WordPress Security Plugins Compared (2026): 7 Options and Who Each Suits

If you want a free plugin, Wordfence Free bundles a firewall, a malware scanner and two-factor authentication. If you run a WooCommerce store and fake orders or card testing are the problem, MaxMindSecurity Pro is built around that checkout. Beyond those two cases the right pick depends on what you run, what you can spend and who fixes things when they break. This guide compares seven WordPress security plugins on features and list prices.

We build MaxMindSecurity Pro, so we have a stake here. To keep the comparison fair, every entry says who the plugin suits and where it falls short, ours included. Prices are the vendors' list prices as published in October 2026, before first-year discounts; feature claims come from each plugin's WordPress.org listing or pricing page.

Match the plugin to your biggest risk first

Choose the plugin that covers your most likely attack, then compare price and support. The WordPress.org hardening guide keeps returning to the same weak points: passwords, software that is not kept up to date and file permissions; bots hitting login and checkout forms are the other everyday nuisance. Check each plugin against these five jobs:

• Login protection: lockouts and two-factor authentication.
• Firewall: blocks malicious requests before they reach your site's code.
• Malware scan: finds backdoors and changed files.
• Cleanup: someone removes the malware for you after a hack.
• Audit log: shows who changed what, and when.

Not sure which of these you need? Our guide to firewalls, malware scanners and backups explains the difference.

Compare the seven plugins at a glance

• Wordfence: firewall, scanner and 2FA at no cost; Premium, $149 a year, removes the 30-day delay on new rules.
• Sucuri: malware removal by its team. Platform plans from $229 a year.
• MalCare: scanning that runs on MalCare's servers. Free, or from $99 a year.
• Kadence Security (formerly Solid Security): login hardening and brute force protection. Free, with Pro sold inside the Kadence Pro bundle.
• All-In-One Security (AIOS): free hardening you apply yourself. Free, or $89 a year for two sites.
• Jetpack Security: backups and security together. $19.95 a month, billed yearly.
• MaxMindSecurity Pro: WooCommerce checkout protection. $39.99 a month per site.

See what each plugin does best

Wordfence: a full toolkit at no cost

Wordfence Free gives you a firewall, a malware scanner and two-factor authentication. The catch is timing: its WordPress.org listing states that free users receive new firewall rules and malware signatures 30 days after Premium users.

• Suits: blogs and small sites on a tight budget.
• Price: free, or $149 a year per site for Premium, as listed on the Wordfence pricing page.
• Watch for: the firewall and scans run on your own server (Wordfence calls this endpoint protection), so they use your hosting resources.

Sucuri: cleanup included when you get hacked

Sucuri's paid Website Security Platform includes malware removal by its team. Its pricing page lists estimated ticket response times of 30 hours on the Basic plan, 12 hours on Pro and 6 hours on Business.

• Suits: owners who want someone else to clean up a hack.
• Price: $229 to $549 a year for the platform plans, as listed on sucuri.net. The cloud firewall also sells on its own from $9.99 a month.
• Watch for: the free Sucuri plugin does not include the firewall, so check which paid plan you need before you buy.

MalCare: scanning without the server load

MalCare's WordPress.org listing says its security operations run on MalCare's own servers, so the scan does not use your site's resources. The free plan finds malware but does not remove it.

• Suits: sites on small hosting plans.
• Price: free, or $99 a year for Protect. Cleanup starts with Repair at $299 a year, per the MalCare pricing page.
• Watch for: the $99 Protect plan does not include malware cleanup.

Kadence Security: login hardening, formerly Solid Security

Kadence Security is the current name of the plugin once sold as iThemes Security and then Solid Security. Its WordPress.org listing centres on the login: brute force protection and a scheduled scan for known vulnerabilities are free, while Pro adds passwordless logins, trusted devices and automated vulnerability patching through Patchstack.

• Suits: sites with many user accounts.
• Price: free Basic version. Pro is sold as part of the Kadence Pro and Elite bundles, so check that page for the current price.
• Watch for: its site scan looks for known vulnerable plugins and themes, which differs from scanning your files for malware.

All-In-One Security: free hardening you control

The free version of AIOS covers login lockouts, two-factor authentication, firewall rules and file-permission checks. Premium adds automatic malware scanning and country blocking.

• Suits: owners who want to harden a site themselves at no cost.
• Price: free, or $89 a year for two sites on the Personal plan, per TeamUpdraft's pricing, with half off the first year.
• Watch for: malware scanning sits behind the paid plan.

Jetpack Security: backups and security on one bill

Jetpack Security bundles VaultPress Backup, Jetpack Scan and Akismet: real-time cloud backups, a firewall, malware scanning and spam filtering. Jetpack's free plugin already includes brute force protection for the login page.

• Suits: sites that need backups as much as security.
• Price: $19.95 a month, billed yearly, with half off the first year, per the Jetpack pricing page.
• Watch for: Jetpack needs a WordPress.com account, because its services are hosted there.

MaxMindSecurity Pro: checkout protection for WooCommerce stores

Our plugin combines a web application firewall, login lockouts after repeated failed attempts, two-factor authentication, a report-only malware scan and an audit log. Its distinctive module is WooCommerce checkout bot protection: a hidden honeypot field, timing and browser checks, rate limits on orders and checkout attempts, and card-testing detection based on repeated failed payments from one address.

• Suits: WooCommerce stores hit by fake orders or card testing.
• Price: $39.99 a month per site.
• Watch for: there is no free version, and the scan reports findings without deleting anything. Cleanup is a separate service.

Find your match in one line

• You want free: Wordfence or AIOS.
• You have already been hacked: Sucuri or MalCare Repair. Check the warning signs first.
• You run a WooCommerce store with bot or card-testing problems: MaxMindSecurity Pro.
• You need backups too: Jetpack Security.
• You manage many user logins: Kadence Security.

Get quick answers before you install

Do you need a security plugin for WordPress?

Usually, unless your host already provides a firewall, login protection and malware scanning. WordPress core includes none of the three, so they come from your host, a plugin or both.

Can you run two security plugins together?

Avoid running two firewall plugins at once. Two plugins filtering the same requests can conflict and lock you out. Pick one, and combine it only with tools that do a different job, such as a backup plugin.

Is a free WordPress security plugin enough?

For a small site with strong passwords and tested backups, a free plugin is a reasonable starting point. Consider paying when the site takes payments, holds customer data or costs you money while it is down.

Does a security plugin replace backups?

No. A security plugin lowers the chance of a hack but cannot restore a broken site. Keep tested backups as well. Our backup and restore checklist shows how.

Where to go from here

Pick the job that matters most from the list at the top, install one plugin that covers it, and put a tested backup in place first. If the job is a WooCommerce checkout under attack, the MaxMindSecurity Pro page lists each module and the licence terms. If the site is already compromised, start with cleanup, not a plugin.