preservation
- Enhancement: Improved spacing and visual hierarchy throughout admin interface
- Enhancement: Added “Coming Soon” placeholder for future Resource Optimization features
- Enhancement: Read-only CDN hostname field with better spacing and click-to-copy
- Technical: All 123 unit tests passing with updated test infrastructure
- Technical: Added PHPUNIT_RUNNING constant to prevent die() in test environment
- Technical: 100% backward compatible – no database schema or option key changes
- CSS: Updated to v4.2 with new card components and responsive design patterns
1.72.1
- Enhancement: Added PHP version check (requires PHP 7.4+) with helpful admin notice
- Enhancement: Added composer autoloader check with graceful fallback
- Enhancement: Updated plugin headers (Requires PHP, Text Domain)
- Testing: Added 34 new comprehensive tests for minification features (total: 123 tests)
- Testing: Added tests for cache invalidation, file size limits, error handling
- Testing: Improved test coverage for all hosting environment edge cases
1.72.0
- Security: Fixed input sanitization for $_GET parameters in AJAX handlers
- Security: Fixed broken sanitization callback for exclusion patterns
- Security: Added output escaping for admin interface elements
- Security: Added validation for API response data structure
- Security: Escaped URLs in CSS output
- Enhancement: Added comprehensive PHPUnit test suite (70 tests, 125 assertions)
- Enhancement: Implemented test-driven development workflow with Composer
- Enhancement: Added read-only CDN Hostname field for easy copy/paste into other caching plugins
- Enhancement: Adopted semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH format)
1.71
- Bug fixes and improvements
1.00
- Stable version created
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
Shift8 CDN: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 14, 2026
Is Shift8 CDN free?
Yes. Shift8 CDN is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Shift8 CDN safe to use in 2026?
Shift8 CDN works, but test it on a staging site before relying on it in 2026. It runs on 500+ sites, is rated 4.4/5 and was last updated 8 months ago, and scores 56/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Shift8 CDN?
Shift8 CDN is active on 500+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 73,368 times since it launched in May 2019. It was downloaded 233 times in the last 30 days.
Does Shift8 CDN work with WordPress 7.1?
Shift8 CDN is officially tested up to WordPress 6.9.10, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
What PHP version does Shift8 CDN need?
Shift8 CDN requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Shift8 CDN last updated?
The latest version, 2.0.1, was released on February 10, 2026 (8 months ago).
Who makes Shift8 CDN?
Shift8 CDN is developed and maintained by shift8.
What are the best alternatives to Shift8 CDN?
The most popular alternatives to Shift8 CDN are W3 Total Cache (900K+ installs), SpeedyCache (500K+ installs) and Breeze Cache (300K+ installs).
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