Best WordPress Security Plugin

WordPress continues to be one of the leading website builders available. Nevertheless, the platform continues to face various cyber threats. Considering malicious actors hack 30,000 websites a day, having an extra layer of security is well worth it. Given our experience researching and testing security plugins, here are the best WordPress security plugins to protect your site. 

Plugin	Summary	Pricing	Rating
Wordfence Security	Wordfence offers a malware scanner and an endpoint firewall as part of their Threat Defense system.	Premium: $119/year Care: $490/year Response: $950/year	5 Stars
Sucuri Security	The Sucuri Security suite is designed to complement your existing security measures. The plugin is owned and maintained by GoDaddy.	Basic: $199.99/year Pro: $299.99/year Business: $499.99/year(Custom pricing available for enterprise solutions upon request)	4 Stars
iThemes Security	The iThemes Security platform allows you to choose from six security templates according to your needs. These include eCommerce, Network, Non-Profit, Blog, Portfolio, and Brochure.	Basic: $99/year Plus: $199/year Agency: $299/year	4 Stars
SecuPress	SecuPress offers security features such as a site health check, login attempt limits to prevent brute force attacks, automatic WordPress updates, and more.	$69.99 per year per website	4 Stars
All-in-One Security (AIOS)	The team at AIOS regularly updates its list of known exploits and updates the firewall’s rules accordingly. The platform uses a blacklist to keep out referrals from spam pages, bots, and malicious requests.	Free Version Premium: $70/year	4 Stars
Jetpack	Jetpack optimizes your website’s performance and increases security. Security features include real-time malware scanning, blocking spam comments and form submissions, and a firewall.	Security: $20/month (billed annually) Complete: $50/month (billed annually)	5 Stars
BulletProof Security	BulletProof Security is a free WordPress plugin that protects your site by fixing issues commonly experienced with other plugins.	Free Version Premium: $69.95 (one-time purchase)	3 Stars
Malcare WordPress Security	Malcare allows you to clean up an infected site before Google blacklists it automatically. See the hacked file and clean up your website in less than a minute.	Free Version Basic: $99/year Plus: $149/year Pro: $299/year	4 Stars
Shield	Shield focuses on blocking bad bots. The platform is compatible with popular WordPress plugins, including Contact Form 7, Yoast, WPForms, Ninja Forms, and others.	Support: $59/year Pro: $79/year Agency: $399/year	4 Stars
WP Cerber Security	WP Cerber Security uses a sophisticated algorithm to screen for traffic with malicious code or abnormal traffic patterns. The plugin prevents brute force attacks and includes comprehensive anti-spam qualities.	Free Version Single: $29/quarterly Value Pack: $39/monthly	4 Stars

1. Wordfence Security

The best WordPress security plugin is Wordfence, with over four million active installations. It’s free to use and comes with a malware scanner that scans your core files, plugins, and more for threats and malware signatures. If it finds any changed files that differ from the official version on WordPress.org, it can overwrite them with the original version. 

Its Threat Defense Feed ensures it is always up to date on the latest security threats, including malware signatures and malicious IP addresses. 

Not all of the best WordPress security plugins offer a free firewall, but Wordfence does. Its firewall blocks malicious traffic that could harm your site. However, the free version delays updates from the Threat Defense Feed by 30 days. 

Premium users can set up custom blocking rules. Here are a few of the platform’s best features:

• The real-time IP Blocklist works to block requests from the most malicious IPs.
• The WordPress security scanner determines if your IP has been blocklisted for any type of malicious activity.
• Receive protection against brute force attacks through limited login attempts.

Wordfence also prevents brute-force logins by using a captcha on the login page to weed out bots. It also allows you to set up two-factor authentication. 

If you have multiple sites, Wordfence offers a central dashboard where you can monitor all of them. 

If Wordfence is the best WordPresss security plugin for your website, you can choose from one of three plans. The Premium plan goes for $119/year, with the Care plan running $490/year. The platform’s Response plan costs $950/year.

2. Sucuri Security

Another one of the best WordPress security plugins is Sucuri, which has over 800,000 active installations on WordPress. It’s a free-to-use plugin that is owned and maintained by GoDaddy.

