Wordfence vs iThemes Security (Now Kadence Security) vs Sucuri: Which One Fits Your Site?

Wordfence vs Sucuri vs Kadence Security (the plugin most people still know as iThemes Security) is a choice between three tools that all protect WordPress sites, but in different places. Wordfence runs a firewall and malware scanner inside your site, and most of it is free. Sucuri's paid firewall filters traffic in the cloud before it reaches your server, while Kadence Security focuses on locking down logins, with real-time firewall rules in its paid tier.

For most small business sites, the free version of Wordfence is a sound starting point. Choose Sucuri if you want attacks stopped before they touch your hosting and want malware cleanup included in the price. Choose Kadence Security if login protection and guided setup matter most to you.

Prices below are at the time of writing, October 2026.

What happened to iThemes Security?

iThemes Security still exists under a new name: Kadence Security. It became Solid Security in 2023, when iThemes rebranded as SolidWP, and its owner, Liquid Web, renamed it Kadence Security in 2026 while folding its WordPress products into the Kadence brand.

It is the same free plugin on WordPress.org, and existing installs keep working. The practical change is how you buy the paid version. At the time of writing, Kadence Security Pro is sold only inside the Kadence Pro bundle ($299 a year) and the Elite bundle ($499 a year), which also include a theme, backups and WooCommerce tools. It is not sold as a standalone license.

What is the real difference: a plugin firewall or a cloud firewall?

The biggest difference is where the firewall sits. Wordfence and Kadence Security run on your web server as part of WordPress, while Sucuri's firewall runs on Sucuri's own network, in front of your site.

A plugin firewall (Wordfence calls its version an endpoint firewall) checks each request after it arrives at your server but before WordPress acts on it. Because it lives inside WordPress, it can see things an outside service cannot, such as which user is logged in. The trade-off is that your server still receives every request, including the bad ones, and does the filtering work itself. Wordfence offers an "Extended Protection" mode that loads its firewall before WordPress and any other PHP file, so attackers cannot slip past it by calling a plugin file directly.

A cloud firewall works like a checkpoint on the road to your site. You change your domain's DNS records so visitors reach Sucuri first. Sucuri inspects each request and passes only clean traffic on to your host, so attack traffic, including floods meant to knock a site offline (DDoS attacks), never reaches your server. The trade-off is setup: you edit DNS, and because the firewall only protects traffic that passes through it, Sucuri recommends setting your server to accept web traffic from its firewall alone.

Neither approach is automatically better. Some sites use both: a cloud firewall at the front, and a plugin inside for login security and file checks.

Wordfence vs Sucuri: which is better?

Wordfence is the better choice if you want strong protection at no cost and are happy for a plugin to do the work on your server. Sucuri is the better choice if you would rather pay for a service that blocks attacks off-site and cleans up your site if it is ever hacked.

Wordfence's free version includes the firewall, a malware scanner that compares your WordPress, theme and plugin files with the official copies, two-factor login, a login CAPTCHA and brute-force limits. The catch is timing: free users receive new firewall rules and malware signatures 30 days after paying customers. Wordfence Premium ($149 a year per site) removes that delay and adds a real-time IP blocklist and country blocking. Wordfence Care ($590 a year) and Wordfence Response ($1,250 a year) add hands-on help, including malware removal after a hack.

The free Sucuri plugin is mostly a monitoring tool: activity auditing, file change monitoring, blocklist alerts and hardening. Its malware scan is remote, meaning it looks at your site from the outside the way a browser does, and Sucuri itself notes that a remote scan cannot see malware hidden in server files. The real protection is paid. Firewall-only plans start at $9.99 a month. The Platform plans ($229, $339 or $549 a year) combine the firewall with server-level scanning and unlimited malware removal, with faster cleanup times on the higher tiers.

Server load cuts both ways. Wordfence's scans run on your hosting, so on a modest shared plan you may want its low-resource scanning option, which spreads the work over a longer period. Sucuri's firewall keeps attack traffic away from your server and includes a content delivery network (CDN), which can take some load off your host.

iThemes Security vs Wordfence: which should you choose?

