Census › Plugin profiles › Kadence Security
Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection
Figures from the Plugin Directory Census · as of 28 Aug 2026
700,000
Active installs, lower bound
Group: 100,000 to 999,999 installs
32
Days since the last release
Group median: 12
4.6
out of 5, from 3,990 ratings
Group median: 4.7 (10+ ratings)
54.5%
Support threads marked resolved, two months
Group: 68.2%
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What is Kadence Security and who is behind it?
Kadence Security is a WordPress plugin in the “Security” field, made by Nexcess. It has been listed in the directory since 23 Oct 2010, so for 15 years. Nexcess has 10 plugins with at least 10,000 installs in the census. With 700,000 to 799,999 active installs it belongs to the 100,000 to 999,999 installs group; its last release came 32 days before the reference date, and it is tested up to WordPress 7.0.
This is how the author describes the plugin on wordpress.org:
“Harden your site security with Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), Vulnerability Scanner, Firewall, and more. Formerly iThemes Security.”
Self-description on wordpress.org, retrieved on 10 Sept 2026
When was Kadence Security last released?
The last release of Kadence Security came 32 days before the reference date; the group median is 12 days.
How many installs does Kadence Security have?
Kadence Security had 700,000 to 799,999 active installs on the reference date. Within its group, 14 plugins had a higher band and 9 plugins the same band.
The API reports installs only as a lower bound with one significant figure: 700,000 means at least 700,000 and at most 799,999.
Which WordPress version is Kadence Security tested with?
No directory notice: tested up to WordPress 7.0, while core stood at 7.1 on the reference date. The notice appears once the field falls below 6.9; that applied to 8.0% of the group.
How does Kadence Security compare with its group?
The group holds 399 listed plugins. 65.9% of them had a more recent last release than Kadence Security; 5.3% had no release for more than 365 days.
| Figure | Kadence Security | Group, 399 plugins |
|---|---|---|
| Days since the last release | 32 | median 12 |
| Rating | 4.6 (3,990) | median 4.7 (10+ ratings) |
| Support threads marked resolved | 54.5% | 68.2% |
| Tested up to | 7.0 | 47.6% on 7.1 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | most often 7.4 (41.6%) |
All values on the reference date
| Slug | better-wp-security |
|---|---|
| Author | Nexcess |
| Active installs | 700,000 to 799,999 |
| Last release | 32 days before the reference date |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.0 · core on the reference date: 7.1 |
| Requires WordPress | 6.5 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 |
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 from 3,990 ratings |
| Support threads, two months | 6 of 11 marked resolved |
| Listed since | 23 Oct 2010 |
| Total downloads | 39,126,682, updates included |
| Tags | brute-force-protection, malware, password-protection, security, two-factor-authentication |
Tags
| Tag | Plugins with 10,000+ installs and this tag | Rank by installs | Median days since release |
|---|---|---|---|
| brute-force-protection | 2 | 1 | 20 |
| malware | 12 | 3 | 17 |
| password-protection | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| security | 79 | 11 | 16 |
| two-factor-authentication | 5 | 2 | 15 |
Rank 1 has the highest installation band among plugins with 10,000+ installs and this tag; equal bands share a rank.
Class of 2010
Kadence Security has been listed since 23 Oct 2010. Of the 77 plugins with 10,000+ installs added in 2010, 80.5% released within the 365 days before the reference date.
Same group, shared tags
Not a recommendation; the same figures for comparison. Alphabetical.
| Plugin | Active installs | Last release | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activity Log | 200,000 to 299,999 | 2 days before the reference date | 4.3 (74) |
| Admin Menu Editor | 300,000 to 399,999 | 9 days before the reference date | 4.6 (312) |
| Advanced Access Manager | 100,000 to 199,999 | 95 days before the reference date | 4.2 (420) |
| Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall | 100,000 to 199,999 | 60 days before the reference date | 4.9 (783) |
| BBQ Firewall | 100,000 to 199,999 | 19 days before the reference date | 4.9 (160) |
| CloudSecure WP Security | 100,000 to 199,999 | 1 day before the reference date | 5.0 (2) |
| InfiniteWP Client | 200,000 to 299,999 | 9 days before the reference date | 4.4 (177) |
| Jetpack Protect | 100,000 to 199,999 | 16 days before the reference date | 4.6 (123) |
Do you maintain Kadence Security?
If you maintain Kadence Security, you can link to this profile, for example from your readme or your website. Both snippets show this badge:
HTML
<a href="https://hafenstudios.com/en/census/plugins/better-wp-security/"><img src="https://hafenstudios.com/census/plugins/badge-en.svg" alt="Kadence Security in the Plugin Directory Census 01/2026" width="220" height="40"></a>
Markdown
[](https://hafenstudios.com/en/census/plugins/better-wp-security/)
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A value is wrong? Write to moin@hafenstudios.com; a documented correction leads to a new version.
How to cite
hafenstudios (2026): Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection, profile in the Plugin Directory Census 01/2026, reference date 28 Aug 2026. https://hafenstudios.com/en/census/plugins/better-wp-security/
Source and status
All values come from the full pull of the public wordpress.org API on 28 Aug 2026 (reference time 21:56:30 UTC). The analysis and text on this page are available under CC BY 4.0; the raw values come from the public wordpress.org API and are in the raw data. How the count was made is set out in the method, what the fields do not say under limits. hafenstudios builds WordPress plugins itself, see the conflict of interest. Corrections to moin@hafenstudios.com; a documented correction leads to a new version. From issue 02 this page will also show the change since the previous reference date. Collected and prepared by Horst Wenzel.
Plugin names and trademarks belong to their owners. hafenstudios is not affiliated with the authors named here.
