Wordfence: The #1 Free WordPress Malware Scanner

At Wordfence, we’ve spent over a decade establishing ourselves as the definitive leader in WordPress security. While other solutions come and go, we’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to protecting more than 5 million websites worldwide through our defense-in-depth approach.

But our confidence isn’t just based on our massive user base. It’s founded on our industry-leading intelligence network, proprietary scanning technology, and dedicated team of security researchers who continuously identify and block emerging threats before they can impact our customers.

This foundation makes us uniquely positioned to gauge and address what happens in the WordPress ecosystem. In 2024 alone, we found that roughly 325,000 to 350,000 WordPress sites were infected with malware each day. More than data points, these numbers represent a sobering reality: businesses, reputations, sensitive data, and much more are constantly at stake.

This intimate understanding of the real-world impact of security breaches is what drives our mission and shapes our solutions. When WordPress site owners demand the most robust protection available, we want them to continue to turn to Wordfence. In this article, we’ll cover what we’re doing to ensure that’s the case.

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Why Wordfence Is the Best Free WordPress Malware Scanner

At Wordfence, our approach to WordPress security is both proactive and comprehensive.

Security plugins shouldn’t be something you seek to respond to incidents. Rather, they are tools you can use to safeguard your site and reduce your risk of cyberattacks before they happen.

As part of that approach, we offer a robust free security scanner that enables you to detect malware before it begins to cause issues for you or your website visitors. Here’s a look at why our free WordPress malware scanner is the number one choice for millions of users.

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1. Wordfence Is Backed by the Most Comprehensive Database of Malware Signatures

Malware is an umbrella term that includes many different kinds of cyberthreats, and you want your scan to be able to check all of them.

But this is only possible if your WordPress scanner is backed by high-quality signatures that detect different types of malware. Otherwise, you unknowingly risk letting suspicious files or code roam free on your site because your scanner can’t match it against the most up-to-date threat data.

Since we firmly believe prevention is the best kind of protection, we have built the biggest and most current database of malware signatures for WordPress. We constantly maintain and update our threat intelligence with the latest security issues (including zero-day threats—newly discovered vulnerabilities that haven’t been patched yet—with our Bug Bounty Program) to ensure every scan offers full detection capabilities.

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2. Wordfence Doesn’t Gate Malware Removal Behind Paid Plans

Focusing on prevention significantly reduces your overall risk of malware infections, but there may still be instances when malicious code gets past your defenses. Early detection is key when that happens, but you need more than that.

Once malicious software or code has been detected, you want to clean your site promptly and stop cybercriminals from having unauthorized access to your site or data. After all, the longer suspicious code stays on your site, the bigger the risk of serious consequences like service interruption, downtime, and data theft.

Malware removal is not a common feature among free security plugins, which means you’d need a separate malware removal plugin or service provider to clean your site.

Wordfence makes sure you don’t have to worry about that. With Wordfence Free, you can access one-click file repair and removal to help clean your website if the scan finds suspicious code or compromised files.

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3. Our Comprehensive Security Scan Detects Malware and Identifies Vulnerabilities

Although WordPress users are right to be concerned about malware, it’s not the only type of cyberthreat website owners need to worry about detecting and preventing. The security landscape includes different types of threats:

• Malware: Malicious software that infects your site
• Vulnerabilities: Security weaknesses in themes, plugins, or WordPress core
• Attack attempts: Live threats trying to exploit vulnerabilities

Non-malware attack attempts have become increasingly frequent, so much so that a recent report by CrowdStrike revealed that 79% of detected cybersecurity threats across the internet in 2024 were malware-free.

According to the report, the top non-malware security vulnerabilities in 2024 included cross-site scripting (XSS—where attackers inject malicious scripts), cross-site request forgery (CSRF—where attackers trick users into performing unwanted actions), and SQL injection (where attackers manipulate database queries).

This trend was also prevalent in the WordPress ecosystem. Of the 54 billion malicious requests we blocked in 2024, XSS attempts were the ones we blocked most, with 9 billion requests, and SQL injection was next with 1.1 billion requests blocked.

These types of attacks can compromise the functioning of your WordPress site, as well as your content, data, and users’ or customers’ personal information.

That’s why at Wordfence, our comprehensive security scan goes beyond strictly malware detection. In addition to malicious code, our scan helps you proactively detect the following threats:

We’re also keenly aware that WordPress is largely popular due to its customization and configuration options through themes and plugins. While these tools are excellent for building your website, they can also become security risks if they are not well-maintained.

For that reason, our scanner includes vulnerability scanning that alerts you to any potential threats coming from themes and plugins, noting whether the version you’re using is outdated or vulnerable to cyberthreats of any kind.

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4. Wordfence Free’s Defense-in-Depth Goes Beyond Scanning

Again, securing your WordPress website involves threat prevention, not just detection. To achieve that, Wordfence Free provides a host of features that proactively protect against malware and other cyberthreats.

They include:

Combined with our free WordPress malware scanner, these Wordfence tools will proactively shield your website from malicious actors.

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5. Wordfence Free Lets You Customize and Automate Scans

All websites are unique, and so they may have different needs when it comes to malware scanning. That’s why our free plugin offers flexible scanning options.

For most websites, Wordfence’s standard scan settings will work well. However, there might be times when you need a lightweight scan or a more thorough investigation. So, you can opt for a variety of Wordfence scan options that include limited, high sensitivity, and custom scans.

