Sucuri vs Wordfence: Ultimate WordPress Security Showdown

Securing your WordPress website is more important than ever in the current digital era. Website owners require strong security measures to safeguard their online presence since cyber threats are constantly changing and getting more complex. Let’s introduce Sucuri and Wordfence, two of the most widely used security plugins for WordPress. Which is superior, though?

The security of WordPress is like an explosive time bomb. You never know when it will explode. Every day, thousands of WordPress websites experience hacking. It’s a severe problem that needs to be addressed now, before it grows larger and more dangerous!

Initially, choose a safe hosting provider that has a track record of adhering to industry best practices. Secondly, enhance the security of your website by hiring a specialized outside security company.

Wordfence and Sucuri are two of the most widely used solutions for WordPress security. To keep your website secure, they both provide an extensive collection of security measures. They are similar in many aspects, yet distinct in others.

Sucuri or Wordfence? This article can help you in making a well-informed decision if you’re unsure which of these two would work best for your website. I’ve used them both a lot to compare them side by side in terms of features, cost, performance, and overall value.

With the help of this information, you may select the choice that is best for you Sucuri vs Wordfence.

Sounds excellent? Now let’s get going!

What is WordPress Security?

The world’s most widely used content management system (CMS) is WordPress. It powers more than 35% of web pages because it is so widely used. And enormous popularity also means enormous trouble!

Hackers are always posing a threat to WordPress. In 2018, WordPress websites accounted for 89% of all compromised CMS platforms, according to an ARZ Host Security report. Every day, Google alone bans 10,000 websites from its directory for hosting and distributing malware; these banned websites may lose as much as 95% of their natural search traffic.

The reason for 41% of WordPress hacks is a hosting platform weakness. Therefore, starting with a safe WordPress hosting platform can save you a lot of headaches.

The fact that 60% of small businesses close within six months after a cyberattack is even more startling. Securing your website is even more important because small and medium-sized businesses are the target of the great majority of hacking efforts.

WordPress security refers to the measures taken to protect a WordPress website from unauthorized access, malicious attacks, and data breaches. Here’s a breakdown of some key aspects:

There are many additional security measures you can take, but these cover the essentials.  For a deeper dive, you can refer to resources from WordPress itself or security-focused WordPress hosting providers.

How Can WordPress Websites Be Hacked?

Only 36.7% of WordPress websites that were compromised did so because of outdated, insecure WordPress versions. Plugins and themes—two of WordPress’s extendable components—are the main points of attack for WordPress websites.

The biggest risk is specifically with plugins! The majority of WordPress hacks, as mentioned in ARZ Host’s article on WordPress security, are caused by plugins that have known or undisclosed vulnerabilities. Based on a study conducted by Wordfence, they account for 55.9% of all known backdoors.

Hackers can exploit various weaknesses to breach WordPress sites. Here are some common methods:

At 16.1% of all hacking attempts, brute-force attacks focused on guessing weak passwords are the next largest attack vector. Another startling finding from the same survey was that 61.5% of owners of hacked websites were unaware that their sites had been infiltrated.

3 Ways to Keep Your WordPress Website Secure?

Securing a WordPress website is crucial for maintaining its integrity, protecting user data, and ensuring consistent performance. Here are three comprehensive strategies to keep your WordPress site secure: Prevention, Detection, and Response and Recovery.

1: Prevention

Preventing an issue is always preferable to treating one, be it digital malware or a biological illness!

Although WordPress is free, creating, hosting, and maintaining a WordPress website are not. Unfortunately, security is frequently given less consideration when designing a website.

The core team of WordPress does an amazing job of maintaining WordPress’ security. As previously stated, most WordPress hacks are not caused by the platform’s core code.

The goal of prevention is to keep harmful code off of your WordPress websites. Usually, firewalls, antivirus software, email filtering tools, defenses against DDoS attacks and malicious bots, etc., are used for this.

Preventative measures are your first line of defense against potential security threats. By implementing robust prevention techniques, you can significantly reduce the risk of your WordPress website being compromised.

