Description
At a glance
Speculative Loading v1.7.0 — free WordPress plugin download. Key facts: 70K+ active installs · 5/5 rating from 18 reviews · updated August 26, 2026 · requires WordPress 6.9+ & PHP 7.4+.
This plugin adds support for the Speculation Rules API, which allows defining rules by which certain URLs are dynamically prefetched or prerendered. This core Speculative Loading functionality was merged into WordPress 6.8, but it only prefetches with conservative eagerness by default. In contrast, this plugin defaults to prerendering with moderate eagerness (i.e. when interacting with a link), and it provides a user interface to customize the mode and eagerness via the “Speculative Loading” section on the Settings > Reading admin screen.
By default, speculative loading is only enabled for logged-out users, since unauthenticated pages are typically only eligible for caching and so more efficient to prefetch/prerender. This means that sites with frequent logged-in users on the frontend—such as e-commerce, forums, or membership sites—will not benefit from the feature. If your server can handle the additional load (for example, with persistent object caching), you can opt in to enable speculative loading for all logged-in users or for administrators only. This setting exclusively affects frontend pages; admin screens are always excluded.
A filter can be used to exclude certain URL paths from being eligible for prefetching and prerendering (see FAQ section). Alternatively, you can add the no-prerender CSS class to any link (<a> tag) that should not be prerendered. See FAQ for more information.
Browser support
The Speculation Rules API is a new web API, and the functionality used by the plugin is supported in Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome, Edge, or Opera using version 121 or above. Other browsers such as Safari and Firefox will ignore the functionality with no ill effects; they will simply not benefit from the speculative loading. Note that certain browser extensions may disable preloading by default.
- Browser support for the Speculation Rules API in general
- Information on document rules syntax support used by the plugin
This plugin was formerly known as Speculation Rules.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I download Speculative Loading?
Speculative Loading 1.7.0 is the latest version. It is a WordPress plugin you can download here free of charge under the GPL license, with the complete feature set included and no trial limitations. It holds a 5/5 rating from 18 user reviews.
Does Speculative Loading cost anything?
No. Speculative Loading 1.7.0 is 100% free — the full GPL version, not a trial or demo. There are no download limits, no accounts to create, and no upsells during the download.
How do I install Speculative Loading 1.7.0?
Download the ZIP file from this page, then in your WordPress dashboard go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the file, click Install Now, then Activate. The plugin works immediately after activation — no license key or extra setup is required for the core features.
What are the requirements for Speculative Loading?
Speculative Loading 1.7.0 requires WordPress 6.9 or higher and PHP 7.4 or higher. Most modern WordPress hosts already meet these versions. Running older versions may cause features to break, so update WordPress and PHP first if your site is behind.
When was Speculative Loading last updated?
Version 1.7.0 was last updated on August 26, 2026. This page is refreshed automatically, so the download here always matches the newest version we have verified.
Is the Speculative Loading download safe?
The file is sourced directly from the official WordPress.org repository — the same file the developer published. It is served unmodified, so what you install here is byte-identical to the official release.
Version: 1.7.0
Updated: October 1, 2026
Technical details
| Version | 1.7.0 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | August 26, 2026 |
| Active installs | 70,000+ |
| Rating | ★★★★★ 5/5 (18 reviews) |
| Requires WordPress | 6.9 or higher |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 or higher |
| Author | WordPress Performance Team |
| Tags | javascript, performance, prefetch, prerender, speculation-rules |
Demo Speculative Loading
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