European captcha services

A captcha checks whether a real person or an automated script is filling in a form. Comment boxes, sign up pages and contact forms all attract bots, and a captcha raises the cost of automating them. Classic image puzzles are only one approach: many current services score a visitor using cryptographic proof of work or behavioural signals, so most people never see a challenge at all.

Because a captcha runs on every visitor before they have agreed to anything, it is one of the hardest widgets to justify under GDPR when the vendor sits outside Europe. Friendly Captcha and Trustcaptcha are among the European options here. Choosing a European alternative to reCAPTCHA keeps that first request inside the EU and usually keeps your consent banner simpler as well.