Do you want to know the best WordPress security plugins for your site? Are you looking for the best WordPress protection tools? Then you’ve landed on the right page.
In today’s digital world, the threat of cyberattacks is always there. Hackers constantly seek opportunities to exploit website vulnerabilities, often aiming to steal valuable data or sell compromised sites. So, maintaining your site’s integrity is crucial.
We’re here to guide you through safeguarding your WordPress site. In this article, we’ll introduce some of the top WordPress security plugins to help you defend against potential threats. Let’s start!
Why Do You Need a WordPress Security Plugin?
Site security is not something you can look down on, while creating a WordPress website. According to Security Week, about 1% of total websites are hacked weekly. The average website can get attacked up to 44 times every day.
There are many ways to get access to a website, ranging from Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks to brute force attacks. And in today’s world, anyone can find a script that does these attacks for them on the internet. Read our Site Security Guide to avoid hackers.
If your website gets hacked, then you’ll lose all your login credentials, data, and users’ information. Your website can also be turned into a virus vendor on the internet. This will cause Google to blacklist your website and you won’t be able to recover your website.
That’s where we come in. You’ll need a WordPress security plugin to protect yourself from the above consequences.
So without any delay, let’s check out the best security plugins for WordPress.
Above All, Secure Web Hosting is a Must for Security!
We can’t stress enough how important quality web hosting is for your website to be secure. Even if you add all the security plugins on your website, it’s only as secure as the server hosting is.
We would advise you to have a WordPress host that has built-in security measures, like Nexcess or Cloudways.
Nexcess is a managed WordPress hosting provider with robust protection from the SolidWP plugin. The plugin automatically performs scans for any vulnerable activity, monitors for any suspicious activity, and more.
Similarly, Cloudways comes with an OS-level dedicated firewall and in-built bot protection. Hence, they’ll protect your website from traffic congestion like brute force logins, and DDoS attacks.
Having a secure host is also important because, if any of the websites on the same server as you get DDoSed, your website will go down as well. Hence, we advise you to take up cloud hosting like Cloudways and Kinsta. They’re more secure than the other types of hosting.
Using CDN (Content Delivery Network), which is a cloud-based network will also enhance your security. They provide SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate that encrypts your data and grants you privacy. Not only that, but they also help make your website faster.
If you still don’t know which type of hosting to take, check out our guide on Types of Web Hosting. After that, make sure to check out the best web hosting services for your site.
21 Best WordPress Security Plugins and Tools 2024
1. Wordfence
Wordfence is the most popular free WordPress security plugin with 5+ million active installs. It provides your website with a strong firewall. A firewall filters requests coming to your website identifies and terminates bad requests and keeps your website secure.
Not only that, Wordfence has an in-built scan tool that scans your website for any malicious code. Although it comes with large file sizes, the security it brings is top-notch.
However, we advise you not to turn on the firewall for a week. Wordfence has a new way of machine learning that helps it identify good requests and bad requests. It might terminate good requests if you use the firewall instantly.
Key Features:
- Large database of websites that help in its identification of bad requests.
- It checks your site for known security vulnerabilities and alerts you if any issues arise.
- Provides real-time malware signature updates via the Threat Defense Feed.
- You can block logins for administrators and others who are using known compromised passwords.
- It has an option that allows you to block a user by their IP or country.
Pricing:
Wordfence is a freemium WordPress plugin. The free version is available in the WordPress.org repository. Hence, you can install it directly from your WordPress dashboard.
However, you can upgrade to the premium version for better functionality. It’s available with the following plans:
- Premium – $119/year, real-time threat intelligence, and premium support.
- Care – $490/year, Premium features, monitoring, and hands-on support.
- Response – $950/year, Care features, 1 hour response time, and 24/7/365 support.
Find the best Wordfence alternatives here!
2. Sucuri Security
One of the best web security plugins Sucuri Security is very useful, especially for eCommerce websites. That’s because Sucuri has a strong Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack prevention. It prevents downtime for eCommerce websites and avoids a heavy loss.
It does have regular scans available for your website. What’s interesting is that this is a cloud-based security plugin. So, hackers will have a hard time getting through its security.
Sucuri is also a relatively old company with lots of experience in the security side of things so they are very trustworthy. It also has automatic cloud backup and code cleanup.
