WordPress Security Plugins Comparison
The goal of every security plugin is to help you protect your WordPress website from malwares. There are many security services in the market. To decide which of these you will trust your site with, you have to factor in the size and importance of your website, your budget and finally, how much work you are ready to put in, manually.
For example, if you want minimal manual interference in your security services, you will want an automatic security plugin. If you are looking for securing a large site, you have to ensure that the service does not slow down your site.
This decision is one the most important ones you’ll make for your website. Here, we have taken it upon ourselves to provide you with the necessary information information regarding some of the popular WordPress Security Plugins.
How Do the Plugins Work?
Let us first take a look at how each of the security plugins work.
- MalCare’s Advanced Deep Scan Technology has been developed after analysing over 240,000 sites. It uses 100+ Intelligent Signals to accurately detect malware on your site, and cleans it out using a powerful instant one-click malware removal service.
- Wordfence regularly scans your files, database, posts and comments for DNS changes, backdoors, malicious files, malicious code embedded in your website source code, URLs listed as dangerous by Google and unwanted changes.
- Sucuri uses automated scripts and tools maintained by their research team and their professional security analysts work to understand your site, locate infections and their impacts.
- With SiteLock, viruses on your website will be identified, and you will be notified immediately so that you can clean it out. The SMART scan takes a deeply comprehensive look at the surface of your website from the outside-in.
- SecuPress is able to identify 35 security points and it will then state the health of your site. It even has precise security alarm on its servers which supplies daily data about the most recent vulnerable plugins and themes.
- iThemes Security offers more than 30 ways to secure a WordPress site. It focuses on locking down your WordPress website, fixing common loopholes, blocking automated attacks and obscuring credentials.
What Do the Plugins Do?
Security Plugins Features Highlight
Now let us find out more about the features each of these plugins have, to offer.
MalCare Top Features
- Automatic Deep Scanning every 24 hours
- Complex Malware Detection
- Tracks every change in your files
- No Overload on your Servers
- No False Positives
- One-Click Automatic Malware Removal
- Integrated Firewall
- Login Protection
- Site Hardening
- Integrated Backup
- Auditing and Reporting
MalCare Unlisted Features
- Manual one-click Scan
- Rollbacks to clean version of hacked files
- Live Tracking of Real time Firewall and Login Protection stats
- Blacklisting or Whitelisting selected IPs
- Security + Backup plans offer Auto Restore, Staging and Migration features
- Site Management including User, Plugins, Themes adding or removal
Wordfence Top Features
- Wordfence Firewall blocks brute force attacks
- Security Scan alerts you quickly in the event of a security issue
- Real Time Monitoring using Threat Defense Feed
- Security alerts
- Incident recovery tools
- WordPress Firewall
- IP Blocking Features
- Multisite Security
- File repair
- Caching features
Wordfence Unlisted Features
- Monitor your traffic, DNS security and disk space to detect and prevent hacking attempt
- Compatible with multi-sites
- Enforce strong passwords for all user accounts
- Use mobile phones as two-factor authentication tool to improve your login security
Sucuri Top Features
- File Integrity Monitoring
- Remote Malware Scanning
- Effective Security Hardening
- Post-Hack Security Actions
- Security Notifications
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
- Content Distribution Network (CDN)
- Cloud-based Backup Service
- Real-time DDoS mitigation
- Continuous Security Monitoring
- Activity Auditing
Sucuri Unlisted Features
- File change detection on schedule
- Blacklist Monitoring
- Scheduled DNS and WHOIS monitoring
iThemes Security Top Features
- iThemes Brute Force Attack Protection Network
- Two-factor Authentication
- Monitor core file changes
- Threat Detection
- Logging user actions
- Data Obfuscation
- Database Recovery
- Multisite Compatibility
- Detects hidden 404 errors on the site
- Backup database on schedule
- Security Tutorials
iThemes Security Unlisted Features
- Google reCPATCHA
- Force you to use latest versions of the themes and plugins
- Track users and know when they login, edit content and logout from the site
- Prevents unauthorized changes in the file system
SiteLock Top Features
- Daily malware scans
- Automatic malware removal
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Remove you from a blacklist
- DDoS attack protection
- Website acceleration
- PCI compliant
SiteLock Unlisted Features
- 30+ CDN POPs to increase content delivery speed
- Image compression and image rendering
- Session reuse optimization
- “On the fly” file compression
- TCP optimization & connection pre-pooling
SecuPress Top Features
- Malware Scanner can be Scheduled and Automatic
- Database and File Backups
- Vulnerable theme and plugin detection
- Anti-Spam
- Built-in backups
- Security key protection
SecuPress Unlisted Features
- SiteLock’s TrueCode Static Application Security Testing (SAST) looks for common vulnerabilities through “white-box” testing.
- Scan pages in Draft mode.
How was the Plugin User Friendliness?
MalCare
MalCare is still scaling heights and exploring all that it can do. While we know it is already powerful security solution it will be interesting to see where it goes with reinforcing known security strategies. It is fairly easy to use, and the dashboard ensures all the features don’t get cluttered. There’s barely any technical knowledge required to use the plugin but you can tinker around something like Site Hardening if you want.
Wordfence
Wordfence has established documentation within easy reach. The options on Wordfence don’t overwhelm you, so that’s good. Sometimes, there is some plugin compatibility clash with Wordfence and other security plugins so you’ll have to uninstall the other plugins.
Sucuri
The Sucuri team can help with the plugin configuration if it gets too complicated for us. It is known for enhancing the performance of a site. Sucuri has an easy-to-use dashboard that is available only on an Sucuri external web application, that is, it’s not a part of your WordPress dashboard.
SiteLock
With SiteLock, there is very little hands-on action that you need to actually perform. It is in the range of being a low commitment level plugin. Beware the billing process though. There seems to be some kind of ambiguity which should be cleared up by talking to the support staff, beforehand.
SecuPress
SecuPress is designed with the goal of fixing WordPress security problems and allowing administrators of any level to protect their site in just a few clicks. It has a pleasing UI, but messing around with WordPress configuration using the plugin can be a pitfall for those of us who don’t know how to go about it correctly..
iThemes Security
Due to the range of settings offered, it can get confusing or frustrating to work your way around the plugin. On the other hand, something like Logging is technical, and gives more control and flexibility. Some people have experienced site breakage because of the sheer scale of this plugin so make sure you have backed up your site before installing it.
How Much Do the Plugins Cost?
MalCare
Free (Firewall+Site Hardening Security)
Personal Plan
$99 /year- Security for 1 Site : $99 per Year
- Security + BackUp for 1 Site : $149 per Year
Business Plan
$259 /year- Security for 5 Sites : $259 per Year
- Security + BackUp for 5 Sites : $359 per Year
Developer Plan
$59 /month- Security for 20 Sites : $59 per Month
- Security + BackUp for 20 Sites : $79 per Month
Agency Plan
$159 /month- Security for Upto 100 Sites : $159 per Month
- Security + BackUp for 100 Sites : $199 per Month
Note that all plans include the following:
- MalCare Scanner
- MalCare Cleaner
- Login Protection
- Web Application Firewall (WAF) Protection
- Whitelisting and Blacklisting IPs
- Site Hardening
- Customized Support
Wordfence
Premium Wordfence is available as API Keys which can be customized according to the number of sites you want to protect using Wordfence and the time duration for which you want the license for.
This means that you can buy Wordfence Security for One website with 1 Key for 1 Year validity at $99.
Wordfence Security for Two Websites will require 2 Keys for 1 Year costs $149.
Wordfence Security for Three Websites will require 3 Keys for 1 Year costs $200, and so on.
Sucuri
Basic: $199.99 per year
Professional: $299.99 per year
Business: $499.99 per year
Please note that all plans include:
- Malware and Hack Cleanup
- Website Firewall (WAF)
- Blacklist Removal
- Continuous Scanning
- Malware and Attack Prevention
- DDoS Protection
SiteLock
SecuPress
1 site: $59 per year
5 sites: $18.88 per year
10 sites: $14.16 per year … And so on
Please note that Malware Removal costs a separate $175.82.
