by Jeff Starr 4.9 (160 reviews)

BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security

Name: BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security
Rating: 4.9 (160 reviews)
Author: Jeff Starr

The fastest firewall plugin for WordPress. Protect against a wide range of threats with minimal performance impact.

BBQ Firewall ranks #342 among WordPress.org plugins with 100,000+ active installations, is #51 of 4,473 in the Security category, a 4.9/5 rating from 160 reviews, and was last updated Aug 10, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1

v20260809 Current Version v20260809

Updated 1 month ago Last Update on 10 Aug, 2026

Refreshed 12 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#51 of 4,473 in Security Top 1% by installs Downloads -35.9% this week

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#342

— No change

Active Installs

100K+

-40.9%

KW Avg Position

22.4

0.2 better

Downloads

3.5M

+468 today

Support Resolved

100%

— No change

Rating

98%

Review 4.9 out of 5

4.9 (160 reviews)

Next Milestone 200K

Total Progress 68.7%

100K+ 200K+

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

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Need 31,285 more installs to reach 200K+

Rank Changes

Current #342

Change

Best #

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

4.9

160 reviews

Overall 98%

157 (98%)

1 (1%)

0 (0%)

2 (1%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

100%

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

No known vulnerabilities on record for BBQ Firewall. Checked 1 week ago.

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Plugin Details

Version: 20260809
Last Updated: Aug 10, 2026
Requires WP: 4.7+
Tested Up To: 7.1
PHP Version: 5.6.20 or higher
Author: Jeff Starr

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.9
Reviews: 160
Support Threads: 1
Resolved: 100%

Keywords

bots firewall secure security web application firewall

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

This plugin is for WordPress site owners who want firewall protection without complex configuration. It solves the problem of malicious requests like SQL injection, XSS, directory traversal, and bad bots reaching the site by scanning and blocking traffic automatically.

Blocks SQL injection attacks
Blocks executable file uploads
Blocks directory traversal attacks
Blocks XSS and XXE attacks
Protects against bad bots
Protects against bad referrers
Scans GET, POST, PUT, DELETE requests
Zero configuration setup

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security

Visit the plugin settings page and click the "Test Firewall" link.

Yes, three of them: BBQ Firewall for blazing-fast firewall security Blackhole for Bad Bots to protect your site against bad bots Banhammer to monitor and ban any user or IP address Pro versions with more features available at Plugin Planet.

Nope, just install and relax knowing that BBQ is protecting your site from bad URL requests.

No settings needed for BBQ! Everything is done automatically behind the scenes. Zero configuration required. The free version of BBQ is strictly plug-n-play, set-it-and-forget-it, with no settings to configure whatsoever. Just install, activate, and enjoy better security and robust protection against malicious requests. The Pro version is just as fast and simple to use, but is much more powerful and includes robust settings to customize and fine-tune your firewall.

Does it makes sense to use both? Yes BBQ free and BBQ Pro are both compatible with any plugin written according to WP APIs. And yes, there is benefit to using BBQ with any other security plugin, including Wordfence. They protect against different threats, so using both provides additional protection.

Absolutely not. Unlike other security/firewall plugins, neither BBQ (free version) nor BBQ Pro make any changes to any .htaccess file.

Only two tiny options are stored in the database; one option for the plugin version, and another option that stores an expiration date for the banner ad on the plugin settings page. Everything else happens at runtime. No other options are stored in the database. Also, both options are removed completely when the plugin is uninstalled via the WP Plugins screen.

Yes, BBQ scans any arrays that are included in the URI request. If any matching patterns are found, the request is blocked.

If some PHP scanner is reporting an error or bad string in BBQ, it's a false positive and safe to ignore. Why? Because the PHP checker is finding the static strings/patterns that BBQ uses to identify and block bad requests. In other words, the PHP scanner is finding a static string thinking it is live code. It's not. If possible, please take a moment to report this to the developers of your PHP scanner. They should be happy to improve the accuracy and quality of their plugin. More info.

Full question: "Except most of the rules overlapping, is it counter productive (site slowing down for example, potential conflicts, bugs) or is there any risks using 7G/8G Firewall + BBQ at the same time?" Answer: It's fine to run both BBQ and 7G/8G Firewall at the same time. Both firewalls are super fast, so they won't slow things down. In other words the two firewalls play well together. The only downside is that some of the rules will be redundant, but there should be no negative impact on performance. The upside is that you get extra protection when using both, as there are variations in the firewall rules and patterns, etc.