80
Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall
Finds the malware others miss but requires a donation to clean it up.
HealthyDeclining
80/100
It catches threats other security plugins miss but requires a donation for automatic malware removal.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
4.9★
783 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-38%
Declining fast
1,070 → 662 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORdownloads down 38% vs a year ago
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
Declining fast · -38% in the last year
1,070/day a year ago→662/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayAnti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall is well-regarded as a reliable malware scanner that users credit with catching threats other popular plugins missed, though stronger protection requires a donation to unlock additional features.
What people like
- +Catches malware and threats that other popular security plugins (e.g., Wordfence) failed to detect×4
- +Effectively cleans infected sites, including bulk infected files×3
- +Easy to install and use×2
- +Actively maintained and responsive support×3
- +Donation model makes it accessible and affordable×2
Common complaints
- −Stronger/fuller protection requires a donation to unlock — the free tier is limited×2
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.96★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.90★
- 18%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-07-202025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 783 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-05-12★★★★★Discovered it in 2015. Been using it ever since.faydra_deon
- 2026-04-27★★★★★Perfect to discover and fix malware.bassivm
- 2026-02-24★★★★★The best!slawek7013
- 2026-02-10★★★★★Amazing Pluginkjcomparaz
- 2026-01-23★★★★★Great Pluginrimmer100
- 2025-12-18★★★★★Saved my bacon on NUMEROUS occasions!greymouse
- 2025-11-14★★★★★Found threats another popular plugin couldn'tngmcadmin
- 2025-07-26★★★★★Simple, efficient and effectivemaxrat
- 2025-07-02★★★★★Love the plugin.kyzoe
- 2025-06-10★★★★★Excellent! Working!partykai
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall
Top Security 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.
602
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
607
Prior 7-day baseline
451
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
623
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-0.8%
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.
9%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
0.82
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
99%
5★ share in analyzed sample
18%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
+50%
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.97 → 4.96★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered