Wordfence Review 2023: Features, Pros and Cons

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Introduction to our Wordfence Review:

In this Wordfence review, we'll look at how this plugin achieves that. We'll delve deep into Wordfence pricing, features, ease of use, support, and Wordfence alternatives.

With great reach comes great vulnerability. WordPress is undoubtedly the most popular content management system (CMS) today, claiming over 25% of the world’s websites. Consequently, it also lures ill intentions among the most number of hackers who want to exploit and destroy WordPress sites with malicious bots, hacks, code injections, and more.

Unfortunately, most WordPress website owners don’t have a sophisticated knowledge of online security. While capable of standard best practices in online security, there are threats that are too overwhelming for the ordinary user.

Enter advanced website security plugins like Wordfence Security. It’s a WordPress plugin that acts as a firewall to monitor and protect your WordPress site. But how good is it?

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Overview:

WordFence is a product of the Delaware, USA-based company Defiant, Inc. – a small software firm.  Since its inception in 2012, the firm has delivered plugins that have been downloaded more than 200 million times. At present, WordFencePremium and Free plugins provide protection to nearly 4 million WordPress sites.

Now let's go to the review proper – let's explore ease of use, features, support, and Wordfence pricing. We'll also tackle some Wordfence alternatives to consider if you feel Wordfence Premium isn't the plugin for you.

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Ease of Use:

For this Wordfence review, we like how user-friendly the plugin is. Installing the plugin is easy. The setup and onboarding process is smooth and straightforward. Once you install the plugin, the service will request an email address to send notifications to. The Wordfence Premium dashboard is also easy on the eyes – it doesn't strain you to look for scans and notifications alerts.

How do you know it's working in this Wordfence review? Well, since Wordfence is at its core, a firewall plugin, it automatically activates the website application firewall (WAF) to perform an automatic scan in the background. When the scan is complete, you'll get a notification. Other features of Wordfence Premium are also easy to locate within the dashboard.

If you want to answer how much Wordfence pricing is, skip below to the Pricing section.

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Features:

Wordfence is a website security plugin that offers extensive protection from malicious code through its firewall, antivirus, and malware scan features. Remember that Wordfence offers both Wordfence Security Premium version and a free version. Let’s explore these features in detail in this Wordfence review.

Wordfence Review of WordPress Web Application Firewall (WAF):

Wordfence features a PHP-based web application firewall (WAF) that aims to prevent malicious attacks from ever happening to your site. The difference between Wordfence Security Premium WAF with Wordfence alternatives like say, Sucuri, is that the former is localised and not cloud-based. Why is this significant?

What it does is perform deep-level scans and end-to-end encryption because it stays on your web server. Also, since it stays on your web server, leaks are unlikely to happen, which are more likely with cloud-based firewalls. However, the downside is that once you burn through your server resources or your servers aren't enough to hold the traffic from malicious requests, the firewall could perform poorly. With Wordfence alternatives that use cloud-based firewalls, requests are directed to the cloud-based server before they can even hit your server.

As with most WordPress plugins, there's a free version and the Wordfence Security Premium. If you want real-time firewall protection, malware updates, and IP blacklist, you need to upgrade to Wordfence Security Premium.

Want to know how much it will cost you? Skip to our Wordfence pricing section below.

Wordfence Review of Malware Scanner:

In this Wordfence review, does its malware scanner work?

Wordfence's malware scanner can scan your site for malware and other security threats. The scanner's default setting is placed at limited to conserve server resources. For those using the free version of the plugin, scans come at scheduled times. If you're a Wordfence Security Premium user, however, you're free to select your desired scan schedule. Moreover, several scan options can only be accessed using the Premium version.

Take a look at how much the Premium version will set you back by reading our Wordfence pricing review section.

Other Security Settings:

Brute Force Protection:

You can enable Brute Force Protection to lock attackers' accounts after they make several unsuccessful password attempts. It also checks your passwords so you don't use any weak ones that hackers may easily exploit.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA):

The 2FA tool is a security measure that helps you with credentialing and protecting your site from potential vulnerabilities. You can set the 2FA through free mobile apps such as Authy, FreeOTP, or Google Authenticator.

Threat Defense Feed:

This feature weaponises your Wordfence Security Premium plugin with the most advanced malware signatures, IP blacklists, and firewall rules to deter attacks and ensure your website's safety. Unfortunately, the real-time version of this feature is available only on the Premium version.

Wordfence Review of Website Cleanup:

If your website gets compromised, Wordfence offers a WordPress Site Cleaning service as add-on Wordfence pricing. Unlike some Wordfence alternatives, this feature is not integrated into either the free version or the Premium version.

See more Wordfence features

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Support and Resources:

To be honest, support is a bit of a letdown. You only get email support and product documentation. For concerns, you can submit tickets, too. However, there isn't a live chat or phone support feature that is available at other providers.

See more Wordfence support features

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Wordfence Pricing:

Now – let's talk about cost in this Wordfence pricing review section;

Plans:

You can use the basic version of the Wordfence plugin free of charge. However, if you opt for the paid version, the Wordfence Security Premium Plan starts at $99 per year. Moreover, additional pricing options apply if you apply licencing in bulk.

>>Check the latest WordFence pricing and discounts<<

Wordfence Free plan/trial/money-back guarantee:

Wordfence is free to use for its basic iteration. Remember that the main difference between Wordfence Free vs Premium is that the free version has limited functionality and support. Check their terms page before committing.

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Conclusion and Recommendations to our Wordfence Review:

Now, let's wind down our Wordfence review;

What is it best for?

The plugin works best for basic WordPress sites, blogs, and small business websites.

What is it not best for?

Not ideal for complex websites with large server resources.

Wordfence Alternatives:

If you don't feel that Wordfence Security Premium is a good match for your WordPress site, you can compare other Wordfence alternatives;

• Wordfence vs Sucuri: Wordfence offers a more comprehensive set of security features, including a firewall and malware scanning, while Sucuri focuses primarily on website malware removal and protection.
• Wordfence vs iThemes: Wordfence offers real-time traffic and attack monitoring, while iThemes focuses more on providing security through regular updates and backups.
• Wordfence vs Cloudflare: Wordfence provides website-specific security measures, while Cloudflare offers a more general approach to security by providing a content delivery network and DDoS protection.
• Wordfence vs Jetpack: Wordfence offers a wider range of security features, including malware scanning and a firewall, while Jetpack primarily offers security through regular updates and backups.
• Wordfence vs Sitelock: Wordfence provides a wider range of security features, including a firewall and malware scanning, while SiteLock focuses primarily on providing a website security certificate and malware removal.

Wordfence Review Final Word:

Overall, in this Wordfence review, we conclude that Wordfence is a robust WordPress plugin that can prevent your websites from hacking attacks. However, we recommend that you scour the market for Wordfence alternatives if you don't think that Wordfence will get the job done.

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FAQ:

Is Wordfence free?

As stated in the Wordfence pricing section, yes, it's a free WordPress security plugin. You can also access its premium version through a yearly subscription.

Is Wordfence WAF better than a cloud-based firewall?

It has its pros and cons. Wordfence WAF is a localised plugin and is capable of deep scanning and leak prevention, but it can be inefficient in the long run.

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Thanks for reading our WordFence review, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for our ever-growing blog of review and comparison articles. Check out reviews of related security solutions, website builder, gadget, and eCommerce platform review and comparison articles such as;

• Best WordPress Security Plugins
• Best WordPress Malware Removal Software
• Best Joomla Security Extensions & Firewalls
• 5 Reasons Upgrading to the Latest Version of WordPress Shouldn’t Go Unnoticed!
• Sucuri Review