Simple DNS Prefetch
DNS resolution time can lead to a significant amount of user perceived latency. The time that DNS resolution takes is highly variable. Latency delays range from around 1ms (locally cached results) to commonly reported…
Consider an alternative
Simple DNS Prefetch shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 3.7/5 and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 29/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (200+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 8 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.9 (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 Simple DNS Prefetch stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| dns | >100 |
| DNS Prefetch | >100 |
| optimization | >100 |
| prefetch | >100 |
| speed | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 3.7 from 3 reviews
About Simple DNS Prefetch
From the official readme · v0.5.2Description
DNS resolution time can lead to a significant amount of user perceived latency. The time that DNS resolution takes is highly variable. Latency delays range from around 1ms (locally cached results) to commonly reported times of several seconds.
DNS prefetching is an attempt to resolve domain names before a user tries to follow a link. This is done using the computer’s normal DNS resolution mechanism. Once a domain name has been resolved, if the user does navigate to that domain, there will be no effective delay due to DNS resolution time. When we encounter hyperlinks in pages, we extract the domain name from each one and resolving each domain to an IP address. All this work is done in parallel with the user’s reading of the page, using minimal CPU and network resources. When a user clicks on any of these pre-resolved names, they will on average save about 200 milliseconds in their navigation (assuming the user hadn’t already visited the domain recently). More importantly than the average savings, users won’t tend to experience the “worst case” delays for DNS resolution, which are regularly over 1 second.
Installation
- Upload plugin file through the WordPress interface.
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Use the Settings->Simple DNS Prefetch screen to configure the plugin.
Changelog
0.5.2
- PHP Warning fix
0.5.1
- PHP Warning fix
0.5.0
- added “X-DNS-Prefetch-Control” meta-tag control
0.4.2
- code fix
0.4.1
- confirmed compatibility with WordPres 4.1
0.4.0
- minor code optimizations
Screenshots
For developers
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Best Simple DNS Prefetch alternatives
All dns plugins →
FAQ
Simple DNS Prefetch: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 1, 2026
Is Simple DNS Prefetch free?
Yes. Simple DNS Prefetch is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Simple DNS Prefetch safe to use in 2026?
Simple DNS Prefetch shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 200+ sites, is rated 3.7/5 and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 29/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Simple DNS Prefetch?
Simple DNS Prefetch is active on 200+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 5,727 times since it launched in September 2017. It was downloaded 96 times in the last 30 days.
Does Simple DNS Prefetch work with WordPress 7.1?
Simple DNS Prefetch is officially tested up to WordPress 4.9.33, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Simple DNS Prefetch last updated?
The latest version, 0.5.2, was released on June 8, 2018 (8 years ago).
Who makes Simple DNS Prefetch?
Simple DNS Prefetch is developed and maintained by andrewmoof.
What are the best alternatives to Simple DNS Prefetch?
The most popular alternatives to Simple DNS Prefetch are CCPA Opt-Out by CookiePro (100+ installs), ES Football Bypass for Clou… (80+ installs) and DNS Prefetch (60+ installs).
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