All plans include:
- Anti Spam
- Alerts & Notifications
- Two Factor Authentication
- PHP Malware Scan
- GeoIP Blocking
- Schedule Tasks
- PDF Reports
iThemes Security
Blogger, for 2 sites: $80 per year
Freelancer, for 10 sites: $100 per year
Developer, for 50 sites: $150 per year
Gold, for unlimited number of sites: $197 per year
|
Features |
ithemes Security | |||||
|
Price |
From $99.00 /year |
From $99.00 /year |
From $199.99 /year |
|||
| True one-click setup |
Yes, no configuration required. |
No |
Yes, no configuration required |
No |
No |
No |
| Independant dashboard |
Yes, Security services are separate from WordPress site |
No |
Yes, plugin is not on WordPress admin page |
No |
No |
No |
| Early Malware Detection |
Yes, careful tracking of file changes helps detect malware faster. |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Impacts Site Performance |
No, security operations run on MalCare server |
Yes, security operations run on your server. |
No, Sucuri helps to enhance site performance. |
Yes, security operations run on your server. |
Yes, security operations run on your server. |
Yes, security operations run on your server. |
| Detects Really Complex Malware Easily |
Yes, MalCare accurately detects even the latest malware threat |
Yes, only if it malware is known |
Yes, only if malware is known |
No |
No |
No |
| No False Positives |
Yes, MalCare only disturbs you when there is an actual malware threat. No False Alarms. |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Blacklisting and web host blocking alerts |
Yes, you are alerted to any malwares on your site. |
No |
Yes, you are alerted to any malwares on your site. |
No |
No |
No |
| Track changes |
Yes, MalCare keeps track of all file changes for an early detection of malware |
No |
Yes, Sucuri keeps track of all file changes. |
No |
No |
No |
| One-Click Automatic Clean-Up |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No, does not offer malware cleanup |
| Removes The Complex Malware |
Yes, MalCare goes beyond signatures and cleans malwares with surgical precision. |
Yes, only if it detects the complex malware |
Yes, only if it detects the complex malware |
No |
No |
No |
| Instant Cleaning |
Yes, with One-Click Malwares are cleaned instantaneously. |
No, you have to wait for upto 12 hours or more for security analysts. |
No |
No, you have to contact customer support |
No |
No |
| Rollback to Clean version |
Yes, without affecting rest of the site. |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Login Protection |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Live Login Request tracking and logging |
Yes, MalCare displays Accepted, Blocked and Bypassed requests in Graph and logs |
Yes, Wordfence maps login requests |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Brute Force Protection by Limiting number of failed login attempts |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Blocks PHP execution in untrusted folders |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Disabling the File Editor |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Blocks theme/plugin installation |
Yes, MalCare disables any rogue plugin installations. |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Integrated Web Application Firewall |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Blocks suspicious IPs |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Live IP Request tracking and logging |
Yes, MalCare displays requests in Graph and logs |
Yes, Wordfence maps IP requests |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Virtual Patching and Hardening |
No |
No |
Yes, websites with known vulnerabilities are protected |
No |
No |
No |
| Built In Secure WordPress Backups |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Complete site backup |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Independent backups |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Offsite storage |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Encrypted backups |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Agile and helpful customer support |
Yes |
Priority is given to Premium plan users only |
Yes |
No |
Yes, in different languages as well |
Yes, but long waitlines |
A well-rounded, all-in-one plugin will have mastered these basic concepts:
- It should scan your site for malware.
- It should Not Shift your sever’s Focus from your site. Your server should not get overloaded because of running the site and running security services.
- It should not send you any unnecessary alerts. A security service might “think” that it found a malware on your site, when there wasn’t any. Naturally, that will get frustrating soon. So your security service should not send you any false alarms.
- It should Clean out even the most Complex malwares Efficiently.
- It has to help you perform the Best Security Hardening Practices
Which WordPress Security Plugin seems to tick all the requirements for you?
