6 Best European Alternatives to hCaptcha (2026), Compared

The best European alternative to hCaptcha is Friendly Captcha (Germany): it has an hCaptcha compatibility mode, checks visitors invisibly with a proof-of-work puzzle instead of image challenges and sets no cookies. If you need lots of checks on a budget, pick CaptchaFox (Germany) – 10,000 requests for €15 a month, an API that it says is drop-in compatible with hCaptcha, and servers at Hetzner in Germany.

I wrote this ranking for website owners and developers who use hCaptcha on their forms and want a CAPTCHA from a European company instead. hCaptcha is run by Intuition Machines, Inc., a Delaware corporation with a mailing address in Miami. Its privacy policy says the service is operated from the United States and data may be processed in any country where it has facilities or service providers; its API runs on Cloudflare’s network. Visitors are not fond of it either: hCaptcha has 1.2/5 from 114 reviews on an unclaimed Trustpilot profile, mostly over hard image challenges. I compared eleven CAPTCHA services and open-source projects and kept six.

What are the best European alternatives to hCaptcha?

These are the European CAPTCHA services I would switch to from hCaptcha, in order:

1. Friendly Captcha (Germany) – invisible proof of work with an hCaptcha compatibility mode and an EU endpoint. Best for most websites leaving hCaptcha.
2. CaptchaFox (Germany) – drop-in hCaptcha-compatible API, 10,000 requests for €15 a month. Best value for growing sites.
3. ALTCHA (Czech Republic) – MIT-licensed open-source widget you host yourself. Best for developers who want it free.
4. Trustcaptcha (Germany) – proof of work plus a bot score, from €8 a month. Best for small business sites.
5. captcha.eu (Austria) – hosted in Austria, ÖBB and A1 named as partners. Best for Austrian and public-sector sites.
6. Prosopo Procaptcha (United Kingdom) – 10,000 free hosted requests a month. Best free hosted option outside the EU.

hCaptcha alternatives compared

Prices from public pricing pages. Affiliate links and sponsored placements are labelled.

“Data hosted in” shows where each service’s CAPTCHA API runs, based on the DNS records of its API domain and an ASN lookup (25 Oct 2026). For comparison, hCaptcha’s API (api.hcaptcha.com) resolves to Cloudflare (AS13335), a US company. Where a vendor only names “EU data centres”, I say so.

How I compared the hCaptcha alternatives

The order is driven by how much of hCaptcha you keep after switching – a compatible API so you do not rewrite your forms, a free or cheap tier, a passive check – then by privacy and data sovereignty, then by price. I weighed five things:

• Jurisdiction and hosting – company seat and where the API runs.
• Migration from hCaptcha – an hCaptcha-compatible script or API, CMS plugins and guides.
• How it checks visitors – proof of work, risk score or image puzzles.
• Accessibility – claimed WCAG level and whether disabled users need a workaround.
• Price – free tier and the cost of 10,000 and 100,000 requests a month.

I left out reCAPTCHA (Google LLC) and Cloudflare Turnstile, because both are US companies. MTCaptcha (Sun Spray Technologies LLC, no address given) and Botpoison (no company named) could not be confirmed as European, and the open-source mCaptcha and Cap name no European maintainer. All data comes from the vendors’ own pricing, legal, privacy and documentation pages and from Trustpilot and WordPress.org, checked on 25 October 2026.

Why websites leave hCaptcha

hCaptcha became popular as a free replacement for reCAPTCHA – its FAQ says it is API-compatible with reCAPTCHA v2. Three things push European site owners away. Jurisdiction: EU visitor data goes to a US company under SCCs and the Data Privacy Framework; hCaptcha says analytics data is stored in the EU by default, but guarantees over where data is processed are an Enterprise feature. Friction: the passive mode is paid (Pro from $99 a month billed yearly), so free sites show image challenges – the main complaint on Trustpilot. Accessibility: hCaptcha believes it meets WCAG 2.2 AA but admits visual challenges cannot be fully accessible; disabled users must sign up for an accessibility cookie that needs refreshing, and the text challenge only appears where the site enables it. The services below use invisible proof of work, which the W3C says poses no direct accessibility problems, though it can be slower on old hardware.

The best European alternatives to hCaptcha, reviewed

Each service below: who is behind it, what users say, what you keep and lose from hCaptcha, and who should switch.

