BytCrush Image Compression

BytCrush is Warcal’s own image-compression engine, built into a WordPress plugin. It runs entirely on your own server, with no API keys, no monthly quotas and no images leaving your site.

• One click, whole library. Press “Optimize all images” and watch it work, with a live progress ring, savings counter and activity log. Pause and resume any time.
• Originals are never lost. Every file is backed up byte-for-byte before it is touched. Restore one image or your entire library with a click.
• Every size, not just the original. Thumbnails and every size WordPress or your theme generates are optimized too.
• WebP and AVIF, served automatically. Via <picture> tags that work on any host and CDN, or via server rewrite rules on Apache/LiteSpeed.
• Tuned for quality. EXIF rotation is applied before metadata is removed, colour profiles are preserved, JPEG quality is never raised above the source’s own, and a file is never replaced by a bigger one.
• Automatic. New uploads are optimized as soon as WordPress creates their sizes.

Best-practice defaults

• Balanced compression: JPEG 82 progressive with 4:2:0 chroma, lossless-max PNG, WebP 80 (the BytCrush engine’s recommended setting)
• Metadata stripped, colour profile kept
• Originals over 2560px scaled down
• WebP generated and served with picture tags
• Backups on, auto-optimize on
• Background optimization: click once and close the tab, and the whole library keeps optimizing on your server

BytCrush Pro (separate add-on)

Everything above is free and fully functional. BytCrush Pro is a separate paid plugin from Warcal that adds:

• Page speed audit: opens any page on a phone and a laptop, scores its images, explains every problem (late main image, oversized files, layout shift, missing WebP) and fixes it in one click, with no API keys
• Ultra compression level (palette PNGs)
• Smart target file size (100 / 200 / 500 KB presets), the BytCrush Auto-Compress algorithm

External services

Image optimization runs entirely on your own server. Your images are never uploaded anywhere.

This plugin uses Freemius for opt-in usage data, license activation and Pro upgrades. It connects to Freemius only when you:

• opt in on the welcome screen, which sends your site URL, WordPress and PHP versions, plugin version, and your name and email address;
• activate a license key or start the Pro trial, which sends the license key and your site URL;
• open the upgrade or pricing page, which loads the Freemius checkout.

If you skip the opt-in, nothing is sent until you choose to activate a license or upgrade. Freemius terms of service and privacy policy.