WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as Themes.

What is WordPress? At its core, WordPress is the simplest, most popular way to create your own website or blog. In fact, WordPress powers over 40% of all the websites on the Internet. Yes – more than one in four websites that you visit are likely powered by WordPress.

On a slightly more technical level, WordPress is an open-source content management system licensed under GPLv2, which means that anyone can use or modify the WordPress software for free. A content management system is basically a tool that makes it easy to manage important aspects of your website – like content – without needing to know anything about programming.

The end result is that WordPress makes building a website accessible to anyone – even people who aren’t developers.What is #WordPress? Simply put, it’s the best way to build a website. ?CLICK TO TWEET

What Kinds Of Websites Can WordPress Make?

Many years ago, WordPress was primarily a tool to create a blog, rather than more traditional websites. That hasn’t been true for a long time, though. Nowadays, thanks to changes to the core code, as well as WordPress’ massive ecosystem of plugins and themes, you can create any type of website with WordPress.

For example, not only does WordPress power a huge number of business sites and blogs, it’s also the most popular way to create an e-commerce store as well! With WordPress, you can create:

• Business websites
• eCommerce stores
• Blogs
• Portfolios
• Resumes
• Forums
• Social networks
• Membership sites
• …pretty much anything else you can dream up.

WHAT IS A PLUGIN?

A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites.

WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. In the WordPress community, there is a saying that goes around: “there’s a plugin for that”. They make it easier for users to add features to their website without knowing a single line of code.

There are thousands of WordPress plugins available for free at the official WordPress plugin directory. At WPBeginner, we write about all the best wp plugins We have even shared a list of all the plugins we use, Aside from free plugins, there are tons of amazing commercial ones available from third-party companies and developers.

What are plugins used for?

A plugin is a piece of software that acts as an add-on to a web browser and gives the browser additional functionality. Plugins can allow a web browser to display additional content it was not originally designed to display.

Why Use Plugins

Can you imagine a Smartphone with no installed app? Boring, right! Websites are also boring (or let’s say limited) without the use of Plugi-ns.  

For example, you may need to make payment transactions online. A basic WordPress website lacks such a feature.  You can cover for this deficiency by installing a Plugin developed for making online payments.

If you had to develop that feature yourself, it will take time and cost much. However, with a plug-in, you can start receiving payments in minutes. 

Difference between Plugins and Extensions

Plugins and extensions have similar functions. However, there is a slight difference between them. 

A Plug-in improves the functionality of a larger program without changing its core functionality; Extensions, on the other hand, changes the core functionality of the program while expanding its functions.

WHAT IS WORDPRESS SECURITY PLUGIN?

WordPress security plugins,are the ones that protect wp sites from hackers and their malicious activities

LIST OF WORDPRESS SECURITY PLUGINS FOR 2020

This list should help you pick which one works best for you and your business.

What Are the Best WordPress Security Plugins?

So which security plugin offers the best WordPress protection and is best for you? Let’s take a peek at the list of popular WordPress security plugins:

1. Sucuri

The best free WordPress security plugin available today is Sucuri. The all-in-one security platform is wildly popular for good reason.

Although Sucuri is a great free WordPress security plugin for websites, the pro version is actually the real must-have for every website owner.

Features:

• They’ll clean up your WordPress site at no additional cost if it gets malware
• Easy setup in your WordPress dashboard
• Firewall protection helps you block brute force and malicious attacks from accessing your WordPress site
• Lets you conduct malware scanning (and of course malware removal)
• Effective security hardening
• Keeps track of everything that happens on your site, including file changes, last logins, and failed login attempts
• Some plans offer advanced DDoS protection
• Can reduce server load time and improve your site’s performance by blocking malicious traffic
• Serves static content from their own CDN servers
• Protects your WordPress website against SQL Injections, XSS, and all known attacks

Cost:

There’s a free version of Sucuri and the Pro version is $299/year.

2. iThemes Security Pro

If you’re a WordPress user, you might be familiar with the team that created iThemes security pro since they also built the popular Backupbuddy plugin and other great themes and plugins. All of their tools offer an easy-to-use interface for brute force security protection and more.

Features:

• Two-factor authentication for an extra layer of security
• Powerful password enforcement
• 404 detection and plugin scans
• Scheduled WordPress backups
• Locks out any suspicious IP that scans for vulnerabilities on your site so they can’t gain access
• Sends email alerts to notify you of any recent file updates on your site that may be malicious
• Ability to limit login attempts
• Although there’s no website firewall or malware scan, they do use Sucuri,s Sitecheck malware scanner

Cost:

iTheme Security Pro pricing starts at $80/year.

