Are you ready to start that blog, small business, or e-commerce website using WordPress? One of the major things you have to invest in is security. Dealing with spam and malware on your website can be avoided by taking the right actions. Although WordPress has some security measures put in place when you launch your site, you still need the extra protection that plugins will give to you. WordPress security plugins come with a lot of features including security hardening, malware scanning, blacklist monitoring, active security monitoring, firewalls, and post-hack actions. There are hundreds of security plugins available for download. So, we’ve picked out the 10 best security plugins for WordPress to save you the trouble.
1. Sucuri Security
Sucuri is ranked as one of the best security plugins you can use on your WordPress site. Although this plugin comes in both free and premium versions, the free version is more than enough for most websites. With the free features, you get security notifications, security hardening, and blacklist monitoring. The paid version provides you with faster and more frequent security scans. Other features you will find with the Succuri Security plugin are effective customer service, advanced DDoS protection in some plans, and steady notifications when your site has a problem.
2. iThemes Security Pro
There’s a free iThemes Security plugin that contains some basic features, but it is usually recommended to use install the iThemes Security Pro for maximum benefits. Some of these benefits include Google reCAPTCHA integration to give your login pages an extra layer of protection, notifies you when there’s a change in any file on your site, adds extra layers of complexity to authentication keys, and searches for malicious activities on your WordPress files. For just $80 per annum, the premium version offers security to two websites. If you have more websites to protect, there are more expensive plans you can also look into.
3. Jetpack
Almost everyone who uses WordPress knows Jetpack. It is one of the most widely used plugins. This is because it has so many amazing features and does more than secure your site. This free version of this WordPress plugin has some security tools such as brute force attack protection and whitelisting. But if you want your site to have better and stronger security like backups, security scanning, and spam protection, get the paid version of Jetpack. Just like other security plugins, it has different plans depending on what features you want. If you run a small website, you don’t need to get the paid version yet. But when you start expanding, you need an upgrade. When you use Jetpack, you save space for other plugins. You can use it for email marketing, social media optimization, and site optimization.
4. Wordfence Security
As a small website owner, using Wordfence, you can get enough protection by installing the free version alone. It protects you from brute force attacks and even does firewall blocks. But, for more advanced websites, you need to get the paid plan. The pricing starts from $99 a year for one site. The premium versions include tools for country blocking and manual blocking, carry out routine scans of all kinds of threats on your website, and even monitors live site traffic. You don’t need to install a spam filter plugin because Wordfence has a comment spam filter you can use. The premium version makes managing a website much easier.
5. All in One WP Security and Firewall
The first thing everyone notices about the All in One WP Security and Firewall is the interface. This security plugin relies heavily on visuals. It uses graphs and meters to explain everything you need to understand and improve your website security. They make operating this plugin even easier by breaking down the features into Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. As a new blog owner with little knowledge of how things work, you can utilize the Basic and Intermediate features. More advanced developers can use advanced features. This plugin is free and fully packed with so many features.
6. Bulletproof Security
Bulletproof Security is a WordPress plugin with both free and paid versions and more features than most security plugins in the market. To get the premium version, you only have to pay a one-time fee of $69.95. This is more affordable than many others which require an annual re-subscription fee. The free version has so many features including login security and monitoring, maintenance mode, anti-spam tools, and database backups. For small and average websites, you don’t need to get the paid version.
7. Secupress
Secupress was initially a freemium plugin when it was released in 2016. But as it started growing rapidly, it got both free and paid versions. With the free version, you get features like anti-brute force login, a firewall, key protection, and blocked IPs. With the premium version which starts at $59 a year, you can access more sophisticated features such as PHP malware scans, PDF reports, two-factor authentication, and GeoIP blocking.
8. WP fail2ban
WP fail2 ban is quite different from other security plugins. This plugin only focuses on solving one problem – brute force attack protection. You don’t have to do much when you use this plugin. All you need to do is install the plugin. It will do the rest. WP fail2ban records all login attempts on your site to the Syslog with LOG-AUTH. Also, it logs comments to prevent spam and gives you the option to either implement a soft or hard ban. Many users have lauded this plugin for its effectiveness.
9. VaultPress
Vaultpress works just like Sucuri and iThemes Security Pro. It is a paid plugin with plans starting at $39 per year. This makes it one of the most affordable premium WordPress security plugins on the market. Although it was created mainly for bloggers and small businesses, larger businesses can get either the $99 per year or $299 per year plans. One of the major features of Vaultpress is the daily and real-time backups, which are easy to restore when anything happens.
10. Google Authenticator – Two Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication is a feature you won’t find in most WordPress security plugins. So, having Google Authenticator plugin installed is an added advantage. It provides an extra layer of security to your login modules, making it less likely for hackers to easily penetrate. Also, you can choose who has to go through authentication. It is very easy to use this plugin, and you don’t have to pay a dime for it.