A: Keep Software Updated

Regularly update WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Updates often include security patches that address vulnerabilities.

• Automatic Updates: Enable automatic updates for minor releases.
• Manual Updates: Regularly check for and apply major updates.

B: Use Strong Passwords and User Permissions

Ensure all user accounts have strong, unique passwords and appropriate permissions.

• Strong Passwords: Use complex passwords combining letters, numbers, and special characters.
• User Roles: Assign the least amount of privilege necessary for users to perform their tasks.

C: Install Security Plugins

Security plugins can offer comprehensive protection by blocking malicious activities and scanning for vulnerabilities.

• Popular Security Plugins: Consider using plugins like Wordfence, Sucuri, or iThemes Security.

D: Implement SSL/TLS

Encrypt data between the server and the user’s browser using SSL/TLS certificates.

• SSL Certificates: Obtain an SSL certificate from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) and ensure it is properly installed on your server.

E: Limit Login Attempts

Prevent brute force attacks by limiting the number of login attempts.

• Login Limitation Plugins: Use plugins like Limit Login Attempts Reloaded or Login Lockdown.

2: Detection

Detection is the process of becoming aware of security events as soon as they occur so that you may immediately take preventative measures and secure your website before any serious harm is done.

It comprises devices like integrity monitoring, network scanning, detection of breach systems, and more.

Many WordPress website owners are unaware that their site has been compromised in terms of security. Strong detection measures must therefore be in place, especially at the hosting level. Wordfence and Sucuri are two excellent security plugin extensions.

Early detection of security issues allows for quicker responses, minimizing potential damage.

1: Regular Security Scans

Perform regular scans of your website to identify potential vulnerabilities and malware.

• Security Scanning Tools: Utilize tools like Wordfence, Sucuri, and Jetpack for regular scans.

2: Monitor File Integrity

Keep track of changes to your website’s files to detect unauthorized modifications.

• File Monitoring Plugins: Implement plugins like Wordfence or Sucuri to monitor file changes and alert you of any suspicious activity.

3: Set Up Alerts and Notifications

Enable alerts for security-related events such as failed login attempts, file changes, and other suspicious activities.

• Notification Plugins: Use plugins that provide real-time notifications and reports on security issues.

4: Use Web Application Firewalls (WAF)

A WAF can help block malicious traffic before it reaches your site.

• WAF Services: Services like Cloudflare or Sucuri can provide an added layer of security by filtering out malicious traffic.

3: Response and Recovery

As you repeatedly prepare for the worst, hope for the best! The goal of response and recovery is to quickly and effectively handle security problems.

An effective recovery procedure should incorporate backup and forensic capabilities in addition to post-attack cleanup. By doing this, you may ensure that such situations are prevented before they happen.

This is one of the main reasons you should thoroughly investigate the security measures taken by your hosting provider before committing to a plan. For example, should your WordPress website become compromised while hosted at ARZ Host, ARZ Host’s security experts would collaborate with you to locate and eliminate the malicious software.

Incident response services are provided by security companies like Wordfence and Sucuri as part of their professional packages.

Having a response and recovery plan ensures that you can quickly address and recover from any security incidents that do occur.

A: Backup Regularly

Regular backups are essential for recovery in case of a security breach or data loss.

• Backup Solutions: Use plugins like UpdraftPlus, Vault Press, or Backup Buddy to automate and schedule regular backups.

B: Develop an Incident Response Plan

An incident response plan outlines steps to take when a security breach is detected.

Key Components:

• Identify and Isolate: Quickly identify and isolate affected systems.
• Assess Impact: Evaluate the extent of the breach and the data affected.
• Notify Stakeholders: Inform necessary parties, including users, about the breach.
• Remediation Steps: Remove malware, patch vulnerabilities, and restore systems.

C: Restore from Backup

If a breach leads to data loss or corruption, restore your website from the most recent backup.

• Restoration Process: Ensure backups are stored securely and can be easily accessed for restoration.