Key Features:
- Comes with automated hacker tools that stop brute force attacks and password cracking.
- Monitor and alert you to any changes in your DNS records, SSL certificate, or security misconfiguration.
- Check all files on the server for signs of malware to find backdoors, phishing pages, spam, DDoS scripts, and more.
- Helps you discover signs of SEO spam before Google and other search engines do via SEO spam scanner.
Pricing:
Sucuri Security is a free WordPress plugin that you can download directly from the WordPress.org directory.
Similarly, it comes with the following premium plan solutions:
- Basic – $199.99/year, 1 site, 30 hours malware removal SLA, every 12 hours security scan, etc.
- Pro – $299.99/year, Basic features, 12 hours malware removal SLA, every 6 hours security scan, etc.
- Business – $499.99/year, Pro features, 6 hours malware removal SLA, every 30 minutes security scan, etc.
- Junior Dev – $999.99/year, 5 websites, Business features, 12 hours malware removal SLA, every 6 hours security scan, etc.
3. Solid Security
Solid Security (previously iThemes Security) is yet another widely used free WordPress security plugin available. It has a unique feature like no other which is the “Away” mode. It blocks all access to the admin area when you’re not around. That’s a clever way to combat hackers.
Other than that, SolidWP tracks bots that send constant requests to your website and block them. It also has in-built regular website scans.
Moreover, the plugin is easy to install and use, and has Google reCAPTCHA and basic brute force attack protection. Let’s look at its features.
Key Features:
- Allows you to permanently block repeat offenders from accessing your site.
- Conducts twice-daily checks for known vulnerabilities of WordPress core files, plugins, and themes.
- You can create and enforce a password policy for your users in less than a minute.
- Helps you to identify the devices you and other users use to block session hijacking attacks.
- It keeps a record of user activity in your WordPress security logs, including login/logout, user registration, switching themes, and more.
Pricing:
You can download the free version of the Solid Security plugin from the official WordPress plugins directory.
However, if you want to unlock more features, then you can upgrade to its pro version where some of the pricing plans are:
- $59.4/year for 1st year, $99/year, and license for 1 site.
- $119.4/year for 1st year, $199/year, and license for 5 sites.
- $174.9/year for 1st year, $299/year, and license for 10 sites.
- $239.9/year for 1st year, $399/year, and license for 25 sites.
Check out the detailed SolidWP review including its Solid Security features.
4. MalCare Security
MalCare Security is a popular website security plugin that keeps your website secure without slowing it down. It makes sure that you achieve peace of mind and focus on growing your business without worrying about your website security.
It provides you with a free web application WordPress firewall that provides real-time protection for your site against the latest threat. Besides, it helps you get rid of both hackers and bots before they harm your site.
Similarly, it allows you to view infected or hacked files that are present on your WordPress site. So that, you can learn and find out which themes, plugins, or others files have been infected.
Key Features:
- Provides free cloud-based malware scanning that detects complex malware to ensure no impact on your site.
- Offers Captcha-based login protection that automatically prevents brute force attacks.
- You can easily restrict access to users based on their geographical location or block all visitors from certain countries.
- Allows you to configure and practice WordPress recommended security protocols with just one click from within your dashboard.
- It notifies you every time when your WordPress site goes down and performs checks to ensure no loss of visitors.
Pricing:
MalCare Security plugin is a freemium WordPress plugin that comes in both free and premium versions. You can download its free version from WordPress.org’s official plugin repository.
Whereas, its premium version comes in three plans with prices based on the number of sites. They are:
- Plus: $149/year for 1 website, $799/year for 10 websites, login protection, bot protection, etc.
- Pro: $299/year for 1 website, $1499/year for 10 websites, sandbox updates, Plus features, etc.
- Max: $499/year for 1 website, $2999/year for 10 websites, hourly backups, Pro features, etc.
5. WP fail2ban
Among the best plugins to combat one of the deadliest attacks, WP fail2ban does it well. And that is brute force attacks. Brute force attacks are one of the simplest as well as the deadliest. A hacker will force their way into your website using password registries.
Usually, you’d combat brute force attacks with several layers of protection, i.e. using multiple logins. But, WP fail2ban has a different approach to solving this problem. This plugin records all types of logins and identifies which IP (Internet Protocol) addresses are authentic.
