Is your WordPress hacked or infected with malware? If yes, there are steps you can take to remove WordPress malware and malicious code from your site. One of the most straightforward ways to do this is by installing a WordPress malware removal plugin.
The good plugins can scan your WordPress website and identify and delete WordPress malware and other malicious code. They also find vulnerabilities in your site and give you options to harden your security.
However, you do not want to use just any plugin for this purpose. If you are trying to rid your site of malware or establish ongoing protection, you want to use plugins that have a record of being effective.
We thus decided to do a review of the best WordPress malware removal plugins, and we arrived at a shortlist of 5. Learn how to remove malware from your WordPress site using these plugins.
In this article:
When Can You Use WordPress Malware Removal Plugins?
If your site is hacked or infected with malware, but you can still login and access your WordPress admin area, then any of the WordPress plugins on this list can help you scan your site and restore site health.
Note though that malware infection is a very serious issue. If not dealt with correctly, malware infection can lead to loss of data, corruption of site files, loss of secret customer information, loss of traffic, and a host of other problems.
Thus, we recommend you have a security expert take care of cleaning up your site. You may request our WordPress malware removal service for this purpose.
If you have some technical knowledge, however, you may go ahead and do this yourself. But ensure you back up your site before attempting to remove malware.
6 Best Performing WordPress Malware Removal Plugins
1. MalCare
MalCare is a comprehensive WordPress security plugin with impressive cleaning features.
This plugin cleans up a hacked site, and also protects it from future security breaches. MalCare was developed after analyzing over 240,000 WordPress sites. It uses this collective intelligence to offer layered protection to websites.
If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you to:
- Run a Scan that detects not just existing but new and hard-to-find malware.
- Clean your site and remove all malware.
- Enable Firewall protection that blocks bad IP addresses and malicious login attempts.
- Harden your site and prevent unauthorized personnel from making changes to it.
- Access regular backups that you can use for up to 365 days.
Plugin Effectiveness
MalCare’s deep scanning technology enables it to find new and complex malware that other security plugins may miss. With the 1-Click Auto Cleaner, you can clean and secure your site with very little effort.
In addition, MalCare comes packed with many other facilities like Site Management which enables you to update outdated plugins, themes, and even the WP core; User Management that allows you to add new users, delete users, etc.; and the handy White-Labeling and Client Reporting features!
Support
MalCare offers support to all users through email and their contact page. There’s also an instant chat option from within the dashboard for issues that require immediate attention. The Support personnel seems knowledgeable and even eager to help and to share tips on WordPress security.
2. WordFence
WordFence is by far the most popular WordPress security plugin. With over 2 million installs, there are good reasons why so many people trust this plugin.
WordFence comes packed with a complete suite of features to enable you to maintain your site security and prevent attacks.
And for our main concern on this review, it provides a powerful WordPress malware scanner. The definitions used by this scanner are regularly updated to detect the latest threats. WordFence scans your WordPress themes, plugins, content, and core files.
If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:
- Scan your files to identify malware, malicious code, Back-doors, code injections, URL redirects, etc.
- Identify files that don’t belong in WordPress and give you the option to delete them.
- Replace all infected WordPress files with original versions from WordPress.org.
- Check your content (pictures, videos, etc.) to ensure none is infected with malware.
- Provide a suite of features to harden your security going forward, such as real-time scanning, anti-brute force attack, etc.
WordFence Plugin Effectiveness
WordFence malware definitions update daily (on the paid version, and monthly on free). With these regular updates, you can be sure it will scan your site for the latest threats and clean it.
They also use other proven methods to guarantee a good scan. For example, each file is compared against a pristine copy from WordPress.org, meaning all variations are identified and flagged.
With WordFence security, rest assured you get a good scan each time.
Support
Most plugins give good support only on Premium versions, but Wordfence makes an exception in this case. Whether you are a free or premium user, the WordFence team gives ear to your request and tries to help the best they can. Of course, premium users get better support than free users.
3. Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall
This WordPress malware protection & removal plugin was designed with one goal, which is to get you out of a messy malware situation.
Unlike most other plugins that identify threats and ask you what to do, Anti-malware security and brute force firewall plugin automatically deletes confirmed malware. It only requires your input for those that are potentially malware but not confirmed, and you can decide to delete or keep the identified codes.
If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you to:
- Run a thorough scan of your site to identify malware and malicious code
- Auto delete all confirmed malware, thus restoring site health with little user input
- Firewall block attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities
- Update anti-malware definitions and provide ongoing protection
Plugin Effectiveness
Many users of this plugin report that it was able to thoroughly clean their site of malware.