It constantly monitors all security events affecting your WordPress site while logging such events in the Sucuri cloud for forensic analysis. File integrity monitoring ensures your website is always in a good state and there are no host intrusions. 

SiteCheck is Sucuri’s remote malware monitor. It visits your website daily and extracts data such as javascript to search for the presence of spam or malware. Sucuri uses multiple blocklists, including McAfee Site Advisor, Norton, Google Safe Browsing, its own list, and others, to detect as many threats as possible. 

If you upgrade to the premium version, you can enjoy the Sucuri website firewall. It offers protection against DDOS attacks, zero-day disclosure patches, and more. 

Here are some of the platform’s best features:

• Security Activity Auditing
• Post-Hack Security Actions
• Blocklist Monitoring
• Security Notifications
• File Integrity Monitoring
• Effective Security Hardening
• Remote Malware Scanning

Both free and premium users can access the security hardening features, which are quick actions you can take to improve your website’s security. Sucuri Security may be the best WordPress Security plugin for your website!

3. iThemes Security

iThemes Security, formerly Better WP Security, is a plugin with easy-to-apply templates that allow you to secure different sites within 10 minutes or less. There are six templates altogether: 

• Ecommerce
• Nonprofit
• Network
• Blog
• Brochure
• Portfolio

While there is a free version, it’s worth getting the Pro version for the whole experience. Some of the features the plugin offers include 

• Monitor security events to detect attacks early
• Stop automated brute force attacks
• Use ReCaptcha to protect your site from bots 
• Require users to use strong passwords
• Set up two-factor authentication
• Scan your site for threats and file changes
• Log user data
• Automatically update software
• Create WordPress database backups automatically

iThemes offers three pricing plan options. The Basic plan costs $99/year. The Plus plan runs at $199/per year, with the Agency plan costing $299 per year. iThemes Security may be the best WordPress security plugin for you if you can use one of their six custom templates.

4. SecuPress

SecuPress has both a free and a paid version. The free version offers security features such as a site health check, login attempt limits to prevent brute force attacks, automatic WordPress updates, and more. Free users can also block malicious traffic that has bad queries and code, bots, and other malicious actors. 

However, the premium version offers a broader range of security features, such as IP address bans, content injection scanning, file scanning for malware, database backups, file backups, backup, scan scheduling, event alerts, and more. 

When you first install the plugin, it will run a security check, detect issues, and allow you to correct them automatically. SecuPress also offers various professional services at an extra charge: 

• Configure your security settings
• Remove malware if hackers have hacked your site
• Train yourself and your team with WordPress Security Training (in French)
• Security maintenance

SecuPress costs users $69.99 per year per website. SecuPress may be the best WordPress security plugin for you if you are looking for a cost effective security plugin.

5. All-in-One Security (AIOS)

All-in-One Security, or AIOS, is a WordPress plugin that claims to take care of all your security needs in one place. It has over one million active installations. 

It protects your content by blocking spam comments and using unique technology to prevent people from copying and pasting your articles and reproducing your content via an iFrame. It also has a firewall that actively stops malicious actors from accessing your site. 

Its team constantly updates its list of known exploits and updates the firewall’s rules accordingly. Furthermore, it uses a blacklist to keep out referrals from spam pages, bots, and malicious requests. 

There are various login security tools to protect your login page, such as a tool that hides your login page URL from bots. You can also automatically log out users with multiple failed login attempts and force logouts so nobody can remain logged in indefinitely. 

Some of the platform’s best features include:

• Ability to conceal your login page from bots
• The login lockout feature ensures that people making multiple login attempts will be locked out for a period of time.
• Two-factor authentication enabled
• The password strength tool will calculate the time it may take for your password to be cracked during a brute force attack.

AIOS can also protect you from DDoS attacks, cross-site scripting, file changes, and more. 

While the plugin is free, the premium version offers even greater protection, including features such as malware scanning, country blocking, and premium support. 

All-in-One Security offers a free version and a Premium plan for $70/year. All-In-One SEO may be one of the best WordPress security plugins for website owners as it is cost effective as it is less than $100 annually.

6. Jetpack

Jetpack is a plugin that optimizes your website’s performance and increases security simultaneously. The security features include:

• Real-time malware scanning
• Blocking spam comments and form submissions 
• A firewall 

The spam prevention feature does not require users to fill out a captcha, which can be annoying to users. 

