What is Google reCAPTCHA used for?

Google reCAPTCHA is a Google bot-detection service that protects websites and apps from scraping, credential stuffing and fake account creation. It is a good fit for blocking fake account creation, and protecting login and checkout forms.

Is Google reCAPTCHA free?

Yes. Google reCAPTCHA has a free plan.

Is Google reCAPTCHA open source?

No. Google reCAPTCHA is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Security category, open-source options include SafeLine, BunkerWeb and ModSecurity.

What are some alternatives to Google reCAPTCHA?

Google reCAPTCHA competes with hCaptcha, DataDome and HUMAN Security.

Google reCAPTCHA: features, pricing and alternatives

About Google reCAPTCHA

reCAPTCHA is a bot protection and CAPTCHA service from Google. Website and app owners add it to forms and sensitive actions to tell human visitors from automated traffic, reducing abuse such as scraping, credential stuffing and fake account sign-ups.

It has been offered in several forms, including checkbox challenges and score-based versions that run in the background and return a risk assessment for each request, with the site owner deciding how to respond. The current offering is presented under Google Cloud as website security and fraud protection, and developers integrate it with client-side scripts and server-side verification.

It is a hosted Google service and cannot be self-hosted. Google Cloud's pricing page is linked from the product site for cost details.

Key features

Bot detection for forms and sign-ups
Score-based risk assessment per request
Protection against scraping and credential stuffing
Client script with server-side verification
Delivered through Google Cloud

Good fit for

→Blocking fake account creation
→Protecting login and checkout forms

Tags: captcha; bot-protection; fraud-prevention; google; web-security; authentication

Google reCAPTCHA: questions and answers

What is Google reCAPTCHA used for?: Google reCAPTCHA is a Google bot-detection service that protects websites and apps from scraping, credential stuffing and fake account creation. It is a good fit for blocking fake account creation, and protecting login and checkout forms.
Is Google reCAPTCHA free?: Yes. Google reCAPTCHA has a free plan.
Is Google reCAPTCHA open source?: No. Google reCAPTCHA is proprietary (closed-source) software and can't be self-hosted. In the Security category, open-source options include SafeLine, BunkerWeb and ModSecurity.
What are some alternatives to Google reCAPTCHA?: Google reCAPTCHA competes with hCaptcha, DataDome and HUMAN Security.