D: Conduct Post-Incident Analysis

After addressing a security incident, analyze the event to understand what happened and how to prevent future occurrences.

• Review Logs: Examine security logs to identify the source and method of attack.
• Update Security Measures: Enhance security protocols based on findings to prevent similar attacks.

Securing your WordPress website involves a comprehensive approach that includes prevention, detection, and response and recovery. By staying proactive with updates, using strong passwords, employing security plugins, and monitoring your site for potential threats, you can significantly reduce the risk of security incidents. 

Additionally, having a robust response plan and regular backups ensures that you can quickly recover and mitigate the impact of any breaches. Implementing these strategies will help keep your WordPress website secure, protecting both your data and your users’ information.

What is Sucuri? Overview

Sucuri is an online website security tool that runs on the cloud. Before any traffic to your website even gets to your hosting server, it filters it all.

Security hardening, integrity monitoring, and malware detection are some of its primary functions. Sucuri doesn’t carry out any deep scans at the server level because it analyses everything remotely.

Sucuri guarantees to safeguard websites, enhance functionality, keep an eye out for signs of hacking, and provide limitless assistance for security issues (exclusively for premium subscribers).

It is important to acknowledge that Sucuri is not a panacea for every website security concern. It is intended to enhance the web security you currently have. Sucuri, on the other hand, gives you a lot of options to lower risks, improving your security awareness and peace of mind.

How Sucuri Works?

Sucuri functions as a comprehensive website security suite offering various features to shield your site from attacks and maintain its overall health. Here’s a breakdown of its key functionalities:

• Web Application Firewall (WAF): This acts as a frontline defense, filtering all incoming traffic to your site. It blocks malicious requests while allowing legitimate ones to pass through. Sucuri’s WAF utilizes a blocklist approach, constantly updated by their security researchers to identify and thwart emerging threats.
• Website Monitoring: Sucuri offers both remote and server-side monitoring. It scans your website for malware, suspicious code injections, defacements, and other security vulnerabilities. It also monitors for blacklisting by security vendors and provides regular reports on its findings.
• Website Hardening: Sucuri helps strengthen your website’s security posture by suggesting security hardening measures. These may involve adding security rules to your website’s files or verifying secure server configurations. Sucuri’s WordPress plugin offers these features with a user-friendly interface.

Sucuri logs all website modifications and stores them on its cloud servers. These logs can be audited to determine precisely what went wrong and where. This makes security problems easier to quickly and effectively.

Sucuri’s Security Settings and Features

Sucuri’s WordPress products can be divided into two categories: the premium cloud-based Sucuri Firewall (WAF) and the free Sucuri Security plugin.

First, let’s examine the free plugin.

You can examine the security checks on the Sucuri Security dashboard with ease thanks to its simple UI.

Notifying you about the honesty of your core WordPress files is its main responsibility. If it discovers any fundamental files that are hacked, it will alert you. After that, you can either designate the compromised files as false positives or replace the compromised ones with the original ones.

Every modification made to your website may be found here, under the Audit Logs tab. Similarly, all of the scripts and links on your website are located under the iFrames, Links, and Scripts tabs.

The alert in my circumstance was a false positive. I personally marked it as fixed as a result. Sucuri will remember this adjustment for when it does a scan in the future.

Numerous sections allow you to configure Sucuri’s website protection. Your API Key, data storage directories, and additional settings like IP address discoverer, reverse proxy, log exporter, and time zone override are all located under the General Settings page.

Finally, practically all of the information you could possibly need about your website and the web server it is housed on is listed under the Website Info page. You may verify the integrity of your .htaccess file here, in the Access File Integrity section.

We explore the many security features and settings offered by Sucuri, explaining their respective roles in upholding a strong security posture.

1: Website Firewall (WAF)

The Website Application Firewall (WAF) is one of Sucuri’s standout features. It operates at the DNS level, providing robust protection against various threats.

