Ensomedia Security vs Wordfence
Wordfence is the most installed security plugin for WordPress. Ensomedia Security is a new scanner from the team behind shieldwave.io. This page puts the two side by side, with the facts we could check and the date we checked them. It starts with what our plugin does not do.
- Compared
- Ensomedia Security 1.1.28 (22 October 2026), Wordfence 9.0.2 (WordPress.org, updated 30 September 2026) and the Wordfence pricing page
- Checked on
- 22 October 2026. The Wordfence pricing and help pages were read on 19 October 2026.
- Installs
- Wordfence: 5,000,000+ active installs, rated 4.7 from 5,030 reviews. Ensomedia Security: listed since 28 September 2026, fewer than 10 active installs, no reviews yet.
- Who wrote this
- ENSOMEDIA, which makes Ensomedia Security and runs shieldwave.io. We are not neutral, so every fact has a source below.
What Ensomedia Security does not do
- Its firewall is new and has no rule feed. The request firewall arrived in 1.1.26 on 21 October 2026. It is off until you turn it on, and then it only records until you switch it to blocking. Its rules are general attack patterns that change only with a plugin update. Wordfence updates its firewall rules from its own threat feed, in real time in Premium and 30 days later in Free. We have only compared the two on our own test sets, so we do not say ours blocks more.
- No automatic malware cleanup. Ensomedia Security changes no file by itself. For a changed core, plugin or theme file it has one button that puts back the WordPress.org original of the installed version. For code injected into a theme, a custom plugin, uploads, posts or options it shows the exact change and applies it only after you approve it, with a backup and an undo. Any other file it can only move into quarantine, where it cannot run.
- No shared list of malicious IP addresses and no live traffic view. Wordfence Premium blocks addresses from its real-time IP blocklist, and Wordfence Free shows live traffic. Our firewall blocks only the addresses and ranges you enter, and blocks countries only when your server or a CDN you set as trusted supplies the visitor's country.
- A smaller rule set. Ensomedia Security has 57 built-in signature rules, checks for injected scripts, and compares core, plugin and theme files with the copies WordPress.org published. Wordfence uses its own malware signatures, delayed by 30 days in the free version.
If you need a firewall with a maintained rule feed or a shared IP blocklist, Wordfence has both and ours does not. If your site is already hacked, ENSOMEDIA can clean it as a one-time service, quoted per case, with no published price or turnaround time.
Side by side
| Feature | Ensomedia Security (free) | Wordfence Free | Wordfence Premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 0. The shieldwave.io dashboard is free for every connected site. Pro is 12 USD a month per account and adds the outside scan of up to 25 sites, monitoring and reports | 0 | 149 USD a year per site |
| Account | Not needed | A free licence key, registered on install or on wordfence.com | A paid licence key |
| Request firewall | Since 1.1.26, off by default, records only until you switch it to blocking. Loads from a must-use file before other plugins, or before WordPress through auto_prepend_file in .user.ini on PHP CGI and FastCGI hosts. General rules for common injections and executable uploads, updated with the plugin | Yes, can load before WordPress through auto_prepend_file, rules delayed 30 days | Yes, rules in real time |
| Virtual patches | From a signed feed, for known vulnerabilities of installed plugins. They block once you accept the protection offer after activation, otherwise they only record. The live count is on the plugin page | Through firewall rules, 30 days late | Through firewall rules, in real time |
| Malware detection | 57 built-in signature rules, checks for injected scripts, WordPress.org checksums for core, plugins and themes, opt-in signed feed of new rules | Signatures delayed 30 days | Signatures in real time |
| Repair | One button per finding for core, plugin and theme files from WordPress.org. Injected code in a theme, a custom plugin, uploads or the database is removed after you approve the exact change, with a backup and an undo | Yes, from the original copy | Yes, from the original copy |
| Malware removal by people | A one-time cleanup by ENSOMEDIA, ordered from the plugin or the dashboard, quoted per case | No | No; it is part of Wordfence Care (590 USD a year) and Response (1,250 USD a year) |
