16 Best WordPress Security Plugins 🛡 2022 (Free & Paid)

You can use the Sucuri Security WordPress plugin to protect your website in the best way possible and to offer very useful features without charge. In other words, it has both a free and a paid version, and the free version is suitable for most websites.

Its content delivery network also makes static content available to your server directly from its own repository, which prevents bad traffic from reaching the server.

Its free features include security and users activity audits, which are a tool for evaluating the extent to which the plugin protects the website. Furthermore, their DNS-based firewalls and CDNs significantly improve the site's performance in addition to improving website security.

The plugin offers a range of security features, such as security notifications, uptime monitoring, monitoring of file integrity, and hardening of security. You may also ensure that your WordPress site is cleaned up at no additional charge if it has been infected with malware.

You cannot verify password strength with this plugin. If this is something you need, you may consider iThemes Security.

💵 A Free Lite Version is available as well as a $199.99 Premium Version.

The iThemes Security plugin for WordPress is the best plugin for providing file protection if you need to have it done in a number of ways.

Among the most popular plugins available today, the file protector offers more than 20 different methods to protect your computer from being hacked or invaded.

The security package includes functionalities such as checks for integrity, security hardening, password strength verification, and force protection. In addition to technical support and plugin updates for a year, the premium version is capable of running on two websites at once.

One of its most notable shortcomings is the lack of a website firewall, as well as the fact that it relies on Sucuri's malware removal service rather than its own.

With this plugin, you will be able to detect whether or not a file has been altered, which is extremely valuable given that many webmasters fail to detect such alterations.

💵 A Free Lite Version is available as well as a $80 Premium Version.

With the Wordfence Security WordPress plugin, you get powerful security features that are fun and easy to use. Its security features protect your login information, and in the event of a security breach, you have the ability to restore it.

In addition to malware and exploit detection tools, the plugin also provides threat assessment tools as part of its free version. Using Wordfence, you can determine how many visitors your website receives as well as how many hacking attempts occur.

Despite the plugin's ability to detect common threats automatically, you can always run a full scan at any given time (unlike iThemes Security). In the event of a security breach, the breach will be reported immediately, and instructions will be provided by the malware security plugin regarding how to proceed.

As a result of corrupted data, you do not receive any restoration options. Instead, you are informed about what has been damaged so that you can fix the data as soon as possible.

💵 With the Premium version of the Wordfence Security plugin, you'll pay $99, while the Lite version is free.

WP fail2ban WordPress plugin provides you with brute force attacks protection, which is essential and its main feature. Regardless of whether a log is successful or not, its existence is recorded to the Syslog with the LOG_AUTH command.

It records and identifies the IPs (Internet Protocol) of each login in order to prevent brute force attacks. This is an original method for preventing brute force attacks.

It is possible to choose between a soft or hard ban as opposed to the more traditional approach, which dictates a prohibition.

If you grant a soft ban to an IP address, your website is temporarily unavailable to that IP address. If you grant a hard ban to the IP address, it is permanently blocked.

It would help if you also noted that the plugin has a big downside and its lack of a Password auditing feature. If you need this feature, we recommend you consider Wordfence Security instead.

💵 Download it, install it and get lifetime support for FREE.

Despite being completely free, All In One WP Security & Firewall brings a lot of useful, handy features for no additional cost. Despite the absence of a premium feel, the plugin maintains a convenient user interface and provides a reasonable level of customer service.

In addition to offering security scanning and WordPress backup services, the plugin integrates a number of tools into one interface, making them easily accessible from your dashboard.

Using a simple interface, this plugin enhances the security of your website by analyzing metrics such as security strength and highlighting what you can do to improve it.

The plugin does not have any specialized security features as such, so it is the perfect plugin for beginners. All the features necessary for getting started with security plugins are included.

Despite all the handy, free features the plugin provides, it does not offer you the integration with Cloudflare. If it is an essential feature, you may consider the WP fail2ban plugin.