• DDoS Protection: Sucuri’s WAF effectively mitigates Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, ensuring that legitimate traffic can reach your site without interruption.

• Brute Force Protection: It prevents brute force attacks by limiting the number of logins attempts and blocking IPs that exhibit suspicious behavior.
• SQL Injection Prevention: The WAF blocks attempts to inject malicious SQL commands into your website, protecting your database from unauthorized access.
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Protection: It filters and blocks malicious scripts that could compromise the security of your website and its users.
• Zero Day Exploit Prevention: The WAF continuously updates its rules to defend against newly discovered vulnerabilities, ensuring proactive protection against zero-day exploits.

2: Malware Detection and Removal

Sucuri provides robust malware detection and removal services to keep your website clean and secure.

• Continuous Scanning: It performs regular scans to detect malware, blacklisting, spam, and other security issues.
• Automated Malware Removal: If malware is detected, Sucuri’s system automatically removes it, minimizing downtime and restoring your site’s integrity.
• Manual Cleanup: In cases where automated tools cannot resolve an issue, Sucuri’s security experts’ step in to manually clean your site.

3: Monitoring and Alerts

Sucuri offers extensive monitoring capabilities to keep you informed about your website’s security status.

• File Integrity Monitoring: It tracks changes to critical files, alerting you to unauthorized modifications.
• Blacklist Monitoring: Sucuri monitors major blacklists (such as Google Safe Browsing and Norton) and notifies you if your site is listed.
• SSL Certificate Monitoring: It ensures your SSL certificates are valid and alerts you to any issues, ensuring encrypted communications remain secure.
• DNS Monitoring: Sucuri tracks changes to your DNS settings, alerting you to potential hijacking attempts.
• Uptime Monitoring: It monitors your website’s availability and alerts you to any downtime.

4: Performance Optimization

Beyond security, Sucuri also offers features to enhance website performance.

• Content Delivery Network (CDN): Sucuri’s CDN distributes your website’s content across multiple servers worldwide, reducing latency and improving load times.
• Caching: The platform implements intelligent caching mechanisms to serve static content more efficiently, reducing server load and speeding up page load times.
• HTTP/2 Support: Sucuri supports HTTP/2, which improves performance by allowing multiple requests to be sent over a single connection.

5: SSL Support

Sucuri simplifies the implementation and management of SSL certificates.

• Free SSL Certificates: It provides free SSL certificates through Let’s Encrypt, ensuring encrypted communications.
• Custom SSL Certificates: If you prefer, you can use your own SSL certificates, and Sucuri will manage their installation and renewal.
• HTTPS Redirection: Sucuri can automatically redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS, ensuring secure connections across your entire site.

6: Advanced Security Settings

For those who require fine-grained control over their security settings, Sucuri offers several advanced options.

• IP Whitelisting/Blacklisting: You can specify which IP addresses are allowed or denied access to your site, enhancing control over who can interact with your website.
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Sucuri supports 2FA for an additional layer of security during the login process.
• Security Headers: It allows you to configure HTTP security headers like Content Security Policy (CSP), X-Content-Type-Options, and more, to further harden your site against attacks.

7: Security Audit Logs

Sucuri maintains detailed logs of all security-related activities.

• Audit Logs: These logs track changes and actions taken on your site, providing a comprehensive record for forensic analysis in case of an incident.
• User Activity Monitoring: It tracks user actions, including logins and content changes, helping you detect suspicious behaviour.

8: Incident Response

In the event of a security breach, Sucuri offers responsive and comprehensive support.

• Emergency Response: Sucuri’s team of experts is available 24/7 to assist with incident response, minimizing the impact of any security breach.
• Post-Incident Report: After resolving an issue, Sucuri provides a detailed report outlining the nature of the attack, the steps taken to mitigate it, and recommendations for future prevention.

9: SEO Spam Monitoring

Sucuri’s SEO spam monitoring tools help protect your site’s search engine rankings and reputation.

