Show HN: Replacing CAPTCHAs with adaptive proof-of-work in WordPress
A new WordPress plugin replaces traditional CAPTCHAs with adaptive proof-of-work, requiring a visitor's browser to perform minor computations to verify human status. This approach aims to eliminate user friction while imposing a computational cost on spam bots.
Why it matters
This represents a shift in web security design, moving from user-centric verification (puzzles) to device-centric verification, potentially improving user experience and accessibility.
Spam protection your visitors never see. No image grids, no “I’m not a robot” checkbox, no puzzles, nothing to click. Your visitors just hit Send — while their browser silently solves a tiny cryptographic challenge (proof-of-work) in a few milliseconds. Real humans never notice. Mass-spam bots either fail the challenge or have to burn so much computing power per message that spamming your site stops being worth it.
Every form, out of the box. WordPress logins, registrations and comments, WooCommerce checkout and reviews, and virtually every form plugin — Contact Form 7, Elementor Pro Forms, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, Fluent Forms, Formidable and dozens more (full list below). One plugin protects all of them, and the most popular builders are detected and configured automatically on activation.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in