Friendly Captcha
Friendly Captcha is a Munich-based German provider of privacy-first invisible CAPTCHA protection using cryptographic proof-of-work and risk signal evaluation, serving European-regulated enterprises, governments, and SMBs seeking a GDPR-compliant alternative to reCAPTCHA.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersMunich, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Friendly Captcha does
Friendly Captcha is a Munich-based, privately held German company that provides a privacy-first invisible CAPTCHA service designed to protect websites and online services from spam, abuse, credential stuffing, account takeover, and DDoS attacks. Its core technology combines cryptographic proof-of-work puzzles, which are solved automatically in the background on each visitor's device, with a global risk database that evaluates network, browser, and behavior signals to classify traffic as human, bot, or AI agent. The solution requires no user interaction, no HTTP cookies, and no personal data collection, and is positioned as a GDPR-compliant European alternative to reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha.
The product is delivered through a REST API (v2) compatible with other CAPTCHA providers, supported by open-source libraries for React, Vue, and Angular and prebuilt integrations for WordPress and Magento. A real-time analytics dashboard exposes usage trends, verification outcomes, and risk scores across the three signal dimensions. Friendly Captcha operates data centers in the EU, US, and Asia with regional data residency options and reports 2.6 billion web interactions verified annually at 99.99% historical uptime, with compliance coverage across GDPR, CCPA, WCAG 2.2 AA, PCI DSS, and DORA (with ISO 27001 in progress).
The company operates a hybrid product-led growth and enterprise sales model. Self-serve sign-up through the website with a 30-day free trial targets developers and small businesses via tiered subscriptions priced at EUR 9/month (Starter, single domain), EUR 39/month (Growth, five domains), and EUR 200/month (Advanced, 50 domains). An Enterprise tier offers custom pricing with unlimited domains, dedicated support, SSO, audit logs, and a self-hosted endpoint option. The customer base spans government (European Union), automotive (Porsche), enterprise software (SAP, Auth0, 1&1 IONOS), consumer goods (Birkenstock), nonprofit (Red Cross), and environmental services (Veolia), supported by a globally distributed team of 11-50 employees.
Friendly Captcha firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Friendly Captcha
- Legal name
- Friendly Captcha
- Website
- https://friendlycaptcha.com
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Friendly Captcha is a Munich-based German provider of privacy-first invisible CAPTCHA protection using cryptographic proof-of-work and risk signal evaluation, serving European-regulated enterprises, governments, and SMBs seeking a GDPR-compliant alternative to reCAPTCHA.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Friendly Captcha industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Bot Protection & Anti-Abuse Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Access Management (SSO, MFA, Passwordless) (HDADAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Collaboration Account Takeover & Session Protection (HDADAKAH)
Keywords
Where Friendly Captcha is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Munich
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Friendly Captcha business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (Per Tier): Tiered subscription model with Starter (€9/month), Growth (€39/month), and Advanced (€200/month) plans differentiated by number of protected domains and monthly request volumes. Enterprise tier offers custom pricing with unlimited domains and requests plus professional support.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Starter - Basic single domain protection for low traffic websites |
| Subscription | Monthly | Growth - Enhanced multi-domain security with stats for small businesses |
| Subscription | Monthly | Advanced - Comprehensive security with additional protection features for mid-sized companies |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise - High-end security, scalability, and compliance with specialized support |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Friendly Captcha product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Friendly Captcha provides a privacy-first, invisible CAPTCHA solution that protects websites and online services from bots, spam, abuse, brute force attacks, account takeover, credential stuffing, and DDoS attacks. The service generates a unique cryptographic proof-of-work puzzle per device that is solved automatically in the background while users fill forms, and combines this with a global risk database evaluating network, browser, and behavior signals. It is delivered as a SaaS subscription via REST API, with an analytics dashboard and developer integrations for frameworks and CMS platforms.
Product overview
Friendly Captcha is a single unified product offering privacy-first invisible CAPTCHA protection. The core product combines cryptographic proof-of-work verification with a global risk database to provide bot protection that operates invisibly in the background. The solution includes a real-time analytics dashboard for monitoring traffic, verified interactions, and risk scores. The Friendly Captcha API enables developer integration with support for multiple frameworks (React, Vue, Angular) and prebuilt CMS/commerce integrations (WordPress, Magento). The product is designed as a drop-in replacement for traditional CAPTCHAs like reCAPTCHA and hCaptcha.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Friendly Captcha Privacy-first invisible CAPTCHA solution that uses cryptographic proof-of-work mechanisms and a global risk database (network, browser, behavior signals) to distinguish humans from bots without user interaction. Protects websites and online services from spam, abuse, brute force attacks, account takeover, credential stuffing, and DDoS attacks. Delivered as a SaaS subscription with a REST API for verification, an analytics dashboard, and open-source libraries for React, Vue, and Angular plus prebuilt integrations for WordPress and Magento. Targeted at enterprise organizations, public-sector bodies, SMBs, and developers that require GDPR, WCAG 2.2 AA, PCI DSS, and DORA compliant bot protection.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2.6 billion web interactions verified per year
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Friendly Captcha
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Friendly Captcha technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature5 records
Friendly Captcha partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Friendly Captcha competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- hCaptcha (Intuition Machines): Direct competitor offering a privacy-focused CAPTCHA alternative to Google reCAPTCHA. Both target enterprises seeking GDPR-compliant bot protection with similar invisible-challenge architectures and serve overlapping customer segments.