💵 Free download of this plugin.

The Jetpack plugin not only provides malware protection and malware detection features but also provides many other valuable functionalities.

Jetpack is an advantage because it has been built by the WordPress community. It comes with modules to increase social media presence and spam protection. It is one of the most popular security plugins for WordPress, mainly used for scanning your website and ensuring its security.

For example, the protect module allows you to block suspicious activity without charge. In addition to saving backups, this plugin also allows users to scan for malware in real-time.

Furthermore, the plugin includes features such as brute force attack protection as part of its basic security functionality.

If you lock yourself out of your website, you will still be able to access it through the external access provided by your dashboard. It's also worth pointing out that, unlike All In One WP Security & Firewall, this plugin does not provide different graphs.

💵 You can use it for free on the Lite version, or for a fee on the Premium version.

While the SecuPress Free WordPress plugin for malware protection is somewhat newer than other security plugins on the list, it certainly performs as well as the others.

Such plugins are available both as free and premium editions, so if you are looking for a plugin with an intuitive interface and a lot of functionality, this is a good choice.

In addition, you will receive notifications when a user attempts to log in to the free version, which offers a firewall, spam filtering, and IP blocking. The free version also blocks bad bot traffic, prevents brute force login attempts, and safeguards your security credentials.

In addition to the standard features of the plugin, the premium version adds alerts and notifications, two-factor authentication, and geolocation blocking. The premium version also adds PHP malware scanning and HTML reports.

💵 The plugin comes in a Lite and Premium version. The Premium version charges a price, while the Lite version costs nothing.

With BulletProof Security, you get complete file protection via WordPress. If you like regularly updated plugins, this is the right choice.

The plugin is offered with a 30-day money-back guarantee, along with features such as quarantining, creating email alerts, detecting spam, and restoring deleted files. The unique feature of this plugin is that it scans all new content being added to your website and takes the appropriate actions.

Free features include protecting and monitoring user logins, backing up your database, and examining your computer for viruses. As well as protecting your website against hostile plugins and attachments, the plugin will check your entire webpage for all possible SQL injections.

In terms of ease of use, the security plugin is not the easiest to use, but it is highly recommended for experienced developers that wish to take advantage of the anti-exploit guard feature.

💵 There is no charge for using this plugin. You can download and use it for free.

WPScan WordPress plugin is another tool with which you can freely protect your WordPress site against attackers and bad bots. Throughout the day, security experts and community members update the software's database of vulnerabilities, which are manually curated.

Providing information on threats of various types and alerting you when important threats are encountered, the program allows you to avoid uncomfortable security scenarios.

Automattic sponsors a database of known vulnerabilities within its plugin that contains more than 21,000 entries. This plugin provides users with a free security API that can be used on most websites. It also provides daily automated scans that send email notifications when the results are available.

With the plugin installed, the WordPress core, plugins, and themes of your site are checked for known vulnerabilities. It is recommended that you use the pro version of it if you have a large site and use a lot of plugins. In this case, you have to buy it.

💵 For the Premium version of the plugin, it costs $price. You can also download the Free version.

The VaultPress WordPress plugin for file protection and malware security is another excellent option for you which works like iTheme & Sucuri Scanner plugins. Although it is marketed as a plugin for bloggers and small businesses, it also offers the option of upgrading.

The backup copies of your files are scanned by VaultPress for malware and other threats after they have been uploaded, in addition to backing them up.

Your daily and real-time backups are the basis of the operation, and the calendar view lets you specify the time that you would like them to be completed. However, it's more secure to use a firewall and some basic security measures to protect the information on your website.

Aside from this, you can restore a site with just the click of a mouse. A complete list of the files you used in the restoration process is available in your dashboard.

💵 Free Lite version and premium version are included.

Despite most of the other plugins on this list, the Google Authenticator WordPress plugin's only focus is to add a second layer of security to your login module.

The addition of the second layer of security to your login module is very important because most hacking attempts are performed when a user logs in.

