November 25, 2025
Cache me outside
Show HN: A WordPress plugin that rewrites image URLs for near-zero-cost delivery
WordPress plugin promises near‑free, faster pics—fans cheer while Cloudflare diehards say “just use Cloudflare”
TLDR: A plugin reroutes WordPress images through Cloudflare to make sites faster for almost no cost. The community split: praise for its simplicity vs. “just use Cloudflare” skeptics and warnings that an unlimited $2.99 plan could implode—important for anyone wanting cheaper, quicker pages without config pain.
A new WordPress plugin called Bandwidth Saver claims it can make images load faster and cost almost nothing by quietly rerouting picture links through Cloudflare’s global network. No setup headaches, a $2.99/month “unlimited” plan, and a free DIY route—on paper it’s dreamland. But the crowd didn’t just nod; they brought popcorn. One camp applauded the plugin’s do‑one‑thing‑well vibe, calling out bloated tools that try to be everything. Another camp cracked open the classic meme: “Isn’t this just Cloudflare?” With users pointing to Cloudflare’s own image transforms, some wondered if this plugin is just a friendly wrapper with a price tag.
Then came the drama bomb: unlimited. Commenters warned that one massive site could blow up that $2.99 plan, urging a cap like “per visitors” to keep it sustainable. Others shrugged, saying their clients already use Cloudflare for free and don’t need a middle layer. Still, the convenience crowd pushed back: setting up Cloudflare correctly is not a one‑click fairytale for everyone, and this tool’s “activate and go” promise has real appeal. Whether it’s a clever shortcut or training wheels for Cloudflare, the thread turned into a tug‑of‑war over simplicity vs DIY purity, with jokes about WordPress being the land of “one‑click or bust” and a side of speed‑obsessed memes. Read the docs at GitHub and decide your fighter.
Key Points
- •Bandwidth Saver rewrites WordPress image URLs to serve them via Cloudflare’s 300+ data centers for faster delivery.
- •Images are cached in Cloudflare R2 on first request; subsequent visitors receive images from the nearest edge server.
- •Managed mode costs $2.99/month with one-click setup; Self-Hosted mode uses the user's Cloudflare account, typically at $0 on the free tier.
- •A fallback mechanism ensures images load from the origin server if the CDN is unavailable.
- •The Cloudflare Worker powering the plugin is open source; the plugin collects no analytics, cookies, or visitor tracking data.