Then, you can issue a hard ban or a soft ban on any IP address that’s not authentic. A soft ban is a temporary ban that prevents IP addresses from accessing your website. A hard ban is a permanent ban if you are sure to deny the person complete access to your website permanently through the ban.
Key Features:
- You can choose between hard and soft bans.
- High integrations with servers like Cloudflare.
- Makes sure to filter any empty username login attempts.
- You can block attackers from any country.
Pricing:
WP fail2ban is a completely free WordPress security plugin. You can easily download this plugin from the official plugin directory of WordPress.org.
6. All in One WP Security & Firewall
With more than one million downloads, the All in One WP Security & Firewall is one of the top WordPress security plugins you can get for free. As the name suggests, this plugin does everything in itself.
The plugin has scans, backups, and basically everything that a security plugin can have. It combines a lot of tools to make them available for you on your dashboard. It’s also fast, user-friendly, and easy to use.
This is a plugin for beginners as it doesn’t have any specialization in security. It has all the tools you need to get started with security plugins. But keep in mind to read every configuration’s explanation before you apply it.
Key Features:
- Lets you add custom rules to block access to various resources of your site.
- Automatically lockout IP address ranges that attempt to login with an invalid username.
- You can ban users by specifying IP addresses or using a wild card to specify IP ranges.
- Allows you to easily backup your original .htaccess and wp-config.php files to restore broken functionality.
- You can add Google reCaptcha or basic maths captcha to the forgot password form of your login system.
Pricing:
All in One WP Security & Firewall plugin is free to use and can be downloaded from WordPress.org.
Advanced capabilities are present in its premium version which has the following pricing plans:
- Personal: $70/year for up to 2 websites.
- Business: $95/year for up to 10 websites.
- Agency: $145/year for up to 35 websites.
- Enterprise: $195/year for unlimited websites.
7. Hide My WP Ghost
Hide My WP Ghost is a great and easy-to-use security plugin for WordPress. It allows you to protect your website against scripts and SQL injections, brute force attacks, XML-RPC attacks, XSS, etc.
In addition, it changes and hides WP common paths, admin & login paths, plugin paths, and theme paths, protecting your site from hacker bots. In fact, it doesn’t physically alter the files and directories. The changes are done using server rewrite rules, ensuring no influence on SEO or speed.
Key Features:
- Features Math CAPTCHA, Google reCAPTCHA, IP blacklisting, and IP whitelisting for brute force protection.
- Lets you monitor user actions, logins, content changes, plugin updates, suspicious actions, etc.
- It can send email notifications about potential security threats, unauthorized access, and more.
- Provides website health overview with suggestions to improve the website security.
- Integrates with different WordPress plugins, including WPML, WP Forms, WP Rocket, etc.
Pricing:
HMWP Ghost is a freemium WordPress security plugin. You can easily download it for free from WordPress.org and upload it to your website.
Further, additional features are available on the different pricing plans of its premium version:
- Ghost 1: $29/mo, $97/year, 1 website, and all paid features.
- Ghost 5: $52.5, $97/year, 5 websites, and all paid features.
- Ghost 10: $90, $209/year, 10 websites, and all paid features.
- Ghost All: $192, $448/year, unlimited websites, and all paid features.
8. SiteGuard
SiteGuard is another WordPress plugin to improve website security. It focuses on monitoring and securing websites from brute force attacks on login pages through instant protection and management capabilities.
Moreover, this plugin automatically scans for malware. If malware is found, then it gets instantly removed from your website files. Suppose your website gets hacked or has malware. Then, Google removes your site from the search engine until it gets fixed.
Key Features:
- It renames the login page so that there is reduction of illegal login attempts.
- Using CAPTCHA, there can be significant reduction of login attempts and spam.
- You can get notified about unauthorized login on your email address.
- Also, you can receive notifications on WordPress core, plugins, and themes updates.
- By disabling the pingback function, it prevents the abuse of continuous pingbacks.
Pricing
SiteGuard is a freemium WordPress security plugin. You can use its free version from the WordPress.org plugin directory or from its dashboard installation.
In addition, there are the following premium pricing structures to choose from:
- Protect: $24.92/mo, $299 billed annually, daily vulnerability scan, etc.
