Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security Review - In-Depth Analysis
Wordfence Security provides a comprehensive suite of security features including a firewall, malware scanner, and login security. It helps protect your WordPress site from various threats.
Performance Overview
User Rating
4.7/5 (based on 4888+
reviews)
Active Installations
5,000,000+
Update Frequency
Outstanding
It is calculated using the weighted average of same category
plugins.
Security Score
1 / 10
(Very Low Risk)
It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.
What It Does
Wordfence Security is the most popular WordPress firewall and security scanner. It offers a dedicated team that researches the latest malware and exploits, providing real-time updates to keep your site secure.
This plugin includes an endpoint firewall, malware scanner, and robust login security features. With Wordfence, you can monitor live traffic and block malicious requests, ensuring your website remains safe.
Wordfence is known for its comprehensive security solutions, including two-factor authentication and a threat intelligence platform that aggregates and analyzes security threats. Choose Wordfence to make security a priority for your WordPress site.
Comparing to Alternatives
Wordfence Security is a comprehensive WordPress security plugin that offers firewall protection, malware scanning, and login security. It stands out among other security plugins for its robust features and user-friendly interface.
Top alternatives
- Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall ( WPS: 6.81)
- WPScan – WordPress Security Scanner ( WPS: 6.71)
- Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall ( WPS: 6.76)
Strengths
- Comprehensive firewall and malware scanning capabilities.
- Detailed login security features including brute force protection.
- User-friendly interface with clear alerts and reports.
- Regular updates and active threat intelligence.
- Strong community and support resources.
Weaknesses
- Premium version can be expensive for multiple sites.
- Default settings may require tightening for optimal security.
- Some advanced features are locked behind the pro version.
- Can be resource-intensive on some hosting environments.
User Sentiment Analysis
User feedback highlights Wordfence's effectiveness and reliability in protecting WordPress sites, though some note areas for improvement.
Positive highlights
- 'Does the job, fast and clean' – arnolambertunesco
- 'Absolutely helpful' – firefighter
- 'Enabled me to pinpoint issues and remove malicious files' – sambo107
- 'Gives me peace of mind and makes site security easier to manage' – devinodell
- 'Provides strong security' – ExcitingAds
Common complaints
- Premium licenses are costly, especially for multiple sites.
- Default security settings need manual adjustment for best protection.
- Some users find the plugin settings overwhelming at first.
- Can impact site performance on certain hosts.
Weaknesses
- High cost of pro licenses for managing many sites.
- Initial configuration requires attention to maximize security.
- Advanced features not available in free version.
Who Should Use This?
Best for
Site owners and administrators seeking a robust, all-in-one security solution with firewall, malware scanning, and login protection features. Ideal for those who want detailed security insights and are willing to invest in premium features for enhanced protection.
Not ideal for
Users with limited budgets managing many sites who may find the pro version cost prohibitive. Also, those seeking a lightweight plugin with minimal configuration might find Wordfence more complex than necessary.
Pricing & Value
Free version includes
The free version includes essential firewall protection, malware scanning, login security, and basic alerts, providing solid baseline security for most users.
Pro version
Offers real-time threat intelligence updates, country blocking, advanced firewall rules, scheduled scans, and priority support, enhancing protection and management capabilities.
Final Verdict
Wordfence Security is a powerful and comprehensive plugin that effectively safeguards WordPress sites against a wide range of threats. Its combination of firewall, malware scanning, and login security features makes it a top choice for users prioritizing site security.
While the free version offers substantial protection, the premium features justify the cost for users managing multiple sites or requiring advanced security controls. Some initial configuration and resource considerations are necessary to maximize its benefits.
Other Notable Features
Here are a few other notable features of this free
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security plugin.
FAQ
The WordPress security plugin provides the best protection available for your website. Powered by the constantly updated Threat Defense Feed, Wordfence Firewall stops you from getting hacked. Wordfence Scan leverages the same proprietary feed, alerting you quickly about security issues or if your site is compromised. The Live Traffic view gives you real-time visibility into traffic and hack attempts on your website. A deep set of additional tools round out the most comprehensive WordPress security solution available.
We offer a Premium API key that gives you real-time updates to the Threat Defense Feed which includes a real-time IP blocklist, firewall rules, and malware signatures. Premium support, country blocking, more frequent scans, and spam and spamvertising checks are also included. Click here to sign-up for Wordfence Premium now or simply install Wordfence free and start protecting your website.
- Web Application Firewall stops you from getting hacked by identifying malicious traffic, blocking attackers before they can access your website.
- Threat Defense Feed automatically updates firewall rules that protect you from the latest threats. Premium members receive the real-time version.
- Block common WordPress security threats like fake Googlebots, malicious scans from hackers and botnets.
- Scans core files, themes and plugins against WordPress.org repository versions to check their integrity. Verify security of your source.
- See how files have changed. Optionally repair changed files that are security threats.
- Scans for signatures of over 44,000 known malware variants that are known WordPress security threats.
- Scans for many known backdoors that create security holes including C99, R57, RootShell, Crystal Shell, Matamu, Cybershell, W4cking, Sniper, Predator, Jackal, Phantasma, GFS, Dive, Dx and many more.
