Enabling Shifter Media CDN offers the benefits below. Please also review the trade-offs before deciding.
Benefits
1. Faster static generation
Because less asset (media file) data needs to be copied, static generation takes less time. Sites with a larger number of media files will notice the biggest improvement.
Here’s what this looks like with real data:
| Site | Page count | Processing speed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ~4,000 | 201% faster | No Shifter Media CDN |
| B | ~5,000 | 163% faster | With Shifter Media CDN |
| C | ~5,000 | No change | Very large media volume, Legacy Plan |
Site B, which uses Shifter Media CDN, saw its processing speed improve by 163%.
2. A better experience for site visitors
Media stays in a state where it’s always ready to be served, so it doesn’t need to wait for static generation to finish before it’s available. This means a smoother experience for visitors to your site.
Without Shifter Media CDN (HTML, Theme, and Media are all copied every time)
With Shifter Media CDN (only HTML and Theme are copied each time; Media stays ready to serve)
3. A smaller WordPress file size
Since media files are managed on the CDN side, the size of your WordPress installation itself stays smaller.
Trade-offs to Keep in Mind
1. Only available on certain plans
Shifter Media CDN is available only on the new Tier 1–3 plans. If you’re on a Legacy Plan, you’ll need to switch to a new plan to use it.
2. The benefit depends on your site’s makeup
If your site already has relatively little media and spends most of its processing time generating HTML, enabling Media CDN will only shorten things by a limited amount. The benefit is most noticeable on sites with a lot of media, where asset copying is the processing bottleneck.
Sites where HTML generation is the bottleneck (limited benefit from Media CDN)
Sites where asset copying is the bottleneck (Media CDN’s benefit is most noticeable here)
