CHEQ Essentials vs Crovly – Proof of Work Captcha & Spam Protection

As a website owner, one of the biggest challenges you face is dealing with invalid traffic. Invalid traffic (27% of direct and organic traffic on average in 2022) refers to any non-human or fraudulent activity, such as bots, click farms, and other forms of automated traffic. This can not only damage your site’s reputation but also result in lost revenue, slow performance, and skewed data that damage your decision-making. CHEQ Essentials is here to help. We use advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze user behavior and distinguish between legitimate and invalid traffic. With this plugin, you can automatically monitor your website traffic in real time and identify any suspicious patterns or behavior. The plugin also provides detailed reports and analytics that can help you better understand your traffic and identify any potential issues. Once the plugin detects invalid traffic, it can take immediate action to prevent further damage. This may include blocking IP addresses on Google Ads, redirecting traffic to a 403 page, or implementing other measures to prevent bots and other automated traffic from accessing your site. Overall, this is an essential tool for any website owner who wants to secure and protect their site from fraudulent activity and ensure a safe and reliable user experience. With CHEQ Essentials, you can rest assured that your site is protected from invalid traffic and other forms of online fraud. You will need an active CHEQ Essentials subscription to use this WordPress plugin.

Crovly is a privacy-first captcha service powered by Proof of Work. Unlike traditional captchas that rely on image puzzles (easily solved by AI) or invasive tracking, Crovly makes the visitor’s browser do computational work to prove it’s not a bot. How it works: Your visitor’s browser solves a small cryptographic puzzle (Proof of Work) Browser fingerprint and environment signals are collected (as a hash — no personal data stored) Behavioral analysis detects automated patterns (mouse, keyboard, scroll) A composite score determines if the visitor is human Key features: Privacy-friendly — No cookies, no cross-site tracking No image puzzles — Invisible to legitimate users Resistant to AI vision attacks — Proof of Work cannot be solved by image recognition IP binding — Tokens are bound to the solver’s IP address Adaptive difficulty — Suspicious visitors receive harder challenges 22+ integrations — Works with major WordPress form plugins Lightweight — Widget is under 25KB gzipped, zero dependencies, 42 languages Supported integrations: WordPress login, registration, lost password, comments WooCommerce (checkout, login, register, lost password, pay for order) Contact Form 7 WPForms Gravity Forms Elementor Pro Forms Ninja Forms Fluent Forms Formidable Forms Forminator Jetpack Contact Form Divi (contact form, login) BuddyPress (registration, activity) bbPress (topics, replies) Ultimate Member (login, register, password reset) MemberPress (checkout, login) Paid Memberships Pro Easy Digital Downloads Mailchimp for WordPress GiveWP wpDiscuz wpForo WordPress Multisite signup Shortcode & PHP support: Use [crovly] shortcode in any page or post, or call crovly_render() and crovly_verify() in your theme templates. External services This plugin relies on the Crovly captcha service to function. It connects to two external endpoints: 1. Crovly Widget CDN (get.crovly.com) The plugin loads the JavaScript widget from https://get.crovly.com/widget.js on any page that contains a protected form. The widget runs Proof of Work in the visitor’s browser and collects a hashed browser fingerprint. When: Loaded on frontend pages that display a protected form (login, register, comment, checkout, etc.) What is sent: Standard HTTP request headers (IP address, user agent). No personal data. Terms of Service: https://crovly.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://crovly.com/privacy 2. Crovly Verification API (api.crovly.com) When a visitor submits a protected form, the plugin sends the generated captcha token to https://api.crovly.com/verify-token for server-side verification. When: On form submission of any form protected by Crovly. What is sent: The captcha token (opaque string), the visitor’s IP address (for IP binding), and your Secret Key (for authentication). What is received: A success/failure response indicating whether the token is valid. Terms of Service: https://crovly.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://crovly.com/privacy Both services are operated by Crovly. No data is shared with third parties. The plugin does not set cookies or track visitors across sites.