- Continuously scans for malware and phishing URL’s including all URLs on the Google Safe Browsing List in all your comments, posts and files that are security threats.
- Scans for heuristics of backdoors, trojans, suspicious code and other security issues.
- See all your traffic in real-time, including robots, humans, 404 errors, logins and logouts and who is consuming most of your content. Enhances your situational awareness of which security threats your site is facing.
- A real-time view of all traffic including automated bots that often constitute security threats that Javascript analytics packages never show you.
- Real-time traffic includes reverse DNS and city-level geolocation. Know which geographic area security threats originate from.
- Monitors disk space which is related to security because many DDoS attacks attempt to consume all disk space to create denial of service.
- See all your traffic in real-time, including robots, humans, 404 errors, logins and logouts and who is consuming most of your content. Enhances your situational awareness of which security threats your site is facing.
- A real-time view of all traffic including automated bots that often constitute security threats that Javascript analytics packages never show you.
- Real-time traffic includes reverse DNS and city-level geolocation. Know which geographic area security threats originate from.
- Monitors disk space which is related to security because many DDoS attacks attempt to consume all disk space to create denial of service.
Wordfence sends security alerts via email. Once you install Wordfence, you will configure a list of email addresses where security alerts will be sent. When you receive a security alert, make sure you deal with it promptly to ensure your site stays secure.
Wordfence provides true endpoint security for your WordPress website. Unlike cloud based firewalls, Wordfence executes within the WordPress environment, giving it knowledge like whether the user is signed in, their identity and what access level they have. Wordfence uses the user’s access level in more than 80% of the firewall rules it uses to protect WordPress websites. Learn more about the Cloud WAF identity problem here. Additionally, cloud based firewalls can be bypassed, leaving your site exposed to attackers. Because Wordfence is an integral part of the endpoint (your WordPress website), it can’t be bypassed. Learn more about the Cloud WAF bypass problem here. To fully protect the investment you’ve made in your website you need to employ a defense in depth approach to security. Wordfence takes this approach.
- Real-time blocking of known attackers. If another site using Wordfence is attacked and blocks the attacker, your site is automatically protected.
- Block entire malicious networks. Includes advanced IP and Domain WHOIS to report malicious IP’s or networks and block entire networks using the firewall. Report WordPress security threats to network owner.
- Rate limit or block WordPress security threats like aggressive crawlers, scrapers and bots doing security scans for vulnerabilities in your site.
- Choose whether you want to block or throttle users and robots who break your WordPress security rules.
- Premium users can also block countries and schedule scans for specific times and a higher frequency.
- Wordfence Security provides a WordPress Firewall developed specifically for WordPress and blocks attackers looking for vulnerabilities on your site. The Firewall is powered by our Threat Defense Feed which is continually updated as new threats emerge. Premium customers receive updates in real-time.
- Wordfence verifies your website source code integrity against the official WordPress repository and shows you the changes.
- Wordfence scans check all your files, comments and posts for URLs in Google’s Safe Browsing list. We are the only plugin to offer this very important security enhancement.
- Wordfence scans do not consume large amounts of your bandwidth because all security scans happen on your web server which makes them very fast.
- Wordfence fully supports WordPress Multi-Site which means you can security scan every blog in your Multi-Site installation with one click.
- Wordfence includes Two-Factor authentication, the most secure way to stop brute force attackers in their tracks.
- Wordfence fully supports IPv6 including giving you the ability to look up the location of IPv6 addresses, block IPv6 ranges, detect IPv6 country and do a whois lookup on IPv6 addresses and more.
No. Wordfence Security is extremely fast and uses techniques like caching its own configuration data to avoid database lookups and blocking malicious attacks that would slow down your site.
Wordfence Security is able to repair core files, themes and plugins on sites where security is already compromised. You can follow this guide on how to clean a hacked website using Wordfence. If you are cleaning your own site after a hack, note that site security cannot be assured unless you do a full reinstall if your site has been hacked. We recommend you only use Wordfence Security to get your site into a running state in order to recover the data you need to do a full reinstall. If you need help with a security issue, check out Wordfence Care, which offers hands-on support from our team, including dealing with a hacked site. For mission-critical sites, check out Wordfence Response.
Yes. We fully support IPv6 with all security functions including country blocking, range blocking, city lookup, whois lookup and all other security functions. If you are not running IPv6, Wordfence will work great on your site too. We are fully compatible with both IPv4 and IPv6 whether you run both or only one addressing scheme.
Yes. WordPress Multi-Site is fully supported. Using Wordfence you can scan every blog in your network for malware with one click. If one of your customers posts a page or post with a known malware URL that threatens your whole domain with being blocklisted by Google, we will alert you in the next scan.
Providing excellent customer service is very important to us. Our free users receive volunteer-level support in our support forums. Wordfence Premium customers get paid ticket-based support. Wordfence Care customers receive hands-on support including help with security incidents and a yearly security audit. Wordfence Response customers get 24/7/365 support from our incident response team, with a 1 hour response time, and a maximum of 24 hours to resolve a security issue.
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Contributors and developers
“Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security”
is open source software. The following people have
contributed to this plugin.