• Spam Detection: It scans for SEO spam, such as malicious backlinks and keyword stuffing, which can harm your site’s ranking.
• Cleanup Services: If spam is detected, Sucuri removes it to restore your site’s SEO health.

10: Customer Support

Sucuri offers exceptional customer support to assist with any security-related concerns.

• 24/7 Support: Their support team is available around the clock to help with any issues.
• Knowledge Base: Sucuri provides a comprehensive knowledge base with articles, guides, and tutorials to help users understand and manage their website security.

Sucuri’s extensive suite of security settings and features provides a comprehensive solution for protecting websites from a wide range of threats. 

From advanced firewall protections and continuous monitoring to performance optimization and expert incident response, Sucuri ensures that website owners can maintain a secure and efficient online presence. 

Whether you run a small blog or a large e-commerce site, Sucuri’s robust security features offer the peace of mind that comes with knowing your site is well-protected.

Sucuri Pricing

Finally, the most crucial component—the price—is here.

Sucuri Platform is available for $199.99 per year, whereas Sucuri Firewall (WAF) is available for $9.99 per month. You can also get unrestricted access to malware eradication and hack cleanups by registering for the Sucuri Platform.

Every premium plan offered by Sucuri is backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.

With the exception of SSL certificate support on your origin server, which is only included in the second-cheapest plan, Sucuri does not exclude any security features from its entry-level plans.

Sucuri, on the other hand, offers scans and response priority as enticements to join their more expensive plans.

Customers who have signed up for higher plans receive priority for scans and malware elimination however, Sucuri offers all of its customers the same prevention and detection tools regardless of their plan level.

Everyone’s tickets will be resolved on time, but if you’re in the lowest tier, you won’t usually get a response right away. You can choose one of their more expensive options if you require a quicker resolution. In contrast, the corresponding security service from Cloudflare is $200 per month.

I can see how this strategy would irritate some people, particularly if they’re trying to quickly fix a compromised website. However, in the long term, it benefits the bulk of Sucuri users more when you take into account the overall value you receive.

After discussing Sucuri, let’s go on to Wordfence and evaluate how it stacks up against it.

What is Wordfence? Overview

Wordfence is a free security plugin for WordPress that comes with a malware scanner and endpoint firewall (WAF).

Additional security features include advanced rules-based blocking, live traffic, login security (2FA), login page CAPTCHA, and limit login attempts.

Wordfence is a localized firewall as opposed to Sucuri. It is not a cloud service; instead, it remains on your web server. As a result, it may offer complete end-to-end encryption and carry out server-side scans at a deeper level.

However, performance suffers in order to gain this advantage.

Why? Because the resources on your server will examine the traffic, look for any harmful intent, and remove it if needed. Your website may load slowly if it is hosted on a server with limited resources (such as shared hosting or inexpensive managed hosting services).

The amount of malicious traffic that can overload your server during a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) is immense. There is no local security plugin that can match that. When comparing Wordfence to Sucuri, this is by far its greatest flaw.

On the other hand, any malicious traffic to your website is filtered out in the cloud before it reaches your server if you have Sucuri’s WAF activated.

However, Sucuri’s cloud WAF is a paid service, whereas Wordfence’s localized WAF is an integrated feature available for free.

How Wordfence Works?

Threat Defense Feed, a fancy phrase for Wordfence’s database of malware signatures, malicious IP addresses, and firewall rules, powers the firewall.

The Wordfence plugin that is installed on your WordPress website is integrated with the Threat Defense Feed. Your server is what powers it.

The Threat Defense Feed is updated in real time when you subscribe to Wordfence Premium. It has attributes like:

The mission-critical updates are only available to free users 30 days after launch. They also don’t receive IP blacklisting in real-time. Although this looks like a fine alternative for personal websites, if you’re hosting an e-commerce or company website, it could be a deal breaker.

An endpoint firewall offers one benefit over cloud firewalls. It can’t theoretically leak data or be circumvented because it runs entirely on your server. In contrast, if an attacker knows your server’s IP address, they can get past a cloud firewall and steal data.

