Blackwall vs Patchstack

Blackwall

Model: Custom (contact sales)

Free Tier Available View full pricing →

Patchstack

Model: Per site/month (billed annually)

Free Tier Available View full pricing →

Blackwall

• BotGuard Web Protection

  Cloud-based bot detection and mitigation for individual websites. Integrates at the web server level without DNS redirect. Behavioral analysis distinguishes legitimate crawlers from malicious bots.

• GateKeeper Reverse Proxy

  Distributed reverse proxy cluster for hosting providers. Sits in front of all hosted websites, providing transparent security without per-site configuration. Scales with hosting provider infrastructure.

• HTTP/3 QUIC Support

  GateKeeper supports HTTP/3 with QUIC protocol, providing better performance on high-latency and lossy connections. Automatic protocol negotiation for browsers that support it.

• Automatic SSL Management

  GateKeeper handles TLS 1.3 certificates automatically. SSL certificates are provisioned and renewed without manual intervention, reducing operational burden for hosting providers managing thousands of domains.

• WAF with OWASP Top 10

  Rule-based WAF protecting against SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and other OWASP Top 10 attack vectors. Rules updated by the Blackwall security team.

• Behavioral Bot Detection

  Uses behavioral analysis to classify traffic as human, good bot (search engine crawlers), or malicious bot. Goes beyond simple user-agent checking to analyze request patterns and behavior.

• Rate Limiting

  Configurable rate limiting to mitigate brute force attacks, credential stuffing, and application-level DDoS. Can be applied per IP, per endpoint, or globally.

• CDN Caching Layer

  GateKeeper includes a caching layer that absorbs traffic spikes and reduces load on origin servers. Static content is served from the proxy layer, improving response times.

• Free Monitoring Mode

  Observe bot traffic and threat patterns without blocking anything. Useful for evaluation and traffic profiling. Available for both BotGuard and GateKeeper deployments.

Patchstack

• RapidMitigate (Virtual Patching)

  Automatically deploys targeted mitigation rules within hours of vulnerability disclosure. Rules block only the specific exploit vector, not broad traffic patterns. Claims 74% more exploits blocked compared to leading generic WAFs.

• WordPress Vulnerability Database

  The largest WordPress vulnerability database in the world. 12,000+ active mitigation rules. 4,100+ vulnerabilities disclosed in 2024 alone. Operates as the

• Patchstack Alliance Bug Bounty

  Bug bounty program that pays security researchers to discover vulnerabilities in popular WordPress plugins. Sources vulnerability intelligence from a global community of researchers, ensuring rapid discovery and disclosure.

• Free Monitoring Mode

  The Community plan provides free vulnerability detection and monitoring with no time limit. See which plugins and themes have known vulnerabilities without deploying patches. Useful for awareness and audit.

• PCI-DSS 4.0 Compliance

  Helps WordPress eCommerce sites meet PCI-DSS 4.0 requirement 6.4.2, which requires automated detection and prevention of web-based attacks. Virtual patching specifically addresses this requirement for known vulnerabilities.

• Hardening Recommendations

  Provides security hardening recommendations specific to your WordPress installation. Identifies misconfigured settings, unnecessary file permissions, and security headers.

• Plugin Priority Alerts

  Prioritized alerts based on vulnerability severity and the popularity of affected plugins. Focuses attention on the vulnerabilities most likely to be exploited in the wild.

• Multi-site Management

  Dashboard for managing vulnerability status and virtual patches across multiple WordPress sites. Bulk actions and centralized reporting for agencies and hosting providers.