How To Speed Up A Divi Website: 11 Fixes That Actually Work (Tested 2026)

Q: Does WP Rocket work well with Divi?

Yes. WP Rocket is the best caching plugin for Divi. Enable page caching, minify CSS/JS, defer non-critical JavaScript, and lazy load images. Combined with Divi Static CSS generation, this is responsible for most mobile score improvements.

Q: Will enabling Critical CSS break my Divi layout?

Occasionally. Critical CSS can cause a brief flash of unstyled content on some layouts. If you see layout shifts, disable it and use Static CSS File Generation plus deferred jQuery instead -- those two give most of the same benefit with less risk.

Q: What PageSpeed score should a Divi site aim for?

On mobile, 70+ is competitive and 80+ is excellent for Divi given the framework overhead. Desktop above 90 is very achievable. The biggest ranking impact comes from escaping scores in the 30s and 40s.

Q: Is Divi faster than Elementor?

With optimization, they reach similar scores. Performance depends on configuration and hosting, not the builder alone. An optimized Divi site on Cloudways with WP Rocket will outperform an unoptimized Elementor site on shared hosting every time.

Quick Answer

To speed up a Divi website, start with Divi’s built-in Performance settings: enable Static CSS File Generation, defer jQuery to the footer, and turn on Critical CSS. Then add a caching plugin (WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache), enable Cloudflare, and compress your images. These five steps alone typically move a Divi site from a mobile PageSpeed score of 35–50 into the 70–80 range without touching a single line of code.

TL;DR

11 Ways to Speed Up Divi — The Short Version

Enable Static CSS File Generation in Divi → Theme Options → Performance
Enable Critical CSS — eliminates render-blocking stylesheet load
Defer jQuery to footer — saves 150–400ms on mobile
Disable unused Divi modules globally — cuts CSS payload significantly
Host Google Fonts locally — eliminates external DNS lookup
Use WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache — page caching, minification, lazy load
Enable Cloudflare — free CDN, HTML caching, image optimization
Compress all images to WebP — single largest performance gain available
Reduce active plugin count — audit and remove anything redundant
Upgrade to PHP 8.2+ — measurable server response time improvement
Disable Divi’s Google Maps and Portfolio modules if you don’t use them

My test environment: Dreamhost shared → Cloudways Vultr 2GB. Before: mobile PageSpeed 38. After all 11 fixes: mobile PageSpeed 81. Desktop: 96.

Divi has a performance reputation problem — and honestly, a fair chunk of it is deserved. A default Divi install on average shared hosting with a few plugins will score somewhere in the 30s on Google’s mobile PageSpeed test. That’s not a slight exaggeration. I’ve inherited client sites scoring 28.

But here’s the thing: Divi is not the unoptimizable disaster that developer-Twitter would have you believe. I’ve taken Divi sites from a 34 mobile score to an 83 without switching builders, without custom code heroics, and without spending money on premium hosting. These 11 fixes are in order of impact. Work through them sequentially and check your PageSpeed score after each group.

I’m testing on WordPress 6.7 with Divi 4.25, running on Cloudways Vultr High Frequency (2GB RAM), PHP 8.2, with WP Rocket 3.17 and Cloudflare free tier. Your numbers will differ based on your hosting, but the relative improvement from each fix is consistent.

Before We Start

My Baseline: What an Unoptimized Divi Site Actually Scores

I rebuilt a standard Divi site from scratch for this test: home page with hero section, three-column feature row, testimonials, image section, and a contact form. Stock Divi theme, Divi Builder, Contact Form 7, Yoast SEO, WooCommerce inactive. No caching, no CDN, no optimization whatsoever.

Stage	Mobile PageSpeed	Desktop PageSpeed	LCP	Total Blocking Time
Raw Divi (no optimization)	38	64	5.2s	890ms
After Divi Performance Settings only	57	76	3.4s	540ms
After adding WP Rocket + Cloudflare	71	89	2.1s	280ms
After all 11 fixes (full stack)	81	96	1.6s	110ms

Where to test your Divi site

Use Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) — this is what Google actually uses. GTmetrix and Pingdom measure different things and will show different numbers. Always test the mobile score specifically: that is the score that affects your Core Web Vitals and rankings.

The Fixes

11 Fixes to Speed Up Your Divi Website

Enable Static CSS File Generation in Divi Performance Settings

Impact: High · Divi-specific

This is the single most impactful Divi-specific fix. By default, Divi generates your CSS dynamically on every page load. Enabling Static CSS File Generation tells Divi to generate that stylesheet once and serve a physical cached file.

How to enable it: Divi → Theme Options → General → Performance → Static CSS File Generation → Enable.

After enabling this

When you make design changes, click Clear All Cached Files in the same Performance menu.

Host Google Fonts Locally

Eliminate external DNS lookups by serving fonts from your own server.

/* Load local fonts in child theme functions.php */
function toptut_local_fonts() {
    wp_enqueue_style(
        'local-opensans',
        get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/fonts/opensans.css',
        array(),
        '1.0'
    );
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'toptut_local_fonts' );

Disable Unused Icon Font Loading

If not using Divi icons, add this to your child theme’s functions.php:

/* Dequeue Divi icon fonts if not in use */
function toptut_dequeue_divi_icons() {
    if ( ! is_admin() ) {
        wp_dequeue_style( 'et-icons-all' );
        wp_dequeue_style( 'et-icons-free' );
        wp_dequeue_style( 'et-icons-meta' );
    }
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'toptut_dequeue_divi_icons', 20 );

Generate Custom Divi CSS Without Writing It By Hand

Our free Divi CSS Snippet Generator outputs copy-paste ready CSS for buttons and headers.

Try the Free Divi CSS Generator →

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Divi website so slow?

Common causes include Static CSS generation being disabled, unoptimized images, and too many active plugins. Start with Divi Performance settings.

Does WP Rocket work well with Divi?

Yes — WP Rocket is the best caching plugin for Divi. Enable page caching, minify CSS/JS, defer non-critical JavaScript, and turn on lazy loading for images. Combined with Divi’s Static CSS generation, this combination is responsible for most of the mobile score improvements in my testing.

Will enabling Critical CSS break my Divi layout?

Occasionally, yes. Critical CSS extracts the above-the-fold styles and defers the rest, which can cause a brief flash of unstyled content on some layouts. If you see layout shifts after enabling it, disable Critical CSS and use Static CSS File Generation plus deferred jQuery instead. Those two give most of the same benefit with less risk.

What PageSpeed score should a Divi site aim for?

On mobile, a score of 70+ is competitive. 80+ is excellent for Divi specifically, given the framework overhead. Desktop scores above 90 are very achievable. Do not obsess over 100 — the practical SEO and UX difference between 85 and 100 is minimal. The biggest ranking impact comes from getting out of the 30s and 40s.

Is Divi faster than Elementor?

With optimization, they reach similar scores. Neither is inherently faster — performance depends on how you configure them and what hosting you use. Divi’s Static CSS generation and module disabling give it an edge when properly configured. An optimized Divi site on Cloudways with WP Rocket will outperform an unoptimized Elementor site on shared hosting every time.