Best Self-Hosted Spam & Bot Protection in 2026
Tools that stop spam submissions, bot abuse, and CAPTCHA challenges on websites and APIs.
The top-rated pick is Anubis with 22,599 GitHub stars.
2 self-hosted spam & bot protection — ranked by GitHub stars.Browse all
Anubis
Self-hosted reverse proxy that blocks AI scraper bots with a lightweight proof-of-work challenge.
Alternative to: 
Cloudflare
Cloudflare
ALTCHA
Self-hosted, GDPR-compliant CAPTCHA alternative that stops spam with privacy-friendly proof-of-work challenges.
Alternative to: 
Google reCAPTCHA
Google reCAPTCHAWhy self-host?
Self-hosting puts you in control. You own your data, avoid vendor lock-in, and eliminate recurring subscription costs. For teams handling sensitive data or operating under strict compliance requirements, running your own infrastructure is often the only viable option.