To fight effectively against spam on a website, there is the captcha. This is a test that requires a user response before performing an action. It aims to differentiate humans from robots. It can take different forms, the most common are: a distorted text that is difficult to read that must be copied, an identification by image, or the reCaptcha which consists of checking a box “I am not a robot”. The captcha is used in strategic places on a site to counter malicious robots on: contact forms, comments or login forms. To set up a captcha on WordPress, it is necessary to add extensions. Here are 8 effective captcha plugins.
Table of Contents
8 WordPress plugins to add a captcha
- reCaptcha (Google Captcha)
- hCaptcha
- Captcha Bank
- Human Captcha
- Really Simple Captcha
- Login noCaptcha reCaptcha
- Captcha Code
- Captcha 4WD
reCaptcha (Google Captcha)
It is surely one of the most popular WordPress plugins, with over 200,000 active installs. It emerges as one of the best security solutions to help users protect their WordPress website from malicious bots.
The installation of the extension is quick and rather smooth, with clear instructions, even if they are only available in English for the free version.
Benefits
reCaptcha has an easy-to-use interface. It offers a wide range of themes and customization options for the user, particularly in terms of the appearance of the captcha on WordPress, its location or the version to activate.
It can be used to counter spam during logins, registration, password recovery, comments or on WordPress forms.
Users can also add custom code via CSS.
Price
It is available in a free version, but only in English. The French version of the plugin starts at $17.95 per year. This offers the possibility of coupling reCaptcha to the Contact form 7 form extension, for maximum security.
hCaptcha
hCaptcha combines over 10,000 active installs and claims to be the direct alternative to reCaptcha.
Benefits
This WordPress captcha ensures user privacy and offers a reliable and simple method of detecting robots. Its captcha is based on machine learning and determines real human interactions. In addition, it is available in countries where reCaptcha is not.
Price
The price of this extension is available on request. It has a free, feature-limited version.
Captcha banking
Captcha bank is a WordPress plugin that is also catching on with users, with over 10,000 active installs. With an excellent rating (4.3 stars), it is a must for WordPress captchas.
Its installation is done in a few clicks and it has a standard configuration.
Benefits
The Captcha Bank interface is intuitive, pleasant to use and offers useful explanations when setting it up.
It is a plugin that offers a great possibility of customization (even in the free version). It is, for example, possible to choose the type of captcha to submit (text captcha, logical captcha, reCaptcha), its language, its appearance and its location.
Price
This WordPress captcha plugin has a free or paid version (from €29.99).
Human Captcha
This extension is, of course, less known than the previous ones, but it is worth a look. With more than 1,000 downloads, however, it remains very effective in avoiding spam on websites.
Benefits
Human Captcha can be interesting to limit unnecessary data from robots. This plugin stands out from its competitors because it generates a question to the user that the site owner has to control behind his screen. The question can be fully customizable.
It’s also a very simple plugin, as the interface only consists of a single page and three possible locations for the captcha, with a list of questions.
Price
Human Captcha is available for free.
Really Simple Captcha
This WordPress captcha plugin is also among the most popular with 600,000 active installs. On the other hand, its use is only intended for contact forms and uses image captchas.
Benefits
Really Simple Captcha is very easy to use. It is possible to choose the theme and size of the captcha and can effectively fight against spam in forms.
It was originally created to complement the Contact Form 7 form extension, but can partner with other plugins.
Price
Really Simple Captcha is totally free.
Login noCaptcha reCaptcha
With more than 90,000 installations to its credit, Login noCaptcha reCaptcha is interesting for limiting spam on login pages.
It is simple and basic to install and use.
Benefits
This WordPress captcha has real efficiency regarding login pages. It acts as a shield to protect malicious bots from breaking into the website on behalf of the owner. It is also available in French and 8 other languages.
Price
Its version is free.
Captcha Code
Captcha Code is another anti-spam plugin for WordPress. It has been installed over 80,000 times and has an easy setup.
Benefits
It offers various features to counter spam on comments, lost password forms, registrations or even logins. Its captcha is in the form of a code to be transcribed. The user has the choice of the location to assign to it and can choose whether the code must be in numbers or in letters (uppercase or lowercase). It is a multilingual plugin.
Price
This extension is free.
Source: https://fr.wordpress.org/plugins/captcha-code-authentication/
Captcha 4WD
Captcha 4WD plugin has over 200,000 downloads. It claims to be the most powerful and easy-to-use anti-spam solution for WordPress.
Benefits
This extension makes it possible to protect from intrusive spams as well the comments, the connection, the passwords and the forms. Captcha 4WD can integrate with other extensions like Contact form 7, Mailchimp, BuddyPress, WooCommerce. Different types of captcha are available and customizable.
Price
This WordPress captcha plugin has a free version with limited functionality, or a paid version starting at $24.99 per year.
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