WordPress is the most widely used CMS in the world. You can find it powering everything from small blogs to large corporate websites. However, this popularity and flexibility also means that it is a prime target for hackers and malware.
At any given time, there are thousands of WordPress sites which have been compromised and contain malware. What makes this even more frustrating is that the majority of these sites were compromised not because they have a vulnerability in their WordPress installation, but because they had an insecure plugin or theme installed.
In this article, we will show you how to check if your WordPress website has malware using a free service created by Sucuri.
Check WordPress Plugin For Malware
Malware happens. And when it does, having the right tools to scan for malware attacks and detect threats can guard your site against security conflicts. Unlike the CMS Hub, WordPress sites require the right WordPress plugins that can help detect malicious code and guard your site against possible threats. By getting ahead of potential compromise with comprehensive threat detection and remediation, the right plugins can keep your site clean and healthy.
Here’s a look at WordPress malware monitoring plugins that can help save your site — and give you much-needed peace of mind.
Plugins to Detect Malicious Code
Sucuri Security
Wordfence Security
AntiVirus
Quttera Web Malware Scanner
Anti-Malware
SecuPress Free
MalCare
Titan Anti-Spam & Security
WP Cerber Security
- Sucuri Security
Price: Free
Securi Security WordPress Malicious code plugin
Sucuri is a leading name in website security in the WordPress community.
The Sucuri Security WordPress Security plugin is free for any WordPress user; this plugin offers key security services that will keep your site safe. It will help you with file integrity monitoring, remote malware scanning, blacklist monitoring, and a lot more.
With remote malware scanning, security hardening, activity and file monitoring, you can rest easy knowing that your site is always protected against potential malware threats.
- Wordfence Security
Price: Free, with premium plans available
Wordfence Security Malicous Code Plugin
Wordfence is one of the most popular WordPress security plugins with more than a million downloads to date. This plugin can tell if your site has already been affected by bad quality code and does a deep security check into your WordPress core, themes, and plugins.
It uses gathered experience to safeguard your site against known attackers and will block entire malicious networks. It includes advanced IP and Domain WHOIS to report malicious IPs or networks and will also block entire networks using a firewall. The plugin is regularly updated to ensure your site is always defended by cutting-edge protection algorithms.
- AntiVirus
Price: Free
Antivirus-WordPress Malicious code Plugin
This plugin was created to fight spam, but can also create a protective shield around your site, perform automated daily scans, and send reports to your email account so you can always be updated and take proactive measures to protect your site.
This plugin shows virus alerts in the WordPress admin panel, can perform daily security checks, clean up your site after the removal of any plugins, and check databases, themes, and templates to ensure everything on your site is safe. It also offers checksum verification for WordPress Core files and Google Safe Browsing to help monitor for malware and phishing attacks.
- Quttera Web Malware Scanner
Price: Free
Quttera Web Malware Scanner WordPress Malicious code plugin
Quttera Web Malware Scanner is a free and powerful security plugin for WordPress that will scan your website for malware, trojans, backdoors, worms, viruses, and spyware. It can also check for other threats as well like JavaScript code obfuscation, exploits, malicious iframes, malicious code injections, malicious code obfuscation, auto-generated malicious content, redirects, hidden eval code, and more.
Additionally, this plugin will check if your site is blacklisted and ensure that you can take protective action against any possible threats. Other features include one-click scan capability, external links detection, an AI-based intelligence scan engine, and PHP malware detection.
- Anti-Malware
Price: Free
Anti-Malware WordPress Plugin
This is a custom WordPress plugin that fights malware and protects your site. It runs a complete scan of your WordPress site and removes all possible security threats to ensure that your site is healthy and safe.
Anti-Malware also includes the ability to download definition updates which help defend your site against new threats and upgrade vulnerable script versions to prevent undetected exploits. In addition, you can check the integrity of your WordPress core files to ensure no malware code has compromised key features and assets.
