couic or Imagify: unlimited optimization that never stores your images
Imagify, from the team behind WP Rocket, compresses your images on its cloud with a monthly quota measured in megabytes, 20 MB free, gone fast once you process a full media library. couic targets the same result, WebP and AVIF included, but with no meter: a flat price, unlimited in fair-use, and files that never sit on a third-party server.
Both services solve the same problem: images that are too heavy, slowing pages down and dragging on SEO. They part ways on two things that matter in daily use, how you're billed, and what happens to your files during optimization.
Imagify thinks in quotas: you pay for a volume of data processed each month, and the counter resets every cycle. couic thinks in flat subscription: €4.99 a month, optimize as much as you need. On a redesign, a catalog import, or years of photos to catch up on, the gap shows from the first session.
| Criterion | couic | Imagify |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | €4.99/month | Free 20 MB/mo, then subscription |
| Model | Unlimited (fair-use) | Monthly megabyte quota |
| WebP | Included | Included |
| AVIF | Included | Included |
| Where your images live | None, stateless, never kept | Processed on Imagify's cloud |
| Shared hosting | Yes (no exec() needed) | Yes (cloud) |
| WordPress plugin | Yes, dedicated plugin | Yes |
| API / automation | Yes, REST + MCP | API (no MCP) |
Why pick couic
- No megabyte quota: €4.99/month, unlimited, Imagify's counter no longer follows you.
- WebP and AVIF generated for every image, never locked behind a higher tier.
- Stateless: couic optimizes then forgets, where Imagify processes and routes through its cloud.
- Built for shared hosting without exec(), via the WordPress plugin or the REST API + MCP.
- The recompressed original stays reversible: the plugin keeps what it needs to restore the previous file.
What a megabyte quota really costs
A quota in megabytes feels generous until the day you re-optimize a whole site. A full-resolution product photo often weighs 3 to 5 MB; a few hundred visuals and the month's allowance is gone. Then comes the familiar choice: wait for the next cycle, or move up a tier.
couic takes that math off the table. Processed volume simply doesn't count, so migrating an entire site or cleaning up a neglected media library happens in one go, no gauge to watch, no quality to ration at month's end.
Your images don't sit on a third-party cloud
Imagify processes your files on its own infrastructure. couic is stateless: the image comes in, it's recompressed, the bytes go back out, nothing is kept. For a site handling client visuals, licensed photos or sensitive documents, that's a clear guarantee rather than a retention policy to decode.
The practical upshot: no copy to ask to be deleted, no export to claim if you switch tools. What leaves couic is your files, and they stay with you.
WebP and AVIF, on every image
Both tools generate next-gen formats. couic always produces a WebP and an AVIF version of each image, alongside the recompressed original, with no box to tick and no tier to unlock.
The plugin then serves the right format to each browser through a <picture> tag or an .htaccess rule. AVIF-capable visitors get AVIF, others get WebP, the oldest get the lighter original.
Moving from Imagify to couic
On the WordPress side, the couic plugin takes over: compression on upload, bulk processing of your existing library, WebP and AVIF generation, automatic delivery. No original is overwritten unless the returned version is both valid and smaller, a safeguard against any nasty surprise.
Compress without visible quality loss
The number-one fear when compressing is wrecking the image. couic offers three levels: "normal", visually lossless, where the eye sees no difference; "aggressive", to claw back a few more kilobytes; "ultra", when weight is what matters. The default stays conservative.
On every image, couic keeps the optimized version only if it's genuinely smaller, and the plugin keeps the original so you can roll back. You shed weight without gambling your media library.
Speed, Core Web Vitals and SEO
Lighter images mean a faster site first: LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), often an image, drops, and perceived performance improves. And speed has been a Google ranking signal since the Core Web Vitals.
Imagify and couic both aim for that. The difference is that with couic you get it with no monthly ceiling: the whole catalog can move to WebP and AVIF, not just this month's images.
Frequently asked questions
Is Imagify free?+
Imagify gives 20 MB per month, then moves to a quota-based subscription. couic offers a free public demo, then a €4.99/month Pro plan with unlimited fair-use optimization.
Does Imagify generate WebP and AVIF?+
Yes, both. So does couic, included on every image with no surcharge or tier.
What's a good Imagify alternative on shared hosting?+
couic is built for shared hosting without exec(): the plugin sends the image to the API and persists the files it gets back, running nothing locally.
Can you roll back after an optimization?+
Yes. couic only replaces an image when the optimized version is valid and smaller, and the plugin keeps what it needs to restore the original.
Does WordPress compress images automatically?+
WordPress resizes and lightly recompresses uploads, but it doesn't generate WebP or AVIF, and it doesn't aim for minimal weight. couic does: it recompresses the original and adds next-gen variants.
How do I reduce an image without losing quality?+
couic's "normal" level is visually lossless: it strips the superfluous (metadata, redundancy) without touching perceived rendering. To go further, "aggressive" and "ultra" trade a little quality for more weight savings.