25 Best WordPress Security Plugins Compared - 2024

We being our list of WordPress Security Plugins with a very strong plugin called the All in One WP Security and Firewalll. This security plugin will take your WordPress site’s security to an entirely new level. It is super easy to use, stable and well supported so it is a perfect choice for keeping you site and its content safe. While WordPress is a secure platform all by itself, it is always helpful to have extra security incorporated in your site. What this plugin does to protect your website is that it checks for any vulnerabilities and then it uses the most up to date WordPress security practices. This security plugin can also show in a points system how secure your site actually is and which security features you have activated.

The All in One WP Security and Firewall offers security for a wide variety of different aspects of your site including:

• User accounts
• User login
• User registration
• Database
• File System

The company that created the next our WordPress security plugins is called Sucuri Inc, and this company is an expert at dealing with all types of issues relating to website security and they also specialize specifically n WordPress security. Therefore, you should feel incredibly comfortable and confident in the WordPress Security plugin that they have created, the Sucuri Security plugin. The Sucuri Security WordPress plugin is actually a security suite that was designed to compliment the security measures you are currently using for your website. The plugin provides users with several security features to protect their site and each feature is designed to “have a positive effect their security posture”, like: Secure activity auditing, File integrity monitoring, Remote malware scanning, Blacklist monitoring, Security notifications, Effective security hardening, Post-hack security actions, and more.

But there are even more features of the Sucuri Security plugin, including:

• Multiple variations of SSL certificates
• Instant notifications of something goes wrong with your website
• Advanced DDoS protection

Next up we have the Wordfence security plugin. This one is actually one of the more popular WordPress security plugins available and we give you all of the details as to why this is the case. Firstly, this plugin is also one of the most comprehensive security plugins you can get and even though this plugin may be simple, it comes with powerful tools to protect your site, like: security incident recovering tools and robust login security features. This plugin also provides you with insight into any hack attempts and traffic trends. With Wordfence you will get a malware scanner and an endpoint firewall that were built from scratch specifically to protect WordPress.

The Wordfence plugin comes with a suite of features along with other helpful tools like:

• A comment spam filter
• It monitors live traffic
• Can work for small website

There is also a premium version of Wordfence available should you need or want more security features for your WordPress site.

The Bulletproof Security WordPress plugin offers security such as:  Firewall, Login security, DB backup, Malware scanner, anti-spam and many more, you can also use an anti-spam plugin to help. There is an easy 4 click set up interface so all you have to do is really activate it and it takes care of the rest. It’s like having a bodyguard for your WordPress site. If Bulletproof Security notices any sort of infection on your site it will notify you so you are up to speed on what is going on. Not only does this plugin protect your site but is can also optimize  the performance of your site by adding caching. It can update itself on new vulnerabilities so your site will always be protected even if new sorts of harmful things arise. The Bulletproof Security plugin will be able to protect your site against vulnerabilities such as: CRLF, Code injection, SQL injection, Base64, and much more.

Some of the features you will get with the Bulletproof security  plugin are:

• Setup Wizard Autofix
• HTTP Error logging
• Front end and Back end maintenance mode
• One click set up wizard

And we have arrived at number five of our WordPress Security plugins with a plugin created by a company called Acunetix. Acunetix is a famous company in web application security. The Acunetix WP Security Scan plugin comes with a security scanning tool that will be able to detect vulnerabilities in web applications. This plugin will be able to help you better secure you WordPress site and give you suggestions on you can improve your site’s security even further. Acunetix WP Security Scan wil also remove different information from the source code of  page which can be used in the gathering information process before an attack occurs. There is also a database back up tool so you can back up your entire site.

There are many more features that you will get with the Acunetix WP Security plugin, for example:

• It is multisite ready
• A traffic monitor tool
• Notifications of web application vulnerabilities

And so much more!

The 6Scan Security plugin is the most comprehensive auto-fix protection you can have for your WordPress website to protect it from hacks. Its security scanner is much stronger than others that are available because it uses “sophisticated algorithms to find and automatically fix security vulnerabilities”. The 6Scan Security WordPress plugin will find and protect your site from various harmful things like: Directory traversal, Several DoS conditions, Cross site scripting, Remote file inclusion, and much much more.