1. Friendly Captcha

The most complete European hCaptcha replacement – invisible, cookie-free, with an hCaptcha compatibility mode

Friendly Captcha is made by Friendly Captcha GmbH in Wörthsee near Munich, Germany (Munich register HRB 260542). It was founded in 2020 by Benedict Padberg and Guido Zuidhof; Padberg is the managing director. Its CAPTCHA API runs on Hetzner servers in Germany (AS24940); the website is hosted by Combell in Belgium.

What users say. I could not find a Trustpilot profile for Friendly Captcha. On G2 it has 4.8/5 from only 3 reviews, and its WordPress plugin has 3.9/5 from 18 ratings with 10,000+ active installations. It names the EU, Porsche and SAP as customers.

What it replaces from hCaptcha – and what it doesn’t. You get what hCaptcha only gives paying customers: a check without a challenge. Each visitor solves a unique puzzle in the background, and a risk score makes it harder for suspicious traffic. No image grids, no cookies, hashed IP addresses – and an hCaptcha migration guide with compatibility scripts, so your widget code keeps working. What you lose: the free plan is only for non-commercial, low-traffic sites (1,000 requests a month), and the EU-only endpoint starts at the €200 Advanced plan; below that, the global endpoint may serve visitors from outside the EU.

Facts: HQ Germany (Wörthsee, Bavaria) · founded 2020 · free plan: yes, non-commercial (1 domain, 1,000 requests a month) · Starter €9/month (1,000 requests), Growth €39 (5,000), Advanced €200 (50,000, EU endpoint) · 30-day trial · SDK under MPL-2.0 · WCAG 2.2 AA and ISO 27001 claimed.

Switching from hCaptcha: easy – swap hCaptcha’s script for the two compatibility scripts, change the h-captcha class to frc-captcha and update the server-side check. The guide says it should take only a few minutes.

My take: Friendly Captcha is the safest way off hCaptcha: an official compatibility mode, a German company and no image challenges for your visitors. It is first because you keep your code and lose the friction. It is expensive per request, though – at 10,000 checks a month you are already on the Advanced plan. Best for: businesses that want the closest European replacement for hCaptcha with minimal code changes. Not for: high-traffic sites on a small budget.

Visit friendlycaptcha.com →

2. CaptchaFox

An hCaptcha-compatible API from Bavaria – 10,000 checks for €15 a month, servers in Germany

CaptchaFox is made by Scoria Labs GmbH in Hallbergmoos near Munich, Germany (Munich register HRB 283108), represented by Timon Graßl. Its API runs on Hetzner servers in Germany (AS24940); only the marketing website is served from a US network (TeraSwitch). The founding year is not stated.

What users say. I could not find a Trustpilot profile for CaptchaFox. Its WordPress plugin has 4/5 from 4 ratings and 70+ active installations – too few to judge. It names no customers.

What it replaces from hCaptcha – and what it doesn’t. CaptchaFox says its API is drop-in compatible with reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha, so you swap the script and keys without rewriting your validation logic. Bot detection, proof of work and threat intelligence give each request a risk score; no cookies, and identifying data is anonymised once a verdict is returned. Plugins cover WordPress (Contact Form 7, Gravity Forms, WooCommerce and more), Drupal, Joomla, TYPO3 and Keycloak. What you lose: there is no free plan, only a 7-day trial that charges your card if you do not cancel, and the fully invisible challenge starts on the €39 Growth plan.

Facts: HQ Germany (Hallbergmoos, Bavaria) · Starter €15/month (10,000 requests, 2 domains), Growth €39 (30,000), Team €85 (100,000) · prices excl. VAT, 17% off yearly · free plan: no, 7-day trial · WCAG 2.2 AA claimed on the homepage, 2.1 AA on the compliance page · ISO 27001 in progress.

Switching from hCaptcha: easy – a compatible API and CMS plugins. Its docs only include a reCAPTCHA migration guide, so test the swap on staging first.

My take: CaptchaFox is the most direct swap for hCaptcha Pro: a compatible API, a passive check and 100,000 requests for €85 a month, all from a German company on German servers. It sits second only because there is no free plan and Friendly Captcha documents the hCaptcha migration in more detail. Best for: growing business sites that need tens of thousands of checks a month. Not for: hobby sites that want to pay nothing.