- SecuPress Free
Price: Free, with premium plans available
SecuPress WordPress Malicious Code Plugin
SecuPress Free makes its mission clear: “You made it, we keep it safe!”
This free tool includes malware scanning that helps block malicious bots and suspicious IP addresses, and also offers a complete WordPress security toolkit as a for-pay plugin. SecuPress is also GDPR compliant, making it a great choice for any WordPress site hosted in the EU or that handles EU-origin data.
Some SecuPress features include anti brute force login protection, firewall tools, security alerts and country blocking by geolocation. The tool is easy to use and install, making it a great choice for front-line malware detection and removal.
- MalCare
Price: $99/year for 1 site, $599 for 20 sites
Malcare wordpress malicious code plugin
MalCare brands itself as “the only WordPress security plugin with instant WordPress malware removal,” and this premium plugin is used by several well-known sites to help keep their data and WordPress assets safe.
Offering real-time protection with its “smart” firewall technology and using its own servers for malware scanning, MalCare won’t slow down your site — and promises effective malware removal in less than a minute.
In addition, MalCare targets malware by removing affected portions of files rather than the files themselves, leaving your site intact and fully-functional. While the service isn’t cheap, it’s worth considering if you have a substantive amount of WordPress data to protect.
- Titan Anti-Spam & Security
Price: Free, with premium plans available
Titan AntiSpam WordPress Malicious Code Plugin
Previously called Anti-Spam, this plugin was recently rebranded as Titan Anti-Spam and Security.
The free version offers anti-spam, firewall, malware scanning and site accessibility features to help safeguard your site against possible attacks. Its anti-spam feature checks comments on your site against a global database to help identify potential threats, while its malware scanning functionality checks system files, themes, and plugins for malware, backdoors, malicious redirects and code injections.
The Pro version includes advanced scanning with more than 6000 signatures along with the ability to update firewall rules in real-time.
- WP Cerber Security
Price: Free
WP Cerber Security WordPRess malicious code plugin
With more than 200,000 installations, this free malware scanner plugin can help keep your site safe and secure without breaking your budget.
WP Cerber Security includes login attempt limitations that monitor login forms, XML-RPC, REST API, and auth cookie requests. It leverages Google reCAPTCHA to defend your registration, contact, and comments forms from bad actors attempting to spam your site.
This tool also gives you the ability to permit or restrict access on a per-IP basis using single IPs, IP ranges or subnets, and allows you to create custom login URLs.
How to Remove Malware From a WordPress Site
If your WordPress website is behaving oddly — such as taking more time than usual to respond, opening new links without your permission, or displaying strange error messages — you may have been compromised by malware.
When it comes to removing malware from your WordPress site, you’ve got two options: Take on this task yourself or use a purpose-built WordPress plugin. While the plugins described above all offer ways to automatically remove malware from your site, you may also want to conduct your own assessment to ensure no malicious files or folders have made their way into your site’s framework.
Start by backing up your site. Many reputable web hosts offer a site backup feature that lets you take a snapshot of your site and save it to a local desktop. You can also use a WordPress backup plugin to create a backup if your site host doesn’t offer this feature.
Next, open your backup and examine key files such as wp-config.php and .htaccess along with your wp-content folder. You’re looking for anything out of place, such as additional file lines or strange web addresses that could indicate a malware compromise.
Best bet? Run a local malware scanning tool on your desktop to assess the files automatically and remove any malware.
Once your backup is confirmed clean, delete all files in your public_html folder, then reset all your site passwords and upload your backup image back into your WordPress site. Finally, scan your site again using one of the WordPress plugins listed above to ensure the removal was successful.
Secure Your WordPress Site
WordPress plugins can detect malicious code and safeguard your site from potential threats. Find one that best meets your needs and budget and run it regularly to help reduce the risk of malware infection and limit the impact of code compromise.
