Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) vs WPEPP – Essential Security, Password Protect & Login Page Customizer

Easily improve site security with WordPress Hardening, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Login Protection, Vulnerability Detection and SSL certificate. Really simple, Effective and Performant WordPress Security Really Simple Security is the most lightweight and easy-to-use security plugin for WordPress. It secures your WordPress website with SSL certificate generation, including proper 301 https redirection and SSL enforcement, scanning for possible vulnerabilities, Login Protection and implementing essential WordPress hardening features. We believe that security should have the absolute minimum effect on website performance, user experience and maintainability. Therefore, Really Simple Security is: Lightweight: Every security feature is developed with a modular approach and with performance in mind. Disabled features won’t load any redundant code. Easy-to-use: 1-minute configuration with short onboarding setup. Security Features Easy SSL Migration Migrates your website to HTTPS and enforces SSL in just one click. 301 redirect via PHP or .htaccess Secure cookies Let’s Encrypt: Install an SSL Certificate if your hosting provider supports manual installation. Server Health Check: Your server configuration is every bit as important for your website security. WordPress Hardening Tweak your configuration and keep WordPress fortified and safe by tackling potential weaknesses. Prevent code execution in the uploads folder Prevent login feedback and disable user enumeration Disable XML-RPC Disable directory browsing Username restrictions (block ‘admin’ and public names) and much more.. Vulnerability Detection Get notified when plugins, themes or WP core contain vulnerabilities and need appropriate action. Login Protection Allow or enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) for specific user roles. Users receive a two-factor code via Email. Improve Security with Really Simple Security Pro Protect your site with all essential security features by upgrading to Really Simple Security Pro. Advanced SSL enforcement Mixed Content Scan & Fixer. Detect files that are requested over HTTP and fix them to HTTPS, both Front- and Back-end. Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security and configure your site for the HSTS Preload list. Firewall Really Simple Security Pro includes a performant and efficient WordPress firewall, to stop bots, crawlers and bad actors with IP and username blocks. 404 blocking – Blocks crawlers as they trigger unusual numbers of 404 errors. Region blocking – Only allow/block access to your site from specific regions. Automated and customisable Firewall rules. IP blocklist and allowlist. Security Headers Security headers protect your site visitors against the risk of clickjacking, cross-site-forgery attacks, stealing login credentials and malware. Independent of your Server Configuration, works on Apache, LiteSpeed, NGINX, etc. Protect your website visitors with X-XSS Protection, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, a Referrer Policy and CORS headers. Automatically generate your WordPress-tailored Content Security Policy. Vulnerability Measures When a vulnerability is detected in a plugin, theme or WordPress core you will get notified accordingly. With Vulnerability Measures, you can configure simple but effective measures to make sure that a critical vulnerability won’t remain unattended. Force update: An update process will be tried multiple times until it can be assumed development of a theme or plugin is abandoned. You will be notified during these steps. Quarantine: When a plugin or theme can’t be updated to solve a vulnerability, Really Simple Security can quarantine the plugin. Advanced Site Hardening Choose a custom login URL Automated File Permissions check and fixer Rename and randomize your database prefix Change the debug.log file location to a non-public folder Disable application passwords Control admin creation Disable HTTP methods, reducing HTTP requests Login Protection Secure your website’s login process and user accounts with powerful security measures. Two-Step verification (Email login) 2FA (two factor authentication) with TOTP Passwordless login with passkey login Enforce strong passwords and frequent password change Limit Login Attempts With Limit Login Attempts you can configure a threshold to temporarily or permanently block IP addresses or (non-existing) usernames. You can also throw a CAPTCHA after a failed login (hCaptcha or Google reCaptcha) Access Control Restrict access to your site for specific regions. Add specific IP addresses or IP ranges to the Blocklist or Allowlist. Useful Links Documentation Security Definitions Translate Really Simple Security Issues & pull requests Feature requests Love Really Simple Security? If you want to support the continuing development of this plugin, please consider buying Really Simple Security Pro, which includes some excellent security features and premium support. About Really Simple Plugins Our mission is to make complex WordPress requirements really easy. Really Simple Security is developed by Really Simple Plugins. For generating SSL certificates, Really Simple Security uses the le acme2 PHP Let’s Encrypt client library, thanks to ‘fbett’ for providing it. Vulnerability Detection uses WP Vulnerability, an open-source initiative by Javier Casares. Want to join as a collaborator? We’re on GitHub as well!

WPEPP best for Best Essential security, password protected content, block AI crawlers, limit login attempts, country restriction, CPU monitor & login customizer with live preview. Total site protection! WPEPP is the all-in-one WordPress essential security and login page customizer plugin. It combines everything you need to limit login attempts, block brute force attacks, hide the login page, password protect content, restrict by country, and customize the WordPress login page — all from a single, modern dashboard with real-time live preview. Stop installing five separate plugins. WPEPP replaces your login limiter, login page customizer, password form styler, content restriction plugin, country blocker, and AI crawler blocker with one lightweight solution that loads zero external scripts on the front end. View Details | View Pricing 🔐 Limit Login Attempts & Brute Force Protection Protect your WordPress login form from brute force attacks with built-in login attempt limiting and IP-based lockouts. Login Attempt Limiter — automatically block IP addresses after repeated failed login attempts Configurable lockout — set the maximum number of failed attempts and lockout duration in minutes Login Honeypot — invisible bot trap field catches automated brute force login attacks instantly Registration Honeypot — hidden spam trap on the WordPress registration form blocks fake signups Registration Rate Limiter — prevent mass registration spam with per-IP rate limiting IP-based tracking — every failed login is tracked by IP address for accurate blocking 🛡️ Hide Login Page & Custom Login URL (Pro) Move your default WordPress login page to a secret URL so bots and attackers can never find it. Custom Login URL — change wp-login.php to any URL you choose (e.g., /my-secret-login) Hide Default Login — the original wp-login.php returns a 404, invisible to attackers After-Login Redirect — send users to a specific page after successful login Auto-Login Links — generate secure one-time login tokens for specific users 🔑 Two-Factor Authentication – 2FA (Pro) Add an extra layer of security to every WordPress login with TOTP-based two-factor authentication. Authenticator App Support — works with Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, and any TOTP app QR Code Setup — users scan a QR code to set up 2FA in seconds Recovery Codes — 8 one-time backup codes in case a user loses their authenticator device Role-Based Enforcement — enable 2FA for specific user roles (administrators, editors, etc.) RFC 6238 Compliant — industry-standard time-based one-time password implementation 🤖 Google reCAPTCHA Integration (Pro) Add Google reCAPTCHA to your login and registration forms to stop bots before they even try. Login Form reCAPTCHA — prevent automated login attempts with CAPTCHA verification Registration Form reCAPTCHA — block bot signups on the WordPress registration page Easy Setup — just enter your Site Key and Secret Key to activate 📊 Login Activity Log (Pro) Monitor every login attempt on your WordPress site with a detailed activity log. Complete Logging — records every successful, failed, and locked-out login attempt IP Address Tracking — see which IPs are attempting to access your site User-Agent Detection — identify the browser or bot behind each login attempt Status Filtering — filter the log by success, failure, or lockout status Timestamp Records — exact date and time of every login event 🛑 Block AI Crawlers & Bots Prevent AI companies from crawling and training on your website content. Block GPTBot, CCBot, Google-Extended, and more. One-Click AI Blocker — toggle known AI crawlers on or off from a simple checklist robots.txt Rules — automatically generates and injects bot-blocking rules into your robots.txt User-Agent Blocking — returns 403 Forbidden to blocked AI crawlers at the server level Rule Preview — see exactly what rules will be added before saving 🔒 Lock Entire Site — Site Access Control Need to lock your entire WordPress site? WPEPP gives you two powerful ways to do it — no plugins or code required. Admin Only Mode — restricts the entire site to logged-in users only. Anyone who is not signed in is automatically redirected to the login page or shown a login popup. Perfect for intranet sites, staging environments, or member communities. Site Password Protection — lock the whole site behind a single shared password. Visitors must enter the password before they can view any page. Logged-in administrators always bypass it automatically. Set a cookie duration so returning visitors are not asked again. Admin-Only Mode — lock the entire front end so only logged-in users can view it Site Password — require a single password for all visitors to access the site Configurable Cookie Duration — set how many days the access cookie lasts before asking again Bypass for Admins — logged-in administrators always skip the password gate automatically Custom Access Message — show a branded message above the password form Login Popup Option — show a blurred login overlay instead of a redirect (Pro) Page Whitelist — keep login, register, and selected pages accessible while the rest is locked 🔐 Password Protect Pages & Content Lock (Pro) Lock any WordPress post, page, or custom post type so only authorized users can see the content. Per-Post Toggle — lock individual posts from the Gutenberg editor sidebar or Classic Editor meta box Multiple Lock Actions — choose from login link, inline password form, full-page popup with blur, or redirect Role-Based Locking — restrict content to specific user roles (subscribers, members, etc.) Auto-Expiry Unlock — automatically unlock content at a scheduled date and time Excerpt on Archives — optionally show a teaser excerpt on blog listing pages Works Everywhere — compatible with posts, pages, and all registered custom post types 📋 Conditional Content Display Show or hide any post or page based on smart conditions — without shortcodes. User Status — show content only to logged-in or logged-out users (Free) User Role — target administrators, editors, subscribers, or any custom role (Pro) Device Type — show different content on desktop, tablet, or mobile (Pro) Time & Date — schedule visibility by time range, date range, day of week, or recurring schedule (Pro) Browser Detection — target Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, or Opera users (Pro) URL Parameters — show content based on query string values like ?ref=email (Pro) Referrer Source — display content based on where the visitor came from (Pro) REST API Compatible — hidden content is stripped from API responses for headless WordPress setups 12 Conditions Total — the most flexible conditional visibility system available 👥 Member-Only Pages Create pages visible only to logged-in members — no membership plugin required. Dedicated Page Template — assign the “Member Only” template to any WordPress page Built-In Login Form — visitors see a login form; authenticated users see the real content Zero Configuration — works out of the box, no setup needed 🎨 Login Page Customizer with Live Preview Customize the default WordPress login page (wp-login.php) with a visual editor and real-time preview. Background Options — solid color, CSS gradient, background image, or background video with overlay Custom Logo — upload your own logo image, set its size, or use a text-based logo with custom font Form Styling — customize background, border, width, padding, and box shadow of the login form Field Styling — change input background, text color, border, padding, height, and focus state Button Styling — customize background, text color, font size, border radius, and hover state Heading & Links — style the form heading text and “Lost your password?” link Error Messages — customize the color, font, background, and padding of login error messages Register & Lost Password Pages (Pro) — same visual editor for wp-login.php?action=register and ?action=lostpassword Live Preview — every change is visible in real time before you save 🎯 Password-Protected Form Styling Replace the plain WordPress password form with beautiful, branded designs using a real-time visual editor. 4 Unique Form Styles — 2 free styles, 2 additional styles with Pro Custom Text — add header and description text above or below the password form Button & Label Text — change the submit button label, input placeholder, and error messages Social Media Icons — add links to Facebook, X (Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblr Icon Controls — set position (top, middle, bottom), alignment, and visual style 10+ One-Click Templates — import pre-built designs like Minimal, Modern Dark, Corporate, Nature, Gradient Wave, and more 🛡️ Security Hardening Reduce your WordPress attack surface with built-in hardening tools. Disable XML-RPC — shut down the xmlrpc.php endpoint used by bots for brute force and DDoS attacks Hide WordPress Version — remove the generator meta tag and version query strings from your source code Disable REST API User Enumeration — block the /wp/v2/users endpoint to prevent username discovery IP Blocklist & Allowlist (Pro) — manually block or allow specific IP addresses Disposable Email Blocker (Pro) — prevent registrations with temporary email addresses Email Domain Whitelist/Blacklist (Pro) — restrict or allow signups by email domain Admin Approval for Registrations (Pro) — require manual admin approval before new users can log in 📈 CPU Monitor & Site Health Dashboard Keep your WordPress site fast and healthy with a built-in performance monitoring dashboard. Real-Time CPU Usage — see current CPU percentage, core count, and 1/5/15-minute load averages Memory Overview — monitor PHP memory usage, peak usage, and configured limits System Health Score — instant green/yellow/red health badge based on CPU, memory, and cron status Slow Query Logger — automatically log database queries that exceed a configurable time threshold SAVEQUERIES Toggle — enable or disable WordPress query logging directly from the dashboard Cron Jobs Manager — view all scheduled WordPress cron events, run them manually, or delete stale entries Overdue Cron Detection — identify cron jobs that are past due and may be stuck Plugin Performance — see which plugins consume the most resources and deactivate sluggish ones Options Bloat Analyzer — inspect database options table size, autoloaded data, and top autoloaded options Transient Cleanup — clean expired transients with one click to reduce database bloat Error Log Viewer (Pro) — parse and display PHP and WordPress error log entries by type WP Config Manager — toggle WP_DEBUG, WP_DEBUG_LOG, and SAVEQUERIES without editing files ✅ Free vs Pro Comparison Login Security Limit Login Attempts & IP Lockout — Free & Pro Login Honeypot (Bot Trap) — Free & Pro Registration Honeypot — Free & Pro Registration Rate Limiter — Free & Pro Hide Login Page (Custom Login URL) — Pro Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) — Pro Google reCAPTCHA (Login + Register) — Pro Login Activity Log — Pro IP Blocklist / Allowlist — Pro Disposable Email Blocker — Pro Email Domain Whitelist/Blacklist — Pro Admin Registration Approval — Pro Security Hardening Disable XML-RPC — Free & Pro Hide WordPress Version — Free & Pro Disable REST API User Enumeration — Free & Pro AI Crawler & Bot Blocker — Free & Pro Content Protection Site-Wide Access Control — Free & Pro Admin-Only Mode — Free & Pro Site-Wide Password — Free & Pro Country Restriction (block or allow by country) — Free (2 countries) / Pro (unlimited) Content Lock (Per-Post) — Pro Auto-Expiry Unlock — Pro Role-Based Content Lock — Pro Conditional Display (Login Status) — Free & Pro Conditional Display (12 Conditions) — Pro Member-Only Page Template — Free & Pro Login Page Customizer Login Page Styling (Background, Logo, Form) — Free & Pro Login Page Advanced Styling + Custom CSS — Pro Register Page Styling — Pro Lost Password Page Styling — Pro Password Form Styling Password Form – Styles 1 & 2 — Free & Pro Password Form – Styles 3 & 4 — Pro Custom Text, Labels & Social Icons — Free & Pro Templates Gallery (3 Free / 10+ Pro) — Free & Pro Preview & Admin Real-Time Live Preview — Free & Pro Desktop Responsive Preview — Free & Pro Tablet & Mobile Responsive Preview — Pro React-Powered Admin Dashboard — Free & Pro CPU Monitor & Site Health CPU Usage & Memory Stats — Free & Pro Slow Query Logger — Free & Pro Cron Jobs Manager — Free & Pro Plugin Performance Monitor — Free & Pro Options Bloat Analyzer — Free & Pro Transient Cleanup — Free & Pro Error Log Viewer — Pro WP Config Manager — Free & Pro 🌐 Live Demos See WPEPP in action: Password-protected page demo 🏗️ Built for Performance WPEPP is designed to be fast and lightweight: No external scripts on the front end — zero impact on page load speed Conditional asset loading — CSS and JS load only on pages that need them Modern React admin — the settings panel is fast and responsive without slowing your site REST API powered — all settings are saved via the WordPress REST API, no page reloads 🌍 Translations English (default) Translation-ready — .pot file included for translators Privacy Policy WPEPP uses the Appsero SDK to collect telemetry data only after the user opts in via an admin notice. No data is collected by default. The SDK gathers basic diagnostic information (PHP version, WordPress version, plugin version, site URL) to help us troubleshoot issues and improve the product. It does not collect personal user data, passwords, or content. Learn more: Appsero Privacy Policy.