66
Shield Security – Smart Bot Blocking, Brute-Force Login Protection & File Scanning
A robust shield that occasionally treats its owners like intruders.
HealthyDeclining
66/100
The Pro version is effective but the free tier is heavily restricted and users frequently face accidental lockouts.
Active installs
~143,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 40k+
Rating
4.8★
1,033 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-13%
Declining
324 → 281 installs/day
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 · -13% in the last year
324/day a year ago→281/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayShield Security is a capable security plugin with a loyal base of Pro users, but its free version is widely seen as too restricted to be genuinely useful, and legitimate visitors and site owners being locked out is a recurring frustration.
What people like
- +Pro version is considered comprehensive and effective, with a significant feature jump over the free tier×2
- +Support is described as responsive and helpful
- +Considered thorough and understandable compared to competing security plugins
Common complaints
- −Free version is heavily restricted — core features like follow-up scans are locked behind the paid tier×2
- −Legitimate visitors and clients are frequently locked out, with no straightforward resolution×2
- −Plugin is not simple to use for non-security experts despite being marketed as such
- −Difficulty reaching support for billing/refund issues
- −A reported bypass of the email block list feature, suggesting the block list may not function correctly
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.51★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.80★
- 12%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 · 1,033 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-05-28★★★★★The Free Version is Useless.peachpit
- 2026-03-19★★★★★I hate this expensive, complex pluginsondrasneed
- 2025-09-16★★★★★Causes critical errorexoduss1-shot
- 2025-06-09★★★★★Solid Security Plugin with Some Hidden PitfallsAmanda
- 2025-05-20★★★★★La versió PRO funciona perfectamentibosch
- 2025-03-22★★★★★good features, very good support, good priceHans
- 2024-08-28★★★★★Reliable and Essential Security Toolwphoderuser1-shot
- 2024-07-23★★★★★Best Support, Best Securityimserena1-shot
- 2024-06-12★★★★★Shield Security is Best onecortecit
- 2024-06-06★★★★★blocks the iframe even if the domain, IP of the server, and the server owner areVadim
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNAlternatives to Shield Security
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.
248
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
292
Prior 7-day baseline
906
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
10,786
Mean release-day peak (30d)
519
Latest day · 2026-06-03(tail)
-15.1%
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.
15%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.25
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
84%
5★ share in analyzed sample
12%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.56 → 4.51★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered