Best protection plugins for WordPress
The most popular protection plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) leads with 100K+ active installs, ahead of Email Address Encoder (100K+) and Image Watermark (40K+). All 115 plugins tagged “protection” 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.
Research this niche or see all plugins.
Top 10 protection plugins
- 1.
NinjaFirewall (WP Edition)The most installed protection plugin, with 100K+ active installs. Rated 4.9 from 220 reviews, updated 1 day ago.
- 2.
Email Address Encoder100K+ active installs. Rated 4.2 from 160 reviews, updated 6 months ago.
- 3.
Image Watermark40K+ active installs. Rated 4.2 from 299 reviews, updated 2 weeks ago.
- 4.
NinjaScanner40K+ active installs. Rated 4.0 from 36 reviews, updated 2 months ago.
- 5.
Prevent Direct Access10K+ active installs. Rated 4.6 from 298 reviews, updated 2 months ago.
- 6.
WP Content Copy Protection10K+ active installs. Rated 3.5 from 163 reviews, last updated 3 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.2.15.
- 7.
ContentProtector5K+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.7.11.
- 8.
WP-Copyright-Protection5K+ active installs. Rated 4.4 from 21 reviews, last updated 1 year ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.7.11.
- 9.IP Ban
2K+ active installs. Rated 4.0 from 9 reviews, last updated 8 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39.
- 10.
No-Bot Registration2K+ active installs. Rated 4.4 from 28 reviews, updated 10 months ago. Tested only up to WordPress 6.9.11.
All 115 plugins tagged “protection”

NinjaFirewall (WP Edition)
Up in the last 7 days:1#343by nintechnet1 day ago
A true Web Application Firewall to protect and secure WordPress.
- Installs
- 100K+
- Rating
- 4.9(220)
- Downloads
- 1.2K/day

Email Address Encoder
Down in the last 7 days:1#405by Till Krüss7 months ago
A lightweight plugin that protects email addresses from email-harvesting robots, by encoding them into decimal and hexadecimal entities.
- Installs
- 100K+
- Rating
- 4.2(160)
- Downloads
- 308/day

Image Watermark
Down in the last 7 days:1#855by dFactory19 days ago
Apply image or text watermarks to new uploads and existing Media Library images.
- Installs
- 40K+
- Rating
- 4.2(299)
- Downloads
- 379/day

NinjaScanner
Up in the last 7 days:1#905by nintechnet2 months ago
A lightweight, fast and powerful virus scanner for WordPress.
- Installs
- 40K+
- Rating
- 4.0(36)
- Downloads
- 235/day

Prevent Direct Access
Down in the last 7 days:1#1,844by WP Folio Team2 months ago
A simple way to prevent search engines and the public from indexing and accessing your files without complex user authentication.
- Installs
- 10K+
- Rating
- 4.6(298)
- Downloads
- 120/day

WP Content Copy Protection
Down in the last 7 days:2#2,044by tychesoftwares3 years ago
WP Content Copy Protection uses aggressive techniques in protecting your online content (text/source/images/video/audio) from being stolen.
- Installs
- 10K+
- Rating
- 3.5(163)
- Downloads
- 28/day

ContentProtector
Up in the last 7 days:129#3,031by Anton1 year ago
Protect your content with passwords using easy-to-use shortcodes. Supports both global protection and partial content protection.
- Installs
- 5K+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 15/day

WP-Copyright-Protection
Up in the last 7 days:2#3,068by Dave Ligthart1 year ago
Simple copyright protection for your images and text. No right click, no text selections, no screenshots. A very lean and clean plugin.
- Installs
- 5K+
- Rating
- 4.4(21)
- Downloads
- 26/day
IP Ban
Down in the last 7 days:20#4,813by Sandor Kovacs9 years ago
Simple IP Ban is a lightweight ip / user agent ban plugin.
- Installs
- 2K+
- Rating
- 4.0(9)
- Downloads
- 15/day

No-Bot Registration
Down in the last 7 days:9#4,899by Arnan de Gans10 months ago
Prevent bots from creating accounts by blacklisting domains and usernames and present people with a human friendly security question.
- Installs
- 2K+
- Rating
- 4.4(28)
- Downloads
- 18/day

DMCA Website Protection Badge
Up in the last 7 days:28#5,984by NewClarity1 month ago
The DMCA Protection plugin for WordPress lets you install protection badges on your site in order to deter content thieves and protect your content
- Installs
- 1K+
- Rating
- 3.2(19)
- Downloads
- 24/day