Choose Wordfence if you want a firewall and a file-by-file malware scanner without paying. Choose Kadence Security, formerly iThemes Security, if your main concern is logins and you want a guided setup.

Kadence Security's free version is built around hardening. It offers two-factor login, password rules, brute-force protection, and a shared network that blocks IP addresses already caught attacking other sites running the plugin. It also logs file changes and runs a site scan four times a day. That scan checks for known vulnerable versions of WordPress, plugins and themes and for Google blocklist warnings; it does not read every file for malicious code the way Wordfence's scanner does.

The Pro features add a real-time firewall with automatic rule updates and Patchstack virtual patching, which can block attacks on some known plugin and theme flaws before the developer releases a fix. Pro also adds hourly scans, user activity logs, passwordless login and trusted devices.

On cost, both free versions are capable. For paid protection, Wordfence Premium is $149 a year as a standalone purchase, while Kadence Security Pro currently comes only in the $299 Kadence Pro bundle, which makes most sense if you would use its other tools too.

Sucuri vs iThemes Security: how do they compare?

They solve different problems, so they are often paired rather than chosen between. Sucuri's paid firewall filters traffic before it reaches your server and includes malware cleanup, while Kadence Security hardens WordPress itself, especially the login.

If you are paying for one, a Sucuri Platform plan covers more ground, because it adds off-site filtering and cleanup. If you are paying for neither, the free Kadence Security plugin does more on its own than the free Sucuri plugin, which mainly monitors and alerts.

How do the free and paid versions compare?

	Wordfence	Kadence Security (formerly iThemes)	Sucuri
Where the firewall runs	On your server (plugin)	On your server (real-time rules in Pro)	On Sucuri's cloud network (paid)
Free version	Firewall and malware scanner, updates 30 days behind; two-factor login	Two-factor login, brute-force protection, vulnerability scan, file change log	Activity audit, remote malware scan, hardening, alerts
Malware scanning	Scans your files on the server	Known-vulnerability scan and Google blocklist check	Remote scan free; server-level scans on Platform plans
Paid entry point	Premium, $149 a year per site	Kadence Pro bundle, $299 a year	Firewall from $9.99 a month; Platform from $229 a year
Hacked-site cleanup	Care ($590 a year) and Response ($1,250 a year)	Not included in Kadence plans	Unlimited on Platform plans

Is there anything better than Wordfence?

It depends on what "better" means for your site. For stopping attacks before they reach your server, a cloud firewall such as Sucuri's does something no plugin can. For hacked-site cleanup included in the price, Sucuri's Platform plans and Wordfence's own Care plan both cover it. For login security alone, Kadence Security is simpler to set up.

Some managed WordPress hosts also include a firewall at the server or network level. Check what your host already provides before you add another layer.

Can you run two security plugins at once?

You can pair a cloud firewall with one security plugin, but avoid running two plugins that do the same jobs. Two firewalls and two sets of login lockouts on one site mean duplicated work and lockouts that are hard to trace. If you put Sucuri or another proxy in front of Wordfence, check Wordfence's "How does Wordfence get IPs" setting so it records real visitor addresses rather than the proxy's.

Is a security plugin enough to keep WordPress safe?

No. A plugin lowers your risk, but it cannot make up for missed basics:

• Update WordPress, themes and plugins promptly, and delete the ones you no longer use.
• Use strong, unique passwords and turn on two-factor login for every admin account.
• Keep automatic off-site backups, and make sure you can actually restore one.
• Give each person their own login, with only the access they need.
• Read your security alerts and act on them.

If you would rather not manage this yourself, every WP Resolve care plan includes malware scanning, uptime monitoring and basic hardening (login protection and firewall rules), and malware cleanup is included from Business Care at $149 a month. If your site has already been hacked, our Emergency Fix is a flat $199 with a 24-hour turnaround, and no plan is needed.

Not sure which setup suits your site? Ask for a free site health check covering your updates, backups, security and speed, or text (916) 209-0917.

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