CaptchaFox review →

Visit captchafox.com →

3. ALTCHA

An open-source proof-of-work CAPTCHA you host yourself – free under the MIT licence

ALTCHA is operated by BAU Software s.r.o. in Brno, Czech Republic; founding year and owners are not stated. The open-source widget runs wherever you host it. The managed Cloud uses EU-only endpoints behind Bunny CDN, and the privacy policy names Amazon Web Services among its infrastructure providers.

What users say. I could not find a Trustpilot profile for ALTCHA. Its GitHub repository has about 2,700 stars. The free ALTCHA plugin was closed on WordPress.org on 25 May 2026 for a guideline violation; the WordPress plugin is now sold on ALTCHA’s site.

What it replaces from hCaptcha – and what it doesn’t. If you use hCaptcha because Basic is free, ALTCHA is the European answer: the widget runs an invisible proof-of-work challenge, needs no sign-up or API key and sets no cookies. You verify on your own server, so no visitor data reaches a third party at all. Cloud and the self-hosted Sentinel add threat intelligence and an accessible fallback with audio in 50+ languages; ALTCHA claims WCAG 2.2 AA. What you lose: there is no hCaptcha-compatible mode, the free version has no risk scoring, and the managed Cloud starts at €47 a month excluding VAT.

Facts: HQ Czech Republic (Brno) · open-source widget: free, MIT licence · Cloud €47/month (1,000 API requests a day, 3 sites), Plus €137, Max €187 · Sentinel self-hosted from €99/month · prices excl. VAT · 30-day trial.

Switching from hCaptcha: moderate – you replace the widget and write the server-side check yourself.

My take: ALTCHA is the only European option that beats hCaptcha Basic on price and privacy at once: free, open source and on your own server. It is third because switching takes real developer work and the free version does less than the two German services above. Best for: developers who want a free CAPTCHA with no data leaving their own server. Not for: non-technical site owners who want a plug-and-play swap.

Visit altcha.org →

4. Trustcaptcha

Proof of work plus a bot score from Munich – from €8 a month, free for non-commercial sites

Trustcaptcha is made by Trustcaptcha GmbH in Munich, Germany (Munich register HRB 287710), with managing directors Maximilian Granser and Maximilian Rosenmüller. It is sold under the TrustComponent brand. Its website and API run on Hetzner servers in Germany (AS24940).

What users say. I could not find a Trustpilot profile or other public reviews for Trustcaptcha.

What it replaces from hCaptcha – and what it doesn’t. Trustcaptcha pairs a background proof-of-work task with a bot score for every request – the kind of risk score hCaptcha keeps for Enterprise. Riskier requests get a harder task. No puzzles, no cookies, plus honeypots and custom rules. It is designed to meet WCAG 2.2, but no audit is cited. Plugins exist for WordPress, Craft CMS and Keycloak. What you lose: no hCaptcha-compatible mode, fewer integrations than Friendly Captcha or CaptchaFox, and the free plan covers only 500 verifications a month for non-commercial sites.

Facts: HQ Germany (Munich) · free plan: non-commercial, 500 verifications a month · Hobby €8/month (1,000), Solo €36 (10,000), Team €168 (50,000), Enterprise €289 (150,000) · plus VAT · 14-day trial.

Switching from hCaptcha: moderate – easy on WordPress, more work on custom sites.

My take: Trustcaptcha gives small sites a risk score that hCaptcha only sells to Enterprise customers, with hosting in Germany. It sits behind CaptchaFox because there is no compatible API and 10,000 checks cost more (€36 vs €15). Best for: small business sites that want a bot score without an enterprise contract. Not for: large sites that need many ready-made integrations.

Visit trustcomponent.com →

5. captcha.eu

An Austrian CAPTCHA hosted in Austria, trusted by ÖBB and A1

captcha.eu is run by Captcha GmbH in Vienna, Austria (Commercial Court of Vienna, FN 602312d), with managing directors Helmut Januschka and Manuel Rostorfer. It says the service is hosted in Austria; its website is delivered through Akamai’s CDN.

What users say. I could not find a Trustpilot profile for captcha.eu. It names the Austrian railway ÖBB, the telecom A1 and the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) as partners.