3. Jetpack

Another popular all-in-one solution on our list for the best WordPress protection plugins is jetpack. This well-known plugin lets you easily scan your website for security vulnerabilities and has over 5 million active installs.

Features:

• Real-time backups save every change you make to your website
• 1-click restore to get your site back online quickly
• Activity log tells you exactly which action (or person) broke your site
• Decentralized malware scanning keeps your site safe from security threats
• Offers spam protection by automatically blocks spam in blog post comments
• Alerts you via email the moment it detects that your WordPress site is down
• Protects your site against brute force login attacks and harmful malware
• Includes website design features and automated marketing tools
• Keeps your Wordpress plugins automatically updated and lets you know if you’re using the latest version of WordPress

Cost:

The free version of Jetpack includes basic WordPress security features. The Security Daily plan starts at $19.95/month billed annually.

4. WPScan

Another great solution for WordPress website security is WPScan. This user-friendly tool has been around since 2012 and can keep your website safe and secure on the backend. It works by cataloging tons of different known threats and reports the important ones to you, so you can avoid unwanted security issues.

Features:

• Open-source tool with unique functionality that can be used to scan remote WordPress installations to pinpoint security issues
• Their database of vulnerabilities is updated daily by community members and dedicated WordPress security specialists
• Daily automated scans to look for malicious code
• Email notifications
• Helps by auditing a database of known issues with things that will impact you like WordPress plugins, WordPress core, and Wordpress themes

Cost:

There’s a free version of the plugin that’s great for most websites. If you’ve got a big site and use a lot of plugins the paid version of WPScan would be best for you and starts at around $2.31/month.

5. Wordfence

Wordfence is a free plugin that has some amazing security features that protect your WordPress site without you having to spend a cent.

Features:

• Free to use for as many sites as you need
• Monitors visits and hack attempts in real time including origin, their IP address, the time of day, and time spent on your site
• Tracks and alerts you about breached password usage so you can create a new strong password immediately
• Protects from brute force attacks with limiting failed login attempts
• Runs on your own server instead of being cloud-based, so could slow your site

Cost:

Wordfence is available as a free or paid plugin. The paid version is priced from $99/yr.

6. BulletProof Security

BulletProof Security is a WordPress security plugin that doesn’t look all that cool, but gets you some basic security features for free, so it’s worth being on the list.

Features:

• A somewhat easy-to-use setup wizard
• Malware scanning and firewalls
• Database backups
• Login protection
• Email notifications with security logs when a user gets locked out from failed login attempts
• Idle session logouts

Cost:

BulletProof Security is free.

7. All In One WP Security & Firewall

It’s easy (and free) to use All In One WP Security & Firewall to apply most WordPress best practices for security to your small business website.. But the tool is pretty basic and not as beginner-friendly as the more well-known solutions.

Features:

• Scanning for malicious patterns
• IP filtering to block specific people and geographical locations
• Login lockdowns after failed login attempts
• View a list of locked out users to unlock individuals in just a few clicks
• A password strength tool to allow you to generate appropriately strong passwords
• User account monitoring
• A website-level firewall (but does lack a DNS-level firewall)
• Lets you manually blacklist suspicious IP addresses

Cost:

All In One WP Security & Firewall is free.

8. Google Authenticator

Setting up two-factor authentication for extra security is a really good idea to keep your website secure. Google Authenticator lets you do just that. And it’s on our list since most security plugins don’t include this.

Features:

• Adds an extra layer of security to your login
• Has a simple interface and is moderately easy-to-use
• Lets you pick which type of two-factor authentication you want to use
• Offers shortcodes so you can do things like use it on custom login pages

Cost:

Free.

The Best WordPress Security Plugins Winner

If you’re looking for a WordPress security plugin that has it all, the answer’s fairly obvious which you should choose.

Our pick for the very best goes to Securi Security, without a doubt. It comes with all the features you’ll need to protect your website, instead of just a few.

This includes website scanning, DNS-level firewalls (not just website), and their own cloud-based server and CDN network.

If you haven’t already, we recommend that you get started with Sucuri as soon as possible. The Premium version isn’t free, but having a secure website’s going to save you a ton of potential costs and headaches in the event of a breach (Not to mention, peace of mind).

In Conclusion on WordPress Security

And that’s it. Hopefully, this list of the best WordPress security plugins helped give you the info you need to find the best security tool for you.