Since this plugin comes with an auto-fix and automatic malware fix, you can rest easier because you know your site is in good hands and best of all you don’t even have to do anything to protect it. This plugin also sends you notifications by email, similar to some of the other plugins we have seen, if it notices a vulnerability so you are kept in the loop and know what is going on.

The Defender security plugin is a relatively new option for the WordPress security plugins on the market. This security plugin does have the same kind of security measures we have seen from the other plugins, like checking for security hacks, but it also has something that makes it very different from the others. Many of the other plugins we have seen and will see have a premium version which you can pay for and will give you more features, however, Defender gives you many extra features that give your site extra protection for free. Examples of these features are: 2 factor authentication IP blacklisting, audit logging, 404 limiting, and others. The Defender Security WordPress plugin also works great with mutlisite.

This plugin will help you block hackers at every level by doing things like:

• Disabling trackbacks and pingbacks
• Changing default database prefix
• Hide error reporting
• Prevent PHP execution
• Prevent information disclosure

Even if you haven’t been using WordPress for a long time you have most likely heard of the very popular and feature packed Jetpack plugin. The Jetpack WordPress plugin is not a security specific plugin but it does come with security as a feature, along with a marketing feature and easy breezy deigning tools. So by having Jetpack you are really eliminating the need to have other plugins on your WordPress site. Jetpack was made by the people at WordPress.com so you know that it has to be something amazing.

Even though Jetpack’s main purpose is not security, we will discuss the ways it can help protect your website. To being with it has  a Protection Module that blocks from suspicious activity from occurring. There is also Brute force attack protection in addition to whitelisting. There are also several different types of scanning like :Malware scanning, code scanning, and automated threat resolution. Lastly, you can decide to have either daily or real-time backups for you site.

The SecuPress WordPress plugin is another somewhat new security plugin available on the market. This plugin comes with great UI and a really easy to use interface, so if tech isn’t really your thing this security plugin may the perfect choice for you to use on your WordPress website. With the SecuPress plugin you will be able to protect your site by using things like: block bots, suspicious IPs, and malware scans.And you will have the power to change your WordPress login URL so bots will not be able to find it.

You will also get some features that you would not ordinarily find in most WordPress security plugins, such as: Vulnerable plugins and themes protection, security reports in PDF format, and protection of Security Keys. There is also a premium version of SecuPress should you want to have more intense security for your site.

Ladies and gentleman we have reached number ten of our WordPress security plugins list with the WP Fail2ban plugin. This plugin is incredibly is simplistic and only has one real feature which is that it will provide your site with protection from brute force attacks. Even though this plugin is simple and only has one feature it is still an incredibly effective security measure to have for your site. This plugin will do things document all login attempts, no matter how successful or unsuccessful they may be. You will then have the choice to either implement a soft or hard ban.

Since this plugin is so simple, you really have to do nothing for it to start working, just install and it takes care of the rest. WP Fail2ban also has the capability to integrate with Cloudfare and Proxy servers and also log comments to prevent spam and malicious ones. And for those that are into doing a little coding you have the ability to write your own shortcode to block users immediately.

We move on to the Google Authenticator, and just by its name recognition and its connection to Google you know this plugin has to be something special, and it is. The Google Authenticator WordPress plugin is the first of our WordPress security plugins that comes with two factor authentication. Now you might be wondering, “well that sounds nice, but what is a two factor authentication?”.

What this plugin does is it provides your site with a second layer of security to your login module. It is important that it adds it to the login module, because this is where most hacking attempts would occur. Instead of just having you use your regular password, the Google Authentication has you do that plus it will also send some sort of other authentication to your phone, like a QR code or security question. This extra authentication is the second layer of security. This plugin also has a shortcode to use with custom login pages.

Next up we have the iThemes Security plugin. This WordPress plugin was previously known as Better WP Security, so some of you may have heard of it under that name instead of iThemes. This is a pretty strong security plugin so if you are looking for something powerful and jam packed to protect your site with then this plugin is the right choice fr you. iThemes comes with more than 30 different ways to secure and protect your WordPress site. This security plugin’s focus is on recognizing plugin vulnerabilities, obsolete software, and weak passwords. A nice perk with this particular plugin is that it has the capability to be translated into Spanish if you prefer to work in Spanish instead of English.