As your phone will serve as an additional layer of security, you will be able to reduce the likelihood of hackers being able to access your WordPress account.

In addition, this plugin sends an email notification to your phone or uses an alternative method, for example, scanning QR codes or answering security questions.

With the plugin installed on your phone, you can log in to your account with your code. The plugin is compatible with all platforms, including iOS, Android, and Windows.

💵 With this plugin, you can also get a Free version.

The Security Ninja plugin for WordPress is one of the most widely used plugins when it comes to protecting websites from online attacks. In fact, it's been around for about 7 years now.

The main module includes more than fifty security tests, which include checks of files, MySQL permissions, and various PHP settings.

Several reasons have led to its popularity, including its ability to carry out 50 different security checks and its speed and ease of use. Moreover, the plugin checks passwords for attacks to ensure that passwords like ‘password' will not be accepted.

A unique feature of this plugin is that it prevents visitors and you from using passwords that are too weak for the purpose of accessing your website. The testing suite includes an auto fixer, but for those interested in learning more about how everything works, detailed descriptions are provided with each test.

💵 You can choose between a pro version for a price and a free lite version for a free.

Defender Security WordPress plugin is another option if you need a professional yet easy-to-use plugin for file protection.

It is important to note that both the free and the professional versions of the software include comprehensive lists of security enhancements that can be implemented immediately.

By scanning in real-time, creating backups, and recovering earlier versions of your website, you can restore an earlier working version of your website in case of a crash.

The pro version includes cloud backups of up to 10GB, which include comparisons between your WordPress installation and the WordPress directory. This plugin provides features such as a free firewall and IP blocking utility, malware scanning, and brute-force login protection.

Additionally, pro users will have the ability to submit a more comprehensive security report and receive more comprehensive customer support.

💵 Free, Pro, $5/M.

The Astra Web Security WordPress plugin may be one of your most useful options if you don't want your website to be hacked, victim to malware, or infected by bad bots.

Due to the fact that you will not have to navigate through dozens of options on a dashboard, you will not be forced to feel as if you are a pilot.

By installing this plugin, you will be able to remove malware from your site faster and with greater ease than ever before. Simply click on the ‘Deal with Malware' button to begin the process.

In order to better understand this, one need only recall that such leading brands as Gillette and Ford use this plugin. It is available as a free and premium plugin.

The free version offers basic security features, but the premium version provides more comprehensive security for protecting your entire WordPress site.

💵 For $25/M, you can have this full-documented plugin.

Shield Security WordPress plugin is the best option for those who are short on time and need a tool to scan their website immediately. Once activated, the plugin scans your website for malware and protects it from intrusions. It can be used by both beginners and more experienced users.

In addition, the software provides a free version that implements an application firewall and identifies and blocks malicious bots in real-time.

The plugin includes comprehensive documentation for all the options, so you can dig deeper into the security of your site as you see fit.

Plugins and themes are both protected by this tool, which is the only security plugin for WordPress that can accurately detect file modifications made to the core files as well as plugins and themes.

Additionally, the pro version provides a greater number of scans, a more frequent scan schedule, the ability to set up user password policies, and larger audit trails. WooCommerce support is also included.

💵 Free and for a small fee for the Pro version.

WordPress plugin Hide My WP for malware protection is the best way to hide your WordPress usage. The plugin uses solid-state intrusion detection technology (IDS) in order to prevent in-flight malicious activities such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

With the assistance of a mask, you can create a more secure site as well as hide components that could otherwise be viewed by third parties. As well as changing theme permalinks, the plugin will also hide theme names, plugin names, and login links.

By installing this plugin, you will receive notification of potentially malicious activity, along with the attacker's details, including their IP address, time, username, etc. The plugin will also disable the listing of directory files.

Additionally, it is compatible with multiple-site, Nginx, Apache, IIS, as well as premium plugins and themes, so it can be used with virtually anything.

💵 In the Hide My WP plugin, the price is $29.