This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
best free wordpress malware plugin
Do you suspect a malware attack on your WordPress site? Given that a WordPress website is hacked every 38 seconds, you may not be wrong. You need to act fast to contain the damage and make sure that the malware doesn’t cause any big headaches.
The first thing to do is to scan your site and confirm the presence of malware.
Once you are sure that your website has malware, you need to remove the malware at the earliest. There are several ways to remove malware—you can hire a security expert to clean your site, you can use a WordPress malware removal plugin, or you can do it manually.
Of the available options, the quickest, easiest, and most effective option is to use the best WordPress malware removal plugin. But which plugin should you use?
There are several malware removal plugins available, and you want to use the very best for your WordPress site. The plugin needs to be reliable and effective, while also being accessible cost-wise. We have researched and tested several plugins to put together a list of the best WordPress malware removal plugins so that you can pick the best fit for your site, without having to rack your brain.
TLDR: Get rid of malware from wordpress immediately with MalCare. MalCare is the best available malware removal plugin for WordPress. It removes malware from your site in a click and offers emergency cleanup services for difficult cases. Install the plugin and clean your site now.
Table of Content hide
Best WordPress Malware Removal Plugins for Malware Protection
- MalCare – WordPress Malware Removal Plugin
- WordFence Malware Cleaner
- Sucuri Malware Scanner and Cleaner
- Astra Security Suite
- CleanTalk Security
- BulletProof Security
- Cerber Security
- Anti Malware Security and Brute Force Firewall
- Defender Security
Factors to consider when choosing a malware removal plugin for WordPress
When to use a WordPress malware removal plugin?
Final Thoughts
Best WordPress Malware Removal Plugins for Malware Protection
We decided to test and research WordPress malware removal plugins for ourselves before offering an opinion on which plugins work the best. We researched security plugins as a whole, testing their scanners, firewall, and cleanups to ensure that the plugin offered complete security. In this article, we have focused largely on the malware removal capabilities of these plugins so that you can make an informed decision. - MalCare – WordPress Malware Removal Plugin
MalCare – Best WordPress malware removal plugin
MalCare is by far the best security plugin that we have tested, and sure enough, it also turned out to be the best WordPress malware removal plugin that we came across. There were several strong contenders among the competing plugins. But with MalCare’s flawless malware detection and quick cleanups, it easily beats any other plugin. The plugin scanner is very important to malware removal because if the plugin can’t detect the malware present on your site, it won’t be able to remove it. MalCare is definitely the best in class in that regard.
What to expect:
Emergency cleanups
One-click auto cleanups
Deep scanning for malware
Scheduled automatic scans
Intelligent firewall
Excellent support
Vulnerability detection
WordPress backups
Staging
Migration
Geo-blocking capabilities
Pros:
Quick and efficient cleanups
Does not affect server performance
Thorough scans
Real-time alerts
No false alarms
Cons:
The free version does not offer cleanups
Price: Free/ Starting at $99 a year
Additionally, MalCare’s emergency cleanup services are available to you in case the plugin can’t reach your site, or is unable to clean your site for any reason. MalCare’s expert support also guides you through removing Google blacklists and web host suspensions. With MalCare, you also get firewall protection that keeps attacks out, and several other features like an activity log, WordPress backups, geoblocking, staging, and migration.
But the best part about picking MalCare is this: MalCare does not affect your server performance like many other WordPress malware removal plugins. Which means that you do not have to choose between security and performance.
- WordFence Malware Cleaner
Wordfence Security
Wordfence Security
Wordfence is easily the most well-known WordPress malware removal service. But is it worth all the hullabaloo? The short answer is maybe. Wordfence is an excellent free plugin, whether as a malware removal plugin, or a complete security plugin. However, the premium version does not justify the price tag. Let’s take a look at why.
