by omikheev 1 (0 reviews)

Cardea

Name: Cardea - Proof-of-Work Comment Spam Protection
Author: omikheev

Lightweight, zero-dependency Proof-of-Work anti-spam protection for WordPress comments.

Cardea ranks #62,919 among WordPress.org plugins with 1+ active installations, is #2,157 of 2,818 in the Discussion & Community category, a 1/5 rating from 0 reviews, and was last updated Apr 19, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Tested up to WP 6.9 (Current: 7.0.2)

v1.0.0 Current Version v1.0.0

Updated 3 months ago Last Update on 19 Apr, 2026

Refreshed 13 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#2,157 of 2,818 in Discussion & Community

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#62,919

— No change

Active Installs

— No change

KW Avg Position

151

— No change

Downloads

281

+1 today

Support Resolved

— No change

Rating

20%

Review 1 out of 5

1 (0 reviews)

Next Milestone 10

Total Progress 10%

0+ 10+

53,098

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

Unlock Exact Install Count

See the precise estimated active installs for this plugin, calculated from real-time ranking data.

Exact install estimates within tiers
Track install growth over time
Milestone progress predictions

Upgrade to Pro

Need 9 more installs to reach 10+

Rank Changes

Current #62,919

Change

Best #

Upgrade to Pro

Unlock 30-day and 90-day rank history charts with a Pro subscription.

Upgrade Now

Active Installs Growth

Upgrade to Pro

Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

Upgrade to Pro

Unlock 30-day, 90-day, and yearly download history charts with a Pro subscription.

Upgrade Now

Reviews & Ratings

1.0

0 reviews

Overall 20%

0 (0%)

Tracked Keywords

Showing 1 of 1

Keyword	Position	Change	Type	Updated
Proof of Work	151	—	Tag	1 day ago

Unlock Keyword Analytics

Track keyword rankings, search positions, and discover new ranking opportunities with a Pro subscription.

Full keyword position tracking
Historical ranking data
Competitor keyword analysis

Upgrade to Pro

Upgrade Plan

Track This Plugin

Get detailed analytics, keyword tracking, and position alerts delivered to your inbox.

Start Tracking Free

Plugin Details

Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: Apr 19, 2026
Requires WP: 6.0+
Tested Up To: 6.9
PHP Version: 7.4 or higher
Author: omikheev

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 1
Reviews: 0
Support Threads: 0
Resolved: 0%

Keywords

Proof of Work anti-spam comments protection spam

Upgrade to Pro

Unlock keyword rankings, search positions, and detailed analytics with a Pro subscription.

Upgrade Now

Similar Plugins

Adminify – White Label, Admin Menu Editor, Login Customizer

7K+ installs

#2,723

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits

30K+ installs

#992

Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection

5M+ installs

WPForms - AI Form Builder for WordPress - Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More

5M+ installs

Jetpack - WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth

3M+ installs

#18

Disable Comments - Remove Comments & Stop Spam [Multi-Site Support]

1M+ installs

#36

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance

View all Discussion-and-community plugins

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Cardea - Proof-of-Work Comment Spam Protection

For legitimate users, the mining happens in the background while they type their comment. Most users won't notice any delay. The default difficulty level (4 zeros) typically takes 1-5 seconds on modern devices.

While no solution is 100% foolproof, this makes automated spam economically unviable. Spammers would need significant CPU resources to submit comments, making mass spam campaigns impractical.

Yes, but the mining may take slightly longer on older or slower mobile devices. You can reduce the difficulty setting if you notice issues.

This plugin primarily protects against automated bots. For human-spammers, consider using additional measures like moderation queues or other anti-spam plugins.

This plugin only affects the native WordPress comment form. REST API comments, XML-RPC, and other methods are not affected.

No, this plugin is 100% local and does not track users. The PoW challenge is generated per-session and is not tied to any user data.

No. The mining happens transparently in the background while users type. Most users won't even notice it happening. The default difficulty is set to provide a good balance between security and user experience.

The comment form will still work, but submissions without a valid PoW solution will be rejected. This is intentional - automated spammers typically don't execute JavaScript.

No! This is a key differentiator. Unlike most security plugins that query the database on every page load, Cardea generates challenges using stateless HMAC signatures. Database writes only occur when a user actually submits a comment, making this ideal for high-traffic sites.