Do you want a captcha plugin to stop spam bots on your WordPress site?
Captcha is easy to add to your website and helps keep bots out. They won’t be able to submit spam content, spam comments, or fraudulent form entries on your WordPress site. So you reduce your admin work and keep your comments and form submissions clean.
In this guide, you’ll find the best WordPress captcha plugins that make it easy to implement captcha on your site.
What is Captcha for WordPress?
Captcha is a way to stop spam and make your WordPress website more secure. It stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
It is typically used in any areas where users can submit an input such as WordPress login forms, registration forms, comment sections, and contact forms.
The captcha challenge often involves tasks that are easy for humans to complete but difficult for automated scripts to solve. This could be typing distorted characters, selecting images, or solving simple puzzles.
Aside from stopping spam, the main purposes of captcha include:
- Enhanced Security: Adds a layer of protection and enhances the overall security of your website, protecting it from unwanted automated activities.
- User Authentication: Can be used in login forms to ensure that only legitimate users with human-like interactions gain access to restricted areas of the website.
- Form Protection: Safeguards various forms on your site like password reset, checkout, and contact forms, ensuring that submissions are made by real users rather than malicious bots.
When choosing a WordPress captcha plugin, you want to pick one that’s easy to set up and use. It ideally should have a set-and-forget configuration where you set it up once and it runs on its own.
You also want to be sure the pricing fits your budget. There are also plenty of free options out there.
Now let’s check out the best plugins to add Captcha to your site.
Best WordPress Captcha Plugins
1. WPForms
WPForms is the best WordPress form builder and is also the best way to add captcha features to your site. It has over 6+ million active installations making it the most popular among contact form plugins.
First, you can create all sorts of forms for your site. This includes contact, login, registration, lost password forms, or even surveys and polls. All of them can be created effortlessly from your WordPress dashboard.
There’s a drag and drop visual builder so you can customize the form fields, submit button, and add/edit elements as needed.
Every form you generate with WPForms includes automatic spam protection. There’s a built-in anti-spam honeypot feature. This creates a hidden field that only bots can see. If this field is filled out, WPForms marks the submission as spam. So it acts like a trap to catch sneaky bots.
Coming to the captcha features, WPForms seamlessly integrates with Google reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha. Turning on captcha is super simple – just a few clicks, and you’re good. No coding needed.
By enabling reCAPTCHA, users will need to check a box to confirm they are not robots before submitting a form. If you don’t want to disturb the user’s experience, WPForms keeps things user-friendly here. You can use an invisible captcha that works in the background, making sure users are real without bothering them.
You can also add a custom captcha field to your forms. This is like creating a puzzle that only humans can solve. Users would be asked to type in letters or numbers, adding an extra layer of verification.
Now setting up is super easy even if you’re brand new to this. You need to register for captcha on Google and get your API keys (a site key and secret key). Then you need to paste those keys in WPForms and save the settings. Follow this tutorial for step-by-step instructions on that: How to Add Captcha.
In the same settings area, you can customize the message if the user fails the captcha challenge. One feature worth noting is the no-conflict mode. If there are issues with other plugins, WPForms has a mode that helps avoid conflicts.
Once captcha is enabled in the settings, you can add it to any form you create with WPForms.
Then you’ll see the badge appear in your form like so:
WPForms is perfect for beginners. You can customize forms with templates, change buttons, set notifications, and make forms smart without any hassle. See our complete WPForms Review for more details.
Learn how to use WPForms here »
We recommend using Captcha along with one of the best WordPress security plugins that will protect your website round the clock.
2. Google reCAPTCHA
Google reCAPTCHA is a plugin built by Google that adds an extra layer of security to your WordPress site.
It checks if a visitor is human with simple tasks, like clicking a checkbox. It’s easy for us, but a real puzzle for robots. This way, you don’t have to worry about unwanted visitors messing with your site. Your visitors simply check a box, and the security magic happens behind the scenes.
Google reCaptcha has 3 versions (all supported within WPForms):
- v2 Checkbox reCAPTCHA: Prompts users to check a box to prove they’re human.
- v2 Invisible reCAPTCHA: Uses advanced technology to detect real users without requiring any input.
- v3 reCAPTCHA: Uses a behind-the-scenes scoring system to detect abusive traffic, and lets you decide the minimum passing score. Recaptcha V3 is recommended for advanced use only (or if using Google AMP).
The easiest way to add Google ReCAPTCHA on your site is to combine it with WPForms. In the WPForms settings in your dashboard, click on the “reCAPTCHA” tab, and you’ll see options to connect with Google reCAPTCHA. Just follow the simple onscreen steps to get your site connected.