What it replaces from hCaptcha – and what it doesn’t. captcha.eu offers an invisible mode and a one-click widget similar to hCaptcha’s checkbox. It says no user data is collected and no cookies are set, and carries a WACA Silver accessibility badge. What you lose: captcha.eu does not explain how its check works – there is no mention of proof of work or risk scoring – and the free allowance is only 100 test requests.

Facts: HQ Austria (Vienna) · Starter €8.90/month (1,000 requests, 1 site), Growth €35.90 (10,000, 5 sites), Advanced €179.90 (100,000, 10 sites) · net plus VAT · yearly 10% cheaper · free: 100 requests, no credit card · WACA Silver badge.

Switching from hCaptcha: moderate – a new widget and server check.

My take: captcha.eu is a solid local choice if hosting in Austria matters, and the big Austrian names on its site help. It is fifth because it shares less about its technology than the others and has no real free tier. Best for: Austrian companies and public bodies that want a local provider. Not for: developers who want to know how the check works.

Visit captcha.eu →

6. Prosopo Procaptcha

A free hosted tier of 10,000 requests a month – from a UK company that targets hCaptcha users

Procaptcha is made by Prosopo Limited, a company in the United Kingdom – outside the EU. Its site positions it as an hCaptcha alternative and offers a comparison page and an hCaptcha pricing calculator. Its enterprise product, Prosopo Protect, runs on Cloudflare Workers or AWS Lambda@Edge, with EU-only processing on request; Prosopo does not say where standard Procaptcha runs.

What users say. I could not find a Trustpilot profile for Prosopo.

What it replaces from hCaptcha – and what it doesn’t. Procaptcha is the closest match for hCaptcha’s free Basic plan among the European options: 10,000 hosted requests a month, free. It uses behavioural analysis, JavaScript signals and proof of work, the base CAPTCHA is open source, and it claims WCAG 2.1. What you lose: the free plan includes image and slider challenges alongside proof of work – the same friction you may be trying to escape – the company is not in the EU, and Protect depends on US clouds.

Facts: HQ United Kingdom · free plan: yes (10,000 requests a month, 1 site) · Professional from €35, £30 or $39 a month (100,000 requests) · Protect from $1,990 a month · 30-day trial.

Switching from hCaptcha: moderate – a new widget and server check; Prosopo’s homepage does not mention an hCaptcha-compatible mode.

My take: Procaptcha is the cheapest hosted swap for hCaptcha – 100,000 requests cost €35, against $99 for hCaptcha Pro. I rank it last because it is a UK company, its free plan still shows image challenges and its enterprise tier runs on US clouds. Best for: sites that need a free hosted CAPTCHA and accept a UK provider. Not for: organisations that require an EU company or EU-only hosting.

Visit prosopo.io →

What European CAPTCHA services cost compared with hCaptcha

hCaptcha Basic is free; its pricing page states no request limit. Pro costs $99 a month billed yearly or $139 billed monthly, with 100,000 evaluations included and $0.99 per 1,000 beyond, and Enterprise is priced on request. The European services charge by plan:

Prices as shown on each vendor’s pricing page on 25 October 2026, in the currency shown there; European prices billed monthly. hCaptcha shows prices in dollars without naming the currency. Friendly Captcha does not say whether its prices include VAT.

How to switch from hCaptcha to a European CAPTCHA

1. List every form that uses hCaptcha and check your monthly volume in the hCaptcha dashboard.
2. Pick a plan for that volume and test it on a staging site during the free trial.
3. Swap the widget. Replace the WordPress plugin, or hCaptcha’s script and h-captcha markup on custom sites – Friendly Captcha’s compatibility scripts keep your existing JavaScript working.
4. Change the server-side check to the new verification endpoint and test both a valid and a missing token.
5. Remove hCaptcha and update your privacy policy with the new processor and its data processing agreement.

hCaptcha alternatives: FAQ

My verdict: which European CAPTCHA to switch to

Most sites leaving hCaptcha should go to Friendly Captcha: it is the most mature European option, has an official hCaptcha compatibility mode and shows your visitors no image challenges at all. If you are on hCaptcha Pro for its volume and passive mode, CaptchaFox gives you 100,000 requests for €85 a month with an hCaptcha-compatible API and servers in Germany. If you used hCaptcha because it was free, self-host ALTCHA and keep every request on your own server.

Whatever you pick, run it next to hCaptcha on a staging site and test every form before you remove hCaptcha’s script.