- Emergency: $199 for one-time payment, complete malware scan, immediate scan, etc.
9. Anti-malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall
Anti-malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall, as the name depicts, is a WordPress security plugin for brute force protection and malware restrictions. It runs a complete scan that automatically removes known security threats, scripts, and database injections.
In addition, its firewall blocks malware that popular plugins may get with known vulnerabilities. Hence, it also lets you be aware of the new updates to protect your website against threats.
Key Features:
- It can patch your wp-login to block brute force and DDoS attacks.
- You can check the integrity of your WordPress Core files.
- Automatically download new definition updates even when running a complete scan.
- A multilingual plugin that can be translated into languages like German, Spanish, etc.
- You can check and manage quarantined IP addresses.
Pricing
This is a completely free WordPress plugin. Hence, you can directly install it on your website from its dashboard. Otherwise, download it first from the plugin repository.
10. Really Simple SSL
Really Simple SSL is a simple and lightweight plugin that secures WordPress websites through the provision of SSL protection. It has over 5 million active installations, so it’s one of the most popular WordPress SSL encryption plugins.
Within a click, you can provide SSL to your website. Simply put, it auto-detects your settings and configures your website to run over HTTPs.
Key Features:
- It has a mixed content fixer and scan that gives your site a secure lock.
- Provides extensive scans for the detection of mixed content sources.
- Includes HttpOnly and Secure flags making the cookies secure and encrypted.
- Further, the plugin is fully compatible with multisite support.
- HTTP Strict Transport Security (force users to visit the site over HTTPS) provides additional security.
Pricing:
Really Simple SSL is also freemium. So, if you want to just use the free version, then download it from WordPress.org and add it to your website.
For the premium pricing plans, each of them has features including mixed content filter pro, security headers, HSTS preload list, and HTTP Strict Transport Security. Notably, the plans are separated based on the website count. They are:
- Personal: 1 site license at the cost of $49.
- Professional: At $99, you get to use it for up to 5 domains.
- Agency: Use for up to 25 sites with a cost of $199. You’ll also get the Multisite plugin.
11. Patchstack
Patchstack is a powerful WordPress security tool that helps to identify security vulnerabilities within all your website plugins, themes, and files. It’s a trusted plugin by leading WordPress experts such as Pagely, Hostinger, GridPane, ePanel, and others.
This plugin was formerly known as WebARX. In fact, it’s mostly known for its advanced endpoint firewall system. This system allows you to completely control the traffic among your websites via their cloud-based dashboard.
Similarly, it makes it really easy to manage the security of multiple WordPress sites from one dashboard. Also, it allows you to create your own firewall rules, create backups, monitor uptime, export reports, and more.
Key Features:
- Powerful brute-force protection blocks any automatic software that is used to guess and discover passwords.
- Get daily uptime monitoring and receive real-time email alerts when your site goes down.
- You can enable auto-updates for any plugins that are identified as vulnerable.
- Provides you actionable security suggestions whenever it detects security threats.
Pricing:
The free version of the Patchstack plugin can be downloaded from WordPress.org. Or, you can directly install the plugin on your WordPress dashboard as well.
However, if you want more features, then you can upgrade to the premium version, which has the following pricing plans:
- Developer Plan – $89/month billed once a year, 50 sites, 1 seat, real-time protection, and more.
- Business Plan – $495/month billed once a year. For 500 sites, 5 seats, and Developer features.
12. BulletProof Security
Among the most versatile WordPress security plugins, BulletProof Security stands out, especially for eCommerce store owners. What it does better than other plugins on this list is that it scans anything you add to your website and takes action accordingly.
This way, you won’t be adding any bad plugins or attachments. This plugin will scan your entire website so even if someone were to perform an SQL injection on your website, you’ll be secure.
BulletProof Security will however need some time to get set up. You’ll need to install this plugin and leave it activated for about 24 hours for it to begin securing your website. It has a lot of free and paid features.
Key Features:
- Failed login attempt limiter, to protect your website from brute-force attacks.
- Check your entire website every day for threats and eliminate them.
- Adds cache to improve your website performance.
- IP blocking and security from XSS, RFI, CSRF, SQL injection, and many other malicious scripts.
Pricing:
BulletProof Security plugin comes in both free and premium versions. You can get the free version from WordPress.org’s official plugin directory.
However, the premium version from its official website for $69.95 with 30 30-day money-back guarantee.
13. Jetpack
Jetpack is one of the most popular WordPress plugins available on the market. It includes a variety of features including website protection options. Mainly with real-time scanning and all-around site security, it takes its spot on this list of best security plugins on WordPress.
Although the free version does nothing to contribute to site security, the premium version has a lot of features. It has real-time malware scanning and daily backups, among other features.
The interface is also very easy to navigate and it has constant support from WordPress experts.
Key Features:
- Let’s you back up your site automatically in real-time. Also, you get real-time WordPress backups with VaultPress
- Comes with brute force attack protection to protect your WordPress login page from attacks.
- Automatically perform malware scans and security scans for other code threats. And, you can fix it with one click to restore your site from malware.
- It monitors your site uptime/downtime and gets an instant alert of any change by email.
- Provides auto-update of each individual plugin for easy site maintenance and management.
Pricing:
Jetpack is also a freemium WordPress plugin. You can directly download the free version from the WordPress.org directory.
Meanwhile, you can switch to the premium version for more additional functionalities. It’s available with the following plans:
- $29.95/month, billed yearly, 10 GB backup, one-click restore, priority support, etc.
- $119.4/month, billed yearly, discount for 1st year, and all premium features.
- $287.05/month, billed yearly, discount for 2 years, and all premium features.
14. Cloudflare
One of the largest cloud networks in the world, Cloudflare provides CDN and security services to websites. To access them, you’ll need to use the Cloudflare plugin. It makes the site faster as its CDN service stores the data in multiple virtual centers, making the nearest center respond to user requests.
Plus, you can prevent DDoS and botnet attacks. If it picks up a lot of requests coming to your website, it’ll redirect those requests to go over other servers and take in one request at a time. To compensate for the time required, it uses an “edge network” which redirects requests to your nearest server.
This way, the request won’t have to go to the main server and then to your website. It can go to your nearest server and then go back to your website once previous requests have been addressed.
Key Features:
- Automatic platform optimization.
- High security from DDoS and botnet attacks.
- Detailed vulnerability report containing even saved bandwidth and a total number of visitors on a particular day.
- Allows you to view analytics such as total visitors, bandwidth saved, and threats blocked right from your dashboard.
Pricing:
It’s a freemium plugin with the free plan present in the WordPress.org plugin directory.
Meanwhile, there are the following premium plans for more additional functionalities.
- Pro: $20/month billed annually, $25/month billed monthly, and premium features.
- Business: $200/month billed annually, $250/month billed monthly, and premium features.
- Enterprise: A custom plan billed annually.
15. Google Authenticator
If you want a plugin that does only one thing and it does it really well, Google Authenticator is the one. Two Factor Authentication – 2FA is not a joke. It’s one of the best securities you can have on your website. And the best way is from Google Authenticator.
2FA makes it harder for hackers to get into your WordPress account by adding an extra layer of security, which is your phone. You will need your phone to log in to your account after installing this. The Google Authenticator app is available on all platforms.
First, install it and set it up, then install Google Authenticator on your phone and simply connect your WordPress account. The interface is easy to navigate and the plugin itself is free.
Key Features:
- Combats login vulnerability with an extra layer of protection.
- You can choose between phone and email two-factor authentication.
- You can restrict users from sharing WordPress login credentials which help to secure your WordPress websites.
- Select which users don’t need 2FA according to their IP addresses.
- You can enable two-step verification (WP 2FA/TFA) using a user’s mobile phone with an authentication method.
Pricing:
You can download the Google Authenticator plugin from WordPress.org for free. You can also download it from your WordPress dashboard.
In addition, there are the following premium options for more exclusive security features:
- Starter: $99/year, 1 website, unlimited users, role-based 2FA policies, and more.
- Enterprise: $199/year, Starter plan features, 2FA on all registration forms, skip 2FA for trusted devices, etc.
- All Inclusive: $249/year, Enterprise plan features, prevent credential sharing, etc.
16. Defender Security
Defender Security is one of the easiest and simplest WordPress security plugins. It’s a straightforward plugin to use, and it does almost everything for you. This is an all-in-one plugin that has both free and premium versions.
