Defiant

What Defiant does

Defiant Inc., founded in 2012 by Mark Maunder and Kerry Boyte in Seattle, is a bootstrapped cybersecurity and website performance technology company operating under the corporate name Defiant Inc. with its flagship product Wordfence, the leading firewall and malware scanner for WordPress. The company's technology stack includes the Wordfence Firewall, the proprietary Defiant Threat Intelligence (DTI) platform that aggregates indicators of compromise into actionable threat feeds (IP blacklists, malware signatures, known bad domains), and Omega, an internal tool enabling rapid forensic identification of compromised sites. With over 5 million active WordPress installations protected and more than 50 million plugin downloads since launch, Defiant serves a globally distributed base of WordPress site owners ranging from individual bloggers to large enterprises with mission-critical WordPress installations.

Defiant generates revenue through a multi-stream model: a freemium WordPress plugin with free and premium tiers distributed via the WordPress.org plugin repository, an annual subscription enterprise tier (Wordfence for Business) sold through dedicated technical client partners, and professional services including incident response and site cleaning. The company maintains 100% remote operations since 2015 with approximately 40 team members across the USA, Australia, UK, and parts of Europe. It has expanded beyond security into website performance with Fast or Slow, a free browser simulation tool profiling sites from 18 global locations. The company is ISO 27001 certified, GDPR and CCPA compliant, and has remained independent by rejecting multiple acquisition offers from major public companies, maintaining founder ownership and control without external venture capital funding.

Defiant markets primarily through content and community-led channels, including the Wordfence Live weekly show, a security research blog, and active engagement within the WordPress ecosystem, supplemented by direct enterprise field sales for its business and incident response offerings. Distribution leverages the WordPress plugin marketplace for self-serve SMB adoption and direct sales for enterprise engagements. The company has shown disciplined capital allocation, discontinuing the Gravityscan product in 2018 after it failed to achieve product-market fit, and maintaining profitability through organic growth rather than external funding.

Name

Defiant

Legal name

Defiant, Inc.

Website

https://defiant.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Defiant Inc. is a bootstrapped, founder-owned cybersecurity company that builds Wordfence, the leading firewall and malware scanner for WordPress protecting 5M+ sites, alongside Wordfence for Business enterprise services, incident response, and the Fast or Slow performance profiling tool.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

WordPress Security Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Application Security & DevSecOps Services (BPAKAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Threat Intelligence, Hunting & Adversary Emulation (BPAKAHAE)

Keywords

• WordPress security
• Web application firewall
• Malware scanning
• Incident response services
• Website performance profiling

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Wordfence Freemium Plugin: Wordfence offers both free and premium versions of their WordPress security plugin. The freemium model allows basic protection for all WordPress sites while premium tiers provide advanced features.
2. Wordfence for Business: Enterprise-tier customized security solution including dedicated client partner, code reviews, continuous monitoring, quarterly security audits, and priority support. Sold as annual subscription.
3. Incident Response Services: Forensic investigation and incident response services for businesses that have experienced WordPress-related breaches. Includes threat containment, malware eradication, forensic investigation, and blacklist removal.
4. Site Cleaning Service: Site cleaning service that analyzes and cleans compromised websites. Includes database access, site control panel access, and server credentials for remediation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Defiant develops and sells Wordfence, the leading firewall and malware scanner for WordPress protecting over 5 million websites globally, available as a freemium plugin through the WordPress repository. Beyond the plugin, Defiant sells Wordfence for Business (enterprise security with dedicated client partners, continuous monitoring, and quarterly audits), Defiant Incident Response (forensic breach recovery), Site Cleaning Service, and Fast or Slow (a free website performance profiling tool).

Product overview

Defiant is a security and performance technology company offering a portfolio of products centered on WordPress security and website performance. The core products are Wordfence (firewall and malware scanner for WordPress) and Fast or Slow (website performance profiling tool). Defiant also offers premium business-tier services including Wordfence for Business (tailored security with dedicated support, code reviews, continuous monitoring, and unlimited incident response) and standalone Incident Response services for breach recovery. The company operates an internal Defiant Threat Intelligence (DTI) platform that aggregates threat data to power its products, and uses internal tooling called Omega for rapid incident response.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Wordfence: The leading firewall and malware scanner for WordPress, protecting over 5 million websites. Flagship product of Defiant.
• Fast or Slow
• Gravityscan

Products and services

• Wordfence Leading firewall and malware scanner for WordPress, providing website security protection with over 5 million active installations. Includes a web application firewall, malware scanner, threat intelligence feeds, and login security features. Available as both free and premium tiers through the WordPress.org plugin repository.
• Wordfence for Business Customized security solution for mission-critical WordPress installations sold as an annual subscription. Includes a dedicated technical client partner, code reviews, monthly security check-ins, continuous monitoring, proactive threat mitigation, quarterly security audits, unlimited incident response, and priority phone support.
• Defiant Incident Response Forensic incident response service for organizations that have experienced WordPress-related breaches. Includes threat containment, malware eradication, forensic investigation, detailed reporting, blacklist removal, and system securing using premium Wordfence products.
• Site Cleaning Service Wordfence Site Cleaning Service that helps customers rapidly recover from a hack. Downloads portions of customer sites to secure servers to analyze and clean. Requires database access, control panel access, and server credentials for remediation.
• Fast or Slow Free website performance profiling tool that performs actual browser simulations simultaneously from 18 major global locations, giving website owners an accurate real-world view of site performance across geographies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 5 million WordPress websites protected globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Defiant