Joris Le Blansch

<p>I like to use Contact Form 7 on most of my WordPress sites. It’s a powerful form manager that suits all my needs. I don’t like to use external calls to protect the forms from spam submissions though (like reCaptcha or hCaptcha) and don’t want to present a manual captcha to a user (math or other puzzle). Since I couldn’t find a really basic honeypot script that works on most entries, I created one here. Hopefully it’s useful to someone else also.</p>
<h3>Setup</h3>
<ul>
<li>Install the plugin using the regular plugin setup routine or upload the entire apiosys-honeypot-cf7 folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.</li>
<li>Activate the plugin through the “Plugins” menu in WordPress, you MUST have Contact Form 7 AND Flamingo installed and enabled.</li>
<li>Add the following shortcodes to your Contact Form 7 forms:</li>
</ul>
<p>[honeypot] – Adds the hidden honeypot field<br />
[timestamp] – Adds time-based validation</p>
<ul>
<li>Complete the rest of the options which you can find in Admin > Contact > Honeypot. A generally good working set of values is enabled by default there.</li>
</ul>
<h3>What tests are used?</h3>
<ul>
<li>A Honeypot Field</li>
<li>A Checkbox Trap</li>
<li>Time-Based Validation</li>
<li>Email domain Check</li>
<li>Basic Content Analysis</li>
</ul>
<h3>Does it really work?</h3>
<p>It has been tested on several high-traffic WP sites. I see a return of ~ 1 ‰ (i.e. 1 in a thousand) of spam going through. That usually corresponds to humans paid to fill forms or sophisticated bots. Please feel free to contribute to make it even better. You can contribute directly <a href="https://github.com/apio-sys/apiosys-honeypot-cf7" rel="nofollow ugc">here</a>.</p>


Apio systems – Honeypot for Contact Form 7

Basic Honeypot plugin for Contact Form 7 to drastically reduce spam on form submissions without user interaction.

MDigital

<p><strong>Honeypot Guard</strong> is a powerful, privacy-focused anti-spam solution that protects your WordPress forms without annoying your visitors with CAPTCHAs. Using invisible detection techniques, it blocks spam bots while maintaining a seamless user experience.</p>
<h4>Why Choose Honeypot Guard?</h4>
<p>Unlike CAPTCHA-based solutions that frustrate users and hurt conversions (studies show CAPTCHAs reduce form submissions by 10-40%), Honeypot Guard provides <strong>superior spam protection</strong> with <strong>zero user friction</strong>.</p>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
<p>Honeypot Guard uses multiple layers of intelligent detection to catch spam automatically:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Invisible Honeypot Fields</strong> – Hidden fields that real users never see, but bots fill out automatically</li>
<li><strong>Dynamic Field Rotation</strong> – Constantly changing field names make it harder for sophisticated bots to adapt</li>
<li><strong>Timestamp Validation</strong> – Detects instant submissions (bots can’t read like humans)</li>
<li><strong>Intelligent Gibberish Detection</strong> – Catches keyboard mashing and random text patterns</li>
<li><strong>Advanced Heuristic Analysis</strong> – Pattern-based detection of common spam characteristics</li>
<li><strong>Character Script Filtering</strong> – Optionally block submissions containing specific character scripts (Cyrillic, Chinese, etc.)</li>
<li><strong>Cookie Verification</strong> – Proves JavaScript execution in a real browser environment</li>
</ul>
<h4>Key Features</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>Zero User Friction</strong> – Completely invisible protection, no annoying puzzles</li>
<li><strong>Privacy-Focused</strong> – All processing on your server, no third-party tracking by default</li>
<li><strong>Granular Blacklisting</strong> – Block by email, domain, IP address, or keywords</li>
<li><strong>Rate Limiting</strong> – Prevent spam floods with configurable submission limits</li>
<li><strong>Detailed Spam Logs</strong> – View blocked submissions with one-click IP blocking</li>
<li><strong>Multi-Language Admin</strong> – Available in 9 languages (English, German, Spanish, Italian, Lithuanian, Swedish, Polish, Estonian, Spanish-Mexico)</li>
<li><strong>GDPR Compliant</strong> – No data sent to external services (unless you enable optional AI detection)</li>
<li><strong>Works Automatically</strong> – Integrates seamlessly with popular form plugins</li>
</ul>
<h4>Supported Form Plugins</h4>
<ul>
<li>Contact Form 7</li>
<li>WPForms</li>
<li>Gravity Forms</li>
<li>Ninja Forms</li>
<li>Formidable Forms</li>
<li>WordPress Registration Forms</li>
<li>WordPress Comments</li>
<li>WooCommerce Checkout & Registration</li>
<li>bbPress Forums</li>
<li>Any HTML form with minimal configuration</li>
</ul>
<h4>Advanced Protection Options</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>AI-Powered Gibberish Detection</strong> (Optional) – Use OpenAI or Anthropic APIs for advanced content analysis</li>
<li><strong>Meta Pixel Protection</strong> – Block form submission tracking until verification</li>
<li><strong>Custom Honeypot Field Names</strong> – Define your own field names for added security</li>
<li><strong>Whitelist Trusted Users</strong> – Bypass checks for logged-in users or specific IPs</li>
</ul>
<h4>Privacy & Performance</h4>
<p>Honeypot Guard is designed with privacy and performance in mind:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Lightweight</strong> – Adds virtually zero latency to your site</li>
<li><strong>No External Calls</strong> – Basic protection requires no API calls</li>
<li><strong>Cache Compatible</strong> – Works with WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, and more</li>
<li><strong>No Cookies Required</strong> – Core functionality works without cookies (optional cookie verification available)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Professional Support</h4>
<p>Need help? Visit <a href="https://www.mantasdigital.com/honeypot-guard/" rel="nofollow ugc">mantasdigital.com/honeypot-guard</a> for documentation and support.</p>
<h3>Privacy Policy</h3>
<p>Honeypot Guard collects and stores:</p>
<ul>
<li>IP addresses of form submissions (for spam detection and blocking)</li>
<li>Form submission data flagged as spam (for review and pattern detection)</li>
<li>Timestamps of submissions (for rate limiting)</li>
</ul>
<p>This data is stored in your WordPress database and is <strong>never sent to external services</strong> unless you enable optional AI-powered detection.</p>
<p>You can configure automatic deletion of spam logs in Settings > Honeypot Guard.</p>
<h3>External Services</h3>
<p>This plugin can optionally connect to external AI services for advanced gibberish detection. These services are <strong>disabled by default</strong> and must be explicitly enabled by the administrator.</p>
<h4>OpenAI API (Optional)</h4>
<p>When AI gibberish detection is enabled and configured with an OpenAI API key:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>What it does:</strong> Analyzes suspicious form field content to detect nonsensical or spam text</li>
<li><strong>Data sent:</strong> Only the specific text field being analyzed (not the entire form submission)</li>
<li><strong>When sent:</strong> Only when a submission is flagged as potentially suspicious and AI detection is enabled</li>
<li><strong>Service provider:</strong> OpenAI, L.L.C.</li>
<li><strong>Terms of use:</strong> https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use</li>
<li><strong>Privacy policy:</strong> https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy</li>
</ul>
<h4>Anthropic API (Optional)</h4>
<p>When AI gibberish detection is enabled and configured with an Anthropic API key:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>What it does:</strong> Analyzes suspicious form field content to detect nonsensical or spam text</li>
<li><strong>Data sent:</strong> Only the specific text field being analyzed (not the entire form submission)</li>
<li><strong>When sent:</strong> Only when a submission is flagged as potentially suspicious and AI detection is enabled</li>
<li><strong>Service provider:</strong> Anthropic, PBC</li>
<li><strong>Terms of use:</strong> https://www.anthropic.com/legal/consumer-terms</li>
<li><strong>Privacy policy:</strong> https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> These services are entirely optional. Honeypot Guard provides effective spam protection without any external services using its built-in detection methods.</p>
<h3>Additional Info</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.mantasdigital.com/honeypot-guard/" rel="nofollow ugc">Plugin Website</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.mantasdigital.com/honeypot-guard/" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.mantasdigital.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Support</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/mantasdigital/honeypot-guard" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub Repository</a></li>
</ul>


Honeypot Guard – Silent Anti-Spam

Anti-spam protection for forms, signups, and comments using advanced honeypot techniques. No CAPTCHAs, no user friction.

Apio systems – Honeypot for Contact Form 7 vs Honeypot Guard – Silent Anti-Spam