In addition to providing several scan types, Wordfence allows you to schedule automated scans. This enables continuous potential threat monitoring without adding another item to your to-do list.

For smaller or basic websites, scanning once per month is recommended. WordPress users who update content more frequently should do weekly scans. If you are using the free version of Wordfence, a quick scan runs every day, while a thorough one is done every 72 hours.

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6. Wordfence’s WordPress Security Expertise and Reputation are Unmatched

Reliability is crucial for any plugin you use to secure your WordPress site. One way to gauge reliability is by looking at the number of active installations, user ratings, and what people say in reviews.

Another indicator of reliability is how long the provider has been around. The more time they’ve been around, the more time they’ve had to hone their solutions and build out signature databases.

Wordfence has been in business for over a decade and garnered 4,000+ 5-star reviews due to its 10+ years of dedicated WordPress security expertise, which feeds its signature database and approach to security. That’s why 5+ million users trust Wordfence today.

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7. Wordfence Grows With You

While we’re proud to offer the best all-around free security plugin for WordPress, we know that your security needs can change as your business grows.

Think of it like going from renters’ insurance to home insurance when you purchase your first home. As you grow, you need additional coverage and, more importantly, better support for your current needs.

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Get Free WordPress Malware Scanning With Wordfence

When it comes to free WordPress malware detection, removal, and protection, Wordfence is the best in the game. No other option is as effective or comprehensive at safeguarding your site. We also offer an intuitive and user-friendly platform that makes it easy to get started with protecting your website.

Here’s how to use our free WordPress malware scanner in a few simple steps, as well as options for customizing and scheduling your scans.

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Run a Free Standard Scan

Our standard scan settings work for most websites, and it’s where we recommend getting started if you’re a first-time user.

Before using Wordfence’s one-click repair and removal, we recommend backing up your WordPress site as a best practice for site cleaning. Check out our guide to cleaning a hacked site to learn more about removing malware with Wordfence Free.

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Preset Scan Types

Wordfence offers three preset scan types you can choose from:

• Limited scan: Recommended for when you have limited memory or cannot complete a standard scan.
• Standard scan: It’s the one that runs by default and is recommended for most WordPress websites.
• High-sensitivity scan: Recommended if you strongly suspect that your website is infected with malware or has been hacked.

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Schedule Your Scans (Premium Feature)

Running a malware scan once isn’t enough to provide ongoing threat detection. Depending on the size of your website and how often you make content changes, you should scan at least weekly or monthly. The more content and updates, the more frequent the scans.

With Wordfence Premium, Care, and Response, you can schedule automated scans to enable proactive threat detection without the extra manual work. Here’s how:

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Running a Custom Scan

In addition to using one of our preset scans, you can adjust individual scan settings to run a custom scan on your site. If you want to have more control over what the scan checks, follow these steps:

The three locked scan features require an upgrade to our Premium plan. They are checks for blocklists due to malicious content, spamvertising, and whether or not your IP address has been blocked for generating spam.

To learn more about these and our other scan settings, check out our full list of scan options.

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Free WordPress Malware Scanner FAQs

Malware scanning is an essential part of a comprehensive WordPress security toolkit. If you still have any questions about how malware scanning works or what Wordfence’s free WordPress malware scanner offers, we’ve got you covered.

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Can a Free WordPress Malware Scanner Remove Malware?

Yes. Wordfence Free‘s malware scanner offers features like one-click malware removal. But not all scanners have these features, so it’s important to check before you select a malware scanning plugin for your site.

If you want professional site cleaning, these are typically available through paid malware removal services. For instance, Wordfence offers two plans that come with website cleanings whenever you need them: Care and Response. Care offers priority customer support within normal business hours, while Response guarantees a 1-hour incident response and 24/7/365 service for incidents.

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Do Free Malware Scanner Plugins Protect Your WordPress Site from Malware?

It depends. Some free scanners only focus on detecting malware, while others offer additional security and WordPress hardening features. At Wordfence, we believe that prevention is the best way to protect your website. That’s why we offer one of the most comprehensive and robust free security plugins for WordPress users.

The free plugin comes with the following features that help prevent cyberthreats:

• Rate limiting
• Brute force protection
• Robust firewall protection
• Plugin/theme vulnerability monitoring
• Login protection (including reCAPTCHA and 2FA)

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What Are the Signs that You Need a Malware Scanner Plugin?

We recommend malware scanning regardless of whether or not you think you’ve been hacked. In other words, a proactive approach to WordPress security is the best one. Still, if you’re concerned about malware, there are some common telltale signs to look for:

If you notice any of these signs, we recommend running a security scan right away, even if you have already scheduled scans set to run weekly or monthly. Early detection and removal are the best way to limit the impact of malware on your site. Wordfence also offers a high-sensitivity scan, which can be used if you have reason to believe your site has been hacked.

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How Often Should You Scan Your Website for Malware?

Weekly or monthly scans should be enough for most websites. Wordfence Free automatically schedules security scans every three days for your site.

Sites running mission-critical software might consider daily scans, which can be scheduled with our Premium plan. There are also times that we advise running additional malware scans on top of your existing schedule, such as:

• Immediately after installing new themes or plugins.
• Before major updates to WordPress core, themes, or plugins.
• Before and after website migrations.
• Any time you see suspicious activity on your website.

In these cases, the likelihood of an attack may be higher, or the impact of malware could be more significant. Running manual scans on top of your schedule lets you take a proactive approach to malware detection and prevention.