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How To Set Up hCaptcha on WordPress: a free and privacy-focused alternative to ReCaptcha
Have you heard of hCaptcha, a popular and free alternative to ReCaptcha of Google? If yes, maybe you are wondering how to quickly implement hCaptcha on your WordPress website.
Protecting websites from spam is very important nowadays. As you might know, website contact forms can maliciously be under attack to destroy or steal infrastructure or network data and also be a launch point for other attacks. These attempts aim to find vulnerabilities that open the doors to cyber attacks.
Up to now, various solutions have been used to stop spam and identify if accessing a site came from bots or humans.
Among the examples of these instruments, we can find simple math calculations (addition or subtraction) and systems that verify users by asking them to select some images. With the development of machine learning, one of the most popular services is Google’s ReCaptcha. And what about hCaptcha?
In this post, we find out why and how to integrate hCaptcha in your site’s contact form in just a few clicks, thanks to the WPForms plugin that helps to protect your site from spam and possible cyber attacks.
How does the reCAPTCHA work?
reCAPTCHA by Google is a CAPTCHA system that helps you detect abusive traffic on your website and allows computer systems to distinguish between human and automated access.
The first version asked users to repeat and click the matching images or decipher hard-to-read text (distorted or obscured) to reduce spam. Thanks to machine learning, reCAPTCHA now recognizes whether a human or a bot is attempting to access the site with a simple mouse click.
hCaptcha vs. reCAPTCHA
hCaptcha is an anti-bot solution system that can be used on WordPress contact forms and help build a better web. Being a free alternative to reCAPTCHA, its rising popularity stems from its privacy-oriented approach. Indeed, the privacy policy of this service is compatible with recent regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
The anti-bot hCaptcha uses sophisticated machine learning and artificial intelligence to help distinguish human users from spam. At the same time, one of the main goals is to protect users’ privacy. How? Avoiding data collection. According to this helpful tool mission, hCaptcha takes care only of spam protection. Therefore, it carries out no additional analysis; only the publisher owns the data.
Moreover, hCaptcha is a popular alternative to Google’s reCAPTCHA. This is particularly attractive for those who do not have or do not want to open a Google account. It also satisfies the need for a different approach to block spam and malicious traffic that regularly reaches websites and contact forms.
hCaptcha is free for small publishers and website owners, while it offers premium solutions for more structured companies. This service also has an active program that rewards websites using the hCaptcha widget.
hCaptcha on WordPress: How to integrate hCaptcha on your contact form with WPForms
Installed on over 4 million sites, WPForms is the best WordPress forms plugin and one of the main tools to install on a WordPress site.
WPForms offers countless possibilities, such as multi-step WordPress forms, conversational contact forms, easy integration with major payment systems like Paypal and Stripe or software and CRM like SalesForce.
Recently, WPForms introduced its new hCaptcha integration, available for all users starting from the WPForms v1.6.4 release.
It is worth considering that the WPForms plugin already provides users with advanced systems to block spam. It can easily integrate these options with the additional solutions offered by reCaptcha or Captcha.
However, in the WPForms settings, you can choose between the hCaptcha or Google’s reCAPTCHA option. For sure, it is a possibility that many WordPress users highly appreciate.
The hCaptcha integration looks similar to reCAPTCHA, so user experience always comes first. Moreover, you can adjust the error message, enable No-Conflict mode, and preview how the CAPTCHA will be displayed.
The contact form created with WPForms consistently delivers a professional and adaptable presence on the websites where it’s installed.
In the WPForms dashboard, once you’ve chosen your desired captcha service, you can access it within the form settings.
One of the main objectives of WPForms has always been to make it easier to manage WordPress websites. Indeed, this new integration of hCaptcha on WPForms allows you to extend the functionality. This offers a new way to protect your contact forms from bots, spam, and intrusions while keeping your data safe.
WPForms plugin is available with 4 licenses: Basic (1 website ), Plus (3 websites), Pro (5 websites), and Elite (unlimited number of sites). Pricing starts at $ 79/year (discounted to $ 39.50/year with the 50% OFF promotion).
For more information on WPForms, click here.