Get started with Google reCAPTCHA »
3. hCaptcha
hCaptcha adds an extra layer of defense, ensuring that the visitors interacting with your site are genuine humans and not pesky automated programs.
They have a free WordPress plugin available in the plugin repository.
First, you need to sign up for an account on hCaptcha.com. Then install the plugin on your WordPress site. Navigate to Settings » hCaptcha menu and enter your site key and secret key.
It’s that simple.
hCaptcha comes in 2 options: free and pro. The free version gives you basic captcha on your site to stop bots and prevent different types of trouble.
hCaptcha Pro uses advanced machine learning that reduces the challenge rate and friction caused by captcha for users. So you get top-notch security with less interruptions in the user experience. Plus, you get cool extras like customizing how it looks.
hCaptcha complies with privacy laws in every country, including GDPR, LGPD, CCPA, and more.
It works seamlessly with all popular form builders including WPForms, Formidable Forms, Ninja Forms, and Forminator. It also works with page builders like Divi, Avada, and Beaver Builder.
Other plugins and eCommerce platforms you can integrate with include Mailchimp, BuddyPress, MemberPress, Brevo, WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and LearnDash.
4. CAPTCHA 4WP
CAPTCHA 4WP is a free WordPress plugin to protect your site with captcha. It protects both forms and login pages from spam and automated attacks.
You can choose from multiple reCAPTCHA versions like V2 (I’m not a robot), V2 Invisible, and V3 noCAPTCHA.
There’s a user-friendly wizard to set this up on your site with ease. Even if you’re a beginner, you can do this without any hassle.
A feature worth noting is that it automatically detects visitors’ language and shows captcha in that language
There’s a premium version that comes with additional features and integrations like:
- One-click integration with WooCommerce
- One-click integration with Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WPForms, BuddyPress & other plugins
- Add captcha from hCaptcha and Cloudflare Turnstile on your websites
- CAPTCHA checks text, visual and position customization options
Get started with CAPTCHA 4WP »
5. Really Simple Captcha
Really Simple Captcha is a WordPress plugin designed to enhance the security of your website forms by adding a CAPTCHA challenge.
Once the plugin is activated, you can generate a captcha. Then the plugin creates two files for it. The first one is the image file of captcha, and the other is a text file that stores the correct answer to the captcha.
Keep in mind the plugin does not work on its own, it needs to work with another plugin. Originally, it was created for Contact Form 7 but it works with other plugins as well.
For visitors interacting with your forms, Really Simple Captcha gives them challenges like typing in displayed letters or solving simple puzzles.
These tasks are easy for humans but challenging for automated bots, ensuring the authenticity of form submissions.
Get started with Really Simple Captcha »
6. Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA
Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA is a simple WordPress plugin to add a Google No Captcha ReCaptcha checkbox to your WordPress site. You can add it to the login, forgot password, and user registration pages.
This reCAPTCHA plugin is designed to be easy to install and use. It’s also compatible with different WordPress configurations.
Added to this, it supports 10 languages as well. With this functionality, you can make sure users from differents parts of the globe can fill out the captcha in their own language.
Get started with Login No Captcha reCAPTCHA »
That’s it! We hope you liked our list of the best captcha plugins for WordPress. With a captcha solution in place, your website is now better protected from hackers and spammers.
Up next, we answer frequently asked questions on captcha for WordPress.
FAQs on WordPress Captcha Plugins
What is a WordPress Captcha plugin?
A WordPress captcha plugin is a tool designed to prevent automated spam submissions on online forms, such as comment forms. It involves the use of challenges that only humans can solve, thus stopping bots from submitting forms.
Can Captcha plugins be integrated with bbPress forums?
Yes, many captcha plugins offer compatibility with bbPress. You can also use a tool like Uncanny Automator to connect bbPress to your forms plugin like WPForms.
Can Captcha plugins defend against brute force attacks?
Yes, captcha plugins act as a defense mechanism against brute force attacks by requiring users to solve challenges. This makes automated login attempts more difficult.
Does Captcha affect SEO?
Captcha does not have any direct impact on SEO, especially on login pages, comment sections, and forms. However, hiding content behind captchas could affect user experience and thus affect SEO.
Should I use Captcha for my WooCommerce login?
Yes, it’s a good idea to add captcha as it adds an extra layer of security, reducing the risk of unauthorized access to customer accounts. These accounts customer accounts usually contain sensitive information. Using a captcha helps ensure that only legitimate users can access this information.
Keep in mind the difficult type of captcha, especially distorted characters, image captcha, math captcha, or puzzle captcha, can create friction in the user experience. It’s essential to balance security measures with a smooth and user-friendly login process.
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These guides reveal more of the best plugins you need to grow your site.