Looking for the best tools to secure your WordPress website and protect it from hacks and other attacks?
We've got you.
There are a lot of options to choose from and we know you don't have the time to go through lists and lists of WordPress security plugin options.
So we've narrowed the list down to 6 of the best.
Keep reading to find the best option to protect and secure your WordPress website.
Do I Have to Secure a WordPress Website?
Yes.
You need to secure your WordPress website and protect it from hackers, malware, and other malicious threats – but you can’t do that without the right security tools.
These plugins are designed to scan your website for threats, identify vulnerabilities on your site, and block malicious entities from accessing your site.
Without a trusted security plugin, your site is a sitting duck. And if you’re trying to build small business online that your users can trust, you can’t afford to have any security vulnerabilities.
Because when hackers or malware target your website, they aren’t just targeting you.
They want to access your users’ devices and personal information as well. If that happens, you’ll lose your users’ (or customers') trust, and this will hurt your business, significantly.
6+ Best WordPress Security Plugins to Protect Your Site from Hackers & Bots
Let’s take a look at 6 of the best tools you can use to secure your WordPress website:
1. Sucuri
Sucuri is one of the best WordPress security plugins in the market.
This plugin provides a variety of features to help improve your website security, including security scans, login lockdown, and malware removal.
If any malicious code, vulnerabilities, or other security issues are detected, Sucuri can automatically remove malware and clean up the site without requiring manual intervention.
Sucuri also provides a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to act as a protective barrier between your website and incoming traffic. This firewall filters out malicious requests, DDoS attacks, and other harmful traffic before it reaches your server — protecting your site from any major damage.
In terms of security hardening (reducing your system’s vulnerability to attacks), Sucuri provides several options, like disabling the file editor, protecting your PHP code, and securing the wp-admin directory.
As a free WordPress security plugin, you can get a lot out of this tool.
But, if you want more advanced features to beef up your site’s security and keep hackers, malicious bots, and other complex security threats at bay, you’ll need to purchase one of Sucuri’s paid plans.
Every paid plan comes with WordPress firewall protection to give your site an extra, super secure layer of protection.
Other key features include:
- Easy, straightforward setup in the WordPress dashboard
- Assistance from in-house security experts if your site’s been hacked
- In-depth site tracking, monitoring all file changes, login activity, and limiting login attempts where necessary
Pricing starts from $199 per year for the basic plan.
2. WordFence
WordFence is another top tool you can use to secure your WordPress website, scan for malware and protect it from brute-force attacks.
The plugin features an integrated malware scanner with brute force protection that checks a WordPress site for malware, bad URLs, backdoors, SEO spam, malicious redirects, and code injections.
It compares your WordPress core files, themes, and plugins with what is in the WordPress.org repository, checking their integrity and reporting any changes to you — this is known as file integrity monitoring.
That way you’ll quickly receive an email notification of any hack attempts to your WordPress files (be sure to configure this setting in the backend of the app).
And to thwart automated login attempts, Wordfence can add a CAPTCHA challenge to your WordPress login page, further securing your site from brute force login attacks, boosting login security on your website or WooCommerce store.
It can also block IP addresses attempting too many failed logins.
WordFence’s free version offers most of these tools and provides you with more than enough to set up solid security measures on your site.
Other WordFence features include:
- Login activity monitoring to keep track of recent WordPress logins, failed login attempts, and block automated attacks
- 24/7 incident response team ready to help recover and repair your website in the event of an attack
- Plugin & theme vulnerability monitoring, with alerts to inform you of any irregularities
WordFence Premium plans start from $119 per year.
3. iThemes Security Pro (now known as Solid Security)
iThemes Security Pro is a reliable WordPress security solution that comes from the team behind BackupBuddy.
Like other security plugin options on this list, iThemes Security Pro, offers brute force attack protection and malware scanning.
This tool will limit login attempts if a certain number of failed attempts are detected.
The plugin can also detect and log 404 errors, which are often a sign of a bot looking for vulnerabilities to exploit. Frequent 404 errors from the same source can trigger a lockout of that source, adding it to a blacklist and preventing a security breach.
iThemes Security Pro also allows WordPress User Security Checks — allowing administrators to enforce strong passwords and two-factor authentication (2FA), to protect user accounts as well.
