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Lazy Load for Comments
Speed up your posts by lazy-loading the WordPress comments on scroll or click. Works with classic and block themes.
The facts
- Rating
- 4.7★ from 28
- Active installs
- 2k+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 22 Aug 2026
- Added
- Jul 2016
- Requires WP
- 6.0
- Tested up to
- WP 7.1
- Requires PHP
- 7.4
- Downloads
- 208,146
Our analysis
AI-assistedLazy Load for Comments is a WordPress plugin that optimises the loading of comments on your site. It defers the loading of comments until the user scrolls to the comments section or clicks a button, which can improve page load times and performance metrics.
This plugin is suitable for websites with extensive comment threads, as it works with both classic and block themes. It uses the WordPress REST API to fetch comments on demand, ensuring that SEO is not negatively impacted while reducing the number of HTTP requests made during page load.
Best for: Websites with long comment threads looking to improve load times.
What it does well
- ✓Defers comment loading for better performance
- ✓Compatible with classic and block themes
- ✓Uses the WordPress REST API for on-demand fetching
- ✓Customisable load-button text and style
- ✓No jQuery dependency, using vanilla JS
Where it falls short
- •Limited information on user experiences or specific use cases
Verdict
This plugin can be beneficial for enhancing performance on sites with heavy comment usage. Its features cater well to both developers and site owners aiming to optimise user experience.
From the developer
Joel James's own description of Lazy Load for Comments, lightly tidied.
Comments are heavy. A long thread can pull in dozens of avatars, gravatar lookups and reply scripts — all of which the browser downloads before the visitor has even reached them. Lazy Load for Comments defers all of that until the visitor either scrolls to the comments area or clicks a button.
The result: fewer HTTP requests, faster Largest Contentful Paint and a happier Lighthouse score, without changing how your comment template looks.
Version 2.0 is a complete rewrite. It uses the WordPress REST API to fetch the rendered comments on demand and works with both classic themes (comments_template()) and block themes (the core Comments block) out of the box.
Features
- Lazy-load comments on scroll, on button click, or turn the plugin off without deactivating it.
- Works with classic themes and block themes (the core Comments block).
- Loads comments inline for search engine crawlers, so indexing and SEO are not affected.
- Per-post cache of the rendered Comments block — REST renders stay fast.
- Minimum-comment-count threshold so short threads still render inline.
- Customisable load-button text, style and extra CSS classes.
- Clean React settings page under Comments → Lazy Load.
- No jQuery dependency. Front-end script is vanilla JS and intentionally small.
- Translation-ready. Hooks and filters available for further customisation.
Useful links
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