Page Cache vs Browser Cache

Page cache and browser cache solve different performance problems. Understanding the difference helps avoid configuration confusion.

Page cache

Page caching reduces how much server-side work is repeated for cacheable pages. It mainly affects how quickly the server can deliver prepared HTML.

Browser cache

Browser caching controls how long reusable assets can stay on a visitor's device. It mainly reduces repeat transfers for CSS, JavaScript, images and other static resources.

Why you often want both

The server benefits from doing less repeated application work, while the browser benefits from downloading fewer unchanged assets.

Where mistakes happen

Overly aggressive cache rules can serve stale content or interfere with personalized pages. Ecommerce, membership and logged-in areas need special attention.