54
Captcha Code
A security gate that stays wide open for every bot.
HealthyPoor rating
54/100
Critical security flaws and performance issues make this unreliable for protecting your site from spam.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
3.9★
35 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-3%
Holding steady
471 → 459 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORverified rating is 3.72★
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Holding steady · -3% in the last year
471/day a year ago→459/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayCaptcha Code is a simple WordPress captcha plugin that works for some users on basic comment forms, but is widely criticized for fundamental security flaws and a lack of active development or support.
What people like
- +Works for standard WordPress comment and login forms for some users×3
- +Described as simple and easy to use
Common complaints
- −Critical security flaw: captcha field can be bypassed by leaving it blank and the form still submits successfully×2
- −Captcha can be bypassed by removing the field via browser inspector tools
- −Does not effectively stop spam bots or prevent unwanted registrations×3
- −Captcha code generation appears broken — produces the same code repeatedly and ignores alphanumeric settings
- −Does not integrate with WooCommerce forms; orders/comments can be submitted without entering the captcha×2
- −Serious performance issue on high-traffic sites: plugin starts a PHP session for every page load, even when no captcha is displayed
- −Author is unresponsive and support is absent×2
- −Reported fraudulent/automatic self-installation on sites without user consent, with spam marketing and hidden plugin listing
Review trustReviews look organic
- 3.72★Verified rating — drops from 3.90★ once one-shot reviewers are removed
- 19%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2024-01-162025-04-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 35 total
Latest reviews · 36 analyzed
- 2026-05-28★★★★★Works greateastsideluemmel
- 2026-02-14★★★★★invalid codecilycwmweb
- 2025-07-23★★★★★They doing spamAtikur Rahman Shohel
- 2025-01-15★★★★★Not goodDipto Nath
- 2024-08-08★★★★★it slows down your sitevitaligs1-shot
- 2024-01-01★★★★★working yeygalo
- 2023-02-24★★★★★not work for Woocommrce!!!MAHDI KAZEMI
- 2020-06-15★★★★★Cannot prevent spam | НеэффективенAndrews32
- 2020-05-19★★★★★Not Compatible, no supportdoalpa
- 2020-04-02★★★★★Good pluginpetunindan1-shot
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Captcha Code
Top Anti-spam plugins, ranked by score.For developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
401
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
449
Prior 7-day baseline
323
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
401
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-10.7%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
17%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
2.00
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
67%
5★ share in analyzed sample
19%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
3.86 → 3.72★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered