Performance Benchmarks
Introduction
This page provides real-world performance benchmarks for Fluent Community under various conditions and data volumes. These benchmarks help you understand what to expect as your community grows.
Live Demo
You can test the live benchmark site yourself: https://fluentcommunity-test1.wp1.site/
Test Environment
Server Configuration
Hosting Provider: xCloud Managed
Package: Growing - xCloud (Managed)
Monthly Cost: $30
Server Specifications:
- RAM: 4 GB
- Storage: 128 GB SSD
- vCPU: 2 Cores
- Bandwidth: 3 TB/month
- Location: US (New Jersey)
Software Stack:
- PHP Version: 8.1
- MySQL Version: 8.0.40
- WordPress Version: 6.7.1
- Web Server: Nginx
Network:
- Average Ping (from Asia): 38.65ms
Benchmark 1: Minimal Setup
Configuration
Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five (default WordPress theme)
Plugins:
- Fluent Community (free)
- Fluent Community Pro
Caching:
- Object Cache: ❌ Disabled
- Page Caching: ❌ Disabled
WordPress Content:
- Posts/CPT Count: 3 (default posts only)
Results
| # | Users | Posts | Post Reactions | Comments | Comment Reactions | All Feeds (ms) | Space Posts (ms) | Members Index (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 / 360 | 1.7 / 328 | 1.3 / 344 |
| 2 | 5,001 | 15,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 | 225,000 | 50.6 / 448 | 49.8 / 482 | 12.1 / 405 |
| 3 | 10,001 | 30,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 450,000 | 92.6 / 501 | 60.1 / 754 | 21.8 / 425 |
| 4 | 30,001 | 50,000 | 500,000 | 300,000 | 720,000 | 175 / 600 | 126.1 / 563 | 61.0 / 547 |
| 5 | 100,001 | 200,768 | 500,004 | 500,000 | 1,000,850 | 637 / 995 | 611.4 / 990 | 311.0 / 657 |
Response Time Explanation
Response times are shown as: Execution Time / Total Time
Example: 611.4 / 990
- 611.4ms - Server execution time (PHP + Database)
- 990ms - Total time including network latency + execution
What This Means:
- First number: How long the server took to process the request
- Second number: How long the user waited (includes network travel time)
Key Insights
Empty Community (Row 1):
- Lightning fast: ~1-2ms execution time
- Total response under 400ms (including network)
Small Community - 5K Users (Row 2):
- Execution time: ~50ms
- Total response: ~450ms
- Excellent performance with 15K posts and 300K reactions
Medium Community - 10K Users (Row 3):
- Execution time: ~60-93ms
- Total response: ~500-750ms
- Still very responsive with 30K posts and 600K reactions
Large Community - 30K Users (Row 4):
- Execution time: ~61-175ms
- Total response: ~547-600ms
- Good performance with 50K posts and 1.2M reactions
Very Large Community - 100K Users (Row 5):
- Execution time: ~311-637ms
- Total response: ~657-995ms
- Acceptable performance with 200K posts and 1.5M reactions
- Consider enabling Redis cache at this scale
Benchmark 2: Real-World Setup
Configuration
Theme: Kadence + Child Theme
Plugins:
- Fluent Community & Fluent Community Pro
- FluentCRM
- FluentSMTP
- FluentForms
- WooCommerce
- 1,000 Orders
- 30 Demo Products
- Associated order and product data
- LifterLMS (6 courses)
WordPress Content:
- Regular Posts: 286
- Published Pages: 10
Caching:
- Object Cache: ❌ Disabled
- Page Caching: ❌ Disabled
Results
| # | Users | Posts | Post Reactions | Comments | Comment Reactions | All Feeds (ms) | Space Posts (ms) | Members Index (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100,001 | 200,768 | 500,004 | 500,000 | 1,000,850 | 648 / 1190 | 577 / 1050 | 200.1 / 711 |
Key Insights
Impact of Additional Plugins:
- Execution time increased by ~11ms (637ms → 648ms)
- Total response time increased by ~195ms (995ms → 1190ms)
- Members index actually improved (311ms → 200ms)
Conclusion: Even with multiple heavy plugins (WooCommerce, LifterLMS, FluentCRM), the performance impact is minimal. The increase is primarily in network/overhead, not core execution.
