Do you want to secure your WordPress site and use the best WordPress security plugins? It is a very good thought. Since WordPress is the most popular content management system, malicious hackers and spammers often attack it.
Unfortunately, many website owners fall into the trap of thinking that hackers only target big companies or popular blogs. Therefore, they give little importance to the security of their website. But the truth is that hackers target websites to steal personal information and build backlinks for fun.
In other words, having a small website does not guarantee that your website is safe from malicious attacks. If you don’t take the necessary security measures to prevent attacks on your website, you are allowing hackers to destroy your search rankings and your online business.
In this article, we will introduce and compare 5 WordPress security plugins.
As a site administrator, you should always be ready for all challenges and situations with the WordPress security plugin. Including security flaws and hacker attacks.
Recently, a huge hacking attack against 10,000 WordPress websites caused many sites and blogs to become malware and infect millions of users worldwide.
With the advancement of technology, hackers have always managed to discover new ways to detect vulnerabilities and hack systems. Meanwhile, WordPress, the most popular and widely used content management system in the world, has become a popular target for hackers.
To protect the website, you should periodically scan the site for malware, limit the number of attempts to enter WordPress and configure DDoS attacks on the website to allow hackers to infiltrate the blog or not give your website. Fortunately, all of this can be done with WordPress security plugins.
In this article, we will help you provide and improve the security of your site by introducing the best WordPress security plugins. For this reason, we have prepared a short and practical comparison between the top 5 WordPress security plugins for you so that you can choose the right plugin for your site by introducing the strengths and weaknesses of these plugins. Continue reading this article to learn more about these plugins.
Sucuri Security security plugin
Suitable for: Small sites and blogs
Security company Sucuri is one of the most well-known companies in the field of cyber security. This plugin is a product that this company has released for WordPress users for free. This plugin currently has over 500,000 active users, and updates are released regularly.
Main features
Sucuri Security plugin is not a full feature plugin. Most of this plugin is focused on basic things like scanning and monitoring malicious activities of hackers; however, it does all these things well.
This plugin continuously monitors WordPress core files to find and report infected or security flawed files. This plugin also has malware scanning and denialist monitoring. However, the best feature of this plugin is the operation after the site is hacked, which shows you recommendations to fix the site’s problems after it has been hacked or infected with malware.
Strengths of Sucuri security plugin
- Developed by a reputable company with regular updates
- Powerful malware scanner to detect unusual activities
- Display security alerts and action items for unusual activity
- Ability to fully monitor files
Weaknesses of Sucuri security plugin
- The old user interface is not user-friendly
- The firewall is only available in the paid version of the plugin
Wordfence security plugin
Suitable for: Small sites and blogs
Wordfence is a leading expert in WordPress security. This company has made a name for itself by discovering security vulnerabilities in WordPress and plugins. Thanks to the powerful research team of this company, Wordfence has always been the first to discover plugin vulnerabilities, allowing developers to quickly release security updates to fix plugin security flaws and ultimately ensure the security of WordPress users’ websites.
Main features
One of the most important features of this plugin is having a powerful firewall that is provided for users in the free version. This plugin also has a very effective malware scanner that can repair infected files. In addition, this plugin can protect your website from brute force attacks by limiting the number of login attempts.
All the mentioned features are available in the free version of the plugin. The paid version of the plugin has more features, including a two-step login, blocking visits from certain countries, etc.
Strengths of the Wordfence security plugin
- The simple and practical user interface for beginners
- Firewall and malware scanner
- The ability to limit the number of attempts to enter the site
- Complete monitoring of Google crawlers, bots, and user visits to detect unusual activities
- Display and monitor login activities to detect hackers
- The ability to repair damaged files
Weaknesses of the Wordfence security plugin
Very little negative impact on site speed
iThemes Security security plugin
Suitable for: large sites and online magazines
The iThemes Security plugin is another non-free option with several features to provide and improve the security of large websites. Although this plugin also has a free version, the free version of this plugin is not even suitable for securing small sites. You should only use this plugin if you intend to buy its paid version.