Since this plugin is primarily for malware identification and deletion (it doesn’t come with a lot more features), the developers have been able to focus their efforts on this aspect. It has thus turned out to be one of the best for malware removal.
Functionally, this WordPress antivirus plugin works very similarly to the antivirus you install on your computer. It uses a set of updated definitions to identify and delete malware. It also puts up a firewall against further attacks.
Support
On both the free and premium versions, you have access to support through the forum, or by adding comments on the gotmls.net homepage.
The developer is very helpful and responsive to user requests and questions.
4. Sucuri Security
Sucuri is another great plugin for malware cleanup.
This plugin provides effective scanning and cleaning tools. These can help you rid your site of malware and malicious code. Used by over 400k site owners, Sucuri has a record of helping to keep WordPress clean and secure.
If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:
- Run an effective scan of your website for malware and malicious code (on the free version, only a remote scan is available).
- Run a file integrity check. All WordPress files will be checked against original copies from WordPress.org and any variations flagged. This helps you easily identify and delete malware and malicious code.
- Check if your site is blacklisted by search engines or antivirus programs.
- Harden your site to prevent infections and attacks in the future.
- Get dashboard notifications when anything malicious is observed.
Sucuri Plugin Effectiveness
Sucuri WordPress plugin uses a mix of malware definition and file integrity scanning. Together, these features enable the plugin to detect malware and malicious programs with good accuracy. With Sucuri, you can be fairly certain any malware in your site will be detected.
Note however that the remote scanner available to free users is less powerful than the server side scanner available in premium.
Support
Sucuri offers great support to premium users. If there’s an issue, their team is always on hand to help you out. Free users, however, do not get support.
5. Security and Malware Scan by CleanTalk
This WordPress malware removal plugin is fairly new to the game but no less effective. CleanTalk enables you detect and remove malware from your WordPress site.
One feature that CleanTalk brings to the table is heuristic scanning. Heuristics can flag even unknown malware by considering the code and behavior of a script and comparing it to what you would expect from malware. This gives added protection.
If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:
- Scan, identify and delete known malware
- Identify and delete unknown malware using heuristics
- Scan your database for SQL injection
- Harden your security to prevent further attacks and infections
CleanTalk Plugin Effectiveness
CleanTalk provides effective scanning and malware identification. This scanning is mainly based on the signature of known malware, but CleanTalk adds another level. Using heuristics, unknown malware can be identified as well. This guarantees better malware identification and removal.
Also, with the SQL injection scanner, you can detect and delete scripts written to inject malware into your database. In all, CleanTalk provides powerful, complete scanning features to clean up your site.
Support
Since clean talk is free, support is provided through the WordPress support forum. They do provide great support! As at when we checked, 15 out of 17 issues brought up by users had already been resolved on their forum page. Those are great stats for any WordPress plugin.
6. Quttera Web Malware Scanner
Quttera malware scanner identifies and deletes malware in all its forms. Whether you are trying to get rid of trojans, spyware, worms, shells, etc., Quttera WordPress malware scan plugin is able to detect and easily delete malware.
If you are facing a malware infection, this plugin enables you:
- Scan for all variations of malware and malicious code, and enable you to delete them
- Detect files and shells injected by malware
- Detect unknown malware, evidently using heuristics
- Check if your site is blacklisted by Google and other authorities
Plugin Effectiveness
Quttera scanner does the job and does it well. They mention several variations of malware in the plugin page, which means the team behind Quttera have been thorough. You can expect great malware identification and deletion with this plugin.
In addtion, the plugin is able to delete unknown malware (likely using heuristics). This may enable Quttera to detect malware that others miss.
Support
Evidently, people using this plugin do not run into a lot of issues as there are very few support requests on their forum page. And when requests come in, they are resolved. Thus we give Quttera a GOOD on support.
Our Top WordPress Malware Removal Plugin
All the plugins listed in this review are great for removing malware, and you can hardly go wrong with any. But if we had to pick one, it would be WordFence security plugin.
WordFence offers scanning and complete ongoing protection features. Even with their free version, you can be pretty much assured of your WordPress security.
If there are other plugins you have used, or you would like to get the opinion of our security experts, please leave a comment below. You can also check our top WordPress security plugins guide for more tips.
To learn how to secure your site against hacks and malware, check our complete WordPress security guide.
If you already have a malware infected or hacked WordPress site, and you want it to be fixed by security experts, we can help. Check our WordPress malware removal service.