Wordfence offers a scanner, firewall, and repair feature for its free members, alongside other security features. The features work reasonably well, but Wordfence itself claims that the free features aren’t 100% effective. The scanner only works at 65% functionality, the firewall for the free version is updated much after the premium version, and the repair option, while quick, can be dangerous to your site. If you delete a core file by accident when repairing, your site can break.
What to expect:
Repair and delete options
Manual malware removal as an add-on service
Malware scanner
End-point firewall
Two-factor authentication
Login protection
Country blocking
Pros:
Easy installation
Priority support for premium members
Auto-repair option on the free version
Cons:
Manual cleanups are expensive
Repair and delete options not foolproof or entirely safe
File matching for malware detection
False positives in malware scans
Incessant alerts
High impact on server resources
Price: Starts at $99/year, Premium cleanups at $490 per site
Wordfence premium services only offer a slightly better scanner and a faster firewall. But if you want a proper cleanup, you need to avail of their premium cleanup service which is $490 over and above the premium plan. While they do offer a 1-year warranty, it has several stringent caveats. Additionally, Wordfence affects your website performance, so much so that several web hosts ban Wordfence on their servers altogether.
Having said all of this, there is truly no better malware removal plugin that you can get for free other than Wordfence. But if you want premium security, MalCare is the best choice for a WordPress malware removal plugin.
- Sucuri Malware Scanner and Cleaner
Sucuri Security
Sucuri Security
Sucuri has become a brand in the WordPress security sphere. If you haven’t used Sucuri, chances are that you have definitely heard of it. But is it the best WordPress malware removal plugin that you can get? Well, let’s clarify the basics first. Sucuri does not offer malware removal as a part of their plugin at all. Sucuri offers malware removal as an additional service to its premium users. We tested Sucuri to see if it lived up to its name, and got some interesting results.
What to expect:
Manual cleanups by experts
Server-side scanner
Firewall protection
Brute force attack protection
Activity log
Vulnerability detection
Pros:
Easy installation
Manual cleanup was quick and flawless
Unlimited manual cleanups with premium subscriptions
Cons:
No auto-cleanups
Malware scanner not effective
Firewall difficult to configure
Constant alerts
Complicated settings
Price: Starting at $199/year
Sucuri has two scanners, an online scanner, and a server-side scanner. The online scanner can only scan the frontend of your site. So we tested the server-side scanner as well, which did not detect the malware on our site at all. Now, while we are looking for malware removal, how will you remove malware if you cannot detect it at all?
After the dismal scanner, Sucuri’s firewall was what gave us the most trouble. The installation was very complex and confusing. And to set up the firewall, we had to look up several technical details. If this was the case with us, we can only imagine how non-technical users fare with Sucuri.
We then put their WordPress malware removal service to test. We reached out to them and informed them that we have detected malware on our site and needed them to clean it up. To our surprise, our site came back squeaky-clean within 10 hours! So while there may be several issues with the security plugin, Sucuri’s malware removal was on point.
- Astra Security Suite
Astra security suite
Astra’s security plugin also offers WordPress malware removal protection for its premium users. Astra is a feature-rich plugin that offers scheduled scans, firewall protection, manual cleanups, and more. Astra’s best quality is that it has a very intuitive interface which makes the use of the plugin very easy. And like Sucuri, Astra’s malware removal services are also an add-on to the plugin’s premium users.
What to expect:
Manual malware cleanups
Malware scanning
Firewall protection
IP blocking
Login security
Pros:
Easy installation
Strong firewall
Security audits
Intuitive dashboard
Cons:
No auto-cleanups
Too many notifications
Complicated features
Price: Starting from $249 a year
Depending on your plan, Astra prioritizes any cleanup requests from its members and it could take anywhere between 4-12 hours for a cleanup. Starting at $249 a year, Astra security is definitely an expensive investment. Given that you can get the same level of security and more with MalCare at less than half the price, we do not recommend the Astra security suite.
