Aware as I was of the cyber threats on my website, I started the search for an effective security solution quite sometime back. As I dug deeper I realized the vastness of the choices. No wonder, I was baffled to the core. Convicted as I was to not invest in just any random security plugin, I started by comparing the top choices to land to the best.
I compared Sucuri, Astra, Sitelock, Webarx, Malcare, and more to decide on one. This post is a continuation of that chain of comparisons with Astra vs Malcare being our topic of the day. I have already published the comparison – Astra vs Sucuri.
Cyberthreats are real and do serious harm to your website and online presence. So, are you sure that you are secure? Think twice! Check here if your site is secure or not. The web is the most amazing and most horrifying of things in today’s world. It has simplified the way people connect, trade, reach and target other people on the web.
However, it has also simplified the way malefactors harm others. In fact, hacking has become one of the most common threats these days. But the importance of cybersecurity still remains a distant thought in many.
Astra Vs Malcare 2024: In-depth Comparison (Must Read)
So, as promised, here is Astra vs Malcare compared point by point:
1) Website Firewall: Astra Vs Malcare
As you already know, the web application firewall is a guard on your website that screens malicious traffic. But, I wanted my firewall to be more utilizable than that. After having a detailed look at both the firewalls by Astra and by Malcare, this is what I found:
Astra’s firewall is easy to install. You just have to follow a couple of simple steps. It takes less than 5 minutes to install the firewall on your website. The best thing about Astra’s web application firewall is that it doesn’t require DNS changing, unlike other security solutions. It works perfectly fine on your server and doesn’t deflect your traffic to its own server.
Astra’s dashboard is depicted in the picture below:
All in all, the Malcare firewall offers similar protection as that of Astra’s. However, its services are limited to WordPress. For sites running on other CMS(s), Malcare is not the right fit.
The following picture shows Malcare’s dashboard.
Astra
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Malcare
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2. Security Audit: Astra Vs Malcare
The high importance of regular security audits makes this feature hard to overlook or even take lightly. Security audits uncover security loopholes before you before some bug hunting makes it public. Or even worse before it becomes a wild target for a hacker. Security audits save you from an unexpected, overnight disaster. Hence, security audits are a great way to see your website’s security as it is and work on it before it’s too late.
Security audits in Astra come inherent with the business plan. Customers on any other plan can avail it separately also. See the pricing page.
Malcare, again, doesn’t provide any security audit feature.
Astra
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Malcare
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3. Malware Removal Service: Astra Vs Malcare
In an unfortunate event where you do get hacked and need urgent malware removal, opting for a professional malware cleanup can save the day. Now, investing in a security plugin reduces your chances of getting hacked in the first place. But, if the worst does come true, it reduces the downtime of your website.
Moreover, opting for an immediate malware cleanup obviates the need to skim through a hundred different posts for the solution. And, then indulging in the trial and error process of cleaning your website on your own.
The immediate malware removal by Astra comes with the Pro plan at a reasonable price of $228. Astra’s full pricing comparison is here.
Whereas, Malcare charges a hefty price of $249 for the immediate manual cleanup. I must mention here that Malcare also propagates an automated one-click malware removal in $99. Here is the full pricing comparison of Malcare. However, automated malware cleanups are not proper in comparison to the manual ones.
Coming to the response time in both these solutions. Astra security ninjas clean and get your website up & running in a few hours (4-6 at max) only. Whereas, manual malware removal by Malcare takes around 12 hours to clean your website.
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Malcare
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4. Malware Scanner: Astra Vs Malcare
For my website I wanted a scanner that is automatic, obviously reports all the anomalies properly and which can also be customized. I scrutinized both the scanners and found everything in Astra’s malware scanner.
Astra’s malware scanner scans your website on a click and reports back the details of the problem. You can also schedule this scanner to run daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly as per your preference. Scheduling, in fact, makes the security checks on my website more regular and automatic.
About the customization, I found that I can add or remove additional parameters for my scans depending on my requirements. I can also exempt files of my wish from scanning and can put them back into the scanner on my wish. Astra’s malware scanner also allows me to delete the malicious file from the dashboard itself.
Freedom like this with the scanner is something I always wanted for my website.
As for the Malcare’s scanner, it first transports your website files to its own server, does the scan on its server and then reports back. The process sounds complex. Besides, trusting my sensitive files with a third party agency is what I have always been afraid of.
The Astra malware scanner has this unique feature of learning by the threats happening all around the community and optimize itself for those attacks. No other security solution provides this feature.
Astra
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Malcare
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5. Support: Astra vs Malcare
If you own a website, you probably know that the uncertainties are huge. There is a whole lot of things that could go wrong. And as a user of many services for the maintenance of the website, I knew that support and service are two things I could never compromise on. When things go wrong, and no one is there to either address or take account for is the most frustrating thing I have experienced.
So, when I was doing my research, I was hell-bent to find the truth about the service in both these security plugins. I checked for reviews of both these plugins on different platforms and this is what I found after my deep research.
Astra’s customer reviews are very explicitly available online. Platforms like Trustpilot and Capterra had loads of organic reviews from Astra customers. Most importantly, almost all of these reviews are appreciative of Astra.
As for Malcare, I struggled to find any trustworthy organic reviews. Malcare has just a single review on a single review platform i.e. Trustpilot. This was another reason I found it hard to trust Malcare over Astra.
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Conclusion: Astra Vs Malcare Comparison 2024
For me, Astra clearly won the comparison. I found the security to be exceptional and the service more so. The Astra support is one prime reason why I slanted towards Astra so much. Their fast & swift customer service has charmed my mind into believing that in case of a contingency
I am sure to get help. Now, experiencing this over time, it has won my complete trust. I am fully convinced that my website is in safe hands.
If your website’s security is a concern to you too, get Astra to protect you. You won’t regret 😊
Here is an Astra demo for you.