NETSENSAI Shield
Up in the last 7 days:9#6,037by Rafal Gierlicki2 months ago
Hardens and protects your site by locking down login, REST API, XML‑RPC, file editor, and applying HTTP security headers.
- Installs
- 1K+
- Rating
- 5.0(5)
- Downloads
- 19/day

WebDefender Security
#6,544by CobWeb Security Ltd.9 months ago
PRO Security – Antivirus Scanner, 2-Layer Protection Hide Security, Brute Force Security & Antispam, Security Website and Security Hardening.
- Installs
- 1K+
- Rating
- 4.0(18)
- Downloads
- 22/day
Photection
Up in the last 7 days:10#6,693by Colormelon10 years ago
With this plugin you can disable right click on your images with a custom message!
- Installs
- 1K+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 11/day
JetHost Total Care
Up in the last 7 days:46#6,743by JetHost6 months ago
JetHost Total Care simplifies WordPress management by consolidating features like security, site enhancements and performance into a single plugin.
- Installs
- 1K+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 19/day

Sessions
Up in the last 7 days:15#7,091by Pierre Lannoy2 months ago
Powerful sessions manager for WordPress with sessions limiter and full analytics reporting capabilities.
- Installs
- 900+
- Rating
- 4.8(8)
- Downloads
- 16/day
Media Vault
Down in the last 7 days:46#7,661by Max GJ Panas12 years ago
Protect attachment files from direct access using powerful and flexible restrictions. Offer safe download links for any file in your uploads folder.
- Installs
- 700+
- Rating
- 4.4(27)
- Downloads
- 11/day

WebTotem Security
Down in the last 7 days:66#7,699by WebTotem1 month ago
WebTotem is a SaaS which provides powerful tools for securing and monitoring your website in one place in easy and flexible way.
- Installs
- 700+
- Rating
- 4.2(13)
- Downloads
- 23/day

htaccess protect
Down in the last 7 days:13#7,702by zoltanlaczko4 years ago
htaccess protect - Protect your wordpress login or admin pages with password.
- Installs
- 700+
- Rating
- 3.7(6)
- Downloads
- 11/day

Simple Password Protect
Up in the last 7 days:96#8,761by Desk9 Design27 days ago
Protect your entire WordPress site with a simple password. GDPR-compliant with modal links for legal pages.
- Installs
- 500+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 17/day

Route ‑ Shipping Protection
Down in the last 7 days:243#9,253by Route3 days ago
One-Click Shipping Protection
- Installs
- 400+
- Rating
- 4.3(24)
- Downloads
- 73/day
Blue Captcha
Up in the last 7 days:11#9,326by jotis2 months ago
Blue Captcha is a powerful and highly customized WordPress plugin that effectively protects your WP blogs from spammers and unwanted persons.
- Installs
- 400+
- Rating
- 4.7(15)
- Downloads
- 10/day
Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII
Down in the last 7 days:55#10,904by bgermann2 years ago
Beginning with version 14.9.1 cformsII has pluggable captcha support. This plugin makes use of that by providing an implementation for the Really Simp …
- Installs
- 300+
- Rating
- 3.0(2)
- Downloads
- 11/day
Captcha.eu
Up in the last 7 days:138#10,911by captcha.eu17 days ago
Captcha.eu, the GDPR compliant captcha plugin for WordPress!
- Installs
- 300+
- Rating
- 5.0(5)
- Downloads
- 22/day

Image Protection
Up in the last 7 days:42#11,366by TWK Media1 month ago
Protects images on your WordPress site from being copied or captured, with optional EXIF privacy tools for uploaded media.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 11/day

Basic Security
Down in the last 7 days:11#11,716by Jose Mortellaro11 days ago
It helps in preventing Cross Site Scripting (XSS) with just a few lines of code.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 11/day
Password Protection Expiration
Up in the last 7 days:83#12,068by Seth Yoder11 years ago
Allows you to easily change the lifetime of the WordPress cookie which allows automatic login to password-protected posts.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 5.0(6)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Limit Login Attempts (Spam Protection)
Up in the last 7 days:10#12,455by wp-buy1 year ago
Limit rate of login attempts, including by way of cookies, for each IP. Fully customizable.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 3.9(7)
- Downloads
- 9/day

Spam Master
Down in the last 7 days:119#12,503by TechGasp2 months ago
Real-time firewall and anti-spam for WordPress. Block spam bots, comments, logins & registrations. No CAPTCHA, no slowdown.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 4.2(72)
- Downloads
- 22/day

SAR One Click Security
Down in the last 7 days:20#12,541by Samuel Aguilera1 year ago
Adds some extra security to your WordPress with only one click.
- Installs
- 200+
- Rating
- 5.0(7)
- Downloads
- 6/day