- CleanTalk Security
CleanTalk Security
CleanTalk Security is one of the lesser-known malware removal plugins for WordPress sites. Incidentally, it is one of the most affordable ones too. At $9 a year, the plugin barely costs anything and offers all the basic security features like a malware scanner, firewall protection, and malware removal. However, CleanTalk’s malware removal feature is like that of Wordfence’s repair feature.
What to expect:
Automatic malware removal
Malware scanner
Web application firewall
Geoblocking
Audit logs
Login security
Two-factor authentication
Pros:
Easy removal of spam comments
Scheduled scans
Cons:
Automatically deletes infected files
Basic UI
Inadequate support
Price: Starting at $9 a year
CleanTalk automatically deletes infected files detected in its scans. Therefore, it is safe to say that CleanTalk’s WordPress malware cleanup is largely dependent on its scanner. While this is true for all plugins, in this case, a false positive can even break your site. CleanTalk users also complain about their support often, which is crucial for WordPress malware removal plugins. So if you are looking for malware removal on a budget, we’d recommend Wordfence’s free version over CleanTalk.
- BulletProof Security
BulletProof Security
BulletProof Security offers a repair option in lieu of proper malware cleanups. BulletProof Security is a rare security plugin that offers a lifetime license instead of a subscription-based model. But that factor also affects its support and updates.
What to expect:
Repair feature for malware cleanups
Malware scanner
Firewall protection
Security logs
Database backups
Pros:
One-click setup
Customizable
Cons:
Repair options allow for file deletion—dangerous
Firewall limited to plugin files
UI is not beginner-friendly
Price: $69.95
BulletProof Security offers a repair option, which allows you to delete any malware-ridden files that it finds. If these are false positives, deleting these files can break your site or certain features on your site affecting its UX and performance. The plugin offers database backups and security logs as additional features, but any partial backups can prove to be more trouble than you bargained for.
Moreover, BulletProof Security has a technical UI that is not beginner-friendly, and its firewall protection is limited to plugin files only. This does not instill confidence regarding BulletProof’s efficacy.
- Cerber Security
Cerber Security
Cerber Security is one of the few WordPress malware removal plugins that offer auto-cleanups. This makes Cerber Security a good choice for WordPress sites, given that quick malware cleanups are very important to ensure that the damage caused by malware is contained. However, Cerber’s auto-cleanup feature is not comprehensive like that of MalCare’s. The auto cleanup feature allows you to delete infected files just like the repair option on Wordfence.
What to expect:
Auto-cleanups
Malware scanner
IP blocking
Login security
Two-factor authentication
Pros:
Scheduled scans
Easy to use
Cons:
Automatic deletion of files
Affects website performance
Price: Starting at $99 a year
Apart from auto-cleanups, the features in the Cerber Security plugin aren’t very impressive. Cerber Security does not offer firewall protection or manual cleanups to count as a complete security solution, and is also known to adversely affect website performance.
- Anti Malware Security and Brute Force Firewall
Anti-malware security and brute force firewall plugin
The Anti Malware Security and Brute Force Firewall is a plugin developed by Eli Scheetz. The plugin offers basic security such as malware scanning, cleanups, firewall security, and more. While this plugin is supposedly free for its users, it really isn’t. Most features are locked for users who donate $29 and above, which is still a reasonable price for security, but claiming it to be a free plugin may be misleading.
What to expect:
Malware cleanups
Malware scanner
Firewall security
Pros:
Free scans
Easy installation
Cons:
Confusing interface
Not free as advertised
Scan settings are very complicated
Price: Free*
Another shortcoming of the plugin is that the interface is extremely confusing. You are given several options for scanning, and firewall protection—tasks that should be more or less intuitive to understand.
- Defender Security
Defender Security
The final plugin in this list is the Defender Pro, developed by WPMUDEV. The free Defender plugin is available on the WordPress repository and offers scanning, firewall protection, login security, and audit logging. But for the Defender Pro, you need to download it from the WPMUDEV website, and it offers additional features such as restore and repair, and manual cleanup services.
