This is one of the founding tenets of Shield – to never edit core WordPress files, like the .htaccess file. Part of our motivation to build Shield was because so many other security plugins didn’t take the due care required when modifying critical files like this, and they took down websites when they got it wrong.

Shield Security is a big WordPress plugin with lots of features and options. It can be overwhelming if you’re not familiar with it. But don’t worry, you don’t have to do everything all at once. Take your time, work through it, explore features, read the help articles and of course, reach out to our support team who can help guide you.

Shield doesn’t play favourites – it assumes all visitors could be a potential threat. This means that if you accidentally trigger Shield’s defenses, and you do it repeatedly, you may get locked out. But don’t worry, Shield also offers ways to unblock your IP. This is all documented in our helpdesk portal, and with ShieldPRO you’ll have access to our team who can guide you every step of the way.

Simply put, no, it wont. Any plugin added to a WordPress site adds to the load, but with Shield being so big, we’ve had to design it to be as efficient and performant as possible. We use it on all our sites too, so the last thing we want is to slow down our sites, nevermind those of our customers. We take performance seriously and have optimised Shield functionality to operate in the background, or after pages have loaded, except when it’s a bad bot – then we kill it early!

Yes, this is a subscription, either monthly or yearly. And absolutely, you can cancel it at any time from your account area. You can also reach out to our support team at any time to discuss any payment or billing issues.

We offer a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, so if you aren’t completely satisfied with your purchase, you can drop us an email and we’ll provide a full refund.

Yes, you can upgrade both the number of site licenses and type of plan. We offer pro-rata upgrades so the price you pay will take into consideration any time you have left on your existing subscription

1-to-1 dedicated email support is included for all plans. We are 100% committed to making sure you get the most out of Shield, and ultimately providing the best protection for your WordPress site.

Top quality support is core to our Mission.

Prices quoted above don’t include tax, and we’re required to collect taxes in the UK and EU. Since we’re based in the U.K., if you’re also based in the UK, the standard rate of VAT (20%) will be added to your purchase.

If you’re based in Europe, local VAT rates will apply, but you may provide your Tax ID (if applicable) during Checkout, to remove these taxes.

We provide the option to pay with nearly all types of credit cards, PayPal, and Google Pay. We don’t directly handle your payment – we use Stripe/PayPal as our payment processor to maximise security and safety of your data.