| Scheduled scans | Daily or weekly, at the hour you choose | Every 3 days | Unlimited |
| Known vulnerabilities in plugins and themes | Opt-in lookup through shieldwave.io; the data comes from Wordfence Intelligence | Included | Included |
| Login limits | Per address and per user name, and on password reset requests | Brute force protection and rate limiting | Brute force protection and rate limiting |
| Two-factor login | Authenticator app, recovery codes, required for the roles you choose | Authenticator app | Authenticator app |
| Passkeys | As the second step, or opt-in to sign in without a password | Since 9.0.0 (10 August 2026) | Since 9.0.0 (10 August 2026) |
| Bot check on login | Opt-in: a proof of work in the browser, or Cloudflare Turnstile with your own keys | Yes, reCAPTCHA | Yes, reCAPTCHA |
| Breached passwords | Opt-in: new passwords checked against Have I Been Pwned, any role | Blocks administrator logins with known compromised passwords | Blocks administrator logins with known compromised passwords |
| Custom login address | Opt-in, with a way back through wp-config.php or WP-CLI | Not on the pages we read | Not on the pages we read |
| Activity log | Free. Sign-ins, accounts created and deleted, role changes, who edited a post or page, plugin and theme changes, key settings. Each entry carries a keyed hash of the one before it, so an edited or deleted entry shows. Kept 7 to 730 days | No audit log | Audit Log with 30 days of history (Care 6 months, Response 1 year) |
| IP and country blocking | Opt-in in the firewall: addresses and ranges you enter; countries when the server or a trusted CDN supplies the country (Cloudflare's address ranges are built in since 1.1.28). No shared IP blocklist | Blocks by IP, range, host name, user agent and referrer | Adds country blocking and the real-time IP blocklist |
| Live traffic view | No. The firewall keeps a history of what it recorded or blocked, up to 30 days | Yes | Yes |
| Backups | Makes none. A check reports when no backup from the last 7 days is found | Not on the pages we read | Not on the pages we read |
| Dashboard for many sites | shieldwave.io, read only, every connected site on the free plan. The outside scan is free for 1 site, 5 checks a month; Pro covers up to 25 sites | Wordfence Central, free for any number of sites | Wordfence Central |
| Support | WordPress.org forum of the plugin | Volunteer forums | Tickets |
What Ensomedia Security does differently
- Official copies first. A file that matches what WordPress.org published for your version is trusted outright, and one weak sign, such as base64 in a file, is never a finding.
- Alerts only for what is new or worse. One email per scan at most, at most four a day. Findings the scanner is not sure about go under "Ask your developer to check" and never send email.
- Quarantine you can undo. A flagged file is stored where it cannot run, and Restore puts back the same bytes. Core files, wp-config.php and files the site loads on every request are never moved.
- Free history you can check. The activity log comes with a button that tells whether an entry was edited or deleted outside the plugin.
- Nothing changes on its own. Files, users and settings change only when you press a button or turn on a switch. Every connection to shieldwave.io is off until you turn it on.
What each feature sends, and to whom, is on How it works and in the readme on WordPress.org.
Sources
- Wordfence pricing and plan comparison, wordfence.com/products/pricing, read 19 October 2026: prices, the 30-day delay of rules and signatures in Free, scans every 3 days in Free, Audit Log history, country blocking, IP blocklist, 2FA and reCAPTCHA, Care and Response services.
- Wordfence on WordPress.org, wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence, version 9.0.2, updated 30 September 2026, read 22 October 2026: file repair, live traffic, rate limiting, blocking by IP and range, the compromised password check, Wordfence Central for unlimited sites, installs and rating.
- Wordfence changelog, readme.txt: passkeys in 9.0.0 of 10 August 2026, Audit Log in 8.0.0 of 4 November 2024.
- Wordfence help, optimizing the firewall (
auto_prepend_file) and licence key, read 19 October 2026. - Ensomedia Security: the plugin's code, version 1.1.28 of 22 October 2026, and its readme on WordPress.org. Plan prices: shieldwave.io/pricing.
Something here out of date or wrong? Write to support@shieldwave.io and we will correct it.