59
reCaptcha by BestWebSoft
Expect a paywall if you use anything other than core forms.
GrowingPoor rating
59/100
It protects core forms but locks popular integrations behind a paywall and uses intrusive ads.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
3.9★
390 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+49%
Growing fast
495 → 738 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MAJORverified rating is 3.40★
- MINORreviews unevenly distributed over time
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
Growing fast · +49% in the last year
495/day a year ago→738/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayreCaptcha by BestWebSoft is a functional spam-protection plugin for core WordPress forms, but it is widely criticized for locking popular third-party form integrations (Contact Form 7, WP Forms) behind a paid upgrade and for intrusive admin advertising.
What people like
- +Works reliably for core WordPress forms: login, registration, password recovery, and comments×2
- +Effective at stopping spam registrations when configured correctly
- +Can be placed on pages/posts via shortcode
- +Responsive and helpful support in some cases×2
Common complaints
- −Integration with popular third-party form plugins (Contact Form 7, WP Forms) requires a paid upgrade, despite being implied as a free feature×5
- −Custom form support instructions provided by the developer do not work, and users are then asked to pay for help
- −Plugin fails to block bot/spam registrations for some users, undermining its core purpose×2
- −Forced admin-wide advertisement with no option to dismiss it
- −Stability issues reported, including a crash in v1.82 (since 1.82)
- −Difficult or impossible to get working on login and registration pages for some users
Review trustReviews look organic
- 3.40★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 3.90★
- 10%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 390 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-02-21★★★★★DOES NOT WORKrosterdotcom
- 2026-02-21★★★★★Unfortunately doesn't work.wplogin12
- 2025-07-21★★★★★QA failureJoe
- 2024-12-03★★★★★Great Pluginocassoc
- 2024-08-07★★★★★It does exactly what it saysdanielepais
- 2024-05-31★★★★★ReCaptcha by BestWebSoftIceDiamond
- 2024-03-22★★★★★Good support and smooth pluginnofearmydear
- 2024-03-20★★★★★Doesn't work on Custom Form as StatedKeryn
- 2024-03-20★★★★★Do nothingwhatafilm06
- 2024-02-21★★★★★Free version is uselessiontulburedev
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to reCaptcha by BestWebSoft
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.
753
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
894
Prior 7-day baseline
622
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
2,827
Mean release-day peak (30d)
796
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-15.8%
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.
21%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
2.00
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
53%
5★ share in analyzed sample
10%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
3.33 → 3.40★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered