Why reCAPTCHA Is the Worst UX Decision for Your Business
Understand why reCAPTCHA can harm user experience by turning simple verification into unpaid labor. Learn how this can drive users away from smaller websites and explore alternative CAPTCHA solutions that balance security with user-friendly design.
What is the problem with reCAPTCHA? #
The main purpose of CAPTCHA is to protect your service from spam attacks. The most popular type of CAPTCHA, used on thousands of websites, is reCAPTCHA (owned by Google/Alphabet). reCAPTCHA offers up to 1,000,000 calls per month for free, which explains why it’s so widely used.
Even though Alphabet has released version 4 of reCAPTCHA, which aims to make things easier for real users, many people still end up doing unpaid tasks like selecting “traffic lights” and other images.
At this point, it’s no longer just a CAPTCHA — it’s a small job that your users are doing for free for another company. Some reCAPTCHA tasks are unclear and hard to complete. Instead of accessing your service quickly, users have to spend time helping Alphabet make more money. Big companies can use reCAPTCHA without losing users, but if your website isn’t well known, asking people to complete these tasks can drive them away. Many users, including me, prefer to switch to a different site that doesn’t make them “work.”
reCAPTCHA alternatives #
The right solution for you depends on your budget and your goals.
PerimeterX #
A simple and elegant solution.
Arkose Labs #
Offers many interesting and easy-to-solve CAPTCHA types.
GeeTest #
This service offers Slide, Icon, and Space CAPTCHA types.
hCaptcha #
hCaptcha is a good alternative to reCAPTCHA.