Wordfence’s Security Settings and Features

Your web server is home to Wordfence. As a result, all of its options are accessible through your WordPress dashboard.

The dashboard is clear and easy to read. It gives you important details and alerts in a glimpse.

Every file on your server is subjected to an integrity check by Wordfence’s scanner. If it’s not an official theme or plugin or one of WordPress’ core files, it will notify you.

It will compare the text in the files on your server with known viruses. It will tell you if it discovers something similar, even if it’s just a sentence or two. Notifications about updates for any of your plugins or themes will also be sent to you.

Let’s now click on the Wordfence Firewall panel. This is where you optimize Wordfence’s configuration and modify its WAF settings.

Wordfence’s WAF will by default be in learning mode for a week when you first install it. This enables it to extensively examine your website and its visitors in order to determine what rules to set in order to allow only valid traffic to pass through the firewall.

For premium users only, the Real-Time IP Blacklist option is accessible.

When you use Brute Force Protection, Wordfence locks an attacker’s account after a few failed attempts at guessing the password, preventing them from accessing your account. If it determines that your password is too simple to guess, it also compels you to change it.

You can block traffic based on IP addresses, IP ranges, browsers, hostnames, and referrers under the Blocking tab. But blocking at the national level is a paid feature only. All of the available blocking rules can be combined and saved as a Block Type.

You can specify rate limiting, whitelist URLs, select IP addresses to ignore for WAF warnings, and whitelist IP addresses and services under the Firewall Options section.

You may also ban IP addresses that visit specific URLs with Wordfence. If someone is constantly searching your website for known vulnerabilities, this can be useful.

It is possible to configure an IP whitelist for 2FA, which will spare some IP addresses from additional security checks during login. This feature saves you from having to complete 2FA each time you log in if you operate from a single place most of the time.

To prevent brute force attacks, additional login security features include:

Finally, Wordfence comes with an All Options panel where you may access every Wordfence configuration. That’s beneficial, especially with Wordfence’s wide range of options.

We’ll examine Wordfence’s security features and settings to help you protect your WordPress website from any dangers.

1: Firewall Protection:

One of Wordfence’s core features is its firewall protection. The Wordfence firewall operates at the application level, meaning it can intercept and block malicious traffic before it reaches your website. The firewall includes:

• Web Application Firewall (WAF): Wordfence’s WAF inspects incoming traffic and filters out malicious requests, such as SQL injections, cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, and other common vulnerabilities.
• Brute Force Protection: Wordfence helps prevent brute force attacks by limiting login attempts and blocking IP addresses that exhibit suspicious behaviour.
• Country Blocking: You can block traffic from specific countries or regions known for high levels of malicious activity, providing an additional layer of protection.

2: Malware Scanner:

Wordfence includes a robust malware scanner that regularly checks your WordPress site for signs of malicious code or infections. The scanner thoroughly examines core files, themes, and plugins for any anomalies, helping you detect and remove malware promptly.

3: Security Alerts and Notifications:

Stay informed about potential security threats with Wordfence’s alert and notification system. You can configure Wordfence to send email alerts for various security events, such as:

• File Changes: Receive notifications when core files, themes, or plugins are modified, indicating a possible security breach.
• Brute Force Attacks: Get alerted when there’s a significant increase in failed login attempts, which could indicate an ongoing brute force attack.
• Blacklist Monitoring: Wordfence monitors major blacklists to alert you if your site’s IP address gets blacklisted due to suspicious activity.

4. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA):

Enhance the security of user accounts on your WordPress site with Wordfence’s two-factor authentication feature. By requiring users to enter a secondary verification code in addition to their password, 2FA adds an extra layer of protection against unauthorized access.

5: Login Security:

Wordfence offers several login security features to safeguard the authentication process, including:

• Password Strength Enforcement: You can enforce strong password policies to ensure that user passwords meet specific criteria, such as length and complexity.
• Login Page CAPTCHA: Wordfence can add CAPTCHA protection to the WordPress login page, thwarting automated login attempts by bots.
• Login Attempts Logging: Keep track of all login attempts, successful or failed, to identify potential security threats and unauthorized access attempts.

