PW Security and Backup vs Open24 Security: Which Free WordPress Hardening Plugin Wins?

Who This Comparison Is For

If you've landed here, you're likely a freelancer, agency, or self-hoster evaluating free WordPress security plugins that don't phone home to a third-party cloud. PW Security and Backup and Open24 Security both just arrived on the official WordPress.org repository, and both share an unusual trait for this category: zero telemetry, zero cloud dashboard, and zero paid tier. But beyond that shared philosophy, they solve different problems, and picking the right one depends on what kind of protection your site actually needs.

Pricing Comparison

There's effectively no pricing decision to make here — both plugins are completely free, with no premium version, no add-ons, and no licensing tiers at the time of writing. PW Security and Backup ships its full feature set for free, and Open24 Security does the same. Neither has an upsell path, which sets both apart from competitors like Wordfence, iThemes Security, Sucuri, or Jetpack Security, all of which use a free-to-paid funnel with premium tiers ranging from roughly $99 to $199 per year. If budget is the only concern, both products tie at zero cost.

Feature Comparison

The real difference between these two plugins is scope. PW Security and Backup bundles four functions into one settings screen: login attempt limiting, file integrity scanning, malicious code detection, and automated ZIP backups written locally to a protected directory on your own server. It's an all-in-one bundle aimed at replacing several separate tools, including a basic backup solution.

Open24 Security takes a narrower, toggle-based approach. It has no malware scanner, no file integrity monitoring, and no backup functionality at all. Instead, it offers five specific hardening areas, all off by default: REST API restrictions, login protection around wp-login.php, protocol/HTTP-HTTPS controls, HTTP security headers (like X-Frame-Options and X-Content-Type-Options) without touching .htaccess, and WooCommerce-specific protections for store and checkout endpoints. Notably, Open24 Security is the only one of the two with any WooCommerce-specific hardening, and the only one that lets you set security headers from the settings panel.

Neither plugin includes a full web application firewall with threat-intelligence rule updates, and neither offers off-site cloud backup storage — if you need those, you're still looking at a heavier tool like Wordfence Premium or Jetpack Security.

Side-by-Side

	PW Security and Backup	Open24 Security
Price	Free, no paid tier	Free, no paid tier
Best for	Sites wanting bundled login limiting, scanning, and local backups in one plugin	Developers and WooCommerce stores wanting targeted, toggle-based hardening
Standout feature	Automated local ZIP backups of site and database	HTTP security headers and REST API restrictions without editing server config
Backup capability	Yes — local ZIP backups on your own server	None — no backup functionality
Malware/file scanning	Yes — file integrity scanning and malicious code detection	Not included
WooCommerce-specific protection	Not included	Yes — hardening for store and checkout endpoints
Data sent externally	None — fully local	None — fully local

Which One Should You Choose?

If you want a single plugin that gives you login protection, scanning, and a local backup safety net without adding multiple tools or a paid line item, PW Security and Backup is the more complete package — especially for freelancers managing client sites on tight budgets or self-hosters who already have off-site backup infrastructure and just want a fast local restore point.

If your priority is locking down specific attack surfaces — the REST API, HTTP headers, login flow, or WooCommerce checkout endpoints — rather than scanning or backups, Open24 Security's granular toggles are the better fit. It's particularly suited to developers hardening client sites at handoff, or WooCommerce store owners who want targeted protection without the bloat of a full suite.

For sites with data residency requirements or contractual bans on third-party data collection — healthcare, legal, EU-based clients — both plugins satisfy that requirement equally, since neither sends scan data, headers, or backups off-server. In that case, the deciding factor comes down to scope: choose PW Security and Backup if you need scanning and backups, or Open24 Security if you need REST API and header-level hardening, particularly around WooCommerce. Some agencies may even find reason to run both, since their feature sets barely overlap.