More features of the iThemes Security WordPress plugin include:

• Essentials like: 404 protection, brute force protection, strong password enforcement
• Add more protection to your login by using the Google reCAPTCHA integration
• File change detection
• You can set an “away mode”

The WPS Hide Login WordPress security plugin is a very lighweight plugin that will allow you to safely and easily change the URL form page to whatever you want and create your own custom URL. Since this plugin is lightweight it will not slow down your website, so everything will still run smoothly. What this plugin will do is intercept page requests instead of literally renaming or changing files in core.

By hiding your URLs it will prevent hackers that use bots from finding them as they will no longer look like the default URL. The WPS Hide Login security plugin has a very easy to use interface so even those of you who may not be so well versed in tech will still be able to use this plugin correctly and to its full extent. Hiding your URL provides a really simple way for your to have an added layer of protection on your WordPress site.

This next plugin we bring you of the top WordPress security plugins is the Security Ninja. This is a seriously feature packed plugin that is ready for battle to protect your site from any security threats. You will have almost full control over which security measures to use on your site and you will be able to conduct more than 50 different security tests with just one click. Some of the tests that are available right now for you to run on your site are: file permissions, numerous installations parameters request, debug and auto update modes test, WP options test, database configurations test, and many more.

Every time this plugin gets an update more tests will be added that you will be able to run and protect your site even more. The free version of this plugin really just focuses on all of these tests that you can run to see if they are any issues with your website. Should you want more features, like a malware scanner, you will need to purchase the Security Ninja premium version of the plugin.

Our next WordPress security plugin is the easiest way for you to completely hide things like your WordPress: core files, login page, plugins path and theme from being displayed on the front side. This is not just security for your WordPress site, this is literally hiding your WordPress information so that no one will even know you run a WordPress.

The WP Hide and Security Enhancer WordPress plugin not only lets you hide your WordPress site but it also fives you a way to “clean up html by removing all WordPress fingerprints”. Even though your site will be hidden from hackers, it this will not have any effect on your site’s functionality. Everything will still run and will work as it should. And by clearing your WordPress footprints it could actually stop hackers from targeting your site.

The WP Hide and Security Enhancer plugin has 2 key features. The first is the first is that it removes the WordPress version number and the second is that it blocks access to WordPress’s default core files.

Our next plugin’s focus is mostly to protects your WordPress site from brute force attacks by preventing them from even happening. It does this by using several different ways. One way to prevent these attacks is by adding a short delay when logging in IF someone had tried to login but failed so this stop constant attacks from happening on the login screen. Security and Malware Firewall will also check any generated security logs on an hourly basis looking for any suspicious IPs. If a certain user shows that they had more than 10 attempts, this plugin will ban them from logging in for 24 hours.

Some more notable features of the WordPress Security and Malware Firewall security plugin are:

• It provides you with a daily security report that it sends conveniently to your email
• It has a security firewall to filter access to your site by either IP, networks or countries.
• Set a delay between login attempts to prevent any brute force attacks

The UpdraftPPlus plugin it was designed to help you do backups and restorations of your WordPress site in a simple way. With this plugin you will be able to not only backup your site but also upload it to several cloud storage solutions such as Google Drive or Amazon S3for safe keeping. Even though this is not a security specific WordPress plugin, it does in a way help your site be secure because it allows you to backup all your site’s info should something ever happen to your WordPress site and its content. Since you can save your website to the cloud it is fully protected from any server breaches. The UpdraftPlus plugin can do many things that other plugins can  not do, such as:

• It is faster and uses up fewer serve resources
• Allows you to set up automatic back up schedules
• Restores as well as backing up your site

This plugin can also provide encryption to your backups and it supports both manual and automatic scheduled backups.

Should you want even more features there is a premium version of UpdraftPlus available.

Security, Antivirus, Firewall, otherwise knows as S.A.F, is a secuirty WordPress plugin that will protect your site from spammers and hackers. This plugin wills can all of our installed plugins and themes to make sure there is no hidden or malicious code. After it does a scan it will give you a full report and a detailed log of the results. Should there be a security threat or an attempted attacked that occurs on your site S.A.F will send you a notification to alert you of what is going on. This plugin does so many things to protect your site and its content and keep it safe, such as: scan file systems, healing any infected files, and protecting your site from a brute force attack.