6: Advanced Blocking Options:

In addition to the default firewall rules, Wordfence allows you to create custom blocking rules based on various criteria, such as IP address, user agent, and request pattern. This enables you to tailor your site’s security settings to address specific threats effectively.

7: Performance Optimization:

Wordfence is designed to provide robust security without compromising website performance. It includes caching features and optimization options to ensure that your site remains fast and responsive even with the security measures in place.

For WordPress websites, Wordfence is a complete security solution that provides a plethora of features and options to ward off unwanted attacks. Utilizing its malware scanner, firewall protection, login security measures, and other capabilities, you can defend your website and lessen the risks brought on by online attacks. 

In the face of changing security threats, you can preserve the integrity and dependability of your WordPress website with Wordfence’s proactive protection measures and attentive monitoring.

Wordfence Pricing

The security plugin for Wordfence is available for free download. It is now the most popular and highly rated security plugin in the WordPress plugin library.

For one site, Wordfence Premium starts at $99 per year. You can add more sites to your order and receive a discount. The larger the savings, the more sites you add!

What Effects Do Security Plugins Have on Website Speed?

Not only do WordPress plugins provide the greatest security threats, but they also significantly reduce speed. The most common offenders are security plugins because of their scanning capabilities and constant need to be on.

However, if you need more security, especially against bots and proxy traffic, cloud-based security solutions like Sucuri Firewall or Cloudflare are cool.

Conclusion: Sucuri vs Wordfence

Between Wordfence and Sucuri. Which choice is the best?

In terms of online security and performance, Sucuri is, on the one hand, the superior option between the two—especially if you manage a crucial commercial or e-commerce website.

That being said, Wordfence is a more reliable option if you’re searching for a free web firewall. If you choose that, I would recommend using it in conjunction with a trustworthy free CDN, such as Cloudflare.

Ultimately, everything boils down to how you host. Most security precautions will be handled by a top-notch hosting company. They are aware that the inconvenience is not worth the performance loss third-party plugins cause to their servers and services.

Your host should ideally lockdown code so that it can only be executed in specific situations and locales. after which limit writing uploads to just the code’s specific folder. WordPress security plugins would become unnecessary with a few additional server-side security hardening steps implemented.

In the end, website security is a process rather than a final goal. I advise you to go in the best direction!

Good Luck!

FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions)

1: What is Sucuri and Wordfence?

Sucuri and Wordfence are both popular security plugins for WordPress websites. They offer protection against various threats such as malware, hacking attempts, and DDoS attacks.

2: How do Sucuri and Wordfence differ in their approach to security?

Sucuri primarily focuses on website security through its cloud-based firewall, which filters traffic before it reaches your site. It also offers malware scanning, cleanup, and monitoring services. Wordfence, on the other hand, is a WordPress plugin that provides a firewall, malware scanning, and login security features directly on your website.

3: Which one offers better malware scanning and cleanup?

Both Sucuri and Wordfence provide robust malware scanning and cleanup features. Sucuri’s cloud-based scanning can often detect threats before they reach your website, while Wordfence’s on-site scanning offers detailed reports and the ability to quarantine or remove malicious files directly from your WordPress dashboard.

4: What about performance impact?

Sucuri’s cloud-based firewall can potentially have a minimal impact on website performance since much of the security processing is done off-site. Wordfence, being a plugin installed directly on your WordPress site, may have a slightly higher performance impact, especially on sites with large amounts of traffic or complex configurations.

5: Are there differences in pricing and support between Sucuri and Wordfence?

Sucuri offers various pricing plans based on the level of protection and services required, with options for both website security and performance optimization. They also provide 24/7 customer support. Wordfence, on the other hand, offers a free version with basic security features and a premium version with additional functionalities. Support options vary depending on the plan, with priority support available for premium users.