Not all plugins cost the same. Some categories are disproportionately likely to be the actual bottleneck.
Visual builders generate significantly more code than hand-built pages, and that overhead compounds across every page built with them.
Every installed plugin loads its own scripts on every page load, whether or not it's actually being used on that page.
Plugin quality varies enormously. A poorly built plugin from a small developer can cost more performance than several well-built ones combined.
Sites accumulate overlapping SEO plugins, overlapping caching plugins, or overlapping form plugins over time — each one adding overhead for functionality already covered elsewhere.
Rather than guessing, disable plugins one at a time and measure load time — this identifies the actual cost of each, rather than assuming based on plugin type alone.
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