LH Private BuddyPress
Up in the last 7 days:108#13,861by shawfactor4 years ago
Protect your BuddyPress Installation from strangers. Only registered users will be allowed to view directory pages, activity and profile pages.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 5.0(5)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Good Question
Down in the last 7 days:244#17,077by Artem Frolov6 years ago
Simple plugin to stop spam comments and registrations on your site. Adds a question field on the form, easy for humans, but not solvable for the bots.
- Installs
- 90+
- Rating
- 4.6(13)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Download Monitor integration for WooCommerce
Up in the last 7 days:61#17,324by Cristian Raiber26 days ago
Restrict your available downloads behind a WooCommerce purchase.
- Installs
- 90+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 11/day
Page Protection
#18,003by mortenf17 years ago
Protect pages and their subpages with user name/password, and keep protected pages from showing up in menus, search results and page lists.
- Installs
- 80+
- Rating
- 3.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
ShieldUp
Up in the last 7 days:96#18,056by shieldup2 years ago
ShieldUp helps you to tackle bad bots, scrapers, hackers, enhancing website security and optimizing performance for a seamless user experience.
- Installs
- 80+
- Rating
- 5.0(3)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Norton Shopping Guarantee with Package Protection
Up in the last 7 days:336#18,231by Norton Shopping Guarantee3 days ago
Increase sales by providing a unique and holistic buyer protection program, offering a shopping guarantee, shipping insurance, and trust badges.
- Installs
- 70+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Private Captcha
Up in the last 7 days:687#18,528by Taras Kushnir1 month ago
Private Captcha protects your WordPress website from spam and abuse with a privacy-first, independent CAPTCHA solution made in EU.
- Installs
- 70+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 12/day
Private BuddyPress
Down in the last 7 days:138#19,130by Dennis16 years ago
Protect your BuddyPress Installation from strangers. Only registered users will be allowed to view the installation.
- Installs
- 60+
- Rating
- 5.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day
WP Content Protection
Up in the last 7 days:30#19,408by Shankaranand Maurya11 years ago
WP Content Protection plugin is used to protect the content.No membership required for this protection.
- Installs
- 60+
- Rating
- 4.7(7)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Access Defender
Up in the last 7 days:325#21,311by Huzaifa Al Mesbah1 year ago
Advanced VPN & proxy blocker for WordPress. 99.9% accuracy, multi-API rotation, real-time monitoring. Protect against fraud & spam.
- Installs
- 50+
- Rating
- 3.0(2)
- Downloads
- 0/day

Botfaqtor Code
Down in the last 7 days:197#21,377by botfaqtor1 year ago
Интеграция сервиса Botfaqtor для защиты сайта от ботов.
- Installs
- 50+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day

WP Firewall
Down in the last 7 days:235#21,438by Andrea De Giovine6 years ago
Protect WordPress from hacker attacks, spam and dangerous actions.
- Installs
- 40+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
EmailScrambler
Down in the last 7 days:36#22,085by Daschmi5 years ago
A lightweight plugin to protect email addresses from email-harvesting
- Installs
- 40+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day

Frontend HTTP Auth Protection
#23,001by Prashant Baldha10 years ago
Frontend HTTP Authentication Protection makes private front part of your website. When web developer like to give demo of website to end client before …
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- 5.0(1)
- Downloads
- 4/day
POWER CAPTCHA
Down in the last 7 days:417#23,149by POWER CAPTCHA6 months ago
POWER CAPTCHA protects your WordPress website and WordPress forms against bots and unauthorized persons. GDPR compliant!
- Installs
- 30+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day
Configurable Hotlink Protection
Down in the last 7 days:33#25,321by deltafactory15 years ago
Save bandwidth by easily blocking links to video, audio, and other files from unapproved 3rd-party sites. Requires mod_rewrite.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- 1.0(4)
- Downloads
- 0/day

GhostTrap
Down in the last 7 days:190#25,702by LaughterOnWater9 months ago
Advanced 5-layer invisible spam protection for comments. No captcha, no user friction - professional spam blocking.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day

Medifence
Down in the last 7 days:3,420#28,448by Redwoodcity2 days ago
Blocks direct access to uploaded media files for visitors who are not logged in. File URLs stay unchanged.
- Installs
- 20+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 45/day
Proxy Hacking Protection
Up in the last 7 days:90#28,904by niyari11 years ago
To prevent a reduction in the search results by the replication of illegal content.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day

sHub-Log
Down in the last 7 days:2,460#29,082by SyntaxCloud LLC4 days ago
Records suspicious login attempts, 404s, and malicious requests, then blocks IPs after repeated attempts.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 6/day