huygens-25

<p>OpenPorte is a community-maintained fork of the ALTCHA Spam Protection<br />
plugin for WordPress (version 1), which provides a free, open source,<br />
self-hostable, privacy-friendly CAPTCHA alternative based on a proof-<br />
of-work mechanism — no cookies, no tracking, GDPR-friendly by design.</p>
<p>For the list of contributors, refer to our GitHub project: <a href="https://github.com/jcberthon/openporte/graphs/contributors?from=1.6.2024" rel="nofollow ugc">Contributors</a>.</p>
<h4>Background</h4>
<p>The original ALTCHA WordPress plugin (v1) was open source (GPLv2). Its<br />
authors have since released a version 2/3 which is no longer open source,<br />
and some features that were free in v1 are now paid. They no longer<br />
maintain v1 and recommend that users migrate to v2/v3. See the official<br />
project at https://altcha.org for their offering.</p>
<p>OpenPorte continues the v1 line as free software (GPLv2 or later) for users<br />
who want to stay on a fully open-source, self-hosted solution. It is a<br />
faithful fork: existing v1 installations can switch to OpenPorte and keep<br />
their settings (see Upgrading).</p>
<h4>Compatibility</h4>
<p>OpenPorte is backward-compatible with ALTCHA v1:</p>
<ul>
<li>Your existing settings are migrated automatically on activation.</li>
<li>The <code>[altcha]</code> shortcode keeps working (alongside the new <code>[openporte]</code>).</li>
<li>The <code>altcha_*</code> filters and actions keep firing as deprecated aliases.</li>
</ul>
<p>See the Deprecations section for the full list of compatibility aliases and<br />
what they map to.</p>
<h3>Upgrading</h3>
<h4>From the original ALTCHA v1 plugin</h4>
<p>Deactivate the old ALTCHA plugin, then install and activate OpenPorte. Your<br />
existing configuration is detected and copied into the OpenPorte settings on<br />
first activation; the original ALTCHA settings are left untouched, so you can<br />
roll back to ALTCHA v1 without losing anything. Do not run both plugins at the<br />
same time.</p>
<h3>Deprecations</h3>
<p>The following ALTCHA-era identifiers are kept as aliases for backward<br />
compatibility and are scheduled for removal in a future release:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <code>[altcha]</code> shortcode — use <code>[openporte]</code>.</li>
<li>The <code>altcha/v1</code> REST namespace — use <code>openporte/v1</code>.</li>
<li>The <code>altcha_*</code> filters and actions — now firing through WordPress’ deprecated<br />
hook mechanism; use the <code>openporte_*</code> equivalents.</li>
<li>The <code>AltchaPlugin</code> class and the <code>ALTCHA_VERSION</code> / <code>ALTCHA_WIDGET_VERSION</code><br />
constants — use <code>OpenPortePlugin</code> and the <code>OPENPORTE_*</code> constants.</li>
<li>Integrations targeting paid-only third-party plugins; affected users should<br />
migrate to the official ALTCHA v2/v3 plugin.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Privacy</h3>
<h4>No cookies, no tracking</h4>
<p>OpenPorte prioritizes user privacy by avoiding the use of cookies and fingerprinting techniques.</p>
<h4>No external service</h4>
<p>This plugin remains fully contained within your WordPress installation, eliminating any reliance on external services.</p>
<h3>Modes of Operation</h3>
<p>OpenPorte verifies submissions in one of two modes, selected in the settings<br />
(API Mode):</p>
<ul>
<li>Self-hosted (default) — a proof-of-work challenge is issued and verified by<br />
your own WordPress site through the REST API. Fully self-contained, with no<br />
external service and no additional setup beyond enabling the integrations you<br />
need.</li>
<li>Custom — point the Challenge URL at your own ALTCHA-compatible backend (for<br />
example a self-hosted ALTCHA Sentinel). Submissions are verified with your<br />
site’s signing secret.</li>
</ul>
<p>The paid altcha.org regional SaaS classifier offered by earlier versions has<br />
been removed; both remaining modes are free and self-hostable.</p>
<h3>REST API</h3>
<p>This plugin requires the WordPress REST API. If you are using any “Disable REST API” plugins, ensure that the endpoint <code>/altcha/v1/challenge</code> (marked for deprecation) and <code>/openporte/v1/challenge</code> are allowed.</p>
<h3>Supported Integrations</h3>
<ul>
<li>CoBlocks</li>
<li>Contact Form 7</li>
<li>Elementor Pro Forms (deprecated — paid plugin, see Deprecations)</li>
<li>Formidable Forms</li>
<li>Forminator</li>
<li>GravityForms</li>
<li>HTML Forms</li>
<li>WPDiscuz</li>
<li>WPForms</li>
<li>WP-Members</li>
<li>WordPress Login, Register, Password reset</li>
<li>WordPress Comments</li>
<li>WooCommerce</li>
<li>Custom HTML (via the <code>[openporte]</code> shortcode, or the deprecated <code>[altcha]</code> alias)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Source Code</h3>
<p>All source code for the plugin, and the ALTCHA widget is available on GitHub. In the repository, you’ll also find versions of non-minified JavaScript and CSS assets:</p>
<ul>
<li>Plugin: https://github.com/jcberthon/openporte</li>
<li>ALTCHA Widget: https://github.com/altcha-org/altcha</li>
</ul>


OpenPorte Spam Protection

OpenPorte offers a free, open-source Captcha alternative, ensuring robust spam protection while respecting user privacy and GDPR compliance.

