Hercules Recaptcha
by Todd Nestor · Security
Hercules Recaptcha adds a Recaptcha to the comment form for non-logged in users. It uses the latest Recaptcha API.
47 health vs 63 average across 649 Security plugins
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 11+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.0.38, well behind 6.8.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 4197 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-06 · 1,380 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
27
now · peak 58
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Downloads per 1k installs · 30d
Engagement proxy · release spikes are signal, a long slide is an aging base
Estimated active installs
wp.org reports only “10+”. The real number sits in this band.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2022-10-05 · 1,372 observations
Details
Growth timeline
Install-band crossings we have observed, and how long each band took to outgrow
- 2022-11-08 20+ → 10+ down
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach — closest match first
-
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A -
Friendly Captcha for WordPress 9K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags B -
Hizzle CAPTCHA – Protect your forms from spam 500+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 6M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A
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<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/hercules-recaptcha" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Hercules Recaptcha — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Hercules Recaptcha: 10+ active installs, 5.0★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-07-17. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/hercules-recaptcha