Why CAPTCHA is Important

• Spam Reduction: Prevent from Bots submitting contact forms or registration forms which makes sending emails to non-existing email addresses and getting blacklisted by Real-Time Blackhole Lists (RBL).
• Enhanced Security: Prevent brute force attacks that come through login pages by adding an extra layer of protection for the verification process.
• Improved Performance: Reduce resource usage by reducing unnecessary bot traffic, enhancing overall website performance.
• Data Integrity: Ensure collected data is submitted by humans, improving data quality and reliability.
• User Trust and Experience: Increases user trust by demonstrating proactive security measures and offering a seamless user experience with solutions.
• Accessibility Options: Provides alternatives, such as audio CAPTCHA, ensuring usability for all users, including those with disabilities.
• Protection Against DDoS Attacks: Mitigates the impact of DDoS attacks by filtering out bot traffic, maintaining site availability and performance.
• Preventing Script Injection: CAPTCHA helps block automated scripts from interacting with forms, which reduces the risk of malicious code being injected into the website.

Types of CAPTCHA

• Text-Based CAPTCHA: This traditional method shows distorted text that users must correctly type in. Although effective, it can sometimes be hard for users to read.
• Image-Based CAPTCHA: Users need to select specific images from a set based on given instructions. This approach is user-friendly and effective against bots.
• Audio CAPTCHA: Designed as an alternative for visually impaired users, this method plays an audio clip that users must accurately transcribe.
• reCAPTCHA: Developed by Google, reCAPTCHA has been refined to offer a smoother experience, often just requiring users to click a checkbox. More advanced versions assess user behavior to differentiate between humans and bots without additional tasks.

How to Decide the CAPTCHA Method for Your WP Forms

Method	Checkbox	Image-based questions	Badge	Description
hCaptcha	YES	YES	NO	Based on the user's activity and your difficulty settings, hCaptcha may also sometimes ask users to answer image-based questions to confirm that they aren't spambots.
v2 Checkbox reCAPTCHA	YES	YES	NO	The user needs to check a box to prove that he is human.
v2 Invisible reCAPTCHA (recommended)	NO	YES*	YES	Runs in the background and is not visible in the front end to users.
v3 reCAPTCHA (Advanced)	NO	NO	YES	Monitors user behavior on the site and assigns a minimum passing score.
Cloudflare Turnstile	YES	NO	YES	Automatically verifies if visitors are real humans based on their interactions with your website.

There are three methods to secure your WordPress forms:

1. hCaptcha
2. reCAPTCHA
3. Cloudflare Turnstile

In this blog article, we will focus on guiding you through the process of installing Google's reCAPTCHA to enhance the security of your WordPress forms.

Let's Start Installing reCAPTCHA in Your WordPress Forms

Login to the WP Dashboard > WP Forms > Settings > Click CAPTCHA in the menu bar > Select Google's reCAPTCHA as the CAPTCHA method.
Google's reCAPTCHA method is the most recommended and widely used technology for WordPress forms. reCAPTCHA is a free spam prevention service. There are three types of reCAPTCHA available for your forms:

• v2 Checkbox reCAPTCHA
• v2 Invisible reCAPTCHA (recommended)
• v3 reCAPTCHA (Advanced)

Once you select reCAPTCHA as the CAPTCHA method, choose the type of reCAPTCHA you want to install in your WordPress forms from the three options mentioned above.

If you wish to set up v2 Checkbox reCAPTCHA

1. First, you need to set up the v2 Checkbox reCAPTCHA in your Google account via Google reCAPTCHA
2. Enter a label name to register the website.
3. Select the reCAPTCHA type as Challenge (v2).
4. Select the "I'm not a robot" checkbox.
5. Next, enter the domain name (example.com) and click on the Submit button.
6. Once your website is registered, you will be navigated to the next page which consists of the Site key and the Secret key.
7. Copy each key, return to your WordPress site, and paste the keys in the fields shown below.
8. Finally, click on Save Settings.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed Checkbox reCAPTCHA v2.

If you wish to set up Invisible v2 reCAPTCHA (recommended)

1. First, you need to set up the v2 Invisible reCAPTCHA in your Google account via Google reCAPTCHA
2. Enter a label name to register the website.
3. Select the reCAPTCHA type as Challenge (v2).
4. Select the "Invisible reCAPTCHA badge" checkbox.
5. Next, enter the domain name (example.com) and click on the Submit button.
6. Once your website is registered, you will be navigated to the next page which consists of the Site key and the Secret key.
7. Copy each key, return to your WordPress site, and paste the keys in the fields shown below.
8. Finally, click on Save Settings.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed the Invisible reCAPTCHA v2.

If you wish to set up reCAPTCHA v3

1. First, you need to set up the reCAPTCHA v3 in your Google account via Google reCAPTCHA
2. Enter a label name to register the website.
3. Select the reCAPTCHA type as Score based (v3).
4. Next, enter the domain name (example.com) and click on the Submit button.
5. Once your website is registered, you will be navigated to the next page which consists of the Site key and the Secret key.
6. Copy each key, return to your WordPress site, and paste the keys in the fields shown below.
7. Go back to 'Google reCAPTCHA' site and click on Go to Settings and enable 'Allow this key to work with AMP pages.' Once done, click on the Save button.
8. Finally return back to your WordPress site, click on Save Settings.

Congratulations! You have successfully installed reCAPTCHA v3.

Note: You may select one reCAPTCHA method to secure your WordPress forms.

Let's enable the reCAPTCHA method to your selected WordPress form

After configuring the reCAPTCHA method, proceed by following the steps below to enable the reCAPTCHA method to your WordPress form:

1. Login to your WordPress Dashboard > Click on WPForms on the left side bar.
2. Select the WPform which you want to enable reCAPTCHA method and click on Edit.
3. Click on Settings > Spam Protection and Security.
4. Under CAPTCHA, enable the reCAPTCHA method that you previously configured.
5. Finally, click the "Save" button to apply the changes.

Conclusion

Implementing CAPTCHA methods is crucial for securing your website against malicious bot activities, ensuring data integrity, enhancing security, and maintaining a seamless user experience. Various CAPTCHA options, such as text-based, image-based, audio CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA, and Cloudflare Turnstile, offer tailored solutions to meet specific needs. By integrating CAPTCHA into your WordPress forms, you can significantly reduce spam, prevent brute force attacks, and improve website performance. Enabling CAPTCHA in WP Forms involves selecting your preferred method and configuring the necessary settings.