9 WordPress Brute Force Login Protection Plugins to Secure Your Website

WordPress is the world's most widely used blogging platform. It can build various types of websites such as blogs, CMS, and online stores. You might think your website has low traffic and security is not crucial. However, what you may not know is that many hackers use software to automatically scan websites on the internet. 30% of websites are built withWordPress, so many hackers target websites installed with WordPress. Some botnets and hackers use leaked databases from the internet to continuously attempt to log into your website. They will try different user credentials over and over again. Once successful, botnets and malicious actors can steal your data, install malware, or even delete all content on your website. Once you use a weak password that is discovered by hackers, your website can be exploited. It is very important to keep your site safe from brute force attackers. While you can try other solutions, such as setting strong passwords or password-protecting the admin directory, installing a brute force protection plugin is a simpler method. All you need to do is choose the most suitable plugin and let it handle the work.

What is a Brute Force Attack

On the internet, brute force attacks are a method of cracking website passwords using specific dictionaries and combinations. Hackers use software to automatically and repeatedly try different passwords to match your website's password until a match is successful. Almost every website is scanned for passwords by bots daily, though you may not be aware of it.

9 WordPress Brute Force Login Protection Plugins

1. Loginizer
2. Limit Login Attempts Reloaded
3. WP Limit Login Attempts
4. Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft
5. Limit Login Attempts
6. WPS Limit Login
7. Jetpack
8. Brute Force Login Protection
9. Botnet Attack Blocker

Loginizer

Loginizer is one of the best open-source and free brute force login protection plugins for WordPress. Loginizer has over 800,000 active installations. It is divided into a free version and a pro version; the free version's features can also protect your website from malicious attacks. The features in Loginizer include:

• Block IP after maximum retries allowed
• Allow extended lockout after maximum lockout
• Send email notification to admin after maximum lockout
• Blacklist IP / IP range
• Whitelist IP / IP range
• Check logs of failed attempts
• Create IP range
• Delete IP range
• Licensed under GNU GPL version 3
• Secure and reliable

Download Link

Limit Login Attempts Reloaded

Limit Login Attempts Reloaded simply limits login attempts via normal logins and correct cookies. Stop brute force attacks. The Limit Login Attempts Reloaded plugin uses this technology so that unauthorized users cannot gain access to the site. Features:

• Limit the number of retries per login (per IP). This is fully customizable.
• Limit the number of logins using authorized cookies in the same way.
• Notify users of remaining retries or lockout time on the login page.
• Optional logs and optional email notifications.
• IPs and usernames can be whitelisted/blacklisted.
• Sucuri website firewall compatibility.
• XMLRPCGateway protection.
• WoocommerceLogin page protection.
• With additional MU settingsMultisiteCompatibility.
• Compliant withGDPRstandards. When enabled, all recorded IPs are obfuscated (md5-hashed).
• Custom IP sourceSupports (Cloudflare, Sucuri, etc.)

Download Link

WP Limit Login Attempts

WP Limit Login Attempts is another powerful WordPress brute force protection plugin. It currently has over 40,000 active installations and a rating of 4.5 stars. It limits login attempts to protect the site from brute force attacks. A Brute Force Attack aims to be the simplest way to gain site access: it tries usernames and passwords over and over until it gets in. WP Limit Login Attempts temporarily restricts the number of login attempts and blocks IPs. It detects bots via CAPTCHA verification. Go to Settings > WP Limit Login. Features

• Login Security - Limit login attempts and track user login attempts
• CAPTCHA
• Lightweight Plugin
• Mechanism to slow down brute force attacks
• Redirect to homepage when abnormal requests occur (it will stop hacking tools)
• GDPR compliant. When this feature is enabled, all recorded IPs are obfuscated (md5-hashed).

Download Link

Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft

Limit Attempts plugin is a WordPress security solution that protects your website from spam and brute force attacks. It limits the number of failed login attempts per user and blocks the user's IP for a period based on your settings. This stops automated scripts from generating a large number of different combinations and cracking your website. Manage blacklists and whitelists, receive email notifications, hide website forms for blocked or blacklisted IPs, and other advanced features to ensure data security.Features:

• This plugin will automatically block IP addresses that attempt to log in and exceed the number of login attempts.
• Allows manually marking IPs as WhiteList and Blacklist.
• You can hide information from blocked IPs, such as login, registration.
• You can display any custom Captcha error message along with invalid attempts to blocked users.
• Multilingual support.

Download Link

Limit Login Attempts

Limit Login Attempts is another popular WordPress login protection plugin. The main goal of this plugin is to provide shelter from brute force attacks.Features:- Login Security - Limit login attempts and track user login attempts. Brute Force Attack Protection - Limit the number of allowed login attempts and protect user accounts from attacks. Anti-Spam - Google reCAPTCHA to protect users from spam. IP Restriction - Restrict IPs or IP ranges to prevent invalid login attacks. Rename or change login page URL - Rename the default WordPress login URL (slug) to something different from the original wp-login.php or wp-admin to prevent automated brute force attacks. Display remaining attempts on login page - It will provide an option to notify users of their remaining attempts on the login page. Spam Protection - Provides spam protection and disables/blocks IP addresses after a certain number of attempts. Disable XML-RPC - Option to simply disable XML-RPC in WordPress. Most WordPress users do not need XML-RPC and can disable it to prevent automated brute force attacks. Inactive User Logout - Automatically logs out users if they do not perform any action within a specified time. Admin Email Alerts - Notifies users via email alerts about IP blocking and unusual activity on accounts.Download LinkLimit Login Attempts also has a Pro version:Brute Force Login Security, Spam Protection & Limit Login Attempts

WPS Limit Login

  WPS Limit Login is a full-featured brute force login protection plugin for WordPress. By default, WordPress allows unlimited login attempts, which makes brute force attacks somewhat easy. WPS Limit Login is here to save your site. It limits the number of possible connection attempts via the login page and using authentication cookies. By default, WordPress allows unlimited login attempts either through the login page or by sending a special cookie. This allows passwords (or hashes) to be brute-forced relatively easily. WPS Limit Login limits login attempts and blocks further attempts from an Internet address after reaching a specified limit, making brute force attacks difficult or impossible.Features: Limit the number of retries during login (for each IP). This is fully customizable. Limit login attempts using authorization cookies in the same way. Notify users of the remaining number of attempts or lockout time on the login page. Logging and optional email notifications. Manage servers behind reverse proxies. IP addresses can be whitelisted/blacklisted. Compatible with Sucuri website firewall. XMLRPC gateway protection. Woocommerce protection for the login page. Multisite compatible with other MU settings.Download Link

Jetpack

Jetpack, provided by WordPress.com, offers a complete solution (do not use on domestic servers as you cannot access it) that protects your WordPress site from bots and malware that try to crack weak login passwords. It is known as the largest plugin in the field of brute force protection. The plugin also helps with spam filtering and downtime monitoring. Most importantly, you can scan for malware and log changes to the site. The number of blocked spam comments or malicious attacks on your site will be stored in the „Brute force attack and malware protection - On-demand backup and restore settings" page. In addition to brute force protection, Jetpack also supports site performance and management. It involves image optimization, mobile-responsive design, and advanced website statistics and analytics features to understand your audience.Advantages

• Offers numerous features beyond security, including performance optimization and site management
• Offers two-factor authentication (2FA)

Disadvantages

• Requires upgrade to use advanced features
• Not usable for domestic users

Download Link

Brute Force Login Protection

Similar to other login attempt limiting plugins, Brute Force Login Protection stops automated scripts and bad actors from repeatedly entering usernames and passwords into your WordPress login page. Installed on over 20,000 sites with a 4.1-star rating, this plugin clearly solves the problem. It works with almost no configuration, and you can view the list of blocked IPs or manually block IPs from the „Settings“ page, and it supports IP whitelisting. Similar to Limit Login Attempts Reloaded, this plugin allows you to delay login after failed attempts, helping to slow down brute force attacks. Between two failed login attempts, there is a short interval of 5 to 10 minutes for the user. If your admin IP address is blocked, you need to edit the .htaccess file (if you have FTP access - File Transfer Protocol access) and delete the „deny from abcd“ line (abcd is your own IP address) to log into your site. What if you don„t have FTP access? You can only access the admin panel via another IP address and then remove it from the “Blocked IPs„ list.Advantages

• Slow down brute force attacks
• Send email to admin when temporarily banning an IP address
• Simple and Easy to Use

Disadvantages

• This plugin has only been tested with WordPress version 2.7.0.
• The last update was 2 years ago, which may pose a security risk to the website.
• (This plugin has been updated.)

Download Link  

Botnet Attack Blocker

Bonet Attack Blocker takes a different approach to keep WordPress sites safe from brute-force attackers and cybercrime. From the plugin developer's perspective, blocking by IP address and location is not efficient enough to keep bots out. For example, by using 1,000 computers to simultaneously enter login credentials, with each device allowed 5 login attempts before being locked out, one could attempt up to 5,000 different passwords. To avoid this limitation, Bonet Attack Blocker essentially ignores differences in IP addresses. After seeing 5 unsuccessful attempts within a specific time period (by default), it blocks all admin login attempts. However, the way the plugin operates may cause some issues. After a total of 5 consecutive failed attempts, Bonet Attack Blocker blocks all admin login attempts from different IP addresses. As a result, this may mislead many users who do not intend to hack the website.Advantages

• Allow specific IP addresses
• Add a key to bypass the lock

Disadvantages

• May easily block legitimate users from logging in
• Not updated for 3 years

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Which Plugin Should You Use?

Having introduced these 9 plugins that enhance WordPress login security, you might be wondering, which plugin should I install? In fact, each plugin can provide login protection functionality; you just need to research which one meets more of your security needs.NaibabijiOther shared WordPress security articles include:

1. Hide WordPress Admin Login Address to Enhance Security: WPS Hide Login
2. Implement Security Measures to Avoid WordPress Websites Being Hacked
3. Plugin to Record WordPress User Login History: User Login History
4. 4 Malware Scanning Plugins Recommended by WordPress