The scanner checks for shells, file changes, outdated or insecure plugins, and other vulnerabilities. Scanning takes place on Jetpack’s servers and comes with one-click fixes for the issues it discovers. The scanner is available as a standalone product as well. 

VaultPress is Jetpack’s automatic backup technology. It works in the background to record every change. Backups are essential for website security, as they allow you to restore your data in the case of a successful hack. Jetpack’s other security features are activity logging, security alerts, downtime monitoring, and brute force attack prevention. 

Jetpack offers a wide range of other performance optimization features. For example, it can speed up your site to improve the UX and boost search engine rankings. Another way to enhance the user experience is by adding its site search feature, which helps readers instantly find the articles or products they are looking for. 

To start using Jetpack Security, simply download Jetpack Protect, and it will run daily scans to search for malware and other issues.

Jetpack offers two pricing tiers, with the Security plan running $20/month and the Complete plan costing $50/month. These plans are both billed annually. Jetpack is one of the best WordPress security plugin if you are looking for a plugin with tons of functionality, as Jetpack has many more functionalities within the plugin itself.

7. BulletProof Security

BulletProof Security is a free WordPress plugin that proactively protects your site by fixing over 100 issues people commonly experience with other plugins. 

A few of the other best features include 

• A malware scanner
• Login security and monitoring
• Security logging
• Automatic WordPress updates
• Email alerts when new theme and plugin updates are available
• Idle session logout

The free version also allows you to make partial and complete database backups. You can perform a manual backup at any time or schedule them. For more on WordPress backup plugins, check out our article.

The premium version comes with valuable features, such as a real-time file monitor, a plugin firewall, and other advanced features that will help you stay safe. 

Since the plugin comes with a setup wizard, getting started is relatively easy, even if you have no cybersecurity background. 

BulletProof offers a free version or users can make a one-time purchase of $69.95 to upgrade to the platform’s Premium version. BulletProof security is one of the best WordPress security plugins if you are looking for a plugin with lifetime access for a flat fee.

8. Malcare WordPress Security 

Malcare is an advanced WordPress security plugin that has both a free and a paid version. It is the fastest at detecting malware and offers a one-click malware removal option. That allows you to clean up an infected site before Google blacklists it automatically. You’ll see the hacked file and be able to clean up your website in less than a minute. 

It has a cloud-based firewall that keeps your website safe from malicious actors and threats, including bots. With this firewall, you are able to block IPs coming from specific countries.

A few of the features that Malcare WordPress Security offers include:

• Malware scanner
• Malware removal
• WordPress firewall
• Bot protection
• WordPress backup
• Vulnerability scanner
• Activity log

The cloud-based scanner checks your site for malware without impacting site performance. With its updated database, you can instantly find new malware threats, as well as complex malware that other scanners might miss. 

Its captcha-based login protection prevents brute-force attacks. 

Note that some features are restricted to Premium members, such as:

• One-click malware removal
• Website hardening
• Country blocking

Malcare offers a free version of its platform. Users can also upgrade to three available options. The Basic Plan costs $99/year. The Plus option costs $149/year, with the Pro Plan costing users $299/year. Malcare is a premium plugin and may be the best WordPress security plugin if you have a large budget allocated for website security.

9. Shield

Shield is a WordPress security plugin that focuses on blocking bad bots, which are often your #1 security risk. According to Shield, bad bots are what give you malware and have the potential to exploit your website. Its website has an impressive list of the times it has blocked different kinds of bad bots. 

Furthermore, Shield is compatible with popular WordPress plugins, including Contact Form 7, Yoast, WPForms, Ninja Forms, and others. It also offers support for WooCommerce and membership sites and add-ons for integration with BuddyPress, Gravity Forms, and others. 

Here are the top benefits of installing Shield on your website: 

• Website scanning: Scan your website and core files for malware, vulnerabilities, unrecognized files that don’t belong there, abandoned plugins, and other security risks. It includes tamper protection for themes and plugins. 
• Brute force attack protection: Prevent DDoS attacks, block IP addresses, prevent bots from filling out contact forms, block fake web crawlers, and more. 
• Firewall: The firewall blocks malicious requests. 
• Lockdown features: Disable WP file editing, restrict security admin access, block username fishing, and more. 
• User security: Help users protect their accounts by enabling 2FA, letting them create backup login codes, and more. 