It does most things like real-time scans, and backups, and lets you restore a previously working version of your website if it goes down. The pro version also has 10GB of cloud storage for all your data as well as audit logs.
Key Features:
- You can add an extra layer of defense and protect against common attacks like XSS, code injection, and more.
- Comes with a malware scanner that scans WordPress core files for modifications and unexpected changes.
- Allows you to carry out a login screen mask where you can change the location of WordPress’s default login area.
- Using geolocation IP lockout, you can block users based on location and country (IP blocking).
- Let’s you create your ideal Defender security settings and export/import saved configs to any other site.
Pricing:
Defender Security plugin comes in both free and premium versions. You can get the free version from WordPress.org’s official plugin directory.
However, its pro version – Defender Pro can be purchased from its official website. It has these plans:
- Basic: $3/mo, 1 website, 5GB CDN, 5GB backup storage, and 24/7 support.
- Standard: $5/mo, 3 websites, 10 GB CDN, 10GB backup storage, and Basic plan features.
- Freelancer: $10/mo, 10 websites, 20 GB CDN, 20 GB backup storage, and Standard features.
- Unlimited Sites: $20/mo, unlimited sites, 50 GB CDN, 50 GB backup storage, and Freelancer features.
17. Security Ninja
Yet another freemium plugin on this list is Security Ninja. This is also an all-in-one plugin as it has 50 different security checks. It’s also the easiest to navigate and operate.
One thing it does differently than most plugins is that it doesn’t let your visitors or you use a password below the strong tier. Which means you’re secure right from the start. It also has an auto-fixer module to help you fix things on your website.
Key Features:
- 50 different security checks.
- Real-time scan for plugins, themes, and your entire website.
- Site audit log.
- Back up and restore your website easily.
Pricing:
You can download the free version of the Security Ninja plugin from the official WordPress plugins directory.
However, you can also upgrade to its pro version with the following pricing plans:
- Solo – $39.99/year, protects 1 site, firewall protection, easy fixes, etc.
- Team – $99.99/year, protects 3 sites, and Solo features.
- Business – $149.99/year, protects 5 sites, and Team features.
- Professional – $249/year, protects 10 sites, and Business features.
- Network – $299/year, protects 20 sites, Professional features, and white label.
18. SecuPress
A relatively new security plugin, SecuPress has been growing rapidly in popularity. This is also a freemium plugin, meaning it has both free and paid versions with different features.
It’s a very beginner-friendly plugin with good features. The interface is great and easy to navigate. The free version has a firewall, spam filtering, IP blocking, and a brute force defender.
You can also get two-factor authentication, notifications when a login occurs, PHP malware scans, and PDF reports in the premium version. Let’s look at what it has to offer.
Key Features:
- Helps you detect themes and plugins that are vulnerable or that have been tampered with to include malicious code.
- It keeps a log of important security activities and 404 pages triggered by users, and bots.
- With SecuPress can run 3 separate scheduled tasks – scanner, backup, and malware scan.
- Limits plugin activation, deactivation, installation, and removal in your live website.
- Identifies potentially vulnerable themes and plugins and doesn’t let you use them.
Pricing:
SecuPress is a free plugin available at WordPress.org’s official plugin directory. However, you can get the pro version from its official website for $69.99 yearly.
19. BBQ Firewall
Another stupidly simple plugin to secure your website is BBQ (Block Bad Queries). As the name suggests, this plugin is the best for blocking queries. It continuously scans requests sent to your website and blocks bad ones.
It’s also good for blocking brute force attacks and SQL injections as well. Also, it doesn’t collect or store any user data or set any cookies. So, it’s very safe for your privacy.
Other than that, BBQ also has a strong firewall based on a 5G/6G firewall. And it runs behind the scenes so it doesn’t hamper your website’s loading speeds.
Key Features:
- You can block suspicious requests from visitors that include malicious requests.
- Allows you to use scheduled scans and then get notified if something changes on your website.
- You can check the installed plugins and verifies the plugins from WordPress.org has not been modified.
- It checks your core WordPress files have not been infected or modified.
- Monitor, track, and keep logs of more than 50 events on the site in detailed format.
Pricing:
You can download the free version of the BBQ Firewall plugin from the official WordPress plugins directory.
However, you can also upgrade to its pro version with the following pricing plans:
- Personal – $30 yearly, $50 lifetime, for 1 site, and all premium features.
