Alternatives for reCAPTCHA
Before we dive into what alternatives are suited for reCAPTCHA, let’s seek upon the basics.
What is a CAPTCHA?
CAPTCHA stands for the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It is used in almost every website which concerns about the security. It prompts a users with challenges which are difficult to do for an automated bot. Without a CAPTCHA system in place, it would potentially lead to an increase in automated spam and fraudulent activities on a website. ReCAPTCHA is the most popular CAPTCHA system used worldwide.
What is ReCAPTCHA?
We all may have come across the following “I’m not a bot” prompt at least once in our lives.
Well, this is reCAPTCHA. ReCAPTCHA is the CAPTCHA system developed by Google. ReCAPTCHA offers different versions with different functionalities.
- reCAPTCHA v1
- no-CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA
- invisible reCAPTCHA
- reCAPTCHA v3
- reCAPTCHA Enterprise
I shall discuss about each version of the reCAPTCHA versions in an upcoming blog post.
Now that the basics are covered, we can move on to the interesting part of this topic.
Why do we need alternatives for reCAPTCHA?
First of all, if you are living in China, Crimea, Cuba, Iran or any other country which do not support Google services, the reCAPTCHA will not be available to you. Which means some websites might not be accessible due to the reCAPTCHA not loading. In the website admins POV, they can avoid this by removing the CAPTCHA in countries where it does not load properly but, this risks a lot of security in turn.
Another reason for why we need reCAPTCHA is their data collection. Google has been well-known for collecting the user’s data even when they mention that they won’t. Here we have the same issue as well. A lot of users have mentioned their disagreement in using reCAPTCHA claiming that Google are collecting user data using cookies when using the reCAPTCHA API. This also means that they have non-compliance to GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which is a big no for a company which follows GDPR compliance.
These are the main reasons that you should look for alternatives for reCAPTCHA if you haven’t already.
What are the good alternatives for reCAPTCHA?
- hCaptcha
- MTCaptcha
- BotDetect
- GeeTest
- Cloudflare Access Protect
Among these alternatives, the most compelling alternatives were hCaptcha, MTCaptcha and BotDetect. Let’s dive into further details in each.
hCaptcha
hCaptcha is a third-party service that provides a CAPTCHA solution for websites. The hCaptcha team takes care of the implementation of hCaptcha; as a user, all you have to do is add the hCaptcha JavaScript library and an hCaptcha challenge to the HTML form on your website, and then check the hCaptcha response on your server.
The hCaptcha team offers thorough documentation and support to help users get up and running quickly. The hCaptcha implementation is made to be simple to incorporate into any website. Following is a sample hCaptcha prompt.
In contrast to reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha uses end-to-end encryption to protect user data and ensures that it is never shared or sold to third parties without user consent.
hCaptcha is the best alternative for reCAPTCHA in my opinion due to the fact that it is similar to reCAPTCHA but without all the disadvantages.
MTCaptcha
It is possible to incorporate MTCaptcha as a JavaScript plugin into a website or application. The plugin makes contact with the MTCaptcha servers to obtain a special captcha challenge and validate user input. Additionally, the plugin offers users an interface via which they may interact with the captcha, including choices for audio and visual challenges.
The implementation of MTCaptcha is designed to be straightforward, with clear documentation and support available to assist developers with integrating the captcha solution into their website or application. Following is a sample MTCaptcha prompt.
We can use MTCaptcha as a fallback in situations where reCAPTCHA fails to load (e.g. sometimes in China, or for users behind corporate firewalls that require specific IP white listing )
BotDetect
BotDetect CAPTCHA generator is a non-stalking form-security solution that uses a mix of measures, that are easy for humans but hard for bots, to prevent automated form posting.
A full comparison between BotDetect, MTCaptcha and reCAPTCHA is in the following link. Feel free to visit and learn more.
Concluding Thoughts: Navigating the CAPTCHA Landscape
In this blog we have discussed about what a CAPTCHA is, what reCAPTCHA is, why we need alternatives and what alternatives we can use.
In conclusion, while reCAPTCHA has been widely used, its limitations in accessibility, data privacy concerns, and potential GDPR non-compliance make exploring alternatives crucial. hCaptcha, with its robust user data protection, MTCaptcha as a reliable fallback, and BotDetect unique approach offer compelling choices. The right alternative depends on specific priorities, emphasizing the importance of a thoughtful decision for improved security and user experience.