Jul 2014
Garage days
We started brave and ready to change the world. Our first slogan was "Make the Web smaller".
In July 2014, we launched our first version, an online service built around a straightforward API,
a queue system, and a few hardworking servers ready to process millions of images.
It didn’t take long to realize that an API alone wasn’t enough. Most people just wanted their images optimized
with as little effort as possible. Even a simple API still meant writing code, and that wasn’t ideal for everyone.
Nov 2014
Thinking business
Minding the gap, we changed our battle cry to "Speed up your website" and started finding ways for our API to meet users' needs. The first step was building a WordPress plugin: the ShortPixel Image Optimization plugin. It uses our API behind the scenes to automatically optimize images on WordPress sites, without any extra work.
We released our first public beta version of the plugin in November 2014, and that was the launch of our image optimization service.
We owe a huge "thank you" to many of our customers for their early days feedback which ranged from an iconic "Your f***ing plugin broke my site!", to details about their exact needs or heartwarming "Awesome plugin!" feedback messages.
All this has helped us greatly in tailoring our service to your needs, and it still does, because every opinion or request our customers send us counts.
We have also developed an online demo that allows you to check your web pages for unoptimized images and see how much you would gain with our service,
Online Image Compression Tool.
Apr 2015
Growing up
On April 1st, 2015 (no joke), we launched the first paid version of our service.
As more people started using the ShortPixel Image Optimization plugin, we had to scale things up,
adding more powerful servers to handle all kinds of WordPress setups, plugins, and custom code.
From the beginning, we chose to offer the same level of support to everyone, whether they use the free service or a paid plan.
In 2016, we released a PHP client library, followed by a more flexible tool in 2017,
ShortPixel Website Optimizer, making it easy to optimize images on any PHP-based website.
We also built a command line interface, so images can be optimized locally or automatically through scheduled tasks,
without manual intervention.
You can explore all of these, and more, on our Products page.
2018
Stacking more services
In 2018, we launched a new service called ShortPixel Adaptive Images.
Building on the success of image optimization, we started offering a new service that aims to provide images scaled as close as possible to the pixel size
that is needed on each page and on each device, while also improving the delivery of the optimized images via CDN.
2022
By the numbers
More than eight years later, we’ve optimized over 9 billion images for more than 500,000 customers,
including nearly 400,000 plugin users. Along the way, we’ve handled over 80,000 support requests, making sure every customer gets help quickly, any time of the day.
2024
reSmush.it joins ShortPixel
In 2024, we acquired reSmush.it, one of the most popular free image optimization tools.
This helps us expand what we offer and continue supporting both free and paid users.
We’re committed to keeping reSmush.it free, while working on new improvements and features.
2026
Still going strong
As of 2026, we’ve optimized over 33 billion images and continue to grow.
Our WordPress plugins have reached more than 1.1 million active installs,
helping websites around the world stay fast and efficient.