TechGasp

pedroalves

<p><strong>Spam Master</strong> delivers powerful, real-time firewall and anti-spam protection for WordPress. Instantly block spam bots, brute force logins, fake registrations, comment spam, and malicious contact form submissions. Spam Master uses live RBL (real-time block lists) with millions of updated threats to keep your site secure.</p>
<p><strong>Key Features:</strong><br />
– Real-Time Spam Firewall (RBL/Blacklist)<br />
– Anti-bot, anti-flood, anti-crawler, brute force & DDoS protection<br />
– Compatible with WooCommerce, Contact Form 7, WPForms, BuddyPress, Gravity Forms, bbPress, Jetpack, Akismet, Ninja Forms, MailChimp, S2Member, MailPoet, Formidable, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, and any custom plugin or theme<br />
– No CAPTCHA, No JavaScript, No AJAX — fast and SEO-friendly<br />
– GDPR compliant & privacy-focused<br />
– Modular loading for optimal speed<br />
– IPv6 & PHP 8 ready</p>
<p><strong>Why Choose Spam Master?</strong><br />
– Blocks spam before it reaches your site<br />
– No annoying CAPTCHA or quizzes<br />
– Advanced honeypot fields for registrations, logins, comments, forms<br />
– Constant learning from millions of spam sources<br />
– Professional security logging, analytics & statistics<br />
– Whitelist management (safe emails/IPs exempted)<br />
– Customizable block messages</p>
<p><em>For full features, demo, docs, and support visit <a href="https://www.spammaster.org/" rel="nofollow ugc">Spam Master website</a>.</em></p>
<h4>Plugin Integrations</h4>
<ul>
<li><strong>WooCommerce:</strong> Block spam/fraudulent registrations, custom signatures</li>
<li><strong>BuddyPress:</strong> Stops spam registrations/logins, custom signatures</li>
<li><strong>Contact Form 7 & WPForms:</strong> Real-time scanning, honeypot & antibot protection</li>
<li><strong>Gravity Forms:</strong> Scans data before submission</li>
<li><strong>Akismet Compatibility:</strong> Marks missed spam</li>
<li><strong>Custom Forms/Themes:</strong> Works with any registration, comment, or contact form</li>
</ul>
<h4>Fast, Secure, SEO-Friendly</h4>
<p>Spam Master loads only what’s needed for security, keeping your site fast and optimized for Google PageSpeed and Lighthouse.</p>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
<p>Spam Master uses updated real-time block lists (RBL), spam buffer tech (for local speed), advanced honeypots, and learning heuristics to block millions of threats instantly.</p>
<h3>Privacy & GDPR</h3>
<p>Spam Master is developed by an EU company and fully complies with GDPR. No data is shared with third parties. <a href="https://www.spammaster.org/privacy-policy/" rel="nofollow ugc">Privacy Policy</a></p>
<h3>Try Online Demo</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.spammaster.org/" rel="nofollow ugc">Spam Master Demo</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.spammaster.org/search-threat/" rel="nofollow ugc">Search Threat Database</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.spammaster.org/rbl-servers-status/" rel="nofollow ugc">RBL Cluster Status</a></li>
</ul>


Spam Master


I've tried to use this plugin for several years, but frequently something would go wrong and the author would tell me that there was nothing wrong, until I literally gave them a patch to fix the problem. This happened several times over the years.



More recently, they added a "firewall" feature which degrades performance and increases load on a server (because apparently a firewall should send blocked users a redirect to itself, so you then get 20+ requests to WP for a blocked page, instead of 1 successful request). Furthermore, my clients kept getting many reports from users that the website was inaccessible due to this "firewall".



After contacting the author, they didn't want to add anything in the UI to disable it, but they agreed to add a DB setting that would allow me to disable it. Another release a few weeks later, and they removed that option again, and then pretended we never agreed anything and refused to allow this dumb feature to be disabled.



So, after many years, I've completely given up on this, it will cause all sorts of problems over time and I can't recommend it at all anymore. All I wanted was a simple anti-spam plugin that worked without inline JS.


Includes a mandatory firewall that will block your users

Real-time firewall and anti-spam for WordPress. Block spam bots, comments, logins & registrations. No CAPTCHA, no slowdown.

OpenPorte Spam Protection vs Spam Master