The S.A.F WordPress security plugin comes with a few more features, for example:

• Antivirus security scanning
• Daily, weekly and monthly security report
• Protect back end from attacks
• DD0S attack protection
• Malware security scanner

Next up we have Shield Security, which is one of the easiest security plugins to use, which is good news for all of you tech challenged people out there. All you have to do is install this plugin and activate it. Once you have activated it, a step by step wizard will appear to walk you through the basic configuration so your site can be protected. shield Security is ‘sandboxed’, which basically means that this plugin protects itself in the case of an attack. Unlike some of our other plugins, this one does not come with a malware scanner because its main focus is to act as as the first line of defense for your site and prevent it from receiving any malicious threats.

More features of the Shield Security WordPress plugin are:

• Limit login attempts and block automatic brute force bots
• Automatic IP blacklist
• reCAPTCHA
• Automatic updates control

We move on to the WP Cerber WordPress security plugin. This plugin protects yo from a wide variety of threats like: attacks from hackers, spam, trojans, and even malware. It can also soften the effects or prevent brute force attacks because it limits the number of login attempts via the login form. It also will restrict access by using Black IP Access List and the White IP Access List. This plugin will let you track user and intruder activity with things like: mobile and desktop notifications and also email. With WP Cerber it uses a lot of strict security rules and comprehensive algorithms. There is also reCAPTCHA for WooCommerce and WordPress forms so if you have an online shop this is also a good plugin choice for you.

More features of the WP Cerber WordPress security plugin are:

• Ability to create a custom URL
• Verify the integrity of all WordPress files
• Citadel mode
• Protection against DoS attacks
• Cerber antispam engine for protecting any form

You may be able to tell from this security plugin’s name that it has something to do with protecting your site via login attempts. The Loginizer plugin’s main purpose is to restrict and limit the number of times someone can try to login to your WordPress site. By doing this it can shut down any attempt of a brute force attack on your site. you will be able to Blacklist or Whitelist  IPs for for logins using Loginizer. There are also tons of other types of features that the WordPres Loginizer plugin comes with to help you better protect your site. Some of these features include: reCAPCTHA, Two Factor Auth, Passwordless login,  and may more.

But wait..there’s are even more tools and features that you will get with this plugin like:

• Create IP ranges
• Extended lockout after maximum lockouts allowed
• Checks logs or fails attempts
• Email notification to admin after max lockouts

Our next plugin is not just used for geotargeting, te IP Geo Block security WordPress plugin can also be used to guard and protect your site from harmful threats like attacks to the back end of your site like in the login form or admin area.This plugin can also block other things like not wanted comment spam, trackback and pingback spam, in addition to public facing pages from unwanted countries. So this plugin is a great choice if you are fearful of attack form specific geographical locations because you can actually select certain countries to block. Like many of our other plugins, this one also has a feature to limit login attempts per IP address to help prevent brute force, and other similar attacks.

More features of the IP Geo Block plugin include:

• Zero day exploit protection
• Block not behaving bots and crawlers
• Self blocking prevention
• Prevent malicious downloading an uploading
• Privacy friendly

The WPBruiser WordPress security plugin is both an anti-spam and security plugin. This WordPress plugin was created based on algorithms that are capable of identifying spam bots without needing to use reCAPTCHA images. WPBruiser can also prevent brute force attacks from happening on your site in addition to preventing spam relate things. The only thing that you have to do is install it and then this plugin is good to go and will do all of the protecting and blocking for you. This plugin is also completely self contained which means that it does not need to connect to an outside service so your login stays entirely yours.

The WPBruiser WordPress security plugin has even ore features, such as:

• Automatically block IP addresses
• Invisible for end users
• Prevents user enumeration
• Email notifications when a brute force attack is detected

And last on our list of WordPress security plugins is Akismet. Akismet is one of the most popular cloud based, free, antispam plugins. Even though this plugin’s main purpose is anti-spam, it does offer your site protect from publishing malicious content as well. This plugin uses a web service that is powered by cloud servers to check and evaluate comments on your site for any sort of spam. How it works is that, first you need to connect to the cloud service using an API key then Akismet will upload all of the incoming comments to Akismet’s cloud servers which then evaluate how valid the comments are. If it decides that a comment is clean it will then be published, if not the comment is sent to the moderation queue so you can check it out or delete it. It is super easy to use, all you need to do is set it up and it Akismet does the rest

The Akismet plugin comes with a few more features like:

• A discard feature that blocks the worst spam which speeds up your site by saving you disk space
• Moderators can view the number of approved comments for each user
• URLs are shown in the comment body to reveal hidden or misleading links