Other key features include:
- Detailed monitoring and login protection to pick up suspicious activity and block it
- Plugin and theme scanning to identify vulnerabilities & let you know what needs to be updated
- Scheduled WordPress backups
iThemes Security Pro doesn’t have website firewall protection or malware scan. They use Sucuri‘s Sitecheck malware scanner instead.
Pricing for paid versions of this plugin start from $199 per year (for 1 site).
Having regular backups of your website is important in an overall strategy to keep your WordPress website secure and protected from risk.
In the event your website crashes, or is subject to an attack, you should always have a recent backup of your site to restore. And that's why you need a backup plugin like Duplicator.
Duplicator is the simplest, most straightforward way to back up your WordPress website.
This plugin is beginner-friendly and designed to turn the backup process into a simple task you can handle in a few clicks.
Key features of Duplicator include:
Easy, one-click site backup
Automatic backup schedules
Seamless site migration
MultiSite support
Cloud backup storage
...and so much more.
Duplicator has several plans you can choose from, including a free one. Select the one that suits your needs, start your subscription and download the plugin.
Pricing starts from $49 for a Basic plan.
Jetpack is a popular all-in-one solution that offers a variety of security features to protect WordPress websites.
Their website can be a bit hard to navigate because they offer a lot of tools to improve your site’s security and performance. But if all you want is a security plugin, and nothing else, you should look at their plans on this page.
Key features include:
Real-time backups that save after every change you make to your site
1-click restore to get your site back up fast
Anti-spam protection to automatically blocks spam in post and page comments
Immediate email alerts to notify you of site downtime
6. All-in-One Security for WP
All-in-One Security is a powerful, popular WordPress security plugin that comes with a good selection of security tools to protect your website
This plugin has a free version that covers the basics really well and a premium version that includes advanced security to give your website an extra layer of solid protection.
Key features include:
- Detailed scanning for malicious software
- IP filtering to block specific people and regions
- Blocked logins after multiple failed login attempts
- Firewall and file protection
Bonus: Other WordPress Security Plugins to Consider
We’ve listed 6 of the best security options we’ve come across. But, if you’re looking for a few more options to consider, take a look at the following honorable mentions:
Additional Tips for Securing Your WordPress Website
There are other steps you can take, in addition to installing a WordPress security plugin, to keep your website safe and secure:
Enable 2-Factor Authentication on your site to add extra security to the login process. Most of the plugins we mentioned have 2FA functionality. You can also use an authenticator plugin like Google Authenticator.
Use strong passwords that include a number and symbol. Avoid making your birthday, or other easy-to-decipher words your main password for your sites.
Maintain your WordPress website on a regular basis to make sure all themes and plugins are updated.
Schedule automatic backups or manually backup your website on a regular basis, so you have a recent version of your site to restore in the event of an attack or crash.
Only install themes and plugins from trusted websites. Thrive Suite, for example, provides you with themes and plugins that are safe, secure, and regularly updated to keep them secure.
Use a secure WordPress hosting provider from a trusted, reliable company. Most reliable providers offer website owners security features like free SSL certificates and regular malware scanning.
Frequently Asked: Best Tools to Secure a WordPress Website
Q: Which plugin is best for security WordPress?
A: Sucuri, WordFence, and iThemes Security Pro are among the best security plugins for WordPress.
Q: Should I use security plugin for WordPress?
A: Yes. The internet is filled with malicious users who try to take down business websites, like yours, through hacks and malware. You need to install a security plugin on your WordPress website to protect your site from these attacks and also identify vulnerabilities in your themes and plugins before they become a big problem.
Q: Do security plugins slow down WordPress?
A: Not if you use a reliable plugin from a trusted provider. Only a poorly-built WordPress security plugin can slow down your site, or prevent it from working the way it should.
Next Steps: Improve Your WordPress Website Today
Now you have a set of solid options to choose a reliable plugin to secure your WordPress website, it's time to focus on improving the rest of your website.
Check out these resources to learn about more plugins, tips, and tricks you can use to create an impressive website your audience can love and trust:
- Best No Code Tools You Need to Use on Your WordPress Website
- Do You Really Know What Makes a Good Website?
- How to Build a Website Using WordPress Templates (The Easy Way)
- 17 Best WordPress Plugins for Entrepreneurs
And if you're ready to start working...
