Really Simple CAPTCHA

by Rock Lobster Inc.

View on WordPress.org

85 Quality Score

Active Installs

25/30

With 300,000 active installs, it is widely deployed, almost entirely thanks to Contact Form 7 bundling it by default.

Update Freshness

25/25

The maintenance score is weak at 36/100, reflecting that the support forum shows zero threads and zero resolutions, suggesting limited active developer engagement beyond occasional releases.

User Rating

13/15

A rating of 84 out of 100 from 129 reviewers indicates that users who do rate it are generally satisfied, though the sample size is small relative to the install base.

Support Health

8/15

Support health sits at 50/100 because there is no trackable support activity, with 0 threads opened and 0 resolved in the public forum.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Compatibility lands at 50/100: it is tested with WordPress 6.7.5 and requires WordPress 6.6 and PHP 7.4, which is current, but it has not been validated against newer PHP 8.x versions explicitly.

Scores higher than 95% of indexed plugins

About

Really Simple CAPTCHA is a CAPTCHA module intended to be called from other plugins. It is originally created for my Contact Form 7 plugin.

Active Installs 300k+

Rating ★★★★ 4.2/5

Last Updated 2026-08-23 7:27am GMT

Requires WordPress 7.1+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 8.3+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

Really Simple CAPTCHA generates simple image-based CAPTCHA challenges that other WordPress plugins can call on to verify form submissions. It is best known as the bundled CAPTCHA engine for Contact Form 7, where it adds a typed-text verification step to contact, registration, and inquiry forms. The plugin is purely a helper module, so it does not add any settings, widgets, or admin screens of its own.

Who It's For

This plugin is a fit for site owners who already use Contact Form 7 and want a basic, low-friction image CAPTCHA on forms such as contact, donation, event registration, or membership signup pages. It is also relevant for developers building custom WordPress forms who need a lightweight, free CAPTCHA library to integrate with their own plugins.

Who Should Skip It

If your site does not run Contact Form 7 or another plugin that explicitly integrates with Really Simple CAPTCHA, there is no reason to install it, as it does nothing on its own. Sites facing heavy bot traffic or spam should also skip it in favour of modern, invisible alternatives like Cloudflare Turnstile or hCaptcha.

The Bottom Line

Really Simple CAPTCHA earns an overall quality score of 61.28/100, which is dragged down by weak maintenance and support signals despite high popularity and solid ratings. It remains a sensible, free choice if you are committed to Contact Form 7 and want a traditional image CAPTCHA, but most other site owners will be better served by a modern alternative such as Cloudflare Turnstile, hCaptcha, or a honeypot-based approach.

Pick CleanTalk if you want an all-in-one spam firewall that protects comments, registrations, and forms without user-facing CAPTCHAs.

hCaptcha for WP 91/100

Pick hCaptcha if you need a privacy-focused, modern CAPTCHA that works with many form plugins and offers better bot resistance than image CAPTCHAs.

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 90/100

Pick Cloudflare Turnstile if you want a free, mostly invisible CAPTCHA that reduces friction for legitimate users while still blocking bots.

CF7 Apps – Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, and Addons for Contact Form 7 90/100

Pick this CF7 add-on if you would rather stop spam with an invisible honeypot field than challenge every real visitor with a CAPTCHA image.

SiteGuard WP Plugin 86/100

Pick SiteGuard if you need a broader login and admin security toolkit that includes CAPTCHA features alongside other hardening options.