Solid Security vs Sucuri Security
Solid Security and Sucuri Security are both WordPress security plugins, but they solve different halves of the problem. Solid Security hardens the WordPress install itself — two-factor authentication, brute-force blocking, firewall rules. Sucuri Security is built around detecting and cleaning up malware once something gets through.
Sucuri's free plugin is effectively the front door to a paid cloud firewall and guaranteed-cleanup service. Solid Security's hardening tools now ship inside Kadence's broader security bundle rather than as a standalone purchase. Some sites end up running both, for different layers of the same problem.
Quick verdict: Choose Solid Security if you want to harden WordPress itself against brute-force logins and unauthorized changes before an attack happens. Choose Sucuri Security if you need a cloud firewall plus guaranteed malware cleanup after a site may already be compromised. Sites with real security budget often run both.
Solid Security vs Sucuri Security at a glance
Install and rating figures above are StatWP's own estimates, sourced from WordPress.org and refreshed daily rather than a fixed snapshot.
Feature and starting price at a glance
Feature | Solid Security | Sucuri Security |
|---|---|---|
Core method | On-install hardening: 2FA, brute-force blocking, firewall rules | Cloud WAF plus malware scanning and cleanup service |
Virtual patching for known vulnerabilities | Yes, via Patchstack | Not the plugin's job — handled by the paid firewall layer |
Guaranteed malware removal | Not offered | Yes, unlimited manual cleanups (paid plan) |
Free version | Yes | Yes |
Starting premium price | Bundled into Kadence Pro/Elite plans, not sold standalone | $229/year (Basic Platform, 1 site) |
These two prices aren't really for the same thing: Solid Security's protection is priced as a slice of a broader website-management bundle, while Sucuri's $229/year buys a dedicated cleanup-and-firewall service that mostly matters once you already suspect a compromise.
What does Solid Security actually do?
Beyond the install and rating numbers, Kadence's own site — which now houses Solid Security's codebase — walks through a specific set of hardening mechanics:
A real-time firewall with automatically updated rules.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) for the WordPress login screen.
Patchstack-powered virtual patching that shields known plugin and theme vulnerabilities before an official update ships.
Brute-force login protection.
File change detection to flag unauthorized edits to core files.
A security dashboard with threat analytics.
The plugin has been renamed twice — from iThemes Security to Solid Security to, most recently, Kadence Security — and its premium hardening features are now sold as part of Kadence's Pro and Elite bundles rather than as a standalone product.
What does Sucuri Security actually do?
Sucuri's own site frames the plugin as one piece of a larger security platform, built around:
Guaranteed malware removal, with unlimited manual cleanups by Sucuri's own analysts on paid plans.
A cloud-based web application firewall that filters malicious traffic and zero-day exploits before they reach the server.
A CDN layer that Sucuri says cuts server load by up to 80% as a side effect of routing traffic through its network.
Continuous monitoring, with security scans running every 12 hours.
24/7 access to security analysts for incident response.
Sucuri markets itself as “platform agnostic” — the same cleanup and firewall service works on any CMS, with the free WordPress plugin acting mainly as the integrity-monitoring and hardening layer on the WordPress side.
What features does each one have that the other doesn't?
Solid Security's clearest edge is hardening built into WordPress itself before anything goes wrong: two-factor authentication, brute-force blocking, and Patchstack virtual patching that shields a known vulnerability even before you've updated the affected plugin.
Sucuri Security's clearest edge is what happens after something gets through: a guaranteed cleanup by a human analyst, a cloud firewall that filters traffic before it reaches the server at all, and a CDN layer thrown in alongside it — response and infrastructure-level defense that a hardening plugin like Solid Security doesn't attempt on its own.
Which should you actually use?
If the goal is stopping an attack before it happens — weak passwords, brute-force logins, an unpatched plugin vulnerability — Solid Security's hardening tools are built for exactly that, and cost nothing extra once you're on a Kadence bundle. If a site might already be compromised, or you want a firewall sitting in front of the server rather than a plugin sitting on it, Sucuri's paid platform is built for that specific job. Agencies managing client risk sometimes run a hardening plugin like Solid Security alongside Sucuri's monitoring rather than treating the two as competitors.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Solid Security and Sucuri Security?
Solid Security hardens the WordPress install itself, with two-factor authentication, brute-force protection, and virtual patching for known vulnerabilities. Sucuri Security centers on cloud-based firewall protection and malware detection and cleanup, with its most complete protection sold as a paid platform rather than bundled into the free plugin. They address different stages of a security incident rather than competing directly.
Is Sucuri Security better than Solid Security?
Not universally — the two do different jobs. Sucuri's paid platform is the stronger pick if you need guaranteed malware cleanup or a cloud firewall in front of your server. Solid Security is the stronger pick for hardening a healthy site against common attack vectors before an incident happens. Neither replaces the other's specific job.
Does Solid Security remove malware that's already on my site?
Not directly — Solid Security is built around prevention and hardening rather than cleanup. If a site is already compromised, a dedicated removal service like Sucuri's paid platform is the more direct fix.
Is Sucuri's WordPress plugin free?
The WordPress plugin itself is free and handles security activity auditing, malware scanning, and basic hardening. The guaranteed cleanup and cloud firewall — Sucuri's main selling point — are part of the paid platform, starting at $229/year per Sucuri's own pricing page.
Can I use Solid Security and Sucuri Security together?
Yes. They don't overlap in function — one hardens the WordPress install, the other adds a cloud firewall and cleanup service in front of it — so running both isn't redundant the way two overlapping security plugins would be.
See the live, current numbers for either plugin any time on StatWP's Solid Security page or StatWP's Sucuri Security page, or run this comparison yourself with StatWP's compare tool.