Really Simple CAPTCHA
by Rock Lobster Inc. · Uncategorized
Also makes 5 other plugins · 11.1M+ installs across the portfolio →
Really Simple CAPTCHA is a CAPTCHA module intended to be called from other plugins. It is originally created for my Contact Form 7 plugin.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
A 86/100
no flags
Active installs
300K+
≈350K estimated
Momentum
-10%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “prefix”, “unlike” and “sample” to your wp.org tags. You rank #5, #5 and #6 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 1 listed these are the slots worth spending.
86 health vs 58 average across 25,737 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.2%
of downloads still active
At least 300K of 9.5M lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,770 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Listing tuning
Updated 69 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.2★ over 131 reviews, smoothed to 4.17★
1 of 5 tags set · short description in place
1 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Only 1 tag — use the full 5 relevant tags so search matches more queries.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.4
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
22%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| captcha your tag | #2 | #3 | 0 |
| really simple captcha | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| simple captcha | #3 | #3 | — |
| captcha plugin | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| hash | #4 | #2 | 0 |
| unlike | #5 | #6 | 0 |
| prefix | #5 | #5 | 0 |
| no captcha | #3 | #4 | 0 |
| sample | #6 | #5 | up 1 |
| captcha form | #4 | #5 | 0 |
| black | #7 | #7 | 0 |
| calculate | #7 | #6 | down 2 |
| suggest | #8 | #8 | up 1 |
| form captcha | #5 | #5 | up 1 |
| conflict | #10 | #8 | down 3 |
| instruction | #10 | #10 | up 4 |
| instructions | #12 | #10 | up 2 |
| random | #12 | #8 | down 1 |
| words | #13 | #12 | down 2 |
| answers | #14 | #14 | down 1 |
72 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 40 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Add “prefix”, “unlike” and “sample” to your wp.org tags. You rank #5, #5 and #6 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 1 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 162.9K · peaks are release surges
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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v2.5 · 23 Aug 2026
18
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “300K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 13 months ago; the previous band took 19 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 11 Aug 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Artan4mo ago
Easy integration and locally usable in contrast to most captcha options out there, who will be sharing data to external servers. Wonderful for building a small obstacle for bots in a conform way for GDPR. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ afudo1tlg10mo ago
Super simple! Einfach in Contact Form 7 Version 6.1.4 einzubinden. Danke. Meine WordPress Installation: Version 6.9.PHP Version 8.4.15
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Diego Soto1.1y ago
I’m sorry to have to give this a bad rating. The amount of spam with Contact Form 7 was enormous. I had to remove it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Maxcom2.2y ago
Nothing but positives. We added this to our Gravity Form in order to obtain the dynamic math captcha. One can create a simple math captcha in GF but not dynamically changing for each form load insofar as I can determine. And GF google captcha Ver 3 is a pain with the need for google api keys. So we added this plugin and it was very easy – add the captcha field to the form, select “math” in the settings for the field and done! We find that Gravity Forms Zero Spam plugin was helping to deter spam entries but it with this captcha is 100% so far for spam prevention. Thank you Takayuki Miyoshi!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nicolasvsedeco3.0y ago
Helo, very simple banner for cookies but there is a little bug. The banner Cookies are shown in Widgets page. This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by nicolasvsedeco.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gurcantet3.6y ago
spam is continue to come…
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rahzan4.1y ago
we
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ laurentino74.8y ago
jamais vu une merde pareille !
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.4 Bumps up the minimum required WordPress version to 6.6. Introduces the ReallySimpleCaptcha_Filesystem trait. Uses SHA-256 as the hash algorithm. Uses wp_rand() instead of mt_rand() . 2.4
- — Version 2.5 Bumps up the minimum required WordPress version to 7.1. Bumps up the minimum required PHP version to 8.3. Changes the author name to Rock Lobster Inc. (a Japan-based company that the original author, Takayuki Miyoshi, ow 2.5
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.7.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 44 languages, 9 at 90% or more
Plus 20 more locales with partial translations.
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
4 of 8 pass · checked 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("use it", "if you need").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Contact Form 7.
- ! Headings and lists 2 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,388 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 1 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-10-13 400K+ → 300K+ down after 559 days in tier
- 2024-04-02 500K+ → 400K+ down after 450 days in tier
- 2023-01-08 600K+ → 500K+ down after 536 days in tier
- 2021-07-21 700K+ → 600K+ down after 353 days in tier
- 2020-08-02 800K+ → 700K+ down after 346 days in tier
- 2019-08-22 900K+ → 800K+ down after 232 days in tier
- 2019-01-02 1M+ → 900K+ down
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B -
CF7 Apps – Addons for Contact Form 7 (Honeypot, Database, Redirection, Webhook, etc.) 300K+ installs · 3.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ installs · 3.9★ · 1 shared tag B -
Login Lockdown & Protection 100K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Really Simple CAPTCHA into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/really-simple-captcha" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Really Simple CAPTCHA — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Really Simple CAPTCHA: 300K+ active installs, 4.2★ (131 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/really-simple-captcha
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