Main features
The iThemes Security plugin has a very nice user interface that allows users to enable or disable important security solutions to protect the website.
In addition to having a firewall and malware scanner, this plugin also has a 404-page detection system and database backup to keep your site safe.
The developer company of this plugin has considered different plans for the paid version to meet all users’ needs. By paying $80 per year, you can use the plugin on one site. Also, to use the plugin on ten websites, you need to pay $127 per year, and for unlimited use, you need to pay $197 per year.
Strengths of the iThemes Security plugin
- Powerful malware scanner
- Ability to protect against brute force attacks by limiting the number of attempts to enter the site
- File change detection system that lets you know which files have been manipulated by others
- The ability to hide the login page and site management section
- Two-step login system to protect passwords
- Send instant alerts by email
Weaknesses of the iThemes Security plugin
- No firewall in the plugin
- The free version lacks essential security features
- Very expensive price plans
Shield Security plugin
Suitable for: small websites and blogs
Shield Security plugin is a new and less known WordPress security plugin. However, this plugin provides various wonderful features to protect the site in different areas. Also, the paid version of this plugin only costs $1 per month. This plugin has over 80,000 active installs.
Main features
Although Shield Security is a relatively new extension, the company that created this extension has been able to provide a simple and good experience for this group of users by targeting novice users. One of the useful features of this plugin is the step-by-step guide for setting up the plugin, which teaches novice users how to set up the plugin for the best performance.
This plugin has all the important security features expected of a security plugin, including a powerful firewall, file scanner, and other features such as a Google security code to block site comment spam.
The paid version of the plugin, which only costs $1 per month, has been released with useful features such as a plugin, template scanner, and a hack detection scanner.
Strengths of the Shield Security plugin
- Having a beautiful and simple user interface for novice users
- The ability to limit attempts to enter the site to protect against brute force attacks
- Google’s two-step login feature to protect passwords
- Powerful firewall
- Scan and detect infected files
- Scan plugins and templates to detect security flaws (paid version)
- Scan and detect hacking attacks (paid version)
Weaknesses of the Shield Security plugin
Due to the newness of the plugin and its release by an independent developer, it is impossible to give a definite opinion about its effectiveness.
No malware scanner.
SecuPress Free security plugin
Suitable for: small websites and blogs
SecuPress security plugin is a new WordPress plugin with less than 10,000 active installs. However, this plugin has a powerful system for automatic scanning. With this feature, you don’t need to manually scan your site every week.
Main features
The free version of the SecuPress security plugin has all the basic features necessary for a security plugin. For example, features such as a site firewall, protection against brute force attacks, and the ability to hide the login page can be mentioned.
However, the paid version of the plugin is valuable for larger sites because paid version of the plugin includes features such as automatic site scanning, database backup, instant sending of alerts, two-step login, and the security flaw detection system of the template plugin.
Positive points of the SecuPress security plugin
- Malware scanner and firewall to scan infected files
- The ability to limit attempts to enter the site to protect against brute force attacks
- Two-step login and the ability to hide the login page (paid version)
- Ability to block access of users to the site from certain countries (paid version)
- Detection of security defects in plugins and templates (paid version)
- PHP Malware Scanner (paid version)
- Detection and blocking of malicious bots (paid version)
- Automatic site scanning (paid version)
Negative points of the SecuPress security plugin
- Expensive paid plans
- The free version has limited features
- Due to its newness, it is impossible to give a definite opinion about its effectiveness.
Which security plugin is suitable for your site?
According to one of the cyber security experts, no plugin is as powerful and effective as the Sucuri Security security plugin in securing your site. In addition, this plugin is completely free.
However, the Sucuri Security plugin lacks important features, such as a firewall and limiting the number of attempts to enter the site. These features are available in other WordPress security plugins. Depending on the type and size of your website, you can test other security plugins to find the best available security plugin for your needs.
When it comes to site security, choosing the right hosting is one of the most important tasks to maintain the security that you should never forget. Always use reliable and secure hosting to avoid becoming a victim of common hacker attacks.