How Much Does MonsterInsights Slow Down WordPress? We Measured It

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) - MakeWPFast

MonsterInsights is a WordPress plugin used on 2M+ sites. The best free Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. See how visitors find and use your website so you. Our 3-context benchmark shows it barely registers (+3ms TTFB on activation).

B+

Measured Speed Score

How is this scored?

Our Benchmark Methodology

Every speed score on MakeWPFast is based on real performance measurements, not estimates. We install each plugin on a clean WordPress 6.9 setup (PHP 8.3, MariaDB, GeneratePress theme) and measure two key metrics:

PHP Memory Usage — how much additional memory the plugin consumes per request. Each doubling of memory overhead costs 10 points. High memory usage can cause crashes on shared hosting and limits how many plugins you can safely run together.

Database Queries — how many extra SQL queries the plugin runs per page load. Each 10x increase in query overhead costs 25 points. More queries mean more database work, slower pages, and harder scaling.

The score uses a logarithmic scale — the first few extra queries or megabytes matter more than going from 100 to 110 queries. This reflects real-world impact: the jump from 4 to 14 queries is far more noticeable than 100 to 110.

Grade	Score	What it means
A	90–100	Negligible impact. Safe to install on any hosting.
A-	80–89	Very light impact. Minimal overhead on any setup.
B+ / B / B-	65–79	Light impact. Adds some overhead but manageable on most setups.
C+ / C / C-	50–64	Moderate impact. May noticeably slow down budget hosting.
D+ / D	35–49	Heavy impact. Will affect page load times. Consider alternatives.
F	0–34	Severe impact. Significant resource usage that hurts performance.

Plugins marked "Not Yet Tested" have not been benchmarked yet. We do not estimate or guess scores — if there is no measured data, there is no grade.

Note: Benchmarks measure a plugin in isolation on a clean install. Real-world impact varies based on your hosting, other plugins, and how the plugin is configured.

Context	TTFB	Memory	Queries
⚡Activation	+3 ms	+0 MB	+4
🏠Homepage	+3 ms	+2 MB	+4
⚙️WP Admin	+123 ms	+0 MB	+15

Low impact

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Plugin Overview

Active Installs2M+

Rating4.5/5 (3,137)

Tested Up ToWP 6.9.4

Requires PHP7.2+

Last UpdatedApr 22, 2026

Downloads260.7M+

Authorchriscct7

WP.orgView on WordPress.org

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MonsterInsights Speed Score - MakeWPFast

Performance Analysis

Performance Impact

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) receives an estimated speed score of A-. Our real benchmark tests measured the following impact when activating this plugin:

TTFB impact: +3 ms
Memory impact: +0.0 MB
Additional DB queries: +4

Overall activation impact: low. This plugin adds minimal overhead to your WordPress site.

Maintenance Status

Last updated: 2026-02-10. Requires PHP 7.2+. Trusted by 2.0M+ active installations.

Benchmark data measured in an isolated Docker environment (WordPress 6.8, PHP 8.3, GeneratePress). See our full methodology.

⚡

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Alternatives to MonsterInsights

Plugin	Speed Score	Active Installs
GTM4WP	A-	700K+
Header Footer Code Manager	A-	600K+
WP Statistics	A-	600K+

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the actual cost of running MonsterInsights?

Our 2026 benchmark recorded a +3ms TTFB increase and a memory delta of around 0MB on activation. The composite speed score of B+ is based on those measurements across three contexts.

Is MonsterInsights a good fit for high-traffic WordPress sites?

MonsterInsights earned a B+ on our composite scoring. With page caching (Cloudflare, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache), the +3ms TTFB delta we measured rarely shows up on cached responses — most visitors won't notice it.

Does MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) slow down WordPress?

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) has an estimated speed score of A-. It should have minimal impact on your site speed.

Is MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) still maintained?

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) was last updated on 2026-02-10. It has 2.0M+ active installations, indicating it is actively maintained and widely trusted.

What are the best alternatives to MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy)?

Check our plugin reviews in the Analytics category for alternatives. We compare plugins side-by-side on speed, features, and user ratings to help you find the best fit.