Preload
W3C, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United StatesThe rel="preload" attribute on 
HTML <link> elements instructs web browsers to fetch important resources early before they are requested during page rendering.
It is commonly used to prioritize fonts, stylesheets, scripts, images, and other critical assets, helping reduce render delays and improve page loading performance.
According to our data, Preload is the 4th most popular performance optimization technology on the web.
It has 35.4% of the performance optimization market share and is present on 20.4% of all websites.
- 🏠 Website
- 🔗 Links
Wikipedia
developer.mozilla.org📊 Rankings and Market Share
- Performance Optimization
- Rank: 4
- Market share: 35.4%
- Standards
- Rank: 9
- Market share: 22.6%
🏆 Preload Awards
- 🥈 Second most popular in Germany in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Indonesia in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Austria in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Cambodia in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Uzbekistan in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Mongolia in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Reunion in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in Liechtenstein in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in the Cayman Islands in the Performance Optimization category.
- 🥈 Second most popular in the Maldives in the Performance Optimization category.
⚡ Sites Using Preload
We have data on 741,218 websites that use Preload performance optimization technology. Here is a list of some of the top ranked ones.
The highest rated site using Preload is 
facebook.com.
| # | Website | Rank | Country | Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | facebook.com |
#2 | United States | English |
| 2 |  microsoft.com |
#3 | United States | American English |
| 3 |  youtube.com |
#4 | United States | English |
| 4 |  instagram.com |
#5 | United States | English |
| 5 |  x.com |
#12 | United States | English |
| 6 |  github.com |
#13 | United States | English |
| 7 |  pinterest.com |
#15 | United States | English |
| 8 | #16 | United States | American English | |
| 9 |  tiktok.com |
#18 | China | English |
| 10 | #19 | United States | English | |
| 11 |  cloudflare.com |
#20 | United States | English |
| 12 |  spotify.com |
#22 | Sweden | English |
| 13 |  vimeo.com |
#23 | United States | English |
| 14 | #24 | English | ||
| 15 | #26 | United States | English | |
| 16 | #29 | United States | American English | |
| 17 |  dropbox.com |
#35 | United States | English |
| 18 |  twitch.tv |
#42 | United States | English |
| 19 |  linktr.ee |
#44 | Australia | English |
| 20 |  paypal.com |
#45 | United States | American English |
📈 Usage Statistics
Most of the sites that use Preload:
- are located in the United States
- have content in English
- use the .com domain extension
- fall into the Business category.
Most of the sites using Preload are from the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
- United States 21.3%
- Germany 7.6%
- United Kingdom 6.2%
- France 4.9%
- Netherlands 3.6%
- Spain 3.5%
- Australia 3.2%
- Japan 3.1%
- Italy 3.1%
- Other 43.5%
Most Preload users speak English, German, or Spanish.
- English 55.4%
- German 6.8%
- Spanish 5.3%
- French 4.5%
- Japanese 2.6%
- Portuguese 2.5%
- Dutch 2.5%
- Italian 2.4%
- Russian 2.3%
- Other 15.7%
Preload performance optimization technology is especially popular on .com and .org top-level domains.
- .com 46.5%
- .org 5.3%
- .de 4.4%
- .net 2.3%
- .co.uk 2.3%
- .nl 2%
- .com.au 1.9%
- .fr 1.8%
- .it 1.7%
- Other 31.8%
The primary market segments for websites utilizing Preload include business, online shopping, and blogs and wiki.
- Business 16.7%
- Online Shopping 12.6%
- Blogs/Wiki 5.7%
- Internet Services 5.1%
- Education/Reference 4.7%
- Marketing/Merchandising 4.7%
- Entertainment 3.5%
- Health 3.2%
- General News 3.1%
- Other 40.7%
🕵️ Similar Technologies
These are some of the best Preload alternatives.
🆚 Compare Alternatives
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💬 Frequently Asked Questions
What is the company behind Preload?
Preload is owned by World Wide Web Consortium, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
Which country uses Preload the most?
The majority of Preload users are from the United States.
Who uses Preload?
According to our data, Preload is used on thousands of sites, including facebook.com, microsoft.com, and youtube.com.
Is Preload used on government websites?
In total, we found Preload on 408 government sites in the United States.
Do academic institutions use Preload?
Yes, quite a few! Overall, we know of 1,067 academic websites in the United States that use Preload.
How does Preload stack up against its competitors?
Preload is one of the most popular performance optimization technologies, second only to DNS Prefetch, ⏳ Lazy loading, and Preconnect.
What are the alternatives to Preload?
Alternatives and possible competitors to Preload may include DNS Prefetch, Preconnect, and 
Speculation Rules.
👉 See Also
🗃️ About This Data
- We evaluate the popularity of technologies based on the number of websites where we detect their usage.
- Technologies without a detectable web footprint, and those we do not track, are not reflected in the calculated market share.
- This report is based on the analysis of 3,629,123 websites.
- Statistics were last calculated on .
- For more details, see our methodology and disclaimer.