Optimization Opportunity
With REST API Performance Tuning, you can reduce this overhead by loading only required plugins for API requests.
Performance Recommendations by Scale
Small Community (0-5,000 users)
Expected Performance:
- Execution time: <100ms
- Total response: <500ms
Recommended Setup:
- Basic VPS (2 CPU, 4GB RAM)
- No caching required
- Standard configuration
Medium Community (5,000-30,000 users)
Expected Performance:
- Execution time: 100-200ms
- Total response: 500-800ms
Recommended Setup:
- VPS (4 CPU, 8GB RAM)
- Redis object cache recommended
- Consider cloud storage for media
Large Community (30,000-100,000 users)
Expected Performance:
- Execution time: 200-400ms
- Total response: 600-1000ms
Recommended Setup:
- Dedicated server (8 CPU, 16GB RAM)
- Redis object cache required
- Cloud storage (S3/R2) required
- Consider CDN for static assets
Very Large Community (100,000+ users)
Expected Performance:
- Execution time: 400-700ms
- Total response: 800-1500ms
Recommended Setup:
- High-performance dedicated server (16+ CPU, 32GB+ RAM)
- Redis object cache required
- Cloud storage (S3/R2) required
- CDN required
- Consider database read replicas
- Implement REST API optimization
Optimization Impact
With Redis Object Cache
Expected improvements:
- Execution time: 30-50% faster
- Database queries: 60-80% reduction
- Memory usage: 20-30% reduction
Example:
- Before: 637ms execution
- After: 320-445ms execution (estimated)
With REST API Optimization
Expected improvements:
- Execution time: 40-60% faster
- Memory usage: 50-70% reduction
- Plugin load time: 80-90% reduction
Example:
- Before: 648ms execution (with 20+ plugins)
- After: 260-390ms execution (with 5-8 plugins)
With Both Optimizations
Expected improvements:
- Execution time: 60-75% faster
- Total response: 50-65% faster
- Server load: 70-80% reduction
Example:
- Before: 648 / 1190ms
- After: 160-260 / 420-595ms (estimated)
Testing Methodology
How We Measured
Tools Used:
- Chrome DevTools Network Inspector
- Server-side timing logs
- Multiple test runs for accuracy
Measurement Process:
- Clear all caches
- Make 5 identical requests
- Discard first request (warm-up)
- Average the remaining 4 requests
- Record both execution and total time
Timing Breakdown:
- Execution Time: Server-side PHP + Database processing
- Network Latency: Time for data to travel to/from server
- Total Time: Execution + Network (what user experiences)
Important Notes
Test Conditions
- Benchmarks conducted without live traffic
- Server configured with xCloud default settings
- No caching plugins configured
- Results may vary based on server location and network conditions
- Average of 5 requests taken for each measurement
Factors Affecting Performance
Server-Side:
- CPU speed and core count
- Available RAM
- Storage type (HDD vs SSD vs NVMe)
- Database optimization
- PHP version and configuration
Network-Side:
- Geographic distance to server
- Network quality and latency
- ISP routing
- CDN usage
Application-Side:
- Number of active plugins
- Theme complexity
- Caching configuration
- Database size and optimization
Try It Yourself
Visit our live benchmark site and test the performance:
Live URL: https://fluentcommunity-test1.wp1.site/
Test Data:
- 100,001 users
- 200,768 posts
- 500,004 post reactions
- 500,000 comments
- 1,000,850 comment reactions
Feel free to browse, search, and interact with the community to experience the performance firsthand!
Related Documentation
- Server Requirements - Recommended server configuration
- Performance Optimization - Advanced optimization techniques
- Database Schema - Understanding the database structure