- DataDome: Enterprise bot management SaaS offering real-time detection of credential stuffing, account takeover, scraping, and fraud. Competes for the same enterprise security budget as Friendly Captcha but with a heavier ML/data-driven architecture and broader threat coverage.
- Kasada: Bot mitigation vendor using cryptographic challenges and behavioral analysis to stop automated abuse. Directly comparable on proof-of-work-style challenge mechanisms and enterprise-focused GTM targeting financial services and digital commerce.
- Arkose Labs: Bot management and account takeover prevention platform serving large enterprises across financial services, gaming, and e-commerce. Overlaps with Friendly Captcha in account-takeover and credential-stuffing use cases.
- GeeTest: CAPTCHA and bot detection vendor with behavioral analysis and adaptive challenges, serving a global customer base across Asia and beyond. Comparable product offering and developer-focused integration model.
Emerging players
- Cloudflare Turnstile: Cloudflare's free invisible CAPTCHA offering bundled into its CDN/WAF platform. Competes head-to-head on the invisible, privacy-friendly axes that differentiate Friendly Captcha and targets the same developer and SMB segments via self-serve signup.
Broad incumbents
- Google reCAPTCHA: The dominant free CAPTCHA solution with massive built-in distribution across the web. Friendly Captcha explicitly positions itself as a privacy-first alternative to reCAPTCHA and offers API-compatible drop-in migration.
- HUMAN (formerly White Ops / PerimeterX): Application protection and bot defense vendor offering account takeover, fraud, and abuse prevention to enterprise customers. Comparable buyer profiles and adjacent solution suite though broader than CAPTCHA-only use cases.
- Akamai Bot Manager: Enterprise bot detection solution from Akamai integrated with its CDN and edge security platform. Targets the same large enterprise security buyers as Friendly Captcha but as part of a much broader edge-security portfolio.
- F5 Shape Security: Enterprise bot and fraud prevention suite within F5's broader application security portfolio. Competes for the same large enterprise security budget covering account takeover, credential abuse, and automated attacks.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Friendly Captcha social profiles
Digital presenceFriendly Captcha compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
Friendly Captcha financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Friendly Captcha leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Friendly Captcha funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Friendly Captcha M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Friendly Captcha
What does Friendly Captcha do?
Friendly Captcha provides a privacy-first, invisible CAPTCHA solution that protects websites and online services from bots, spam, abuse, brute force attacks, account takeover, credential stuffing, and DDoS attacks. The service generates a unique cryptographic proof-of-work puzzle per device that is solved automatically in the background while users fill forms, and combines this with a global risk database evaluating network, browser, and behavior signals. It is delivered as a SaaS subscription via REST API, with an analytics dashboard and developer integrations for frameworks and CMS platforms.
Is Friendly Captcha a public or private company?
Friendly Captcha is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Friendly Captcha founded?
Friendly Captcha was founded in -1. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Friendly Captcha based?
Friendly Captcha is headquartered in Munich, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Friendly Captcha make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription (Per Tier).
Who are Friendly Captcha's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are hCaptcha (Intuition Machines), DataDome, Kasada, Arkose Labs and GeeTest. Cloudflare Turnstile is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Google reCAPTCHA, HUMAN (formerly White Ops / PerimeterX), Akamai Bot Manager and F5 Shape Security.
Does Friendly Captcha have an API?
Yes. REST API for CAPTCHA verification with endpoint POST https://global.frcapi.com/api/v2/captcha/siteverify. API is compatible with other CAPTCHAs for easy migration. Returns risk intelligence data including risk_scores, ip_intelligence, anonymization_detection, browser_identification, and bot_detection. Offers open source libraries for React, Vue, and Angular frameworks. Developer documentation is at developer.friendlycaptcha.com.
What industry is Friendly Captcha in?
Friendly Captcha's product category is Bot Protection & Anti-Abuse Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDADAAAA, Access Management (SSO, MFA, Passwordless), with a secondary code of HDADAKAH, Collaboration Account Takeover & Session Protection. Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7370.