What to expect:
Restore and repair options
Manual cleanups
Scheduled security scans
Firewall protection
Login protection and masking
Audit logging
Two-factor authentication
Blocklist monitoring
Vulnerability reports
Pros:
Emergency cleanup services
21-day free trial
Cons:
Repair option is dangerous
Price: Starting at $60 a year
The Defender Pro’s emergency cleanup services are an add-on, but you can avail the repair option, which is similar to the repair option on other plugins. At $60 a year, the Defender Pro is a decent security solution, but just as a malware removal plugin, it falls short as the cleanup services are add-ons and the repair option can be dangerous for your site.
Factors to consider when choosing a malware removal plugin for WordPress
When you’re choosing the best malware removal plugin for WordPress, there are certain aspects that you should consider to make sure that the plugin you choose is reliable and secure. According to your specific requirements, the right plugin can vary, but these factors make a huge difference in the efficacy of malware removal:
Malware scanning: The quality of the malware scanner on your malware removal plugin is very important. If the WordPress malware cleaner plugin cannot detect the malware, the chances of it being able to remove the malware are very low.
Cleanup time: When it comes to malware, the longer it stays on your website, the more damage it can cause. Therefore, the time taken by the WordPress malware removal tool to clean up your website is very important.
Reliable support: Given that you’re looking for a critical service like malware removal, if anything goes wrong, support is essential. You need to find a malware removal plugin that offers fast and reliable support.
Firewall protection: A good malware removal plugin also offers preemptive protection. A plugin with a strong firewall will stop attacks before they infect your website.
Website performance: Finally, your WordPress security should not affect your site performance. Often WordPress malware removal plugins overload your website server and slow down your site. Plugins like Sucuri and Wordfence are notorious for this. You need to find a plugin that does not make you choose between security and performance.
When to use a WordPress malware removal plugin?
If you are wondering whether you need a malware removal plugin or not, the answer depends on why you are reading this article in the first place. If you suspect, or are aware of malware presence on your site, then YES, you definitely need to use a WordPress malware cleanup service or plugin.
But there are other reasons to use one too. Most WordPress malware removal plugins also work as security plugins, and can be effective as preventative security measures for your WordPress site. With a security plugin like MalCare, you can get intelligent firewall protection, login protection, and daily scans to ensure that malware attacks do not cause any damage to your site.
Final Thoughts
We hope that we have been able to inform your decision regarding which WordPress malware removal plugin works best for your site. Depending on what your exact needs are, one of these plugins is sure to fit your needs.
However, WordPress sites are often attacked by hackers because the returns are higher with WordPress sites. If yours is a high-value site, and you want to secure it well, a complete security solution like MalCare will allow you to protect your site, ward off any attacks, and help you contain the damage in case of a hack.
If you have any more questions about malware removal, and how security plugins work, feel free to reach out to us.
FAQs
What is the best malware removal plugin for WordPress in 2022?
The definition of best can vary according to factors such as budget and priorities. But from a strictly security-based perspective, MalCare is hands-down the best WordPress malware removal service currently available. MalCare allows you to schedule daily scans, protects your site with an intelligent firewall, and allows you to clean up malware with a single click. MalCare also offers several other features that make security a breeze for WordPress admin.
How do I remove malware from a WordPress plugin?
In order to remove malware from any of your plugins, you need to look for a security plugin like MalCare that scans your entire website, and detects even the hidden traces of malware on it. Once the malware is detected, you can upgrade your MalCare plan to remove this malware from your site with one click.
How do I scan WordPress for malware?
In order to detect malware on a WordPress site, you need to scan your site with a malware scanner. There are different types of scanners: online ones and site-level ones, for instance, depending on where the scanner is installed and which parts of the website it is able to scan. Therefore, not all scanners are effective and there are those that will miss malware altogether.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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