ProofShield blocks bots on WordPress logins, comments, and forms using local proof-of-work instead of CAPTCHA. See features, pricing, and pros/cons.
ProofShield is a WordPress security plugin developed by the German company Softwaregarten Plugins (operated by Miriam Walter, based in Erding, Germany). It protects the most commonly attacked entry points on a WordPress site — the login page, the comment form, and general site forms — by requiring visitors to pass a local proof-of-work challenge instead of a traditional CAPTCHA. Because the check runs locally without an external CAPTCHA provider, it avoids the friction, accessibility issues, and third-party tracking that CAPTCHA widgets can introduce, while still filtering out automated bot traffic. The plugin ships with a built-in analytics dashboard that shows administrators how many requests were allowed versus blocked, giving site owners visibility into ongoing bot activity. ProofShield is offered as a free WordPress plugin with an optional Pro upgrade that extends protection to contact forms and WooCommerce, adds automatic protection-level adjustments, weekly email reports, and rules for AJAX/REST endpoints. It requires WordPress 6.4+ and PHP 8.0+, and is one of several WordPress plugins built by Softwaregarten Plugins, whose stated goal is to ship practical, low-overhead tools grounded in real client project needs.
Yes. ProofShield offers a free tier covering login page protection, comment spam blocking, local proof-of-work validation, and basic traffic statistics. A Pro upgrade at $29.95/year adds contact form and WooCommerce protection, automatic protection adjustments, weekly reports, and AJAX/REST endpoint rules.
No. ProofShield blocks bots using a local proof-of-work check instead of a CAPTCHA, so legitimate visitors are not shown CAPTCHA challenges on the login page, comments, or forms.
ProofShield requires WordPress 6.4 or later and PHP 8.0 or later.
ProofShield is developed by Softwaregarten Plugins, operated by Miriam Walter and based in Erding, Germany.