- Business – $70 yearly, $100 lifetime, for 3 sites, and all premium features.
- Advanced – $160 yearly, $200 lifetime, for 10 sites, and all premium features.
- Developer – $380 yearly, $440 lifetime, for unlimited sites, and all premium features.
20. Shield Security
Shield Security secures your WordPress website with relative ease. There are almost no configurations you need to make in order to make this plugin work.
Once installed, it asks to scan your website and you can do so with a click. The plugin then presents you with a report of the scan and you can take any action you want to.
It’s also a freemium plugin but the free version already has a lot of features. Aside from being stupid simple to use, let’s see what else this plugin can offer.
Key Features:
- Limit login attempts and blocks them to combat brute force attacks.
- You can add security to important forms to block bots – login, security, password reset security, and registration security.
- Get comprehensive plugin and theme security scanning to identify file changes in your plugins/themes.
- Automatically detects third-party services and prevents blocking of ManageWP, SEMRush, GTMetrix, etc.
Pricing:
Shield Security is also a freemium WordPress plugin. You can directly download the free version from the WordPress.org directory.
Meanwhile, you can also purchase the premium version for more additional functionalities. It’s available with the following plans:
- Starter – $11/mo, $129/year, local malware scanning, advanced password policies, etc.
- Plus – $13/mo, $149/year, automatic file repair, Starter features, file locker, and more.
- Agency – $17/mo, $199/year, MainWP integration, reporting tools, Plus features, etc.
21. WP Activity Log
WP Activity Log is a simple yet very useful WordPress security plugin. It records your website’s activity logs so as to monitor any unusual activity. This is an underlooked security feature but it’s one of the most important for your site’s security.
This plugin is the most comprehensive real-time activity recorder. It keeps an eye on everything happening on your website and creates a report for you whenever you schedule it. You can then take further action.
It’s also the most highly rated activity log plugin on WordPress. And, it’s really good for beginners due to its easy-to-use behavior and interface.
Key Features:
- Improves accountability.
- Better management and organization of your website.
- Easy to spot suspicious activity on your website.
- You can easily mirror the activity log to log management systems such as AWS CloudWatch and Loggly in real-time.
- Easy troubleshooting and overall easy usage.
Pricing:
You can download the free version of the WP Activity Log plugin from the official WordPress plugins directory.
However, if you want to unlock more features, then you can upgrade to its pro version where the pricing plans are:
- Premium – $139/year, 1 website license, advanced search filters, activity log, and more.
- Enterprise – $189/year, 1 website license, Premium features, save activity log to external database, etc.
Which WordPress Security Plugin is the Best for You?
That’s all for our list of the 21 best security WordPress plugins. But, in case you’re confused about which plugin you should have on your website, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s divide these plugins into categories. According to best value, free, uniquely useful, and interface for beginners. But, do keep in mind that these are our suggestions and every one of these plugins is great in its own regard.
- Best Value WordPress Security Plugin – So, for the best value plugin, we’ll have to go with Sucuri Security. Although, it’s a bit expensive yet is worth the price. High price to performance ratio so it’s well worth your money.
- Beginner-friendly Plugin – As for beginners, Wordfence is our pick. It’s a cloud-based service and has got pretty much everything as well.
- Best Free Security Plugin – The best free plugin on this list has to be Solid Security. Within its free version also you’ll get all the features to protect your website.
- Uniquely Useful WordPress Security Plugin – Unique and useful plugin on this list is Patchstack. This plugin has the best brute force protection feature and many other advanced features.
- Interface – The plugin to have for the best interface is MalCare Security. It has a simple yet powerful interface that is easy to navigate.
That was it for our recommendations. You can choose any plugin you see fit for your type of website or budget.
Conclusion
In this article, we went through the best security plugins for your WordPress website. We hope this article helped you in improving your website’s security as much as possible.
Please feel free to comment below if you have any further queries about the WordPress security plugins. We’ll do our best to respond as soon as we can.
Also, let us know which WordPress security plugins are you going to choose from the list. You can share your top favorite pick in the comments section below. We would love to hear your thoughts on this article so feel free to comment on any queries or suggestions below.
You may also want to check our guide on the best WordPress cache plugins and best membership plugins.
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