Shield has both a free and a paid version. The free version includes essential features such as

• The AntiBot Detection Engin
• Brute force login protection
• Automatic IP address blocking 

When searching through the features on the website, it’s easy to tell which features are for premium users, as they are in purple instead of green. 

On the other hand, the Premium version includes advanced features like 

• Tamper protection for plugins and themes
• More frequent scans
• Vulnerability scans. 

The free and premium versions offer comprehensive protection. Still, the premium version offers an extra layer of security that you should get if you have a larger website and need to protect customer data. 

Shield offers a three-tiered pricing plan option. The Support plan runs at $59/year. The Pro plan costs users $79/year, with the Agency option costing $399/year.

10. WP Cerber Security

WP Cerber Security uses a sophisticated algorithm to screen for traffic with malicious code or abnormal traffic patterns. It also uses a blacklist to ban specific IP addresses. The plugin prevents brute force attacks and is also a comprehensive anti-spam plugin. 

It prevents spam submissions on all website forms, including WooCommerce forms, and automatically cleans up any spam comments that manage to get through. 

Here are a few of WP Cerber’s best features:

• Works to eliminate code injection and brute force attacks
• GEO-Restricts access based on country rules
• Prevents ordinary user enumerations and REST API
• Restricts access to XML-RPC and REST API
• Utilizes a worldwide list of IP addresses that are known for malicious activity

WP Cerber Security scans your files and folders for malware, Trojan horses, and viruses. If it detects any of those, it will clean them up automatically and recover your files. It also scans for tampered files. You can schedule daily or even hourly scans for ultimate protection and get email alerts when needed. 

You can set up advanced GEO access rules as well. They allow you to restrict form submissions, post comments, registration, WordPress REST API usage, and more based on country. 

The plugin also monitors user activity and HTTP requests from both authorized and unauthorized users. The live traffic viewer shows you a real-time view of HTTP requests on your site. 

There is a free version with basic protection features, and you can install it on unlimited websites. 

The premium version includes advanced features, such as automated malware scans and layered spam protection with the Traffic Inspector feature, which screens incoming traffic and blocks suspicious requests. You can get the premium version for either one site or five sites.

WP Cerber offers a free version of its platform. Users can upgrade to the Single plan for $29/quarterly or the Value Pack for $39/monthly.

Conclusion

While there are other security plugins out there, these are the best WordPress security plugins – and the most effective ones. You only need one plugin if you’re downloading a comprehensive one like Sucuri or Wordfence. 

Downloading more than one plugin, unless they explicitly say they are compatible with each other, is not recommended. The plugins can interfere with each other, decrease performance, and slow down your site. A plugin like Limit Login Attempts Reloaded, however, goes well with a more comprehensive plugin like Sucuri or Wordfence. 

Before downloading any plugin, always read WordPress security plugin reviews to ensure users are happy with the results they are getting from the plugin. Here is a quick recap of the best WordPress security plugins in 2023.

Plugin	Pricing	Rating
Wordfence Security	Premium: $119/year Care: $490/year Response: $950/year	5 Stars
Sucuri Security	Basic: $199.99/year Pro: $299.99/year Business: $499.99/year(Custom pricing available for enterprise solutions upon request)	4 Stars
iThemes Security	Basic: $99/year Plus: $199/year Agency: $299/year	4 Stars
SecuPress	$69.99 per year per website	4 Stars
All-in-One Security (AIOS)	Free Version Premium: $70/year	4 Stars
Jetpack	Security: $20/month (billed annually) Complete: $50/month (billed annually)	5 Stars
BulletProof Security	Free Version Premium: $69.95 (one-time purchase)	3 Stars
Malcare WordPress Security	Free Version Basic: $99/year Plus: $149/year Pro: $299/year	4 Stars
Shield	Support: $59/year Pro: $79/year Agency: $399/year	4 Stars
WP Cerber Security	Free Version Single: $29/quarterly Value Pack: $39/monthly	4 Stars