Stop Spammers vs Wordfence Security
Compare WordPress plugins and tools side by side. Pick products with “Compare” in the software directory.
| Feature | Stop Spammers v2026.6 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.4/5 Visit Details | Wordfence Security v9.0.2 · checked 23 Oct 2026 Free + paid · ★ 4.7/5 Visit Details |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Active installs | 20,000+ | 5M+ |
| Last updated | July 18, 2026 | September 30, 2026 |
| Editions | Stop Spammers Classic | Wordfence Security · Wordfence Premium ($) |
| Pros | Checks IPs against StopForumSpam, BotScout and Akismet; Captcha challenge on login, registration and comment forms; Allow list, block list and activity reports | Firewall, malware scanner, 2FA and passkey login in the free version; Scanner checks core, theme and plugin files against WordPress.org; Dashboard for scan results, blocking and login settings |
| Cons | Legacy build; new features are not planned; Successor Dam Spam is the recommended plugin; Several external lookups send visitor IPs to third-party services | Free version receives firewall and malware signature updates 30 days late; Audit log and real-time threat updates need Premium; Scans and firewall add work on the server |
| Mentioned in our posts | 1 | 3 |
| Features (Security plugins checklist) | ||
| Firewall | — | Yes |
| Malware scan | — | Yes |
| Login protection | — | Yes |
| Two-factor login | — | Yes |
| Activity log | — | Paid |
| Free version | — | Yes |
| More features | ||
| Other features | Spam checks run on each request at init, Captcha challenge on login, registration and comment forms, Checks 404 hits for exploit-scanning bots, Allow list and block list screens, Reports of caught spam, Tor exit node and hosting-provider checks, Logs IP address on user registration and login | Real-time malware signature and scan frequency options ($), Passkey sign-in, Security audit log ($), WooCommerce customer registration filter |
| Integrations | ||
| E-commerce | — | WooCommerce |
| Plugins | Akismet | — |
| Other | StopForumSpam, BotScout, Google reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, Solve Media | — |
| Requires WordPress | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Requires PHP | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| Tested up to | 7.0 | 7.1 |
| Phones home | No | No |
| External services | www.google.com, hcaptcha.com, verify.solvemedia.com, www.stopforumspam.com, botscout.com, rest.akismet.com, api-secure.solvemedia.com | noc1.wordfence.com, noc3.wordfence.com, www.wordfence.com, noc4.wordfence.com |