Best defender plugins for WordPress
The most popular defender plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Ad Block Defender leads with 10+ active installs, ahead of NerdTools Bad Bots Spam Defender (10+). All 3 plugins tagged “defender” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
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Top 2 defender plugins
- 1.
Ad Block DefenderThe most installed defender plugin, with 10+ active installs. Only 2 reviews so far, last updated 10 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.4.34.
- 2.
NerdTools Bad Bots Spam Defender10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 12 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.0.38.
All 3 plugins tagged “defender”
Ad Block Defender
#39,171by ipdmsolutions10 years ago
This simple ad block defender plugin detects if a user is using ad blocking software and asks them to reconsider if they are.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- 3.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
NerdTools Bad Bots Spam Defender
#47,924by NerdKey12 years ago
Automatically denies comment access to known spammers in the NerdTools Bad Bots database.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day