Malcure Malware Shield — Removal, Repair, Monitor
by Malcure Web Security · Security
Malware scanner and monitor.
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 85/100
no flags
Active installs
10K+
≈19K estimated
Momentum
-10%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “security” and “vulnerability scanner” for “malware removal” and “repair”. “security” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “malware removal” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “vulnerability scanner” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #15. “repair” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
85 health vs 66 average across 1,776 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.4%
of downloads still active
At least 10K of 689.9K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,060 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security 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 18 releases 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
Well tuned across the board
Updated 20 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.4★ over 74 reviews, smoothed to 4.28★
5 of 5 tags set · short description under 30 characters
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.
36
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
14%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| removal | #3 | #4 | 0 |
| repair | #5 | #5 | down 1 |
| virus removal | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| virus your tag | #6 | #6 | down 1 |
| malware removal | #4 | #5 | down 1 |
| antivirus your tag | #7 | #4 | down 1 |
| malware scanner your tag | #8 | #9 | up 1 |
| wordpress malware removal | #3 | #4 | 0 |
| malware | #10 | #11 | down 1 |
| checksums | #6 | #6 | down 1 |
| malware detection | #7 | #9 | down 1 |
| monitor | #14 | #15 | up 8 |
| malware scan | #9 | #9 | 0 |
| vulnerability scanner your tag | #15 | #12 | down 2 |
| virus scanner | #5 | #4 | 0 |
| hack | #12 | #13 | down 1 |
| site repair | #8 | #8 | 0 |
| wordpress malware scanner | #9 | #9 | up 1 |
| website antivirus | #9 | #6 | 0 |
| diagnostics | #21 | #14 | up 1 |
| security your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
64 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 42 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “security” and “vulnerability scanner” for “malware removal” and “repair”. “security” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “malware removal” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “vulnerability scanner” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #15. “repair” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “vulnerability scanner”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 32.4K · 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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
18
releases in the last 12 months
20d ago
latest release · v19.9.9 · 12 Oct 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 · 59% run the current release. 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 “10K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 26 May 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ nenadvuk6mo ago
fantastic. it lasts long, needs 3-4 scan turns, but it cleans malware. But the first scan is longest, every other gets faster. Tried 5 different plugins, this is the only one that hepled me out and identified malware. Sent them unidentified malware I found myself and they updated their definitions within 4 hours! After days of trouble, within 3 days it seems I got rid of malware on 6 sites. great This topic was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by nenadvuk.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ groso6mo ago
Thanks a lot for your work which we are allowed to use for free. Works very good, don’t know if it really, really finds ALL malware – but who knows?!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jonathan Sin7mo ago
It’s so annoying!!! Many positions force me to do things, like paying for upgrades.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sdesan9mo ago
good database scangood file scangood problems explication: it’s possible to resolve a lot of problem using file editor and MySQL editing
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ quickwebteam10mo ago
Super Anti-Malware is easy to set up and works reliably. Fast scans, clear reports, and effective threat removal without slowing down the site. Highly recommended! This topic was modified 6 months, 2 weeks ago by quickwebteam.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Marius1.0y ago
Works great!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rjc30001.3y ago
This plugin gave me a great heads-up about a links injected into my posts and pages. I cleaned up the 100+ pages which had between 1-7 backlinks infecting them each page. Then I decided to randomly check a few other posts that had not been flagged — and I found around 25% of the remaining 500 posts still had the infection. And Malcure didn’t find them (and still doesn’t). I have been checking and clearing them manually. Not fun, but effective. I also changed the password, updated plugins, and deleted non active and older plugins that were not updated. I don’t know how they got access, but nothing new has come through in the past few weeks. So — great plugin for warning and finding a bunch of malware. But it missed A LOT (hundreds of infections). Room for improvement but a decent tool when used with other strategies. This topic was modified 1 year ago by rjc3000.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Zeeshan A.1.5y ago
I am a web developer and have tried many malware removal plugins, including popular ones like Wordfence and Sucuri. However, none of them detected some unusual files that were actually malware causing regular attacks. Some of these files were in JPG format, and I wonder if this plugin detects them effectively and alerts me. The only feature I find missing is background scanning—when I close the window, the scan stops. This topic was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by Zeeshan A..
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 19.9.6 Bugfix: Compatibility with PHP 5.6. Bugfix: User Scan resolves actual capabilities. 19.9.6
- — Version 19.9.5 Bugfix: Fixed scanner not auto-updating definitions before scans. Feature: Email notification preferences. 19.9.5
- — Version 19.9.4.1 Bugfix: Fixed fatal javascript error. 19.9.4.1
- — Version 19.9.4 Feature: User Account Audit results in scans. Feature: SaaS-Served File Whitelist. Improvement: Enhanced Event Logging. Improvement: First-run UX performance optimisation. Bugfix: Some UI elements were not styled correct 19.9.4
- — Version 19.9.3 Improvement: Stateful scanner now self-heals its monitor cron if WordPress cron is lost (e.g. after a server reboot). 19.9.3
- — Version 19.9.2 Hardening: Strengthens scan input validation and database-query sanitisation for safer scans. Stability: Improves runtime handling and diagnostics reliability during scans. 19.9.2
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 4 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (19.9.9). Sites still on an older version should update.
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
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
0 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description is 28 characters, too short to say what the plugin does.
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 231 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("antivirus", "security", "virus", "vulnerability scanner" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2023-11-15 9K+ → 10K+ up after 178 days in tier
- 2023-05-21 8K+ → 9K+ up after 79 days in tier
- 2023-03-03 7K+ → 8K+ up after 115 days in tier
- 2022-11-08 6K+ → 7K+ up after 82 days in tier
- 2022-08-18 5K+ → 6K+ up after 151 days in tier
- 2022-03-20 4K+ → 5K+ up after 279 days in tier
- 2021-06-14 3K+ → 4K+ up after 300 days in tier
- 2020-08-18 2K+ → 3K+ up after 250 days in tier
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).
-
Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
NinjaScanner – Virus & Malware scan 40K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags A -
BulletProof Security 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Jetpack VaultPress 10K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Malcure Malware Shield — Removal, Repair, Monitor into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-malware-removal" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Malcure Malware Shield — Removal, Repair, Monitor — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Malcure Malware Shield — Removal, Repair, Monitor: 10K+ active installs, 4.4★ (74 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-malware-removal
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